California’s Sierra Nevada contains a disproportionate share of the state’s plant diversity and is one of the most floristically diverse regions of its size in the United States. The high Sierra Nevada, in particular, has been identified as an important center of species richness and endemism within the State. Anthropogenic climate warming is expected to disproportionately affect mountain ecosystems, and models have predicted habitat contraction and extirpation for many alpine plant taxa. A specimen-based inventory of the vascular plants and bryophytes of Coyote Ridge and Flat was conducted to establish baseline data for one such sensitive alpine and subalpine area. Located in the northwest corner of Inyo County, the study site encompasses 127 km2 (49 mi2) and ranges from 2601 to 4122 m (8535–13,525 ft) in elevation. Coyote Ridge and Flat mark a topographically and geologically unique region of the Sierra Nevada’s eastern slope above the northern Owens Valley and has long been known to botanists for harboring populations of rare and disjunct plant taxa. Fieldwork and herbarium searches conducted between July 2019 and August 2022 documented a total of 542 minimum-rank taxa, 275 of which were not previously known to the area. New collections and examination of historical specimens have yielded occurrences of 13 rare plants new for the area. These include new records for the Sierra Nevada and Inyo County, and one new record for the State of California. Background information for the area, results of this inventory and an annotated checklist of the flora are presented here.

The gymnosperm diversity of Aguascalientes, Mexico, is presented. Fifteen species from five genera and three families are reported, two of Coniferales (Cupressaceae and Pinaceae) and one of Gnetales (Ephedraceae). Pinus is the most diverse and abundant genus with seven species. The most abundant species is P. teocote, while P. strobiformis is the scarcest. Juniperus is the next most diverse genus, represented by four species, with J. deppeana the most abundant and J. durangensis the scarcest. Cupressus lusitanica, Taxodium mucronatum and Ephedra compacta are each the sole representatives of their genera. Most conifers occupy the mountainous part of the state, forming temperate forest; exceptions are Taxodium, which is located on the margins of permanent streams, and J. coahuilensis, which is found in the low parts of the Aguascalientes Valley over calcareous soils in the northern part of the state. Ephedra is distributed in the northeast part of Aguascalientes in microphyll desert scrub. The current status of the gymnosperm communities in the state of Aguascalientes is discussed.

Edwards Air Force Base extends over 121,000 ha in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert, with much of the area part of a closed endorheic basin that held the Pleistocene Lake Thompson. Notable topographic features are Rogers, Rosamond and Buckhorn dry lakes, while rounded domes and scattered hills are present to the north and east. Elevation gradients are limited, ranging from a low of 690 m to 1044 m near the eastern margin. Diverse communities of saltbush scrub dominate the lower plains, while creosote bush scrub and Joshua tree woodlands are present away from the old lake basin. In many ways EAFB is a biogeographic crossroads with the broader central Mojave Desert to the east, Owens Valley and Great Basin to the north, and cismontane Central Valley and foothills to the west. The flora as currently known contains 403 vascular plant taxa, with 324 (80%) of these native. The eight largest families comprise more than 68% of the flora, led by the Asteraceae with 84 taxa (72 native). Annual plants make up over two-thirds of the total flora.