HABITATS

Natural History, Oct, 2001

Grassy meadows often appear on flat terrain and on west- or south-facing slopes. Slender wheatgrass, nodding brome, fringed brome, oat grass, red fescue, June grass, and mountain muhly are the most abundant species in dry areas. Most of these flower beginning in July and continuing on into autumn. Where a more moist habitat is created by seeps, the grasses include redtop and meadow fox[ail. Above 10,000 feet, Thurber's fescue and alpine timothy are common.

Roads that penetrate the Flat Tops have disturbed the native vegetation, permitting the invasion of European species such as orchard grass and timothy, along with opportunistic wildflowers such as milfoil (yarrow), oxeye daisy, fleabane, Indian paintbrush, and thistles.

Alpine tundra vegetation consists of dwarf willow trees about one foot tall, an abundance of sedges, and various deep-rooted, mat-forming wildflowers. Among these are nailwort, slender mountain sandwort, rock jasmine, and alpine primrose.

Subalpine forest has subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine, and mountain ash. Myrtle-leaved blueberry is the most abundant shrub, while a species of wild rose (Rosa woodsii) and Colorado currant are also common. Wildflowers include larkspurs, Colorado blue columbine (the state flower), several species of beard-tongue (Penstemon), sweet cicely, Jacob's-ladder, and several kinds of Arnica--whose flower heads resemble those of daisies, except that they are entirely yellow or orange.

Montane forest has lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce, with Douglas fir often found on north slopes and ponderosa pine on south slopes. Other trees include aspen and Rocky Mountain maple. The mixture of shrubs and wildflowers is similar to that in the subalpine zone, but wax currant grows here instead of Colorado currant.

Wetland habitat appears along the streams and around the ponds and lakes that dot the plateau. These areas are often lined with Geyer's willow, Wolf's willow, and narrowleaf cottonwood. Red elderberry, snowberry, and a species of prickly currant are common in the shrub zone. Among the wildflowers are a wild geranium, an aster (Aster porteri) with smooth stems and leaves, leafy arnica, yellow monkey flower, meadow rue, and bluebells. The scouring rush, a spore-bearing plant with jointed, leafless stems, is also common.