Zion National Park Plants

Native Plant Restoration

Over 100 species of plants growing in Zion National Park did not occur here until European settlement in the mid 1800s. Resource managers are actively removing the most aggressive non-native species. Additionally, through a generous grant from the National Park Foundation and the Canon Corporation, the park will be constructing a greenhouse and nursery where native plants will be grown for restoration projects. Campers in Watchman Campground loop D will notice colored circles on the ground. They mark the spot where a native plant has been carefully planted. Please help us in this restoration by walking only on pavement or designated trails.

Virgin River Habitat Restoration

Name

Along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, wire cages are visible near the Virgin River. The natural riparian vegetation, such as willows and young cottonwoods, is lacking along much of the river. To restore this habitat the park is planting willow and cottonwood. The cages protect the plants from wildlife who enjoy the fresh young shoots. After the plantings reach a sustainable size the cages will be removed.

Fire in Zion

Fire is a natural part of the environment, as natural as a storm or a strong wind. It has been an integral part of shaping the landscape over the millennia in every way from helping to select the plants you see to aiding the erosion processes which created Zion Canyon.

  • Over the last 150 years humans have tried to manage the land in different ways, always trying to balance our needs with what is best for the ecosystem. At Zion people have logged, grazed, farmed, lived on the land and suppressed fires as a part of these practices. Each activity had its own impact and these impacts can still be seen today. Since this land became a national park, our needs and priorities for it have changed. We have learned a great deal about the long term impacts of our practices in the past and are trying to reduce them wherever possible. The wise use of fire is an important tool in this effort.
  • Though fire histories done in and near the park have shown that fire is an important part of Zion’s natural history, for many years people have feared and suppressed it. This has led to an accumulation of litter on the forest floor which would fuel a fire at a higher intensity than in the days before fire suppression. Higher intensity fires present hazards to the plants, animals, soils, and humans living in these areas. They are also more dangerous and costly to manage or suppress, which can present a hazard to the firefighters and taxpayers alike!
  • The Zion Fire Management Program uses fire and other management techniques to help reduce these hazards and restore balance to our ecosystems.

Managing Wildland Fires

Fires have burned on the plateaus above Zion Canyon for millions of years. Ponderosa pine forests are sustained by fires which usually start from lightning strikes. All fires were considered destructive until recently and were put out, creating unnatural changes in the forest ecosystem. To return forests to a more natural state, managers now use fire as a tool. Since 1991 almost 10,000 acres have been burned in the park. All fires are closely monitored to learn more about their ecological importance and to insure visitor safety.

  • Fire is a natural part of the environment, as natural as a storm or a strong wind. It has been an integral part of shaping the landscape over the millennia in every way from helping to select the plants you see to aiding the erosion processes which created Zion Canyon.
  • Over the last 150 years humans have tried to manage the land in different ways, always trying to balance our needs with what is best for the ecosystem. At Zion people have logged, grazed, farmed, lived on the land and suppressed fires as a part of these practices. Each activity had its own impact and these impacts can still be seen today. Since this land became a National Park, our needs and priorities for it have changed. We have learned a great deal about the long term impacts of our practices in the past and are trying to reduce them wherever possible. The wise use of fire is an important tool in this effort.
  • Though fire histories done in and near the park have shown that fire is an important part of Zion’s natural history, for many years people have feared and suppressed it. This has led to an accumulation of litter on the forest floor which would fuel a fire at a higher intensity than in the days before fire suppression. Higher intensity fires present hazards to the plants, animals, soils, and humans living in these areas. They are also more dangerous and costly to manage or suppress, which can present a hazard to the firefighters and taxpayers alike!
  • The Zion Fire Management Program uses fire and other management techniques to help reduce these hazards and restore balance to our ecosystems.

Plants

NameLocated on the Colorado Plateau, but bordering the Basin and Range Province, Zion is home to plants from both regions. Sedimentation, uplift, and erosion have resulted in elevations ranging from 3600 to 8700 feet. The unique geology of massive cliff walls has created such diverse environments as: deserts, canyons, slickrock, hanging gardens, riparian, and high plateaus. Zion National Park contains 900-plus plant species. Below is a list of some of the more common species.

To help you identify Zion‘s plants, the naturalist staff recommends beginning with the following books, available at the Visitor Centers:

  • Wildflowers of Zion National Park, S. L. Welsh
  • Plants of Zion National Park, R. Nelson (reference copy only)
  • Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Deserts, J. E. Bower

Trees

  • Birch Family
  • Black/Water birch
  • Elm Family
  • Hackberry
  • Juniper Family
  • Arizona cypress
  • Utah juniper
  • Rocky Mountain juniper
  • Maple Family
  • Bigtooth maple
  • Boxelder
  • Oak or Beech Family
  • Gambel oak
  • Shrub live oak
  • Wavyleaf oak
  • Olive Family
  • Singleleaf ash
  • Desert/Velvet ash
  • Paradise Tree Family
  • Tree of heaven
  • Pea Family
  • New Mexico locust
  • Black locust
  • Pine Family
  • White fir
  • Piñon
  • Single-leaf piñon
  • Ponderosa pine
  • Douglas fir
  • Rose Family
  • Apple tree
  • Pear tree
  • Tamarix Family
  • Tamarisk
  • Willow Family
  • Fremont cottonwood
  • Quaking aspen
  • Willow (11)

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Shrubs

  • Agave Family
  • Datil yucca
  • Utah yucca
  • Barberry Family
  • Creeping mahonia
  • or Oregon grape
  • Buckwheat Family
  • Golden eriogonum
  • Cashew/Sumac Family
  • Squawbush
  • Poison ivy
  • Composite Family
  • Old man sagebrush
  • Big sagebrush
  • Waterwillow (2)
  • Rabbitbrush (5)
  • Broom/Snakeweed
  • Bush encelia
  • Dogwood Family
  • Red-osier dogwood
  • Goosefoot Family
  • Four-wing saltbush
  • Grape Family
  • Canyon grape
  • Heath Family
  • Manzanita (2)
  • Honeysuckle Family
  • Elderberry (2)
  • Snowberry (3)
  • Joint-Fir Family
  • Mormon tea (3)
  • Mint Family
  • Desert sage
  • Mustard Family
  • Prince’s Plume
  • Oleaster Family
  • Russian olive
  • Roundleaf buffaloberry

Herbs

  • Bellflower Family
  • Cardinal flower
  • Borage Family
  • Yellow forget-me-not
  • Golden cryptanth (10 other)
  • Puccoon (3)
  • Buckwheat Family
  • Slickrock sulfurflower
  • Zion desert trumpet
  • White-flowered
  • Thompson eriogonum
  • Wild rhubarb
  • Buttercup Family
  • Golden columbine
  • Western columbine
  • Larkspur (3)
  • Sand buttercup (6 other)
  • Cactus Family
  • Purple torch
  • Hedgehog cactus
  • Claret cup (2)
  • Utah beavertail
  • Cholla (2)
  • Engelmann prickly pear
  • Cliff prickly pear
  • Prickly pear (5)
  • Caper Family
  • Yellow beeplant
  • Cattail Family
  • Cattail (2)
  • Composite Family
  • Western yarrow
  • Pussy toes (4)
  • Tansy aster (2)
  • Glaucous aster
  • Siskiyou aster (3 other)
  • Desert marigold (2)
  • Arrowleaf balsamroot
  • Arizona thistle
  • New Mexico thistle
  • Utah thistle (5 other)
  • Utah daisy
  • Zion daisy (12 other)
  • Sunflower (6)
  • Goldenaster (3)
  • Broom senecio (6 other)
  • Goldenrod (6)
  • Wirelettuce (3)
  • Goatsbeard (2)
  • Duckweed Family
  • Duckweed
  • Evening-Primose Family
  • Yellow day primrose
  • White tufted evening primrose
  • Pale evening-primrose
  • Hummingbird trumpet
  • Figwort Family
  • Early paintbrush
  • Giant red paintbrush
  • Wyoming paintbrush
  • Slickrock paintbrush
  • Scarlet monkeyflower (6 other)
  • Eaton penstemon
  • Low penstemon
  • Jones penstemon
  • Royal penstemon
  • Palmer penstemon
  • Utah penstemon (10 other)
  • Flannel mullein
  • Flax Family
  • Lewis/Blue flax (2 other)
  • Four O’clock Family
  • Fragrant sand verbena
  • Colorado four o’clock
  • Gentian Family
  • Elkweed
  • Whitemargin gentian
  • Geranium Family
  • Filaree
  • Wild geranium
  • Goosefoot Family
  • Russian thistle
  • Gourd Family
  • Wild or Coyote gourd
  • Lily Family
  • Tapertip onion
  • Patis onion
  • Benstem mariposa
  • Sego lily
  • Bluedicks
  • Death camas (2)
  • False solomon-seal (2)
  • Madder Family
  • Bedstraw (7)
  • Madder
  • Mallow Family
  • Globemallow (4)
  • Milkweed Family
  • Butterfly milkweed (4 other)
  • Mistletoe Family
  • Juniper mistletoe
  • Mustard Family
  • Rockcress (4)
  • Chorispora
  • Zion draba (4 other)
  • Western wallflower
  • Watercress
  • Twinpod (3)
  • Orchid Family
  • Giant helleborine
  • Orpine Family
  • Stonecrop (2)
  • Pea Family
  • Stinking milkvetch
  • Zion milkvetch (21 other)
  • Zion sweetpea (2 other)
  • Deerclover (6)
  • Lupine (8)
  • Thompson peteria
  • Sweet-clover (2)
  • Utah clover (3 other)
  • Vetch (2)
  • Phlox Family
  • Skyrocket or Scarlet gilia
  • Arizona skyrocket
  • Nuttall gilia
  • Desert/Mountain phlox
  • Zion Canyon phlox
  • Pink Family
  • Sandwort (4)
  • Common chickweed
  • Pondweed Family
  • Leafy pondweed
  • Potato Family
  • Sacred datura
  • Groundcherry (2)
  • Nightshade (4)
  • Primose Family
  • Zion shooting star
  • Purslane Family
  • Spring beauty
  • Bitterroot (2)
  • Miners lettuce
  • Rose Family
  • Rockmat/Rockspiraea
  • Saxifrage Family
  • Alumroot
  • Woodland star (2)
  • Spiderwort Family
  • Spiderwort
  • Spurge Family
  • Whitemargin spurge
  • Violet Family
  • Wanderer violet (2 other)
  • Waterleaf Family
  • Phacelia (11)
  • Scorpion weed

GrassesName

  • Grass Family Big bluestem
  • Purple/ Red three-awn
  • Side-oats grama (4 other)
  • Cheatgrass
  • Jones reedgrass
  • Fescue (5)
  • Needle and thread grass
  • Indian ricegrass
  • Rush Family
  • Rush (8)
  • Sedge Family
  • Sedge (12)
  • Bulrush (6)

FERNS & ALLIES

  • Fern Family
  • Maidenhair fern (2)
  • Scouring Rush Family
  • Meadow horsetail
  • Scouring rush (3)

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