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Because of the Snake River's geographical isolation there are a number of plants that have evolved in Hells Canyon that grow nowhere else on earth. Though some species are more widespread, the specific varieties of the species are not.
The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At 1,078 miles (1,735 km) long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake River rises in western Wyoming, then flows through the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, the rugged Hells Canyon on the Oregon–Idaho border and the rolling Palouse Hills of Washington, emptying into the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington.
Hells Canyon is a ten-mile-wide (16 km) canyon in the Western United States, located along the border of eastern Oregon, a small section of eastern Washington and western Idaho. It is part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area which is also located in part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. It is North America's deepest river gorge at 7,993 feet (2,436 m), running deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Lupinus, commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur in North Africa and the Mediterranean. They are widely cultivated, both as a food source and as ornamental plants, but are invasive to some areas.
The Hells Canyon Wilderness is a wilderness area in the western United States, in Idaho and Oregon. Created 48 years ago in 1975, the Wilderness is managed by both the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service and contains some of the most spectacular sections of the Snake River as it winds its way through Hells Canyon, North America's deepest river gorge and one of the deepest gorges on Earth. The Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 added additional acreage and currently the area protects a total area of 217,927 acres (88,192 ha). It lies entirely within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area except for a small 946-acre (383 ha) plot in southeastern Wallowa County, Oregon which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The area that is administered by the Forest Service consists of portions of the Wallowa, Nez Perce, Payette, and Whitman National Forests.
Lomatium is a genus in the family Apiaceae. It consists of about 100 species native to western Northern America and northern Mexico. Its common names include biscuitroot, Indian parsley, and desert parsley. It is in the family Apiaceae and therefore related to many familiar edible species such as carrots and celery; some Lomatium species are extensively used by Native Americans in the inland Northwest as a staple food.
Calochortus nuttallii, also known as the sego lily, is a bulbous perennial plant that is endemic to the Western United States. The common name of sego comes from a similar Shoshone word. It is the state flower of Utah.
Dalea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as prairie clover or indigo bush. Its name honors English apothecary Samuel Dale (1659–1739). They are native to the Western hemisphere, where they are distributed from Canada to Argentina. Nearly half of the known species are endemic to Mexico. Two species of Dalea have been considered for rangeland restoration.
Piptadenia is a genus of tropical shrubs and trees of the family Fabaceae. It includes 28 species native to the tropical Americas, ranging from central Mexico to southern Brazil and northwestern Argentina.
Niphogeton is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae.
Aeschynomene is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade of the Dalbergieae. They are known commonly as jointvetches. They range across tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, south, southeast, and east Asia, and Australia. These legumes are most common in warm regions and many species are aquatic.
The Madrean Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in North America, as delineated by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne. It occupies arid or semiarid areas in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico and is bordered by the Rocky Mountain Floristic Region and North American Atlantic Region of the Holarctic Kingdom in the north and in the east, Caribbean Region of the Neotropical Kingdom in the south.
Perityle is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family. They are known generally as rock daisies.
Astragalus lentiginosus is a species of legume native to western North America where it grows in a range of habitats. Common names include spotted locoweed and freckled milkvetch. There are a great number of wild varieties. The flower and the fruit of an individual plant are generally needed to identify the specific variety.
Astragalus purshii is a species of milkvetch known by the common names woollypod milkvetch and Pursh's milkvetch.
Lomatium bradshawii, also known as Bradshaw's desert parsley, is an endangered perennial herb native to Oregon and Washington, United States. Lomatium bradshawii was thought to be extinct until 1979, when it was rediscovered by a University of Oregon graduate. This herb was common in the Willamette Valley before agricultural development and fire prevention which has allowed shrubs and weeds to invade. Most known populations of Lomatium bradshawii are within ten miles of Eugene, Oregon. In the Willamette Valley, populations exist in the Oregon counties Lane, Benton, Linn, and Marion, and in Washington Lomatium bradshawii grows in Puget Sound. The largest population of this herb is in Camas Meadows, Washington, with a population of 10,7900,00 +/- 2,010,000, and the Berry Botanic Garden keeps a seedbank.
Lomatium grayi, commonly known as Gray's biscuitroot, Gray's desert parsley, or pungent desert parsley, is a perennial herb of the family Apiaceae. It is native to Western Canada in British Columbia, and the Western United States, including from the Eastern Cascades and northeastern California to the Rocky Mountains.
Mary Caroline Foster DeDecker was an American botanist, conservationist, environmentalist and founder of the Bristlecone Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. She discovered six new plants, three of which, including Dedeckera eurekensis, are named in her honor. Dedeckera Canyon, south of Eureka Dunes, is also named after her.
Astragalus racemosus, the cream milkvetch, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to central North America. A selenium hyperaccumulator, it is considered capable of poisoning livestock as one of the locoweeds.