El Cimatario National Park is a national park in

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

state of central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It protects 24.48 km² south of the city of

Santiago de Querétaro Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Geography

The park encompasses Cerro del Cimatario, a volcanic mountain which reaches 2400 meters elevation.García-García, Patricia L., et al. “Habitat Association of Orthoptera in El Cimatario National Park, Querétaro, México.” ''Journal of Orthoptera Research'', vol. 17, no. 1, 2008, pp. 83–87. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25473421. Accessed 23 Jul. 2022. The mountain offers panoramic views of Santiago de Querétaro and the surrounding countryside, and is home to several radio and television transmitting towers. Soils in the park are mostly volcanic in origin, formed during

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Bajío dry forests The Bajío dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western−central Mexico. Geography The Bajío dry forests lie in the southwestern portion of the Mexican Plateau. They are bounded on the southeast, south, and southwest by ...

and

Central Mexican matorral The Central Mexican matorral is an ecoregion of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome of central Mexico. It is the southernmost ecoregion of the Nearctic realm. Geography The Central Mexican matorral covers an area of on the southern portion o ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

s."El Cimatario"
DOPA Explorer. Accessed 23 July 2022. Cactus scrub is the most widespread plant community, found mostly in lower-elevation areas of the park. Shrubs up to four meters in height are the characteristic plants. Common cactus species include ''

Myrtillocactus geometrizans ''Myrtillocactus geometrizans'' (bilberry cactus, whortleberry cactus or blue candle) is a species of cactus in the genus '' Myrtillocactus'', native to central and northern Mexico.Germplasm Resources Information Network''Myrtillocactus geometriz ...

Opuntia leucotricha ''Opuntia leucotricha'' is a species of cactus with the common names: arborescent pricklypear, Aaron's beard cactus, and semaphore cactus; and (in Spanish) ''duraznillo blanco'' and ''nopal blanco''. Distribution It is a species of '' Opuntia'' ...

Opuntia imbricata ''Cylindropuntia imbricata'', the cane cholla (walking stick cholla, tree cholla, or chainlink cactus), is a cactus found in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, including some cooler regions in comparison to many other cacti. It o ...

'' and, ''

Nyctocereus serpentinus ''Peniocereus'' is a genus of vining cacti, comprising about 18 species, found from the southwestern United States and Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states ...

''. Small trees, which typically have small leaves and spines, include '' Acacia schaffneri,

Acacia farnesiana ''Vachellia farnesiana'', also known as ''Acacia farnesiana'', and previously ''Mimosa farnesiana'', commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are use ...

, Ipomoea mucuroides, Karwinskia humboldtiana,

Anisacanthus quadrifidus ''Anisacanthus quadrifidus'' is a species of flowering plant native to west and south-central Texas in the United States and adjacent northern Mexico down through the state of Oaxaca. It is an increasingly common ornamental shrub in Texas and is ...

, Anisacanthus pumilus,

Calliandra eriophylla ''Calliandra eriophylla'', commonly known as fairy duster, is a low spreading shrub which is native to deserts and arid grasslands in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. The flowers, which appear between late winter and late sp ...

Condalia velutina ''Condalia velutina'', known as zarcigüil, zarzagüil or asebuche, is a species of thorny shrub of the Rhamnaceae family endemic to Mexico. Description The bush usually has heights from 2 to 5 meters high with primary branches of 15 to 35 ce ...

Croton ciliatoglandulifer ''Croton ciliatoglandulifer'', known as the bush croton or Mexican croton, is a plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were no ...

'', and ''

Zaluzania augusta ''Zaluzania'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. ; Species All the species are native to Mexico; one also crosses the border into the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as th ...

'' var. ''rzedowskii''. Tropical dry forest is composed of trees from 4 to 12 meters high which typically lose their leaves during the dry season. Multi-trunked trees are common, and several species have bright-colored exfoliating bark. Typical dry forest tree species in the park include ''

Bursera fagaroides ''Bursera fagaroides'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Bursera'' known by the common names torchwood copal and fragrant bursera.

Bursera palmeri ''Bursera'' is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size up to high. It is the type genus for Burseraceae. The trees are native (often for many species endemic) to the Americas, from the southern Uni ...

Cedrela dugesii ''Cedrela'' is a genus of several species in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. They are evergreen or dry-season deciduous trees with pinnate leaves, native to the tropical and subtropical New World, from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina. ...

, Ipomoea murucoides,

Erythrina coralloides ''Erythrina coralloides'' (flame coral tree, naked coral tree) is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to eastern Mexico. It ranges from Tamaulipas south to Oaxaca, and some taxonomists believe it is also native ...

Lysiloma divaricatum ''Lysiloma divaricatum'' is a flowering tree native to Mexico and Central America. Common names include mauto, quitaz, and tepemesquite in Mexico, quebracho in Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, and quebracho negro, tepemisque, and yaje in El Salv ...

Senna polyantha Senna may refer to: Individuals * Ayrton Senna (1960–1994), Brazilian F1 driver and triple World Champion * Bruno Senna (born 1983), F1 driver and nephew of Ayrton Senna * Danzy Senna (born 1970), novelist * Lorraine Senna, American film and ...

'', and ''

Zanthoxylum fagara ''Zanthoxylum fagara'' or wild lime, is a species of flowering plant that—despite its name—is not part of the genus ''Citrus'' with real limes and other fruit, but is a close cousin in the larger citrus family, Rutaceae. It is native to sout ...

''. The dry forest understory is mostly herbs, including ''

Rivina humilis ''Rivina humilis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Petiveriaceae. It was formerly placed in the pokeweed family, Phytolaccaceae. It can be found in the southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, and tropical South Amer ...

''. Climbing vines are common, and the

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s ''

Tillandsia recurvata ''Tillandsia recurvata'', commonly known as small ballmoss or ball moss, is a flowering plant (not a true moss) in the family Bromeliaceae that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidit ...

'' and '' Tillandsia calothyrsus'' grow in the tree canopy. Induced pasture grows in disturbed areas, including areas that were overgrazed by livestock and quarried for ''tezontle''. Grasses up to 30 cm high are the predominant plants, with ''

Melinis repens ''Melinis repens'' is a species of grass known by the common names rose Natal grass, Natal red top, or simply Natal grass. It is native to southern Africa and an introduced species, often considered a noxious weed, on other continents such as No ...

Chloris gayana ''Chloris gayana'' is a species of grass known by the common name Rhodes grass. It is native to Africa but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world as a naturalized species. It can grow in many types of habitat. It is also c ...

Cynodon dactylon ''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Although it is not native to Bermuda, it is an abundant invasi ...

Bromus carinatus ''Bromus carinatus'' is a species of brome grass known by the common names California brome and mountain brome. Distribution It is native to western North America from Alaska to northern Mexico, where it can be found in many types of habitat. It ...

, Setaria grisebachii'', and '' Sporobolus atrovirens'' the most common species, along with scattered shrubs of ''

Eysenhardtia polystachya ''Eysenhardtia polystachya'', the kidneywood, is a tree from Mexico, growing along forest edges and water courses at elevations of 150–3000 m. Previously it was used as a source of lignum nephriticum. References * polystachya ...

''. There are also reforested areas, which include many introduced species from elsewhere in Mexico and around the world.

References

{{National parks of Mexico National parks of Mexico Protected areas of Querétaro Bajío dry forests