Flora and Fauna
More than 500 species of plants have been identified in the wilderness as well as 122 species of wildlife. The highest elevations have a subalpine environment with barren, rocky slopes and stunted red fir trees, while middle and lower elevations have stands of mixed conifers such as white fir, Jeffrey pine and incense cedar as well as black oak. Mountain-mahogany grows on exposed ridges in the wilderness and is a food source for the black-tailed deer. Rare native plants include Sonoma manzanita (Arctostaphylos canescens ssp. sonomensis) on Snow Mountain East, on St John's Mountain is the endemic annual herb bentflower fiddleneck (Amsinckia lunaris).
Other wildlife include black bear, mountain lion, spotted owl and game birds like California quail, sooty grouse and bandtailed pigeon.
Read more about this topic: Snow Mountain Wilderness
Famous quotes containing the words flora and/or fauna:
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)