Pussytoe vs. Pussytoe

Antennaria parviflora, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Small-leaf pussytoes, Antennaria parviflora

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Grottos, 9,500’; lower Lost Man, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

It can be difficult to tell our half-dozen-plus pussytoe species apart.  The flowers of Small-leaf pussytoes are white or pinkish, and its leaves, fuzzy on both sides, are thin on the stem and wide at the base, where they are either rounded or obtuse at the apex. They spread by stolons—slender stems running along the top of the ground—like strawberries.

A. parviflora, July 13, 2020

Pika produce

Geum rossii, June 16, 2020

Common & scientific name
Alpine avens, Geum rossii

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Midway ridge, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Alpine avens, one of our most common alpine plants, can often be seen in the mouth of the Pass’s mascot, the American pika.  This is surprising because Alpine avens contain tannins, bitter-tasting compounds that are intended to make them unpalatable to animals before their fruits or seeds are ripe. (Tannins cause that astringent, mouth-coating feeling you get from biting into an unripe pear—yuck).  However, those same tannins act as preservatives, which help the pika preserve the other plants they store in their winter “haypiles” so they don’t mold or rot during their long winter lock-down. And Alpine avens’ leaves turn a lovely red in late summer, blanketing the browning tundra. So we love Alpine avens!

Smelowskia, smelowskia, smelowskia!

Smelowskia calycina, June 6, 2020

S. calycina, June 4, 2020, typical rocky alpine setting

Common & scientific name
Alpine smelowskia, Smelowskia calycina

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Midway ridge, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

I love this flower so very, very much.  In part because it is one of the first flowers of the season to emerge in the high alpine, so it is always a welcome sight.  In part because it can range dramatically in size depending on how protected it is—there is a bouquet on Treasure Mountain tucked into a large marble boulder that is three times the size of the plants, both stems and flowers, seen in these photos.  In part because its usually white petals sometimes emerge a lovely soft lavender.  But mostly because of its name, in honor of the 18th century Russian botanist T. Smelovskii.  This is one botanical name that is a joy to learn and say!

S. calycina, light lavender version, June 23, 2020

S. calycina with fungus, June 23, 2020

How low can you go

Oreoxis alpina, June 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Alpine parsley, Oreoxis alpina

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

William Weber, the foremost authority on the flora of Colorado, describes Oreoxis alpina as “a common dwarf alpine on granitic mountains of the Continental Divide.”  Bingo!  This minute yellow flower is a common early summer companion on the high mountains  and ridges of Independence Pass, where it stays low to the ground and protected from wind by surrounding rocks and vegetation.

Word of the day: "cleistogamous"

Viola labradorica, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Alpine violet, Viola labradorica

Family
Violet, Violaceae

Location
Midway ridge, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

As lovely as violets are, they do not rely on pollinators as their primary means of reproduction.  Rather, certain of a violet plant’s flowers don’t develop pollinator-attracting attributes, never open, and stay underground or emerge only after their seeds mature into fruits.  Such self-fertilizing flowers are “cleistogamous.”

A marigold's best friend

Trollius albiflorus, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Globeflower, Trollius albiflorus

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

These newly-blooming flowers will morph from light yellow to white over the next several days.  In addition to Marsh marigolds, Globeflowers can be confused with Narcissus-flowered anemones, Anemone narcissiflora, which bloom a bit later and have hairy stems, where Globeflowers are hairless. 

Goodbye snow, hello Marsh marigolds!

Caltha leptosepala, June 4, 2020

Caltha leptosepala and Trollius albiflorous, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Marsh marigold, Caltha leptosepala

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

As the snow melts and streams & springs emerge, Marsh marigolds follow suit. They often emerge alongside or at the same time as Globeflowers, Trollius albiflorous.  Marsh marigolds can be distinguished by the blue streaks on the back of their flowers, and by their leaves, which are entire, while Globeflowers’ are palmate and cut. See photo below: Marsh marigolds on the bottom, Globeflowers on top.

Isn't scientific language awesome?

Potentilla diversifolia or glaucophylla, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Blueleaf cinquefoil, Potentilla diversifolia or glaucophylla

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Midway ridge, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Good luck telling our ten or so species of Potentillas apart!  They are all yellow (except P. arguta, which is white), and their flowers are basically identical, so the key lies in the leaves.  Time for some fun botanical lingo: are they pinnate? (leaflets along each side of a stem, like a feather) or digitate? (lobes radiating from one point, like fingers from a palm); glabrous? (smooth) or pubescent? (hairy); toothed deeply, shallowly, or only on the upper third? (spoiler alert: this last one is key for identifying P. diversifolia, and the answer is yes to the last!)

This could be the bane of your existence

Actea rubra, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Baneberry, Actea rubra

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Weller Trail, 9,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Let’s be honest: most of us are fascinated by deadly poisonous things.  Especially beautiful deadly poisonous things.  Enter Baneberry.  It begins with a delicate sprig of white flowers, which turn to shiny red or white berries later in the summer—berries that can kill you.  Stop and pay homage to this beautiful, deadly killer!

Sufferin' saxifrage!

Micranthes rhomboidea, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Diamond-leaf saxifrage, Micranthes rhomboidea

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Grottos, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Saxifrages are one of our most delightful families.  They’re mostly white (sometimes yellow), usually delicate, and always a treat to find.  This will be the first of over a dozen saxifrage species to come on the Pass.

What's in a weed?

Barbarea orthoceras, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
American yellowrocket, Barberea orthoceras

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Weller curve, 9,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This is a circumpolar species, meaning it is distributed around the world in the Northern Hemisphere.  If it looks like a “weed,” well . . . that brings up the interesting question of what a “weed” really is.  This plant is native and has evolved over many thousands of years to share space with other natives.  But it isn’t particularly attractive, and can grown in great numbers (not on the Pass, however).  Probably the best definition of a weed is a plant that grows where people don’t want it to grow! 

Yellow lupine?

Thermopsis montana, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Golden banner, Thermopsis montana

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Weller curve, 9,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Looks like a lupine, but it’s yellow, and that’s all you need to know to distinguish it!  Golden banner grows easily and in great quantities around our valley, but in only a few spots on the Pass.

What's new, pussytoe?

Antennaria pulcherrima, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Showy pussytoes, Antennaria pulcherrima

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This species of pussytoe, which has a taller stem and larger head than our other local species, doesn’t look much like a sunflower because it only has disk flowers (the flowers that usually make up the button of a sunflower), and no ray flowers (the “petals”). 

An autumn superstar

Sorbus scopulina, June 2, 2020

S. scopulina, June 16, 2020

Common & scientific name
Mountain ash, Sorbus scopulina

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This small tree is more likely to capture your attention later in the summer, when it produces bright reddish-orange berries, and then again in the fall when its leaves turn lovely, soft shades of red, yellow, and orange.

Visualize whirled peas . . .

Lathyrus lanszwertii, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Lanszwert’s pea, Lathyrus lanszwertii

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

A common peavine found everyone on the Pass below treeline, especially in Aspen forests and open meadows.  White with a hint of pink or purple guide lines, it turns rust-colored with age

Carpe diem embodied

Linum lewisii, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Blue flax, Adenolinum lewisii

Family
Flax, Linaceae

Location
Weller curve, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

“Pluck the day [for it is ripe], trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.”  This is the more accurate and complete translation of the oft-cited “carpe diem,” which is usually reduced to “seize the day” and leaves out “quam minimum credula postero.”  I prefer this translation because it captures perfectly, in botanical terms even, the lesson of the blue flax: it blooms for exactly one day.  Its petals open in the morning, and fall off by afternoon.  Blue flax knows no tomorrow.  Would that we all could live that way!

Elderberry wine, anyone?

Sambucus racemosa, June 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
Red elderberry, Sambucus racemosa

Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae

Location
Weller Curve, 9,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

The berries of its eastern cousin are used to make wine and for myriad medicinal purposes.  Our berries are safe to eat only after being cooked, and are only marginally palatable.  Leave them for the wildlife!

Bow down

Microsteris gracilis, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Slender phlox, Microsteris gracilis

Family
Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Even easier to miss than Oregon boxwood, this tiny wildflower is often lost among other flowers and grasses in dry meadows and forest openings.  It has 5 petals, its leaves and stem are glandular and hairy, and it rarely grows more than a few inches high. It is frequently found growing beside another tiny beauty, Blue-eyed Mary, both of which will reward the hiker who is willing to stop and get low.

Cultivating appreciation

Paxistima myrsinites, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Oregon boxwood, Paxistima myrsinites

Family
Stafftree, Celastraceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Easy to miss as Oregon boxwood’s tiny, cross-shaped flowers hide within the axils of its evergreen leaves.  It’s worth taking note of these rosy gems, though, because this common shrub will be a constant companion!

All things bright and beautiful

Viola canadensis, June 2, 2020

Common & scientific name
Canada violet, Viola canadensis

Family
Viola, Violaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Canada violets, found scattered throughout our woods, are unmistakeable.  They have heart-shaped leaves, bright white petals, and purple lines guiding pollinators to their yellow center.  Here they will come into contact with pollen, which will stick to their legs or bodies and be carried to the next flower for cross-pollination.  Cross-pollination allows for the exchange of genetic information among plants, leading to the extraordinary diversity we see on our hikes.