Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in the state. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the eastern edge of the Carson Range, a branch of the Sierra Nevada, about 30 miles (50 km) south of Reno. The city is named after the mountain man Kit Carson. The town began as a stopover for California-bound immigrants, but developed into a city with the Comstock Lode, a silver strike in the mountains to the northeast. The city has served as Nevada's capital since statehood in 1864; for much of its history it was a hub for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, although the tracks were removed in 1950.
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily in Nevada. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges that forms the western "backbone" of the Americas.
Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Andalusian province of Granada in Spain. It contains the highest point of continental Spain: Mulhacén, at 3,479 metres (11,414 ft) above sea level.
The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a silt playa 100 miles (160 km) north of Reno, Nevada that encompasses more than 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) of land and contains more than 120 miles (200 km) of historic trails. It is in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan.
Oxyria digyna is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). It is native to arctic regions and mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
Erigeron vagus is a high-elevation species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names rambling fleabane.
Astragalus austiniae is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Austin's milkvetch. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe. It is a plant of the alpine climate of the high mountains, where it tolerates exposed areas.
Collinsia torreyi is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name Torrey's blue-eyed Mary. It is native to California and adjacent sections of Oregon and Nevada, where it grows in the coniferous forests of several mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada.
Delphinium polycladon is a species of larkspur known by the common name mountain marsh larkspur. It is native to the High Sierra Nevada and the White and Inyo Mountains of eastern California and far western Nevada, where it grows in wet sites in the talus. It is a perennial herb producing one or more erect stems which easily exceed a meter in height but often remain dwarfed in high-elevation, exposed habitat with thin soils. The leaves are small and mostly located near the base of the plant. The inflorescence is a raceme of up to 35 flowers on long, S-shaped pedicels, often arranged along one side of the stem. The sepals are deep blue to purple, one to two centimeters long, and with a spur up to 2 centimeters in length.
Eriogonum kennedyi is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Kennedy's buckwheat.
Linanthus inyoensis is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Inyo gilia.
Lomatium shevockii is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Owens Peak desertparsley, or Owens Peak lomatium. It is endemic to Kern County, California, where it is known from only two occurrences at Owens Peak, one of the highest points of the Sierra Nevada. It is a plant of the talus and wooded slopes of the high mountains. This species was discovered in 1984 and first described to science in 1988.
Monardella follettii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Follett's monardella.
Penstemon heterodoxus is a species of penstemon known by the common name Sierra beardtongue. It is native to California and western Nevada where it grows in several of the mountain ranges from the Klamath Mountains to the Sierra Nevada - and the slopes and plateaus to the east. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates in mountain forests, meadows and talus.
Phyllodoce breweri is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae known by the common names purple mountain heath and Brewer's mountain heather.
Polemonium chartaceum is a rare species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names Mason's Jacob's-ladder and Mason's sky pilot. It is native to California, where it has a disjunct distribution. It occurs in the Klamath Mountains as well as the ranges east of the Sierra Nevada, including the White Mountains, where its distribution extends just into Nevada. It is a plant of high elevations, growing in exposed, rocky mountain slope habitat such as talus and alpine fellfields.
Scirpus diffusus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name umbrella bulrush. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in several of the high mountain ranges from the Klamath Mountains to the Sierra Nevada. It grows in wetland habitat and other moist areas, such as mountain meadows. It is similar to Scirpus congdonii and was described from herbarium specimens once mislabeled as such. It is a perennial herb forming a clump of erect stems growing up to a meter tall, solitary stems sometimes occurring as well. The stems are three-angled and narrow at the middle. Sheathing leaves occur at the stem bases as well as higher up the stems. The inflorescence occurs at the end of the stem, with small additional ones growing from the uppermost leaf axial. The inflorescence consists of several clusters of many spikelets wrapped at the bases in a leaflike bract.
Frasera puberulenta is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name Inyo frasera.
The Mountain states form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau. It is a subregion of the Western United States.
The flora of the U.S. Sierra Nevada alpine zone is characterized by small, low growing, cushion and mat forming plants that can survive the harsh conditions in the high-altitude alpine zone above the timber line. These flora often occur in alpine fell-fields. The Sierra Nevada alpine zone lacks a dominant plant species that characterizes it, so may or may not be called a vegetation type. But it is found above the subalpine forest, which is the highest in a succession of recognized vegetation types at increasing elevations.
