Special Collections
High Plains
The High Plains area is part of the Southern Great Plains. It is separated from the Rolling Plains by the Llano Estacado Escarpment and dissected by the Canadian River Breaks in the northern part. Notable canyons include Tule and Palo Duro along the Caprock. This relatively level plateau contains many shallow siltation depressions, or playa lakes, which sometimes cover as much as 40 acres and contain several feet of water after heavy rains. These depressions support unique patterns of vegetation within their confines.The upland soils are dark brown to reddish brown, mostly deep, neutral to calcareous clay and clay loams in the north to sandy loams and sands in the south. Caliche is present under many soils at various depths, especially on the Potter series. The original vegetation of the High Plains was variously classified as mixed prairie, shortgrass prairie, and in some locations on deep, sandy soils as tallgrass prairie. Blue grama, buffalograss, and galleta (Hilaria jamesii) are the principal vegetation on the clay and clay loam sites.
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scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |
Eryngium leavenworthii | Leavenworth's Eryngo Eryngo False Purple Thistle | |
Erioneuron pilosum | Hairy Woollygrass Hairy Tridens | |
Eriogonum wrightii | Wright's Buckwheat Bastard-sage Wild Buckwheat Perennial Buckwheat Shrubby Buckwheat Shrubby Bastard-sage | |
Euphorbia marginata | Snow On The Mountain Snow-on-the-mountain | |
Funastrum cynanchoides | Fringed Twinevine Climbing Milkweed Vine Twine-vine | |
Funastrum cynanchoides ssp. heterophyllum | Hartweg's Twinevine Vine Milkweed | |
Gaillardia pinnatifida | Red Dome Blanketflower Yellow Gaillardia Blanket Flower | |
Gaillardia pulchella | Indian Blanket Firewheel Girasol Rojo | |
Gaillardia suavis | Pincushion Daisy Fragrant Gaillardia Rayless Gaillardia Perfumeballs | |
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida | Prairie Verbena Purple Prairie Verbena Dakota Mock Vervain Dakota Vervain | |
Glossopetalon spinescens var. planitierum | Plains Greasebush | |
Gutierrezia sarothrae | Broom Snakeweed Kindlingweed Matchbrush Texas Snakeweed Broomweed Turpentine Weed Matchweed | |
Heliotropium curassavicum | Salt Heliotrope Seaside Heliotrope Quail Plant Cola De Mico Cola De Gama | |
Helianthus petiolaris | Prairie Sunflower Plains Sunflower | |
Heliotropium tenellum | Pasture Heliotrope White Heliotrope | |
Hymenopappus flavescens | Yellow Plainsman Collegeflower | |
Ipomoea leptophylla | Bush Morning-glory | |
Juniperus monosperma | Oneseed Juniper One-seed Juniper Cherrystone Juniper New Mexico Juniper West Texas Juniper | |
Juniperus pinchotii | Pinchot's Juniper Pinchot Juniper Redberry Juniper Texas Juniper Christmasberry Juniper | |
Juniperus scopulorum | Rocky Mountain Juniper Rocky Mountain Red Cedar Mountain Red Cedar Colorado Red Cedar Western Red Cedar River Juniper Western Juniper Cedro Rojo | |
Leptochloa dubia | Green Sprangletop | |
Lesquerella fendleri | Fendler's Bladderpod Popweed | |
Lepidium montanum | Mountain Peppergrass Western Peppergrass Mountain Pepperweed Mountain Pepperwort Montana Pepperweed | |
Linum berlandieri var. berlandieri | Berlandier's Yellow Flax Yellow Flax Stiff-stem Flax | |
Linum hudsonioides | Texas Flax Yellow Flax Hudson Flax | |
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |