The Smoky Mountains are home to a wide variety of plants. The Great Smoky Mountains national park is over 800 square miles, and throughout this vast space is found a large diversity of plants. The national park is over 95% forested, and is sometimes referred to as the “wildflower national park”. While over 12,000 plant species have been discovered in the park, there is evidence that there may be as many as 90,000 unfound species. The range of elevations throughout the Smoky Mountains makes it a suitable habitat for a variety of plant species. The mountains also can experience 55 to 85 inches of rainfall per year which greatly encourages plant life. Because of the ideal environment of the Smoky Mountains, it is also a safe habitat for some endangered
