The

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

of the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

and

Canyonlands Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their r ...

region of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. The flora is generally characterized by plant adaptations to the arid conditions of the region, and a wide variation of plant communities from wide variations in elevation and soil types.Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association, The elevation variation results in temperature variation. Differing soil types are largely due to erosion of different sedimentary layers in the canyons, from the layers at lowest point of canyons of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

network, to the top layers of the plateau. Exceptions to flora adapted to aridity occur in lowland riparian areas, at springs, and in

hanging garden A hanging garden is a sustainable landscape architecture, an artistic garden or a small urban farm, attached to or built on a wall. They are mainly found in areas where land is scarce or where the farmer is mobile or not permanent. History The m ...

Plant communities

Salt desert shrub community

The salt desert shrub is a plant community or

vegetation type Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource management, resource and envi ...

found in the

and Canyonlands region. It is characterized by very

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

and saline soils and plants that can tolerate these conditions ( halophytes). Dominant plant species include shadscale ('' Atriplex confertifolia''), greasewood ('' Sarcobatus vermiculatus''), and Mormon tea (''

Ephedra viridis ''Ephedra viridis'', known by the common names green Mormon tea, green ephedra, and Indian tea, is a species of ''Ephedra''. It is indigenous to the Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, ...

'').

Blackbrush scrub community

Sand desert shrub community

The sand desert shrub (SDS) is a plant community, or

, found in the

and Canyonlands region in areas of shifting sands or very sandy soils. Dominant plant species include old man sage ('' Artemisia filifolia''),

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flo ...

, Indian ricegrass ('' Stipa hymenoides''), and wavy leaf oak (''

Quercus welshii ''Quercus welshii'', the wavy leaf oak, shinnery oak, or Tucker oak, is a North American species of shrub in the (Fagaceae, beech family) found in the Flora of the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region, Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region o ...

''). A common characteristic of plants in this community is a very deep and extensive root system, which helps stabilize the sand dunes, or an ability to adjust to the shifting sands. In the Glen Canyon area, it can be found in lower elevation mesas, canyons, and terraces to in elevation.Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante & the Glen Canyon Region, 2nd ed, Ron Adkison

Mixed desert shrub community

Mixed desert shrub is a plant community, or

, found in the

and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States. It is supported by a range of overlapping and intergrading soil types. Characteristic dominant plant species include rubber rabbitbrush ('' Chrysothamnus nauseosus''), fourwinged saltbrush (''

Atriplex canescens ''Atriplex canescens'' (or chamiso, chamiza, four-wing saltbush) is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae native to the western and midwestern United States. Description ''Atriplex canescens'' has a highly variable form, and ...

''), blackbrush ('' Coleogyne ramosissima''), and dwarf mountain mahogany ('' Cercocarpus intricatus''). It is generally located at the elevation belt (zone) above sand desert shrub and below cool desert shrub.

Pinyon juniper woodland community

Mountain brush community

Mountain brush is a plant community or

of the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region. It covers large parts of the mountain foothills and shaded canyons in areas below the Ponderosa pine community. It is characterized by dominance by shrubby Gambel's Oak ('' Quercus gambelii''), Utah serviceberry ('' Amelanchier utahensis''), sagebrush ('' Artemisia tridentata''), and mountain mahogany ('' Cercocarpus montanus'').

Ponderosa pine forest

References

{{Flora of the United States by political division, state=expanded

Colorado Plateau