|
|
|
|
|
|
Death Valley National Park
Plants
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Death Valley has more than 1,000 described plant species ranging from ancient bristlecone pines to ephemeral spring wildflowers. |
|
Despite its reputation as a lifeless wasteland, Death Valley National Park contains a great diversity of plants. The park covers over 3 million acres of Mojave and Great Basin desert terrain, with elevations ranging from 282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin to 11,049 feet on the summit of Telescope Peak. Annual precipitation varies from 1.9 inches on the valley floor to over 15 inches in the higher mountains.
Vegetation zones include creosote bush, desert holly, and mesquite at the lower elevations up through shadscale, blackbrush, Joshua tree, pinyon-juniper, to sub-alpine limber pine and bristlecone pine woodlands. The saltpan is devoid of vegetation, and the rest of the valley floor and lower slopes have sparse cover, yet where water is available, an abundance of vegetation is usually present.
|
| | |
|
|
Get the latest wildflower update links to Death Valley Natural History Association website more... | | Endemic Plants & Animals A printable PDF more... | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Did You Know?
Badwater Basin, in Death Valley National Park, is the lowest place in North America and one of the lowest places in the world at 282 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea, between Israel and Jordon, is the lowest at 1371 feet below sea level.
|
|
|
|
Last Updated: June 20, 2008 at 14:14 EST |