Wildflowers of Tahoe

photo credit: Isabella Warner

Bonding through Nature

Every summer for as long as I can remember, my mom has taken me backpacking deep in the desolation of Tahoe's tranquil mountains. Hiking through the tall grass looking down on cliffs and lakes has brought me a unique appreciation for the peace and beauty of nature.

When I was little and my mom would still carry all of my stuff (now that I’m older I fear I will be lugging around the tent and the camping stove until I die). My mom would lead me through grasses taller than me, pointing out different trees, lecturing on swhich were evergreen and which were deciduous, picking up fallen pine needles and pressing them into my hands and quizzing me on what the number of needles in the bunch meant. My mothers extensive knowledge on nature was not limited to trees. She would bring a flower press (I carry that too now) on every trip picking new flowers to decorate my "fairy houses" with and telling me why they had the petal shape they did.

The Climate of the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Photo credit: sunset magazine

The main reason so many wild plants thrive in Tahoe is because of its unique climate. Much of what makes Tahoe's climate so unique is the amount of water runoff the area around Tahoe gets; water runoff is when there is more water on the land than it can absorb and it becomes little rivers that run down the land to lower regions.

The runoff from the many lakes and rivers on Tahoe contribute to an abundance of water for the plants that thrive there. The water runoff also helps transfer the little nutrients tahoe gets from the top of the mountains to the plants at lower altitudes. The Sierra Nevada mountains provide a lot of water to all the plants living in their midst through the many rivers and lakes running through it. A abundance of water helps hydrate the plants which makes them plentiful in the region.

Its lower elevation leads tahoe to be the hotspot for all the nutrients from all the runoff from higher elevations. Along with the water Tahoe gets from runoff, it also gets a lot of snow and rain, almost 200-280 inches of precipitation annually at the elevation of the lake.

Another reason why the Sierra Nevada mountains are a place where plants can thrive is because the mountains have a relatively mild climate meaning there are no super extreme temperatures the plantss have to endure. Even with the mild climate, Tahoe's dry summers and snowy wet winters make well defined seasons so that plants have a specific time to bloom. Becaus eof these factors, the mountains support a variety of both deciduous and evergreen plants that thrive in the nutrient full soil, deciduous means that the plants lose their leaves and evergreen means that the plants keep the leaves year-round even during the winter.

photo credit: ROMAN KHOMLYAK / SHUTTERSTOCK

What is a Wildflower Anyway?

A wildflower in definition is any native plant that has not been genetically manipulated. however, many people think of it as a plant that grows without human help or a plant that grows in the wilderness and not in gardens.

Many of the wildflowers in the United States are not actually native, they have been moved or migrated from other parts of the world to the U.S. and now have become thought of as native to the area because they have integrated into the environment. It is commonly thought that something can be referred to as native if it was in the area pre the 1500s. Many of the unique wildflowers have migrated to the Tahoe basin because of the abundance of water and have evolved into slightly different genetic variants of the original flower.

the Lupine

One of the flowers that thrives in Tahoe is the lupine. A lupine is a purple flower that has many bell-like petals in a circle around the stem. They have petals that circle up for about a third of the stem creating a long line of purple that looks like a horn. lupines normally bloom when it is dry and Tahoe has a dry summer, to lupines it will feel like a drought which is the perfect time to bloom. The abundance of them turn the hills purple during the summer months. They thrive when the lake level goes down due to the dry summer making it evaporate, this leaves a lakebed that becomes a perfect place with the right nutrients for lupines to grow. They are commonly found in soil with a poor amount of nutrients, because they are plants that respond well to adversity.

photo credit: the Smithsonian

reno gazette journal

Because of the lupines genetic traits that do well in drought and are resistant to changing climates make them hard to get rid of ; they technically are an invasive species when introduced to a new area, however they aren't usually thought of as invasive.

Sometimes when the conditions are just perfect, Tahoe will see something called a superbloom, which is when an unusually high proportion of flowers bloom in a single place. Lupine superbloom which hasn’t happened since 2014 where the entire coastline of Lake Tahoe is filled with fields and fields of Lupines.

anatomy of a lupine via canva

The Snow Plant

The snow plant, though usually overlooked, is one of Tahoes most common wildflowers. The snow plant is difficult to confuse this plant with other plants because of its unique look. It only grows in California, Nevada, and Oregon because they have a snowy and wet enough climate for the snow plant to be able to grow. The snow plant thrives on the damp forest floor among all of the debris that falls off of trees like pine needles, leaves, and dirt. It normally grows in late spring when the snow melts and you can see them very visibly because of their bright red color. Its unique look makes it one of Tahoes most recognizable plants. A forest guide by the anonymous name of Forest Jay Gauna says, “Snow plants are difficult to confuse with other plants, and indeed stands a better chance of being confused with a misplaced piece of meat.” They are unique because they don't use or produce chlorophyll, so they never need the sun to grow and can survive off the nutrients in the soil alone. They are usually found in colonies so if you see one there is a high chance you will see many more.

photo credit: Yosemite hikes

Conclusion

The specific climate of Tahoe makes the abundance of unique flowers that grow in that area very unique. Because they only grow in Tahoe, they can provide special meaning to people who see them daily, or help preserve the original nature around Tahoe and health conservation efforts for all the endangered plants and animals.

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