Yosemite Flora (Plants & Flowers)

Yosemite's diverse landscape shelters 37 species of native trees and hundreds of species of native wildflowers, many of which can be found only in Yosemite. Some of the most abundant include:

• Giant Sequoias - considered to be the most massive living thing on earth, sequoias can live from 1,000 - 3,000 years. Three groves totaling 700 trees are located in the park: Mariposa Grove, Tuolumne Grove and Merced Grove.
• California Black Oak - large deciduous trees, with yellow-green leaves and dark trunks.
• Ponderosa Pine - evergreens with bark of irregularly shaped plates separated by dark furrows. Mature trees are wide at the base with a straight trunk that rises many feet before the branches form.
• Incense-Cedar - have a feathery, reddish bark and grow abundantly throughout the park and the entire Sierra.
• Mariposa Lily - identified by three white petals and dark center, often found blooming under pines.
• Shooting Star - pink to white dart-like flowers found in meadows in spring.
• Dog Wood - - Perennial herbs, shrubs and trees which bloom between April and July.