Plants

Just as the smell of fresh cut grass tells you what is growing in the yard nearby, your sense of smell can help you identify some of the plants at Mount Rushmore. Some wildflowers have evolved to have very pleasant and sweet smells to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. Other plants smell sour or rotten to attract different pollinators like flies.

Trees and grasses can have distinct smells also. Smell can help you to discover something new. The Black Hills is a unique ecosystem where several plant ranges overlap. You can find northern, southern, eastern and western plants growing together in the Black Hills. The ponderosa pine is common in the western United States. Using your sense of smell you can easily identify the ponderosa pine trees that dominate the landscape in the Black Hills. Look for a tall pine tree with reddish bark. If it has long needles you may be looking at a ponderosa pine. Now walk right up to the tree and smell the bark. Does it smell sweet like vanilla or butterscotch? You have a ponderosa pine! Your sense of smell can help you identify plants at home and elsewhere.

 

 

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

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All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

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Species attribute definitions

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