• Fort Rock, in the midst of Oregon's high desert, is home to a variety of plant species.Design Pics/Valueline/Getty Images
  
  Dominating the southeastern portion of the state, Oregon's high desert region spans 24,000 square miles along the northern edge of the Great Basin. Vast and geographically diverse, the high desert is home to an astounding variety of trees, shrubs and plants. Rugged and adaptable, the plants of Oregon's high desert thrive despite the region's high altitude, relative aridity and wildly fluctuating temperatures.
  
  

Trees

• Few trees thrive in Oregon's high desert country due to the extreme temperature fluctuates, high winds and arid conditions. The most widespread tree species is the western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), which dominates the rocky slopes and areas of poor, shallow soil, which are characteristic of the region. Within its Oregon range, western juniper trees remain small, seldom exceeding 15 feet in height although exceptions exist in sheltered areas. It exhibits an irregular, gnarled growth habit topped by whirls of dark-green needle-like foliage.
  
  

Shrubs

• Shrubs are the dominant type of plant across the high desert of Oregon. Vast tracts of yellow rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), mountain sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and green molly (Bassia americana) stretch across the arid uplands of the region, forming a dense shrubby mat across the desert floor. In protected areas, greenleaf manzanita (Arcostaphylos patula) forms thickets that stand out from surrounding shrubs due to its silvery-green foliage and striking, reddish-brown bark. In spring, this species bears small, bell-shaped pink flowers followed by a crop of waxen berries in late summer and early autumn.
  
  

Flowering Plants

• Immensely diverse flowering plants thrive across the Oregon high desert. Best known for its golden sunflower-like flowers, Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum) is a low-growing herbaceous perennial common throughout the region. Sometimes called woolly sunflower, it is so named for its silvery-gray hairy leaves. Sulfur buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) shares an overlapping range with Oregon sunshine, although it tends to be found at higher elevations and amid sandier soil. It produces hairy foliage and brush-like yellow flowers, which dry nicely and last long into autumn.
  
  Among the rarest flowering plants in the Oregon high desert, Cox's mariposa lily (Calochortus coxii) exists within a fragmented range across the region. For a brief period in early summer, it bears a cream-and-yellow, cup-shaped flower covered in fine, hair-like tendrils.
  
  

Grasses

• A limited grassland region exists within the high desert of Oregon, stretching across seasonally-moist lowlands and valleys. Grass species such as bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha) and blue bunchgrass (Festuca idahoensis) dominate, creating vast fields of perennial forage for native and introduced animals species.
  
  Bluebunch wheatgrass grows to 3 feet in height, bearing heavy seed-heads atop thick, bluish-green stems. It grows in conjunction with prairie junegrass, a two-foot-tall mounding grass known for its silvery-green foliage and large yellow seed heads. Among the most abundant grasses in the high desert is blue bunchgrass. It is a low-growing species whose spreading growth habit produces vast, carpet-like tracts of foliage along valley floors and moist uplands.