El Potosí National Park is a protected area in northwestern Mexico. It is located in

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

.It has an area of 20 km². The park was established in 1936 by president

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

Geography

The park is located in the Serrania de Rioverde, part of the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

. It is west of the city of Rioverde. The terrain is rugged and often steep, ranging from 1,500 to 2,480 meters elevation. El Cuatesoncito is the highest peak in the park.CONANP (2016). ''Programa de Manejo Parque Nacional El Potosí''. Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP), Government of Mexico, December 2016

/ref> The park is in the watershed of the Río Verde (San Luis Potosi), Río Verde, a tributary of the

Panuco River Panuco may refer to: ;Places *Pánuco (disambiguation) Pánuco may refer to the following places in Mexico: *Pánuco (province) *Pánuco, Veracruz **Pánuco Municipality, Veracruz *Pánuco, Zacatecas *Pánuco de Coronado Municipality, Durango *Pá ...

. The park's forests are important to the hydrology of the region, helping moderate rainfall runoff and protect water quality.

Climate

The climate is mostly montane and semi-arid, with an annual average temperature between 12 and 18 °C. Temperatures in the coldest month range from -3 to 18 °C, and the temperature in the hottest month is less than 22 °C. The western portion of the park is generally warmer, with an average annual temperature between 18 and 22 °C. Rainfall is heaviest in the summer months. Atlantic hurricanes occasionally come ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, bringing intense rain and causing flooding in the region. The park experienced a severe drought from 2010 to 2012.

Flora and fauna

The predominant plant community is

pine–oak forest Pine–oak forest, pine–oak woodland, or oak–pine forest is a group of similar of ecosystems, primarily found in North and Central America. These areas are dominated by pine and oak trees. Under the Forest-Range Environmental Study Ecosystem ...

. 285 species of wild plants, classed in 207 genera and 84 families, are found in the park. Characteristic tree species include

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s ('' Quercus resinosa,

Quercus potosina ''Quercus potosina'' is a species of oak. It is native to northern Mexico, from Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Durango, and Jalisco east as far as San Luis Potosí. It is placed in Quercus sect. Quercus, ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus''. Descript ...

'', and ''

Quercus laeta ''Quercus laeta'' is an oak species in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'', in the beech family. It is widespread across much of Mexico from Sinaloa and Nuevo León south as far as Oaxaca. Description ''Quercus laeta'' is a ...

''), pines (''

Pinus pseudostrobus ''Pinus pseudostrobus'', known in English as the smooth-bark Mexican pine and in Spanish as ''chamite'' or ''pacingo'', is a tree found in forests of Mexico and Central America. It is 8 to 25 m tall with a dense and round top.It is threatened b ...

'' and ''

Pinus teocote A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

''), madroño (''

Arbutus xalapensis ''Arbutus xalapensis'', commonly known as the Texas madrone, Amazaquitl, or Texas madroño, is a species of flowering plant in the heather family. It is native to Central America, the southwestern United States (western Texas and New Mexico), an ...

'', lantrisco ('' Rhus virens''), bodero (''

Dodonaea viscosa ''Dodonaea viscosa'', also known as the broadleaf hopbush, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Dodonaea'' (hopbush) genus that has a cosmopolitan distribution in Tropics, tropical, Subtropics, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa ...

''), and laurel (''

Litsea schaffneri ''Litsea'' is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes a large number of accepted species in tropical and subtropical areas of North America and Asia. Characteristics They a ...

''). Other characteristic plants include yerbanís (''

Tagetes lucida ''Tagetes lucida'' is a perennial plant native to Mexico and Central America. It is used as a medicinal plant and as a culinary herb. The leaves have a tarragon-like scent, with hints of anise, and it has entered the nursery trade in North A ...

''), acedia (''Ageratum corymbosum'') carrestolianda (''Senecio aschenbornianus''), and calaguala (''

Polypodium aureum ''Phlebodium aureum'' (golden polypody, golden serpent fern, cabbage palm fern, gold-foot fern, blue-star fern, hare-foot fern; syn. ''Polypodium aureum'', ''Polypodium leucotomos'') is an epiphytic fern native to tropical and subtropical region ...

''). Three locally-occurring species are accorded special protection by the government – ''

Ferocactus histrix ''Ferocactus histrix'', also known as Acitrón barrel cactus (''Biznaga barril de acitrón'') is a species of Ferocactus native to central Mexico. It is a large barrel cactus that can be commonly found throughout all the Central Mexican matorral. ...

'', a cactus locally known as borrachitas biznaga, the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

Laelia speciosa ''Laelia speciosa'', also known as the Mayflower orchid, is a species of orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragra ...

'', known as laelia de mayo or mayito, and the

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

Ceratozamia zaragozae ''Ceratozamia zaragozae'' is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to the Rio Verde in El Capulín, San Luis Potosí state in northeastern Mexico. It is a Critically endangered species, threatened by habitat loss Habita ...

'', locally known as palmita. The drought of 2010–2012 weakened many trees, making them vulnerable to pine bark beetles (''

Dendroctonus ''Dendroctonus'' is a genus of bark beetles. It includes several species notorious for destroying trees in the forests of North America. The genus has a symbiotic relationship with many different yeasts, particularly those in the genera ''Candida ...

'' sp.) Many pine trees, especially young ones, died, particularly in the northern and southern portions of the park.

References

{{National parks of Mexico, state=collapsed National parks of Mexico Protected areas of San Luis Potosí Protected areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental