The High Monte is a montane shrubland ecoregion confined to Argentina, running along the eastern slopes of the Andes from the vicinity of Salta south to Mendoza, set between the Sierras Pampeanas and the main Andean ridge and bounded by the arid Puna to the north and the Chaco and Espinal woodlands to the east. Its characteristic cover is evergreen scrubland dominated by Larrea shrubs (the jarillas, or creosote bushes), with open algarrobo woodland of Prosopis alba and Prosopis nigra where groundwater is reachable, alongside genera such as Bulnesia and Bougainvillea and an abundance of cacti and bromeliads in the north. The climate is temperate and arid to semi-arid, with sparse rainfall that falls mainly in the austral summer when the South American monsoon pushes moist air across the region. Sitting in the Andean rain shadow, it shelters notable endemics and a flagship southern mountain cavy, and its burrowing parrots act as important dispersers of algarrobo seeds. For gardeners in dry, hot-summer climates, the ecoregion is the native home of drought-hardy ornamental and shade genera including Prosopis, Larrea, and Bougainvillea.

At a glance

About the montane grasslands & shrublands biome

High-elevation grasslands, meadows, and shrublands above the treeline or in mountain basins, including alpine and páramo systems. Cool temperatures, intense sunlight, and specialized, often endemic flora characterize them.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions