Featured Plant:  Phlox alaskensis

The western slopes of the Richardson mountains were not glaciated, and relict plant species are frequently encountered in this area.  About 2 million years of arctic weathering has smoothed many of the mountains.   The bedrock is predominantly sedimentary in composition and the soil derives principally from the associated bedrock.  Outcrops are common and generally provide a rich diversity of flowering plants.  Such diverse plants as Silene acaulis, Phlox alaskensis, Synthyris borealis, Potentilla uniflora, and Papaver mcconnelli are readily located in such areas while in associated herbmats, willows, anemones, ranunculus, pedicularis and numerous other flowering plants of a variety of species are common.

Back to Mountains of Northern Yukon

Partial plant list:

Anemone multiceps

Astragalus umbellatus

Castilleja elegans

Dodecatheon frigida

Douglasia arctica

Loiseleuria procumbens

Minuarta arctica

Minuarta macrocarpa

Oxytropis nigrescens

Papaver lapponicum

Petasites frigidus

Polygonum bistorta

Phlox alaskensis

Polemonium acutiflorum

Ranunculus nivalis

Senecio kjellmanii

     (S. atropurpureus ssp. tomentosus)

Spiraea beauverdiana

Salix chamisonnis

Thlaspi arcticum

Viola epipsila ssp. repens