Lava Falls Trail Stop #6

Life survives and thrives in unexpected shapes on the lava flows.

Quick Facts

Location:

34° 44’ 16.8”; -107° 58’ 55.5”

Significance:

Stop 6 of 9

Although lava rock does not have many nutrients for plants to use, the McCartys lava creates a reservoir of precious water plants need to survive. Water trickles through the cracks of the rock and collects beneath the lava while still protected from the intense sunlight and wind.

Trees find enough water and nutrients below the lava to survive, but not enough to reach the lofty heights of trees found off lava flows.  In non-lava habitats, ponderosa pine can grow up to two hundred feet (61 meters) tall and grow straight upwards, and pinon pines can grow 10-20 feet (3-6 meters) tall and grows at crooked angles.  How do the trees around you compare? 

Many other plants also find this as a suitable environment.  Hedgehog cacti and claret cup cacti bloom in late spring.  Other wildflowers such as Apache plume and vervain appear as summer storms bring more water, and plants like New Mexico olive and rubber rabbitbrush bloom into late autumn. Is anything blooming around you today?