Great Basin Naturalist Volume 48 Number 1 Article 16 1-31-1988 A checklist of the vascular plants of the House Range, Utah Ronald J. Kass Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Kass, Ronald J. (1988) "A checklist of the vascular plants of the House Range, Utah," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 48 : No. 1 , Article 16. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol48/iss1/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. A CHECKLIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF THE HOUSE RANGE, UTAH Ronald J. Kass' Abstract. —A checklist ot the vascular plants of the House Ran,sj;e, Juab and Millard comities, Utah, is presented. A flora of 373 species and infraspecific taxa in 231 genera and 60 families are reported. The geology, physiography, climate, and plant commimitics are briefly discussed. Several endemics occur in the study area and a new ta.\on has been described. Plant checklists are useful to natural re- A collection number is cited for each spe- source managers, amateur and professional cies. Ta.xa with no collection number were botanists, and plant ecologists. In the absence observed and not collected. All collections are of completed floristic treatments, localized by the author unless otherwise indicated. checklists are often the main source of infor- mation available on a local flora. They reduce Study Area the number of possible choices when compar- The House Range, situated in western Mil- ing numerous choices available from regional lard and Juab counties, Utah, is located be- floras (Goodrich 1984). Local checklists are tween 39° 37' and 38° 50' N latitude and 113° also a source of information for ecological 25' and 113° 16' longitude. The House studies ranging from pollination ecology to W Range is bounded on the west by Tule \' alley, phytogeography. on the east by Whirlwind \'alley and Sevier The primary objective of this study was to Dry Lake, on the north by Sand Pass and the provide a checklist of the vascidar plants Fish Springs Range, and on the south bv U.S. found in the House Range, Utah. This infor- Highway 6-50 at Skull Rock Pass. An addi- mation has been included in the Utah Flora by tional area called the Black Hills was included Welsh et al. (1987). The secondary objective in the study area (Fig. 1). was to provide specimens for future ta.xo- The House Range is 90 mi) long and nomic and phytogeographic works. km (56 averages 10 km (6 mi) wide; it occupies an area Approximately 600 collections were made of 900 scjuare km (336 square mi). The eleva- and deposited as voucher specimens in the tion ranges from 1,312 ft) on the Brigham Young University Herbarium (BRY), m (4,305 valley floor to 2,948 m (9,669 ft) at the summit the New York Botanical Garden (NY), and the of Swasey Peak, the highest point in the Garrett Herbarium, University of Utah (UT). range. The House Range is a narrow, steep, fault- Methods and M.-xtehials block range. Drainages plunge steeply on the A statewide herbaria search was conducted western flanks, while gentle relief is charac- prior to the 1981 field season. Collecting sta- teristic on the eastern flanks. The west face of tions were established throughout the stud\ the range is an eroded fault scarp visible as area and visited several times during the held one \iews Notch Peak while drixing east on seasons (April-September) of 1981 and 1982. U.S. Highway 6-50. Additional areas were also searched that were The House Range is composed mostly of topographically, geologically, or floristicalK (vaml)riau and Ordovician limestone. The interesting. Frecjuency of collected species is Wheeler Shale and Marjmn Formations in the based on the following scale from Thorne area yield the most continuous Cambrian fos- (1967): rare, 1-2 stations; infrecjuent, 3-5 sta- sil succession in I'tah (Hint/.e 1973). Igneous tions; frecjuent, 6—8 stations; and counnoii, acli\it\ dining the Tertiary caused doming more than 8 stations. and fracturing of the strata, thus producing a 'Lif<- Sck-mc Mus.-MMi and Dcp.iitiTicnt ulTicilaiu arul Ham;c Siici Himli. ini Iciiiiii; lrincrsit\, I'nnci, I t.ili M(i()2. 102 January 1988 Kass; Plants of House Range 103 MAP OF SURVEY AREA Fig. 1. Map of the survey area, with study areas indieated. series of steep, shaded canyons that are visible mers. The city of Delta, located 80 km (50 mi) at Painter Spring (Fig. 1). Quaternary sedi- to the east of the House Range, has average ments, deposited as alluvial fans and valley January temperatures of -4.4 C (24 F) and fill, have been reworked and covered during average July air temperatures of 22 C (72 F). the existence of Lake Bonneville (Hanks During winter, when high atmospheric pres- 1962). sure exists, low-level temperature inversions The climate is typical of the Great Basin develop, causing the lower valleys to become with cold, moist winters and warm, dry sum- colder than slopes at higher elevations. 104 January 1988 Kass: Plants of House Ran(;e 105 {Artemisia nova) is characteristic of the up- wide elevational limits of this community. land desert shrub community. It is codomi- This woodland develops in areas where an- nant with shadscale and occurs in pure stands nual precipitation is usually in excess oi 30 cm within and above the pinyon-juniper commu- (12 in) (Cronquist et al. 1972). nity. Low sagebrush {Artemisia arhuscula) Stands of curlleaf mountain mahogany are occurs on shallow, rocky, alkaline soils. It is common within this community where cob- found on limestone gravels and cobbles, often bles and boulders are at or near the soil sur- growing in pure stands and forming associa- face. Needleleaf mountain mahogany {Cerco- tions with xeric grasses and forbs on carpns intricatus) is also common within this windswept ridges in and above the pinyon- community and often found on steeper slopes juniper community. where soils are shallower. Herbaceous spe- Basin big sagebrush {Artemisia tridentata cies commonly occurring in the community ssp. tridentata) occurs on dry, deep alluvial include dwarf lousewart {Pedicidaris cen- soils in valleys and washes at middle eleva- tranthera ), low phlox {Pldox anstromontana ), tions. Its elevational limits are approximately ball gilia {Gilia congesta), rock goldenrod 2,135 m (7,000 ft). Above this elevation, {Petradoria pnmila), heartleaf twistflower mountain big sagebrush {Artemisia tridentata {Streptonthns cordatus), bladderpod {Phy- ssp. vaseijana) occurs in well-drained soils saria chambersii), and penstemon {Penste- where concave topography exists. Species mon conftisus). richness is greater here than in other sage- Two major riparian areas (Painter Spring brush communities. Species commonly asso- and Swasey Spring) occur in this pinyon- ciated with mountain big sagebrush include juniper zone and are characterized by the serviceberry {Amelanchier utahensis), lupine following species: narrowleaf cottonwood {Lupinus caiidatus), snowberry {Symphori- {Popnhts angustifolia), sandbar willow {Salix carpos oreophilus), arrowleaf balsamroot exigua). Wood rose {Rosa woodsii), choke- {Balsamorrhiza sagittata), curlleaf mountain cherry {Pruniis virginiana var. melanocarpa), mahogany {Cercocarpus ledifoliiis), slender and Great Basin wildrye {Elymiis cinereus). wheatgrass {Agropyron tracJiycauhim), and Mountain Brush letterman needlegrass {Stipa lettennanii). Vasey sagebrush is limited to small areas The mountain brush community is not well within and above the pinyon-juniper commu- defined in the House Range. It generally bor- nity. ders the upper edge of the pinyon-juniper Occasionally, Wyoming big sagebrush community and extends into portions of the {Artemisia tridentata ssp. ivyomingensis) oc- subalpine community on steep, rocky expo- curs in the higher valleys at elevations above sures. It also follows canyons and drainages 2,134 m (7,000 ft) but is usually found on well down into the pinyon-juniper zone. Av- gentle slopes of alluvial fans and valley bot- erage annual precipitation is estimated at 38 toms. Soils characteristic of these communi- cm (15 in) (Holmgren, personal communica- ties are often associated with a calcic layer tion 1983). Curlleaf mountain mahogany and 20-50 cm (8-20 in) below the surface. needleleaf mountain mahogany are the domi- nant shrubs and often form pure stands on Pinyon-juniper shallow, rocky soils. Black sagebrush, low Single-leaf pinyon {Finns monophylla) and sagebrush. Mormon tea, and pinyon are also juniper {Juniperus osteosperma) are codomi- common within this community. nant in the intermediate elevations ranging Aspen {Populus tremuloides), white fir from 1,983 to 2,288 m (6,500-7,500 ft). The {Abies concolor), and Douglas-fir {Pseudo- composition of this woodland changes altitu- tsuga menziesii) are limited in the House dinally, with juniper dominating in the lower Range and are confined to moist depressions, elevations 1,690 m (5,545 ft) and pinyon domi- canyons, and cool exposures on north- and nating at higher elevations 2,438 m (8,000 ft). east-facing slopes. Pinyon can often be found at 2,590 m (8,498 ft) Rocky Mountain juniper {Juniperus scopu- on south exposures, and juniper is occasion- lorum) is limited to shaded canyons and along ally found below 1,690 m in drainages. West higher-elevation drainages. Apparently, it is et al. (1978) report the wide variation in Basin- less drought tolerant than Utah juniper and is . 106 Great Basin NATUii\LisT Vol. 48, No. 1 less abundant (Cronquist et al. 1972). tological and geological processes. These pro- cesses modify the substrate and create a Subalpine unique set of environmental conditions for Cronquist et al.