Locality: Sedona, Arizona (34.869700, -111.760900)
Abstract: This Flora project used the boundaries described in Amendment 12 to the Coconino National Forest Plan for special management of the Sedona/Oak Creek/Red Rocks area. The area covers 220,000 acres, or 343 square miles, and ranges in elevation from 3600’ along lower Oak Creek and Dry Beaver Creek, to 7000’ along the northern Rim Country above the West Fork of Oak Creek. Per David Brown, the following biotic communities are present within the study area:
• Rocky Mountain Montane Conifer Forest
*Ponderosa Pine Forest - Flat areas of the Northern Rim Country.
*Mixed Conifer Forest - North slopes and canyons along both Rims.
• Great Basin Conifer Woodland
*pinyon-Juniper Association - Dominating most of the Red Rock Area, Upper parts of House Mountain, & part of the Eastern Rim Country.
• Relic Conifer Forests
*Arizona Cypress Woodland - Scattered along north slopes and drainages throughout the Red Rock Country and into the lower reaches of Oak Creek Canyon.
• Madrean Evergreen Woodland
*Evergreen Oak Woodland - Scattered transitional community in canyons along the edges of the Red Rock Country and into Oak Creek Canyon.
• Interior Chaparral
*Distinct Band on the slopes dividing the Red Rock Country from both Rim Countries.
• Sonoran Desert Scrub (Arizona Upland Division)
*This community may just reach our area at the extreme south part of the House Mountain area, depending on where the boundaries are drawn.
• Plains Grasslands
*More open pinyon-Juniper grassland associations on the Eastern Rim Country and Munds Mountain.
• Semidesert Grasslands
*Mesquite grassland associations at the edge of pinyon-Juniper in the House Mountain South and Savannah areas, as well as a few scattered patches within the Red Rock Country.
• Montane Riparian Wetlands
*Found in the upper part of Oak Creek Canyon and West Fork, and at Foxboro Lake on the eastern Rim Country.
• Interior Deciduous Forests and Woodlands
*Riparian associations found from the mid part of Oak Creek Canyon south into Lower Oak Creek, and in a few scattered locations throughout the Red Rock Country such as the perennial spring at the Stage Stop area of Dry Beaver Creek, and in some of the ephemeral washes coming out of the canyons draining into Red Rock Country.
Flora Composition:
the flora of the greater Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon Area has been documented by this study as consisting of 1192 species of vascular plants (which includes 6 interspecific hybrids). Twenty-eight additional subspecific varieties have also been identified, for a total of 1220 distinct taxa. Approximately 85% of the flora is indigenous to the area, with 15% being represented by introduced species (186 taxa). 118 Families are represented in the flora, with 532 different genera.
