The dominant vegetation is a matorral of broom and jabino, which alternates with meadows of Nardus stricta in wetter areas like the cirque basins. Less plentiful but of equal interest are the swamp blueberries of the Peñalara plains. Other, less common types of matorral are composed of true heath and juniper. Under the elevation 2 km grow tight-knitted forests of white pine. These are the only species of tree in the reserve. Thickets of fern grow in the forests, though not abundantly. Several brightly colored flowers grow high in the mountains in spring and simmer. The reserve contains 343 species of vascular plants and 200 species of lichen. About half the taxa of vascular plants are considered rare, endemic, or threatened. Of those, fifty have populations so reduced they require maximum protection.