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Zach Coury

@zachcoury

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Botanist, based in Utah 🌼
I tell stories about plants.
All opinions on this page are exclusively my own.

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On a global scale, the hanging garden plant communities of the Colorado Plateau are exceptionally unique thanks to a very unusual set of geologic and climatic conditions. In my opinion it is of utmost importance to protect these oases, which is only possible if we protect their groundwater. The former boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument carved out a massive area which was critical in preserving aquifers of the region, and I fear what could happen to these precious pieces of habitat if large amounts of mining or other development happens in Southern Utah.
Last month I got to get out with @wildernesssociety, and explore some areas that used to be protected. After soaking up the vibes in a couple hanging gardens, I took the opportunity to write a letter to Doug Burgum, the current U.S. Secretary of the Interior. I encourage you to get in touch with him and your representatives to let them know our public lands are not for sale. You can use the link in my bio! Even better if you customize the letter to your personal experience. taken in Bears Ears National Monument by @zachcoury

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6 days ago

i have to apologize. i’ve been selfishly hoarding really pretty pictures of aspens for years. i have a long term project i’ve been working towards, but i guess it wouldn’t hurt to share a few. here are some from this week. taken in Big Cottonwood Canyon by @zachcoury

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11 days ago

come plant cactus this saturday, october 3 at 10AM. it’s a really fun time and we can talk about plants. i’ll see you there. screenshot the QR code to sign up or DM me or something. taken in Salt Lake City, Utah by @zachcoury

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15 days ago

just to be clear: in my opinion the current administration is so abhorrent and actively destructive that there is no time for political apathy. unfortunately, I think it will be necessary to “vote blue no matter who” in the midterms. but do it with the optimism that this movement is becoming so large and undeniable that this may be the might be the last time you have to hold your nose for a mediocre candidate.

In summary: vote. And if you have extra energy or money for politics, put it towards exciting campaigns like @abdulelsayed @angieforfl @troyjackson207 who are making genuine steps towards fixing our broken system.

and don’t worry i hate politics posting too, lots of plant videos in the works. thanks for coming to my ted talk. by @zachcoury

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17 days ago

I’ve lived a 15 minute drive from Ericameria obovata for nearly my whole life, but until yesterday I had never gotten a decent photo of it. I’ve driven all across Utah trying to document our rare plants, but for some reason it can be easy to place a lower priority on species that feel easy to access.

Anyway, Rydberg’s Goldenbush is absolutely peaking right now in the mountains around Salt Lake City; I checked it out in a few places in lower Big Cottonwood Canyon. I love the way it grows in the shale and quartzite ledges, it makes the whole mountain feel alive in some kind of magical way. This species is essentially a Utah endemic, and is somewhat unique in the genus for having large and showy ray florets. I feel bad for people that don’t get excited by yellow composites because September is a great time for them! taken in Big Cottonwood Canyon by @zachcoury

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a month ago

To be clear, I don’t really think that this is the first time Flaveria campestris has been “seen” in Salt Lake County. It has surely been glanced at by people in the neighborhood, and before settlement it was without a doubt recognized and perhaps even utilized by the indigenous tribes that have lived in the valley since time immemorial. With that being said, this is exciting because it is a very rare plant that has never before been documented in Salt Lake County! This species has a super patchy distribution across its range these days, and you have to assume that is because its preferred habitat aligns very closely with lands that can be productive for agriculture. Such is the story for many plants. I’m glad it’s still kicking, though finds like this always make me sad to consider the unbelievable diversity that must have once existed in the Salt Lake valley!

It was cool to see it yesterday with @freedomsfool because we went out looking for it in 2024 in Skull Valley. It was a shorter commute this time. taken in West Jordan, Utah by @zachcoury

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a month ago

Mentzelia memorabilis - 9/11 Blazingstar

Let’s get this out of the way: yes, this plant really is named in memory of 9/11. While I’m not sure I think it’s particularly valuable to commemorate historical events in botanical nomenclature, it’s what we have here, so I guess today is the day to talk about this plant! Here is the story, according to the plants original publication. 25 years ago, legendary botanists Patricia and Noel Holmgren were packing for a return to NYC after a summer of field work out west when the horrific attacks took place. With flights cancelled, they took the opportunity to drive from Salt Lake City down to the Arizona Strip to investigate some unusual Mentzelia collections they had found at the BYU herbarium. They found it to be sufficiently distinct for a name, and published the species a year later.

In the same paper they named four other rare and restricted taxa (now species) to subsection Multicaulis, which is pretty insane for the 21st century, and evidence of how interesting this group is. The vast majority of the 18 members of this group have extremely restricted ranges, and are often only found on a specific substrate type. This is evidence of some rapid evolutionary radiation, which makes the plants very fun to think about and look for. A few Utah species of subsection Multicaulis are high on my bucket list to photograph looking nice, but that will have to wait for now.

Mentzelia memorabilis stands out for a unique set of features, including its simple-margined, revolute leaves and its upright, unbranching architecture. I photographed it a stones throw from the Arizona border in June 2023, along with a couple other narrow endemic plants, including the Dr. Seussian Tetradymia canescens var. thorniae. taken in Utah by @zachcoury

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a month ago

Third and final video in our SLC wildfires series! I took a look at the 2024 Sandhurst Fire to see how recovery is coming along. I was in a not very good mood though so I was mostly thinking about how shifting baseline syndrome makes it hard to interrogate what “good” recovery looks like. Here are some general conclusions after spending some time in the three burns from the last three years, which are mostly supported by research on the subject. These fires did not cause a major structural change in the ecosystem. They generally didn’t kill stands of oak and maple, and plant diversity is probably pretty similar to pre-burn conditions. But it is important to say that the pre-burn conditions were already not very good, which is a result of the intense grazing pressure that the foothills were subject to during the early years of white settlement. That being said, the burns probably did make things incrementally worse. They removed shrubs (such as sagebrush) which may have a hard time reestablishing, and likely increased density the density of invasive annual grasses. For these reasons, it makes sense to have a policy of fire suppression in these habitats.

Thanks for watching. Hopefully you learned something, I definitely did. taken in Ensign Peak by @zachcoury

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a month ago

Today in our SLC wildfires series we are looking at the 2025 Dry Creek fire. This burn was a lot smaller and less intense than the first one we looked like, but it was still interesting to compare how things are developing. It’s also making me realize I’m probably going to need a fourth video that looks more broadly at wildfire in these ecosystems like this, and how shifting baseline syndrome can change our perceptions of recovery. Stay tuned!

🎥: @ross_berry taken in Salt Lake City, Utah by @zachcoury

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a month ago

How do plants respond after wildfire burns an area? There is no single answer, and there are many factors that influence the outcome, so I wanted to see how the June 2026 Bonneville Fire was recovering. In short, our foothills ecosystem is very fire adapted, and it seems likely that this burned area will bounce back to pre-fire condition fairly quickly. This will be the first of 3 videos investigating the recovery of the 2024, 2025, and 2026 SLC wildfires so we can really see what happens over time!

thanks @megan_dingman for filming taken in University of Utah by @zachcoury

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a month ago

It’s been just a month and we are already seeing the effects of Trump’s slashing of protections for Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. There have been at least nine mining claims entered between the two monuments, and those that are located in GSENM appear to be extremely close to, if not on top of, a very sensitive habitat for a number of rare plant species. We still need pressure against congress to tell the administration to revert this shortsighted executive action. There is a link in my bio from the good people at @wildernesssociety to get in touch with your representatives! taken in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by @zachcoury

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2 months ago

Early Sunday morning I completed the Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup in 23 hours and 30 minutes. This has been a massive goal of mine for more than 6 years and I can’t believe I actually got it done.

In the last couple years it became clear that if I were to ever do the WURL, I would need to make a botany film out of it, and I am very excited to say that this is happening! With the help of my pacers (more on that later) we got a ton of footage from the effort, focusing on 10 rare plants that you can find on the ridge. I have big visions for this project, and lots more to film before it’s complete, but keep an eye out for it sometime in the next year. It is going to be really really cool.

More about the route: the WURL was established in 2004 by Jared Campbell, and in the last decade it has become a holy grail for runners/climbers in SLC. It is approximately 36 miles long with 18,000 ft of elevation gain, but the real challenge comes from how exposed, technical, and slow going the terrain is.

This would not have been possible for me without support from many people. @connor.nash_ accompanied me for the 3 AM ascent up Ferguson Canyon to Twin Peaks because I am scared of the dark. My parents met me at Twin Lakes Pass with food and water. @28.grahams joined me from Sugarloaf to the Pfief saddle. Most important for my success on the day was @tom.roxs, a complete stranger before Saturday, pacing me for the last and most brutal chunk, from Pfiefferhorn to Lone Peak and down Bells Canyon. We had about 15 minutes of rain during our ascent up South Thunder, and it was unbelievably stressful to make the decision with almost zero visibility in the hazy night to make the final climb up to Lone. I can’t thank him enough for staying psyched even though it was getting quite scary. Finally, thanks @being.brett for the endless love and support, and for humoring this manic fixation over the last three years.

This concludes my long and vain post that is not really all that much about plants. Sorry. This was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done, and I am pretty proud of it! taken in Little Cottonwood Canyon by @zachcoury

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2 months ago