Much of the beauty of Yellowstone National park is provided by the plant cover draped across its mountains and valleys. Standing on a high point in the park, such as Mount Washburn, one can see below a rich tapestry of colors. Most pieces of the mosaic are subtle shades of green that differ very little from their neighbors. Close obsrevation, however, reveals darker, bluish green Douglas-fir stands; and yellowish green young lodgepole pine stands. These stands form sharp contrasts against the browns and blacks of recently burned forests, the righ green of meadows, or the gray of alpine ridges.

These different plant communities provide homes and food for a wide variety of animals ranging from the magnificent grizzly bear to minute insects and an animal's presence is often a direct result of the plant species growing in an area. The ability of plants to capture sunlight and convert it to chemical energy supports the larger herds of elk, bison, deer, and bighorn sheep that attract our attention. ...vegetation is intertwined with most of the magic that is Yellowstone.

Excerpt from Yellowstone Vegetation by Don G. Despain, Roberts Rinehart Publishers, Reproduced with permission.

Yellowstone Sand Verbena