River and Desert Plants of Grand Canyon
River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon, is the first-ever comprehensive Grand Canyon plant guide. Authors Kristin Huisinga, Lori Makarick and Kate Watters work with over eighty collaborators to create content devoted to the plants that live below the canyon rims. The guide features beautiful color photographs and detail line drawings of more than 250 ferns, grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees. In addition, narratives organize by common family names to describe each plant and its natural history. Thumbnail photographs arrange by flower color and shape to offer an easy identification key. Lastly, the book contains essays written by contributing experts on Grand Canyon ecology, desert-plant adaptations, biological soil crust, plant pollination, invasive species and domesticated plants of the canyon’s indigenous people. Most of all, this Grand Canyon plant guide is easy to use for novice plant enthusiasts but interesting and thorough enough for experienced botanists.
Unique Area Creates Plant Diversity Galore
The unique and diverse habitats in the Grand Canyon create an unusual assemblage of plants. The Grand Canyon sits at the convergence of three North American deserts: the Mojave, the Sonoran, and the Great Basin. The Grand Canyon is isolated and spans over 5000 feet in elevation. Some plants grow only at seeps and springs, others emerge from cracks in the bedrock. A few only grow on certain slopes and in particular soils and some live only in the Grand Canyon.
Keep Your Grand Canyon Plant Guide Handy
You may find this book in the camp library or pick up your own copy from Red River Sports to keep in your backpack for quick and easy reference. If you love plant identification, this is an essential book to have as part of your gear.
A lot of raft guests ask, “When is the best time of year for viewing wildflowers?” We see wildflowers and cactus blooms all year, however, April and May are spectacular times to view flowering plants. Springtime brings blooming flowers like these three easy-to-identify blooms. Some years the slopes are literally bursting with color from the brittlebush!