1.
A Brief Tour through the Geology & Endemic
Botany of the Klamath-Siskiyou Range
February, 2018
Mark MadsenImage: BLM

2.
The big picture

3.
Why is this area special?
Where else do you have:
▪ The highest tree diversity in the continental US?
▪ An apex forest that is neither conifer nor deciduous?
▪ The highest plant diversity on the west coast?
▪ The highest butterfly diversity outside of the sub-
tropical southeastern US?
▪ Bird diversity?
▪ Geological diversity?
Why do you have this?
• Soils and geology, latitude and climate, geography

4.
Where Oregon came from

5.
Notes

6.
Looking across the landscape from east to west
There is repetition of strata
There are jumbled sections
Volcanism and erosion made a mess

7.
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
This is a small national
monument to protect a
biologically diverse area at the
eastern edge of tonight’s
program.
CSNM Monument info
The BLM Flickr page has great
pictures of just how beautiful
the landscape is.

8.
www.flickr.com/photos/26035675@N04/2495937762

9.
Welcome to Mt. Ashland,
elevation 7,533’
www.flickr.com/photos/26035675@N04/2495937762

10.
Siskiyou and Klamath, higher elevation south
Pilot Rock, Porcupine Mountain, Hobart Bluffs
Grizzly Peak
Mount Ashland and Grouse Gap
Dutchman Peak and Observation Peak
Cook and Green Pass
Sucker Creek Gap

11.
CSNM and surroundings near Pilot Rock

12.
Pilot Rock to Porcupine Mountain (PCT)

13.
Pilot Rock

14.
You will see the great
basin influence here,
particularly on the
southern slopes, with
genera like artemisia,
ericameria, prunus.
Higher up and to the
east you can find
remnant pinus
lambertiana forest in
little fragments of
regrowth.

15.
Cercocarpus ledifolius

16.
Fritillaria pudica Heuchra sp

17.
Pilot rock, south slope, porcupine creek

18.
Coring populus trichocarpa, lower creek in CA

19.
East and north toward Klamath NWF, high desert

20.
Grizzly peak, northeast of the CSNM

21.
Grizzly peak, northeast of the CSNM

22.
Ribes cereum

23.
Anemone oregana

24.
Fritillaria atropurpurea

25.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes on one trail
Ribes cereum

26.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes…
Ribes sanguineum

27.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes…
Ribes lobbii

28.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes…
Ribes viscosissimum

29.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes…
Ribes lacustre

30.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes…
Ribes roezlii

31.
Diversity: Sure are a lot of ribes…
Ribes sp

32.
Botanists with allium
siskiyouense
Lewisia leana

33.
Detour: with plant diversity comes butterfly diversity
Sorry, no time for butterfly review.
They’re too hard to catch anyway.Photo: KSWild

34.
Skipper on Trichostema lanceolatum
Hyalophora euryalus
Butterflies give you a sense of plant diversity and what oak woodlands support

35.
exciting

36.
boring

37.
or not

38.
Fritillaries everywhere

39.
lepidopterist sanguinum

40.
Mt. Ashland east to Grouse Gap and Dutchman Peak

41.
Cephalanthera austiniae Dry meadow

42.
Mt Ashleand meadows, great
meadows on a short PCT hike

43.
Aconitum columbianum

44.
Subalpine zone

45.
Lupinus lepidus

46.
Orthocarpus
cuspidatus,
ssp cuspidatus

47.
horkelia hendersonii

48.
Dutchman peak meadow looking south
to Mt. Shasta. Area is lousy with flowers.

49.
Cook & Green Pass, Red Buttes

50.
quercus sadlerianaPCT, flora
Corylus cornuta ssp. californica

51.
Asarum caudatum

52.
Cypripedium
montanum

53.
Triteleia crocea

54.
A lot of mimulus nanus

55.
Lewisia cotyledon

56.
Lilium bolanderi

57.
Cuscuta gronovii,
because something
has to eat all these
flowering plants

58.
The lower elevation north and east
Table Rocks ACEC (and Whetstone Savannah)
Starvation Heights
King Mountain ACEC
Rogue River and Briggs Creek

59.
Table Rocks ACEC

60.
Aerial view of what makes it unique: habitats
http://lomakatsi.org/news-coming-events/table-rocks-2-8-15/
White oak savanna Chapparal Black oak-pine-madrone woodland
Mounded prairie Rock outcrop / cliff

61.
White oak savanna

62.
Sisyrinchium bellum

63.
Fritillaria recurva

64.
Meadow and chaparral

65.
Camassia leichtliniI forgot

66.
Mounded prairie

67.
Vernal pools

68.
Downingia yina

69.
Lomatium piperi

70.
Trifolium depauperatum

71.
Limnanthes floccosa ssp pumila
Limnanthes pumila spp grandiflora

72.
Endangered fairy shrimp, among other things

73.
Starvation Heights, Evans Creek Valley
Oregon is well known for some genera: erythronium, fritillaria, irises
Quite a few are in lower elevation forests
BLM gate at the end of Earhart road. Start walking either up the road or off on a trail.

74.
Linanthus, madia exigua, and wtf.
Note lack of eurasian grasses

75.
erythronium oreganumerythronium citrinum

76.
erythronium hendersonii!erythronium hendersonii?

77.
Fritillaria affinis

78.
Fritiillaria recurvaFrittilaria affinis
Simple addition…

79.
Fritillaria gentneri!
Equals…

80.
Tritelia hendersonii

81.
calochortus tolmiei

82.
Rupertia physoides

83.
Sisyrinchium douglasii

84.
Viola sheltonii
cleistogamous flower!

85.
Chlorogalum pomeridianum var pomeridianum

86.
Perideridia gairdneri

87.
Western fence lizard

88.
Surprise, even the lizards are flowers here

89.
King Mountain
We’re approaching the northern extreme, getting close the Umpqua basin, and
out of the Siskiyou range. We’ll turn west and south from here.

90.
King Mountain peak

91.
Mixed pine-madrone-black oak

92.
Western fence lizardWolf Creek, west to the Kalmiopsis

93.
Rogue River trail, south

94.
Rogue River trail

95.
Rogue River trail, Briggs creek

96.
Why did we walk all that way?

97.
Kalmiopsis leachiana (Norm Jensen)

98.
Cave Junction areas
Squaw Mountain
8 Dollar Mountain
Babyfoot Lake
Tennessee Mountain and Josephine Creek
Woodcock Mountain
Rough and Ready creek

99.
Basically, it’s a mess down there

100.
Eight Dollar Mountain, Fiddler Peak, Babyfoot Lake
the central and south kalmiopsis area

101.
Squaw Mountain showing serpentine barren, granitic intrusion

102.
Rogue River trailTennessee Mountain, further south

103.
Lifeless serpentine barren

104.
Serpentine barren

105.
Rogue River trailThings try harder here

106.
Day’s Gulch, opp Eight Dollar, sisyrinchium idahoense var occidentale

107.
Thlaspi montanum

108.
lewisia oppositifolia

109.
Arabis macdonaldiana

110.
Fritillaria glauca, Fiddler Mtn

111.
Darlingtonia californica fen

112.
Darlingtonia californica

113.
Pinguicula vulgaris ssp macroceras (bloom

114.
Lilium pardilinum ssp vollmeriHastingsia serpenticola

115.
Darlingtonia californica fen, rudbeckia (Jensen)

116.
Epipactis gigantea

117.
Castilleja miniata ssp elata
downingia bacigalupi

118.
dicentra f ssp oregana sm
Viola hallii, viola cuneatus

119.
I lost my notes so…

120.
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

121.
What you mostly see
when hiking through
chamaecyparis
lawsoniana is this, due
to phytophtera lateralis.
This will have a drastic
impact on the
landscape at large,
particularly in steeper
riparian areas.

122.
South KS range and Smith River drainage

123.
Ice age relicts
callitropsis nootkatensis
picea breweriana

124.
The climate changes as you head toward the passes.
90 degrees here, 65 degrees on the other side

125.
North fork, Smith River, in the
199 pass to Crescent City

126.
Jedediah Smith
state park

127.
Sequoia
sempervirens

128.
Oregon coast near Brookings

129.
New soil being prepared for new plants

130.
History and geology

131.
Some history and botany in non-serpentine

132.
Rare plants and a nice picture list for Grizzly Peak
(and nearby)

133.
The authoritative source (until Oregon Flora…)

134.
Butterflies, bees and wasps

135.
Some organizations where you can learn more before visiting
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center
https://www.kswild.org/
The Siskiyou Field Institute
http://www.thesfi.org/index.asp
NPSO Southern Oregon Chapter
https://www.facebook.com/SiskiyouChapterNativePlantS
ocietyOfOregon/
USFS has some helpful info
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/serpentines/c
enter/rareplants.shtml