Butterfly Valley Botanical Area

This small area in the Plumas National Forest is one of the most unusual botanical areas in the entire State, with a variety of uncommon plants. A mixed coniferous forest covers a portion of the usually gentle slopes of the area and includes ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, sugar pine, Pinus lambertiana, white fir, Abies concolor, Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, as well as California black oak, Quercus kelloggii, big-leaf maple, Acer macrophyllum, and mountain dogwood, Cornus nuttallii.

The north-facing forested slopes are open and park-like, with boggy sites and seepages providing a habitat for a number of unusual plants. The southern end of the area is laced with many streamlets, creating more seeps and bogs which drain to a shallow bog-like lake.

A total of 504 species representing 270 genera of 70 families of ferns, conifers, and other vascular plants have been identified in the area. Many of the plants found here are rare in the Sierra Nevada; among them are Aster alpigenus var. andersonii, Brasenia schreberi, Carex buxbaumii, Cypripedium montanum, Gaultheria ovatifolia, Leucothoe davisiae, Lupinus onustus, Pleuricospora fimbriolata, and Rhynchospora alba. Drosera rotundifolia and Rhynchospora capitellata are rare throughout their range.

A number of other species are near the limits of their range. Darlingtonia californica, Narthecium californicum, and Hastingsia alba are near their southern limits in the Sierra. The non-native Centaurea cyanus and Collinsia parviflora, usually found in the Great Basin, are at their western limits. Alnus tenuifolia, Carex utriculata, Ceanothus cordulatus, Eleocharis acicularis, Muhlenbergia filiformis, and Sphenosciadium capitellatum are growing here near their lower elevation limits.

This area is probably the type locality for five species, Botrychium multifidum ssp. silaifolium, Polystichum munitum, Thelypteris nevadensis, Vaccinium caespitosum, and Viola macloskeyi.

There is an unusually rich representation of the lily and orchid families here; in the latter, over half the species found in the State occur here. Four insectivorous plants grow in the area, the Drosera, Darlingtonia, and Utricularia minor and Utricularia vulgaris.

Soil analysis reveals a high magnesium content, though no serpentine or peridotite is apparent; it may be due to the presence of dolomite in the Paleozoic metamorphic rock surrounding the valley.

Integrity: The area has been grazed and logged. A lumber camp, now vanished, once stood in the meadow area. A dirt road bisects the area.

Use: As the bog areas are exceptionally fragile, care should be exercised in research or educational projects. A portion of the area is privately owned and should not be visited.

Ref: Knight, Walter, Irja Knight and John Thomas Howell. 1970. A Vegetation Survey of the Butterfly Botanical Area, California. Wasmann Jour, of Biol. Vol. 28 (1).

October 1975