Round Top - Winnemucca Lake Area
Map SatelliteIn this area are probably the most easily accessible alpine gardens in the Sierra, and during the relatively short summer blooming season there is virtually always an excellent floral display.
A diversity of habitats is found here, often closely intermingled. They include alpine meadows, alpine fell fields, alpine sage scrub, subalpine sage scrub, juniper forest dominated by Juniperus occidentalis, and whitebark pine forest dominated by Pinus albicaulis. Such alpines or subalpines as alpine willow, Salix arctica, Sierra primrose, Primula suffrutescens, white-heather, Cassiope mertensiana, spring beauty, Claytonia nevadensis, Astragalus whitneyi, Mimulus tilingii, and alpine broom-rape, Orobanche californica ssp. grayana, are present. Three rare plants occur in the area, Veronica cusickii, Silene invisa, and Tonestus eximius, the latter being at the southern limit of its distribution.
Large populations of most of the common Sierran animals are found in this area; of note are the fisher, Martes pennanti, golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, and gray-crowned rosy finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis.
Geologically, the area is diverse, with the Mesozoic granitic batholith intruded by Mesozoic basic intrusives and Pliocene volcanics. Additionally, there are some Miocene sedimentaries which have yielded fossils of Liquidambar sp. and Nyssa sp., indicating a warmer, wetter climate and a lower elevation during the period. The area is rich in Pleistocene glacial evidence, with cirques and granitic erratics on volcanic substrate.
There are several lakes and numerous streams in the area.
Integrity: Several trails traverse the area.
Use: Research, educational, observational.
Ref: Taylor, Dean, 1974. Checklist of Timberline Flora at Carson Pass, Mimeo, Bot. Dept., University of California, Davis.
Axelrod, D. 1958. Evolution of the Madro-Tertiary Geoflora. Bot. Rev. 24, pp. 433-509.
July 1976
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
