XVI International Botanical Congess

This study describes and defines the similarities and differences between two floristic areas. The floristic analysis is performed for two reasons. First, the surficial geology of the Wind River Range and the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming are mineralogically and genetically different. Whereas the Absarokas were formed from volcanic eruption, deposition, and subsequent erosion of thick volcanic sequences, the Wind River Range is the result of structural deformation and uplift of archean gneisses and granites. Second, the timely assemblies of recent systematic floristic inventories in northwestern Wyoming allow for meaningful inquiry. The results of comparative analyses as well as an analysis regional endemism will be discussed.