Microclimates are amazing things. They sustain conditions to allow things to grow that would otherwise not be found growing in a particular region. Here we have a Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) growing in an otherwise dry and warm southern Utah.
Even at the relatively high elevations of Bryce Canyon (7500 feet or so), the air is usually too dry and frequently the recipient of warmer days in the 80's. Douglas Fir are simply not able to easily reach climax growth in such conditions, except in these dark, cooler spaces. The sun is obviously muted here, which results in lower daytime highs and allows moisture to linger on while the rest of the countryside dries out. Enough light reaches the trees during certain times of the day (in this picture we see a morning tree in shadow and an afternoon tree in the light behind it) to sustain growth, and when the canyon floor otherwise seemingly sits in shadow, light reflects off of the walls as well. The larger trees sit well within the canyon amphitheater and are apparently quite the sight to behold; all of a sudden, a canyon walker can round a corner and be staring up at a tree nearly two hundred feet tall, nestled alone in between great walls of rock.
More information can be found
here. Douglas Fir are wonderful trees, and one of the few to naturally exist in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, from nearly up in Alaska all the way down to the higher mountains around Mexico City.
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