Plant Geography

Use an atlas and the map below to find locations and which kinds of plants grow there. A table follows the map and gives a brief description of the regions on the map. Understand that this map is a crude generalization. Additional information may be found on Bailey's Ecoregions map.
Click Here for Climate of a few sample locations in North America. Find their locations on the map. Do you find any relationship between the climatic data and the vegetation? Click on the map to see some checklists of local vascular floras



Map Number Name of Region Alternative Names Some Notable Plants Description of Climate
1 Arctic Tundra Alpine Tundra found southward at high elevations Dwarf Willows, Sedges, Heaths, Lichens Arctic
2 Boreal Forest Taiga is the name of the sparsely forested northern edge, but often used for any coniferous forest. Subalpine Forest found southward at high elevations Spruces, Balsam Fir, Paper Birch, insectivorous bog plants, orchids Subarctic
3 Rocky Mountain Evergreen Forest Montane Forest is any forest found at mid elevations of mountains Ponderosa Pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann Spruce Humid and Subhumid; Mild Continental
4 Pacific Coastal Evergreen Forest Temperate Rain Forest Western Hemlock, Douglas-fir, Sitka Spruce (in temperate rain forests near coast), Western Redcedar, Redwoods (limited to CA fog belt where otherwise dry summer) Humid and Perhumid (very wet); Mild Maritime and Cold Maritime
5 Great Lakes / New England Mixed Forest Northern Hardwoods-Hemlock or sometimes considered merely a transitional Mixed Forest Beech, Maple, Eastern Hemlock, Yellow Birch, White Pine, Northern Whitecedar Humid, heavy lake-effect snows locally; Mild Continental
6 Eastern Deciduous Forest Temperate Deciduous Forest Beech-Maple-Tuliptree "mixed-mesophytic forest" or "cove-hardwood forest" (mesic areas; highly diverse), Oak-Hickory (xeric areas) Humid; Warm Temperate and Warm Continental.
7 Coastal Plain Mixed Evergreen Forest Southeastern Mixed Evergreen Forest Southern Pines (xeric, successional after fire), Oaks, Evergreen Magnolia (mesic), Bald-cypress (hydric), Spanish Moss, some Palms, insectivorous bog plants Humid (lightening and hurricanes common); Warm Temperate and Subtropical
8 Mexican Montane Forest Tropical Montane Forest sometimes calledCloud Forest where clouds touch the mountainside Various Rocky Mountain and subtropical species with relict or disjuct populations of Eastern Deciduous Forest species. Humid; Tropical Montane (roughly equivalent to Mild Maritime)
9 Central American Rain Forest Tropical Rain Forest or Selva Various Families of Broadleaf Evergreen Trees, with Bromeliads and Epiphytic Orchids; Extreme Diversity Humid, very rainy without significant dry season; Tropical
10 Great Plains Grasslands Prairie (wetter, taller grass) and Steppe (dryer, shorter grass)often used interchangeably Big Bluestem Grass, various grasses and forbs, fire is important in maintaining savanna-like habitat in the moist eastern edge Subhumid Dry Winter; Mild to Warm Continental and Warm Temperate
11 West Indian Savanna Tropical Savanna is grassland with trees while Tropical Thorn Scrub and Tropical Dry Forests prevail on other sites. Florida Everglades is a unique wetland patchwork within this zone Gumbo Limbo, Palms, Grasses Subhumid Dry Winter (called Monsoon if seasonal moisture extremes are high; Tropical
12 Great Basin Desert Cool Desert Sagebrush, Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands Semiarid and Arid, summer is driest; Mild Continental
13 Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahua Deserts Hot Desert Creosote Bush, Large Cacti, Yuccas, Paloverde Semiarid and Arid; Warm Temperate to Tropical
14 Californian Chaparral Mediterranean Scrub and Woodland Flamable shrubs, Manzanitas, Ceanothus, Mandrone Subhumid to Semiarid, Extremely Dry Summer; Mild Maritime to Subtropical

Some definitions of climates:

  • Arctic and Subarctic Climates short or non-existent growing season, with long frigid winters in continental areas. The coldness of the summers distinguish them, with the warmest month of 10C or more a minimum requirement for tree growth.
  • Continental Climates are those with large annual temperature extremes, with mild to very warm summers, but the coldest month averages below freezing.
  • Maritime Climates are those that have their temperatures moderated by the ocean, having cool to mild summers, but with the coldest month averaging above freezing.
  • Warm Temperate Climates have warm summers; winters are intermediate between continental and subtropical.
  • Subtropical Climates have very warm summers, with the coldest month between 9C and 18C, with frost outbreaks infrequent.
  • Tropical Climates are very warm all year, with the average coldest month of 18C and no frost.

    Useful Resources:


    Back to UTK Botany Homepage

    Back to UTK Botany Homepage

    Back to Botany-120 Homepage

    Send comments to: Greg J. Schmidt
    Updated: 1998-03-07