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The
Plants of Kamiak Butte:
 Kamiak
Butte, a quartzite steptoe, stands distinctively about 1000 feetabove
the Palouse hills between the towns of Colfax, Palouse, andPullman.
The Whitman County Park at Kamiak Butte provides thecommunities
of Washington StateUniversity
and the Palouse region with easy access to native flora.The plant
diversity on Kamiak Butte is great because the north slope iscovered
by forest communities centered on grand fir, Douglas fir, andponderosa
pine and the south slope is a steppe community. A hiking trailin
the county park extends through portions of the various forest
andsteppe vegetation communities.
Plants
by family | Plants
by genus | Weeds
of Kamiak Butte | Annotated
bibliography | Plants
of Moscow Mountain | Herbarium
homepage
This website provides information on the plants of Kamiak Butte.
A list of the vascular
plants of Kamiak Butte is available in two forms: 1. arranged
by plant family, and 2. arranged
by genus. Both lists provide scientific (binomial) and common
names for the vascular plants known to be on the butte as well as
information on the habitats in which they are located. The list
of plants was modified from a floristic study of Kamiak Butte by
J.
Fiely (1979). Select highlighted names from either of the plant
lists to see photographs and obtain additional information about
the plants. The acquisition of photographs and information on each
kind of vascular plant on Kamiak Butte is an ongoing project so
please have patience with us while we continue to develop this website.
We provide an annotated
bibliography that lists books and other publications on the
flora of the Pacific Northwest, especially the Palouse region, that
can help you to identify plants and learn about plant communities.
One can never
be sure that a plant list for a particular area is comprehensive.
During the preparation of this website we have found various kinds
of plants that were not listed in Fiely's
(1979) flora of Kamiak Butte. Plants can become locally extinct
and no longer found where they once were. New kinds of plants
can be introduced at anytime. Weedy
plants, introduced largely by the activity of people, particularly
through agriculture, are common on Kamiak Butte, and new arrivals
should be expected. Let us know if you find a plant on Kamiak
Butte that is not on our list.
The flora of Kamiak Butte as we know it now has 181 kinds or species
of vascular plants. They are members of 46 families and include
flowering plants (angiosperms, including monocots and dicots),
conifers (gymnosperms), and ferns (pteridophytes). The most common
coniferous trees of Kamiak Butte are Douglas fir, in the forests
of the north slope, and ponderosa pine, which is especially prominent
on the ridge. The short switchback trail from the parking lot
to the ridge is lined by two of the most common shrubs of the
butte: Physocarpus (ninebark) and Holodiscus (ocean-spray). Amelanchier
alnifolia (service-berry) is the most prominent shrub, especially
during spring when it has flowers with long white petals, on the
grassy south slope. The most common grasses of the steppe vegetation
of the south slope are the native Agropyron spicatum (wheatgrass)
and Festuca idahoensis (Idaho fescue) and the introduced European
weeds Bromus brizaeformis (rattlesnake brome) and Bromus tectorum
(cheat grass).
For additional
information on the plants of Kamiak Butte or the Pacific Northwest,
please inquire at the Marion
Ownbey Herbarium or examine some of the materials listed in
the bibliography.
Larry Hufford
Director,
Marion Ownbey Herbarium
22 July 1997
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