Polemonium eximium — the Sky Pilot) have large, brilliantly col- 

 ored flowers and produce a mosaic of brilliant colors in late sum- 

 mer. The distribution of this plant community was not mapped. 



Pinyon-Juniper Woodland (Plate 14 A; Map 4} 



The upper reaches of California mountains are occupied by a 

 treeless plant community, and certain peaks are sufficiently high 

 that they support no vascular plants at all. However, as we pass 

 over the crest of the Sierra Nevada on our transect and drop 

 down along the eastern slopes of these mountains, trees again 

 begin to be evident. The species of trees and the localities in 

 which they appear vary, but on the average we can expect to find 

 Pinyon-Juniper ■ Woodland as the first "forest" community en- 

 countered on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada as we des- 

 cend in elevation from the crest. Pinyon-Juniper Woodland rep- 

 resents a transition between forest and non-forest plant commun- 

 ities in some areas, although in a less consistent way than does 

 the Valley and Foothill Woodland in cismontane California. In 

 some areas, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland is on the drier side of 

 Montane or Subalpine Forest, but in some localities — such as in 

 the desert mountains — Pinyon-Juniper Woodland is bordered 

 above and below by scrub communities of various kinds. 



Pinyon-Juniper Woodland takes its name from the Single-leaf 

 Piny on Pine {Pinus monophylla) and various junipers such as 

 California Juniper {Junipems californica), Utah Juniper (/. osteo- 

 sperma), and Western or Sierra Juniper (/. occidentalis). These 

 trees are not very tall and occur as fairly widely scattered indi- 

 viduals in this plant community. Also present are Desert Scrub 

 Oak (Quercus turbinella), Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus 

 ledifolius, Rosaceae), Antelope Brush or Bitter Brush (Purshia 

 tridentatd), and all species of the Sagebrush Scrub plant commun- 

 ity, to be mentioned next. Pinyon-Juniper Woodland occurs in 

 the Great Basin and in California mountain ranges from Modoc 

 County into southern California, where it is associated with the 

 Transverse and Peninsular Ranges and some of the desert ranges. 



106 



