Commissioned in 2009 for the Crater Lake Institute, this mural by Larry Eifert shows a fictitious forest of ancient bristlecone pines, oldest trees on Earth that live in the Great Basin high atop mountain peaks.
- Ancient Great Basin Bristlecone Pine
- Bristlecones often have some living bark, keeping them alive for centuries.
- With time, this tree’s true center is eroding away by abrasive wind-driven ice and sand grains.
- Mountain Chickadee
- Mountain Bluebird
- Red-shafted Flicker
- Golden Forget-me-not Cryptantha confertifolia
- Pygmy Nuthatch
- Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
- Coyote
- Westgard Penstemon Penstemon scapoides
- Rock Wren
- Downed bristlecone may be many thousands of years older than the living trees.
- Rock Spiraea Petrophytum caespitosum
- Yellow-bellied Marmot
- Sulphur-throated Forget-me-not Cryptantha flavoculata
- Cassin’s Finch
- Red Crossbill
- Young bristlecone pines struggle in this harsh environment. Cones have bristles, as the tree’s name implies.
- Mule Deer
- Gray-crowned Rosy-finch
- Bristlecones tend to favor soils with limestone. Bristlecone groves often coincide exactly with a dolomite/sandstone contact.
- Bighorn Sheep
- Clark’s Nutcracker
- Red-tailed Hawk
- White-throated Swift
- Golden Eagle
- Bobcat – a secretive resident. Can you find it?
