Slate Mountain Botanical Area

This account was written by the US Forest Service.

An unusually large variety of very rare wild plants are concentrated on the rocky outcrops and crevices along the 9000’ high ridge of Slate Mountain. Most of the rare plants are found only in a few high alpine meadows in Tulare County. Typically these plants appear briefly after the snow melts flowering for a couple of months in the spring and summer.
The mountain summits are comprised of pre-cretaceous metamorphic and pre-cretaceous metasedimentary rocks surrounded on all sides by Mesozoic granitic rocks which are the common rock type in the Southern Sierra Nevada.

The summits of Slate Mountain are rocky, yet rather flat. It is in these habitats that the rare plants occur.

These species include:
purple mountain parsley        Oreonana purpurascens
Twisselmann’s buckwheat      Eriogonum twisselmannii
Kern Canyon larkspur           Delphiniuim inopinum

Slate Mountain is the type locality for purple mountain parsley which was discovered in 1976. The distribution is highly restrictive (Shevock and Constance, 1979; Shevock and Norris 1981). In fact, this area contains approximately 30% of the known populations.

Twisselmann’s buckwheat is an extremely rare endemic. It was first located on the Needles in 1963 and discovered on Slate Mountain in 1976. Over 90% of its distribution occurs on Slate Mountain. This species is a likely candidate for official listing under the Endangered Species Act (federal) and the California Native Plant Protection Act.

Commonly associated with Twisselmann’s buckwheat and purple mountain parsley is the prostrate pine-mat manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis). The open ridgetops are sparsely dominated with an overstory of red fir and western white pine.

Other interesting plants include:
pine fritillary                      Fritillaria pinetorum
steer’s head                      Dicentra uniflora
Bridge’s cliffbrake              Pellaea bridgesii
pride of the mountain         Penstemon newberryi

Kaweah fawn lily                Erythronium pusaterii

Presently, portions of Slate Mountain are in the proposed Peppermint Ski area. The botanical are boundary might have to be changed to be compatible with a ski facility if it was developed. It is believed, however, that there are potential botanical areas on Slate Mountain that would not be adversely impacted if a ski area were developed.

All information copyright Nature Ali 2006. All rights reserved.