Guide to the Plants of the Wallowa Mountains of Northeastern Oregon

 

Product Description

This flora covers the flora of the Wallowa Mountains of northeast Oregon. Editions have been published in 1975, 1980 and 2001. Locating this book may not always be easy, but contacting the University of Oregon Press or the Museum of Natural History of the University of Oregon would be the best bet. You can also generally find a used copy on Amazon. Included is a general discussion of the natural history of the Wallowa Mountains including the fascinating geology, vegetation zones and botanical history. Floral keys are provided along with species descriptions, illustrations, glossary of terms and an index. This is the only treatment of the flora of the Wallowa Mountains and it is fairly complete.

The Wallowa Mountains are geographically situated as an ecological crossroads in the inland Pacific Northwest. As such several plant species are represented from far off locales such as the Northern Rockies, Pacific Coast, Sierra Mountains, and Great Basins. The reason for these interesting occurrences has to do with changing climate through time and the high nature of the mountains. As cooler climes rise and fall on the globe, high mountains provide island cool refuges that allow habitats to ascend and descend on the slopes as the overall climate changes through time. At different times various species will find climate favorable over larger areas and have broad distributions, but when the climate changes and habitat recedes, outposts of species occurrences remain in these sheltered mountain refuges. Another interesting factor of the Wallowa flora is the extreme number of endemic species that occur nowhere else. Reasons for this can be contributed to the unique geology of the mountains and the relative isolation of the formation of the range that has kept some evolutionary lines separated.

Writing a flora for this small, but botanically rich region would be a daunting task, but Georgia Mason has done a wonderful work for those interested in the natural history of northeast Oregon and mountain flora in general.

Product Details

Paperback: 428 pages
Publisher: University of Oregon Press (December 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0871140381
ISBN-13: 978-0871140388
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds

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