Grand Canyon National Park has three distinct forest communities. From 4,200 feet up to 6,200 feet there is a woodland consisting of pinyon pine and one seed and Utah junipers. Other species in this woodland include big sagebrush, snakeweed, Mormon tea, cliffrose, apache plume, Utah agave, narrowleaf and banana yucca, snakeweed, winterfat, Indian ricegrass, dropseed, and needlegrass. Above the woodland between elevations of 6,500 and 8,200 feet on both the North and South rims is a forest characterized by ponderosa pine. Other typical plants in this community are Gambel oak, New Mexico locust, mountain mahogany, elderberry, creeping mahonia, and fescue. Another forest type is found on the North Rim above 8,200 feet. This is a spruce-fir forest, characterized by Englemann spruce, blue spruce, Douglas fir, white fir, aspen, and mountain ash. Associated plants include several species of perennial grasses, groundsels, yarrow, cinquefoil, lupines, sedges, and asters.
Related Information
Grand Canyon Exotic Plant List
Grand Canyon Plant List
Guide to the Special Status Plants of Grand Canyon
List of Special Status Plants of Grand Canyon
NAU Forest Fire Website
Report on Inventory and Monitoring of Ecosystems on the Southern Colorado Plateau
Research on Wildfire Hazard Reduction in Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems at Grand Canyon National
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