X-Nico

unusual facts about Pinyon-juniper woodland



Celtis reticulata

Celtis reticulata was one of the species analyzed in a pollen core samplng study in northern Arizona, in which the early to late Holocene flora association was reconstructed; this study in the Waterman Mountains-(Pima County-S.East AZ) demonstrated that C. reticulata was found to be present after the Wisconsinan glaciation, but is not a current taxon of this former Pinyon-juniper woodland area which is now in central and northern Arizona.

Emory Peak

High-desert flora and fauna including alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana), pinyon pine (Pinus cembroides), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), prickly pear cacti (Opuntia spp.), Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi), sotol (Dasylirion leiophyllum), and Texas madrone (Arbutus xalapensis) may be seen along the trail.

Kiavah Wilderness

A rare and endemic wildflower, the Walker Pass milkvetch (Astragalus ertterae) of the pea family, grows within the Pinyon-Juniper woodland.

Monardella arizonica

The species has been confirmed to have been native to northern Arizona since at least the Late Wisconsin late glacial period based upon pollen core analysis at the Waterman Mountains (Coconino County) - (not the Waterman Mountains of Pima County); dominant trees of Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus monophylla remain extant species to the present time in this predominantly Pinyon-juniper woodland.

Pinyon pine

The Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) takes its name from the tree, and pinyon nuts form an important part of its diet.

Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests

The dominant species are many species of pine including Nelson Pinyon (Pinus nelsonii), Mexican Pinyon (P. cembroides), Smooth-bark Mexican Pine (P. pseudostrobus), and Arizona Pine (P. arizonica), and the oaks Quercus castanea and Q. affinis.


see also