Southwestern United States - Vegetation and Terrain

Vegetation and Terrain

Vegetation of the Southwest generally includes various types of yucca, along with saguaro cactus, barrel cactus, prickly pear cactus, desert spoon, creosote bush, sagebrush, and greasewood. Although, cacti is thought to only grow in Arizona and New Mexico, many native cacti is grown all throughout Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and West Texas as well. Also, small cacti grow in Utah and Colorado. These examples (except the saguaro), can be seen growing natively and in large numbers more east throughout the Texas Hill Country and South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. However, none of the vegetation discussed grows natively the further east than the eastern outskirts of Fort Worth. Dallas and Houston, for example, share a smiliar terrain with states further east and are often considered to be more of the American South. In the far eastern parts of the southwest, prairies and grasslands are found all over. These prairies and grasslands are usually located in Eastern Colorado, Eastern New Mexico, and large areas in West Texas. Steppe is also located all over the high plains areas in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The mountains of the southwestern states have large alpine trees.

Landscape features of the core Southwestern areas usually include mountains, mesas, high broad basins, plateaus, desert lands, and some plains. The High Plains region of the Great Plains are also located in the American Southwest. Eastern Colorado, Eastern New Mexico, and West Texas all have high plains, and rolling land. The entire Southwestern region features semi-arid to arid terrain. The far eastern part of the Southwest in Texas, for example the Texas Hill Country, consists of dry, tall and rugged rocky hills of limestone and granite. South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley is mostly flat with many places consisting of scrub and bare topsoil, much like the deserts further west. Buttes are also located all over the southwestern states. Utah tends to have the most natural buttes, but they do form as far east as some parts of Central Texas.