| Sugar Lake, Salmon Mountains--a branch of the Klamath Mountains--northwestern California, amidst the southern sector of the Miracle Mile, a world famous square mile of gorgeous geography that supports one of the most diverse conifer assemblages on Earth, a list that includes foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana), whitebark pine (Pinus balfouriana), western white pine (Pinus monticola), Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), white fir (Abies concolor), Shasta fir (Abies magnifica), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), Brewer spruce (Picea breweriana), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), common juniper (( communis), and western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). All told, some 32 species of conifers have been identified from the Klamath Mountains region. Many species found in the middle Miocene Chloropagus Formation grow here. A Google Earth image--photographer unknown-- that I edited and processed through photoshop. |