Butterfly Valley Botanical Area

Butterfly Valley Botanical Area is a protected reserve in the northern Sierra Nevada north of Quincy in California, established in 1976 to preserve an unusually rich concentration of native plant communities at mid-elevations. Known especially for wetland and meadow flora, it supports the rare carnivorous cobra lily at the southern edge of its range, along with other carnivorous plants, about two dozen native lily species, native orchids, and many California ferns. The site also reflects earlier mining, grazing, and logging eras: a mining settlement stood there in the early 1850s, logging ended in 1950, and grazing continued until protection secured this distinctive bog, meadow, and forest habitat.

California · United States