Trees and Plants

Despite its forbidding name, Death Valley is full of life, with over three million acres of Mojave and Great Basin Desert terrain. Elevations range from 282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin to 11,049 feet on the summit of Telescope Peak. Vegetation varies widely through the zones, and includes creosote bush, desert holly and mesquite at the lower elevations, up through shadscale, blackbrush, Joshua tree, pinyon-juniper, sub-alpine limber pine and bristlecone pine woodlands. Although the saltpan lacks vegetation, and the rest of the valley floor and lower slopes have sparse cover, where there is water, there is usually abundant vegetation. Although the Mojave Desert has plentiful cacti and succulents, they're both scarce in Death Valley because of the extremes in heat, dryness and soil salinity. Even so, cactus grow from an elevation of 400 feet above sea level to the surrounding mountain peaks. Most commonly seen are cottontop barrel, silver cholla and beavertail cactus. Engelmann hedgehog cactus are locally abundant above 3,000 feet. Grizzly bear pricklypear is most common in the pinyon-juniper woodlands. Joshua trees are found in only a few spots in Death Valley; the Lee Flat area contains the park's best stand. Death Valley is famous for its spectacular spring wildflowers, but these displays are not reliable. An abundance of gold, purple, pink and white flowers depends on three conditions: enough rain, enough warmth from the sun, and a lack of drying winds. Although there are