Mixed coniferous forest is a vegetation type dominated by a mixture of

broadleaf tree A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with ne ...

s and

conifers Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...

.Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd ed, 2013, p 13–14 It is generally located in mountains, below the

upper montane The upper montane forest is a vegetation type generally found above the mixed coniferous forest and below the subalpine forest vegetation types. Most of what grows in upper montane forests are conifers, because of the short growing season. Pike an ...

vegetation type.

Sierra Nevada range

In the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountain range of the western United States, the mixed coniferous forest is found at elevations of in the north, in central areas, and in the south. Characteristic conifers include Ponderosa Pine (''

Pinus ponderosa ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

''), Sugar Pine ('' Pinus lambertiana''), Incense Cedar ('' Calocedrus decurrens''), White Fir ('' Abies concolor''), Douglas Fir ('' Pseudotsuga menziesii''), and Giant Sequoias ('' Sequoiadendron giganteum'') in pockets. Characteristic broadleaved trees include Black Oak ('' Quercus kelloggii''), and

understory trees In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, including Canyon Live Oak ('' Quercus chrysolepis''), Dogwood ( ''Cornus'' spp.), Mountain Misery ('' Chamaebatia foliolosa''), and Manzanitas ( ''Arctostaphylos'' spp.). Precipitation in areas of this vegetation type is , much of this falling as snow. Growing season is about seven months, in areas with summer high temperatures of , and winter lows of .

References

{{Authority control Forests Montane forests * Terrestrial biomes *

Sierra Nevada range

See also

See also

References