page_title: Great Basin National Park
section_title: Flora
hierarchical_section_title: Great Basin National Park / Natural history / Flora
caption_attribution_description: English: Great Basin National Park, Nevada, USA, bristlecone pine tree (Pinus longaeva).
context_page_description: Great Basin National Park is an American national park located in White Pine County in east-central Nevada, near the Utah border, established in 1986. The park is most commonly entered by way of Nevada State Route 488, which is connected to U.S. Routes 6 and 50 by Nevada State Route 487 via the small town of Baker, the closest settlement.
  The park derives its name from the Great Basin, the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains. Topographically, this area is known as the Basin and Range Province. The park is located about 290 miles north of Las Vegas and protects 77,180 acres.
  The park is notable for its groves of ancient bristlecone pines, the oldest known nonclonal organisms, and for the Lehman Caves at the base of 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, as well as Wheeler Peak Glacier.
  President Warren G. Harding created Lehman Caves National Monument by presidential proclamation on January 24, 1922. The monument and its surroundings was designated a national park on October 27, 1986. A number of developed campsites are within the park, as well as excellent backcountry camping opportunities.
context_section_description: Eleven species of conifer trees and over 800 species of plants are found in Great Basin National Park and the neighboring valleys.
  The area around the Visitor Center is dominated by plants such as sagebrush, saltbush, single-leaf pinyon, and Utah juniper. Higher elevations are home to mountain meadows, white fir, quaking aspen, Englemann spruce, and large Ponderosa pine. At treeline is an alpine area of low, delicate plants and rocky outcroppings.
  The oldest nonclonal organism ever discovered, a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree at least 5,000 years old, grew at the treeline near Wheeler Peak in the national park. It was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and U.S. Forest Service personnel for research purposes. It was given the nickname Prometheus, after the mythological figure who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man.
caption: Pinus longaeva
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