The answer is xerophyte.
First, let's distinguish these three terms:
- Mesophyte (meso - middle; phyte - plant) - plants that live in conditions with moderate amount of water.
- Hydrophyte (hydro - water; phyte - plant) - plants that live in water.
- Xerophyte (xero - arid; phyte - plant) - plants that live in arid conditions, where water is scare.
Since there is no water in deserts, which are characterized by arid conditions, that means that the desert plants are xerophytes.
