A hairy problem

Boechera drummondii/stricta, May 26, 2020

Boechera drummondii/stricta, June 6, 2020

Common & scientific name
Drummond’s rockcress, Boechera drummondii/stricta

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Weller curve, 9,250’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

As I’ve said before, the Boechera genus is notoriously difficult to narrow down to species.  They interbreed, they vary within species, and often it’s the microscopic hairs on their leaves and the angle of repose of their siliques (seed pods) that make the difference.  This rockcress, which is tall and common on the Pass, especially in forests and at higher elevations, can be identified by the pick-axe hairs on its basal (ground-level) leaves, and its erect, stem-hugging siliques.

B. drummondii, silique, July 15, 2020

This daisy doesn't like to be pigeon-holed

Erigeron compositus, May 26, 2020

Erigeron compositus, June 23, 2020

Common & scientific name
Cutleaf daisy, Erigeron compositus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Grottos wall, 9,700’ & summit, 12,100

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Cutleaf daisy’s petals—or more properly speaking, its ray flowers, as all individual daisy flowers are composed of multiple ray flowers (the petal-looking parts) and/or disk flowers (which together make up the button-looking part)—can be white, pink, or light blue.  They can also be absent entirely, leaving a head with only yellow disk flowers.

A flower looking for a family

Maianthemum stellatum, May 26, 2020

Common & scientific name
Starry false lily of the valley, Maianthemum stellatum

Family
??? (see below)

Location
Between the winter gate and Weller, 8,750’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Loves aspen groves above all, more delicate in its flower than its close relative, Maianthemum racemosum, False Solomon’s seal, and searching for a loving home.  Different authorities place it in no less than four families or subfamilies: (1) Liliaceae, Lily, (2) Convallariaceae, Mayflower, (3) Asparagaceae, Asparagus, and (4) Ruscaceae, also Asparagus. Confused yet?  Give it ten years and the experts will land on one!

Here, bear, bear, bear . . .

Common & scientific name
Serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Above winter gate, 8,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Like all members of the Rose family, the flowers of Serviceberry shrubs have five petals.  Its berries are eaten by wildlife including birds, rodents, and bears, and the larva of the distinctive, yellow and black Swallowtail butterfly is frequently found here. Anecdotally speaking, we appear to be having a stellar Serviceberry year throughout the valley!

A. alnifolia, in fruit, July 28, 2020

The classic spring daisy

Erigeron flagellaris, May 26, 2020

Common & scientific name
Whiplash daisy, Erigeron flagellaris

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Just above winter gate, 8,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This delightful early-blooming daisy reproduces in part through runners (hence the name “whiplash”) that put down roots and enable it to spread along roadsides and in meadows throughout our valley. 

With a name like "ragwort" . . .

Senecio integerrimus, May 26, 2020

Common & scientific name
Lambstongue ragwort, Senecio integerrimus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Weller campground area, 9,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This is one Senecio of a thousand throughout the world, and one of two dozen in our region.  They are all yellow, occasionally interbreed, and for all these reasons can be a bear to tell apart!  This Senecio is tall, has just a couple leaves on its stem, and its middle “flower”  has a shorter, thicker stalk than the flowers surrounding it. It loves the Pass!

Painting a pretty picture

Castilleja miniata, May 26, 2020

Common & scientific name
Red paintbrush, Castilleja miniata

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Weller campground area, 9,400’ & Ptarmigan area, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Paintbrushes owe their lovely coloring not to their flowers, but to their bracts, specialized leaves which in this case are red.  This species of paintbrush is thought to be the second most widely distributed paintbrush in the world.

C. miniata, July 21, 2020

Spring beauties, indeed

Claytonia lanceolata, May 19, 2020

Common & scientific name
Spring beauty, Claytonia lanceolata

Family
Miner’s Lettuce, Montiaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Wherever you find this cheery, candy cane-striped, white flower, you’ll know the snow just melted there. Spring beauty is sometimes called “Indian potato” because its corm—the enlarged, bulb-like base of its stem under the soil—apparently tastes like potato when cooked. I say “apparently” because I haven’t personally tried them. I prefer ogling them to eating them (and I’m lazy).

First orchid of 2020!

Calypso bulbosa, May 19, 2020

Calypso bulbosa up close, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Fairy slipper, Calypso bulbosa

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This early-blooming, circumboreal orchid was named after the sea nymph Calypso of Homer’s Odyssey. Like Calypso, this delicate beauty prefers secluded forest haunts, where she brings delight to the observant hiker.

Bigger isn't always better

Fragaria virginiana, May 19, 2020

F. virginiana in fruit, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Virginia strawberry, Fragaria virginiana

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This wild strawberry concentrates all the flavor of the much larger store-bought version into a tiny berry to produce an intense tasting experience. Indeed, it was this species that was originally crossed with F. chiloensis to create the strawberries you buy at the store today. Wild strawberries could be found in early July in 2020—early!

Albinos are beautiful

White version of Delphinium nuttallianum, May 19, 2020

Close-up of wonderful hybrid

Typically-colored D. nuttallianum, May 19, 2020

Common & scientific name
Nuttall’s larkspur, Delphinium nuttallianum

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Nuttall’s larkspur often occurs in white form, the result of a genetic mutation that forces the switching on and off of certain genes that cause parts of a plant to grow without pigmentation. A true “albino” would have white stems and leaves, as well. In the case of Nuttall’s larkspur, it doesn’t appear to affect its survivability. Indeed, this larkspur is having a banner year in 2020!

The opposite of the blues

Mertensia fusiformis, May 13, 2020

Common & scientific name
Spring bluebells, Mertensia fusiformis

Family
Forget-me-not, Boraginaceae

Location
In between winter gate and Weller curve near river, elevation 8,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This charming genus starts small in the spring at lower elevations with Mertensia fusiformis (pictured), shows up similarly small in the alpine in late June as M. lanceolate/virides, and goes big (like 6-feet big) in mid-summer as Mertensia ciliata.

Free eye test

Collinsia parviflora, May 14, 2020

Collinsia parviflora en masse, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Blue-eyed Mary, Collinsia parviflora

Family
Snapdragon, Scrophulariaceae

Location
Below Weller curve in conifers, elevation 8,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This tiniest of flowers—“parviflora” is Latin for “small-flowered”—will test your eyes (or prescription), but will reward you with its intricate, unusual shape and lovely blue and white petals.

Pollinators need not apply

Arnica cordifolia, May 13, 2020

Common & scientific name
Heartleaf arnica, Arnica cordifolia

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
In the woods near the river between the winter gate & Weller, elevation 8,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

From the highly excellent online resource, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com: “Since seeds of Arnica cordifolia are produced without fertilization . . . off-spring are genetically identical to their parents. The patches of Arnica cordifolia are, therefore, clones and this accounts for the wide variability of Arnica cordifolia characteristics from one location to another. Since there is no pollination there is no blending of characteristics to a common denominator.” Ah-ha! Look for them in varying form in our evergreen forests everywhere.

Look for me EVERYWHERE

Noccaea montana, May 13, 2020

Common & scientific name
Wild candytuft, Noccaea montana

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Along the Roaring Fork River between the winter gate & Weller, elevation 8,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This ubiquitous flower is one of our earliest bloomers.  It can be found from the valley floor in Glenwood Springs in April to the highest peaks on the Pass in July.  Like all mustards, it is edible, but less bitter than most.

More (not very) yummy berries

Mahonia repens, May 13, 2020

Common & scientific name
Creeping Oregon grape, Mahonia repens

Family
Barberry, Berberidaceae

Location
Above winter gate, elevation 8,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This hardy plant is abundant throughout our area.  An evergreen, it is able to withstand many degrees of heat, cold, and drought, and its leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall (some of which remain red in the spring, as seen in this photo).  The berries are edible, but much more delicious to bears than people!

Coming your way soon: yummy berries

Ribes cereum, May 13, 2020

Common & scientific name
Wax currant, Ribes cereum

Family
Currant, Grossulariaceae

Location
Weller Curve, elevation 9,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Ribes is native to western North America.  R. cereum’s edible berries are soft and juicy, with a mild but fruity taste.  Unlike other area species of Ribes, its berries are smooth—try one later in the summer!

Dozens of flowers in one

Packera tridenticulata X neomexicana, first seen May 8, photo above June 1, 2020

Common & scientific names

Threetooth ragwort, Packera tridenticulata X New Mexico groundsel, P. neomexicana

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Weller Curve, elevation 9,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This flower is most likely a cross, i.e, a hybrid, between the two species named above, with its basal leaves having three lobes (“teeth”) and the plant having a hairy, cobwebby appearance overall (like the neomexicana species). The Packera genus’s family, the Sunflower family, is considered the most highly evolved of all flowering plants: what appears to be one “flower” actually consists of many tiny flowers aggregated together in a flower head consisting most commonly of ray flowers (the “petals”) and disk flowers (the “button” in the middle). This aggregation strategy is thought to attract more pollinators.

Good day, sunshine

Corydalis caseana, May 8, 2020

Common & scientific names
Golden smoke, Corydalis area

Family
Fumitory, Fumariaceae

Location
Between winter gate and Weller, elevation 8,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

One of only four species found in Colorado from the Fumitory family, abundant in the east and on the west coast. These unusual flowers are related to Dutchman’s breeches and Bleeding-hearts, and are the yellow cousin of one of Colorado’s most spectacular flowers, Case’s fitweed, Corydalis caseana, found only in wetter areas of Colorado like Marble and Crested Butte.

First wildflower of 2020!

Boechera gracilenta, May 1, 2020

Common & scientific names
Selby’s Rockress, Boechera gracilenta

Family: Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location: Weller Curve, elevation 9,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

”The taxonomic complexity of the Boechera genus is legendary,” proclaims the Flora of North America. Truer words have never been spoken. Telling the different species apart requires examining the plant’s hairs under a microscope, along with the shape and length of its silique (seed pod). “A rare confluence of hybridization, apomixis, and polyploidy makes Boechera one of the most difficult genera in the North American flora.” Having examined all parts of this delightful, delicate spring flower in all its stages of growth, I am putting my money on B. gracilenta (called by some B. selbyi). Don’t hold me to it, though!