Wondrous creation

Thalictrum fendleri (male), June 2, 2020

T. fendleri (female), June 16, 2020

Common & scientific name
Fendler’s meadowrue, Thalictrum fendleri

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This is one of my favorite wildflowers.  First, unusually, its plants come in male and female versions.  The first flower shown here, reminiscent of a tasseled lampshade, is male.  The female version below is star-like, akin to skinnier versions of False Solomon’s seal.  They love aspen groves, and their leaves look like columbines’. In their intricacy, they are wonders of nature!

Precious few wild blueberries

Vaccinium myrtillus, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Bilberry or blueberry, Vaccinium myrtillus

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 9,000’

Fun/weird/little known fact
This wild blueberry is the most common of our three Vaccinium species below treeline.  It also produces less flowers (the sweet little whitish-pink bells shown here), therefore less blueberries.  Later in the summer if you can find some, though, they are delicious!

Social climber

Vicia americana, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
American vetch, Vicia americana

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Look for this small but vivid flower hiding among other shrubs and flowers—it is one of only a few members of the enormous Pea family that is a climbing vine, using tendrils to climb other plants and make its way to the sunlight.

Shooting stars

Aquilegia elegantula, June 16, 2020

Common & scientific name
Western red columbine, Aquilegia elegantula

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Difficult , 9,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Nothing lights up a speckled woods like these dazzling red rockets.  They are often found in large groups, and in the same location as fairy slippers.  Look for both before they’re gone!

Ooh ooh that smell

Prunas virginiana, June 1, 2020

Common & scientific name
Chokecherry, Prunas virginiana

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Weller curve, 9,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Often seen in the same vicinity as Serviceberries, Chokecherry shrubs produce a heady aroma loved by some, abhorrent to others. They also play host to tent caterpillars, and are an important food source for birds, bears, and other wildlife.

Lovely lilies

Maianthemum racemosum, June 1, 2020

Common & scientific name
False Solomon’s seal, Maianthemum racemosum

Family
Lily, Liliaceae (MAYBE—see earlier post re M. stellatum)

Location
Between winter gate and Weller, 8,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Can be confused with its close cousin, Maianthemum stellatum, Starry false lily of the valley, which prefers sunnier habitats and has fewer, larger, more delicate flowers, thinner leaves, and striped (instead of speckled) berries.

Bursting with abundance

Cardamine cordifolia, June 1, 2020

Common & scientific name
Heartleaf bittercress, Cardamine cordifolia

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Between winter gate and Weller, 8,800’; lower Lost Man, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Like all mustards, Heartleaf bittercress has four petals in the shape of a cross, and all its parts are edible (if bitter).  It will bloom in profusion near streamsides all summer.  When it has gone to seed, give its pods a squeeze and watch them burst!

C. cordifolia, July 13, 2020

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!

Berry, berry, quite contrary

Ribes wolfii, May 26, 2020

Common & scientific name
Wolf’s currant, Ribes wolfii

Family
Currant or Gooseberry, Grossulariaceae

Location
Weller campground area, 9,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Named after the plant collector, John Wolf—not your dog’s ancestor—this gooseberry is one of a half dozen species in our area.  R. wolfii rarely produces berries, but when it does, they are dark purple, spine-tipped, and glandular, which doesn’t make them sound very good (but I’m told they’re palatable).

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.