Friendly fire

Rubus idaeus, July 9, 2020

R. idaeus in fruit, August 4, 2020

Common & scientific name
American red raspberry, Rubus idaeus

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The best place to find our delicious wild raspberries, which will bear fruit in August, is in disturbed places like roadside and below Shimer Peak (above Weller Lake), which burned in 1980. 

According to a US Forest Service study, "American red raspberry allocates most of its energy to vegetative regeneration [as opposed to flowering and seed production] on recently disturbed sites with favorable growing conditions.  With time, initially elevated nutrient levels decline, and shading increases.  As growing conditions deteriorate, American red raspberry shifts its reproductive effort to the production of large numbers of seed.”  

In other words, raspberry-eating time!

Feel the burn

Urtica dioica, July 9, 2020 (in early bloom)

Common & scientific name
Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica

Family
Nettle, Urticaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A native plant found only occasionally on the Pass, usually at the base of rock cliffs or slopes where it can find water.  The hollow, stinging hairs on its leaves and stems act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when touched.  Use water to alleviate the sting! 

U. dioica, July 9, 2020

Calling Luke Skywalker . . .

Aconytum columbianum, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Monkshood, Aconytum columbianum

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This large, water-loving plant is usually found packed in with other big boys like subalpine larkspur, triangle-leaved senecio, mountain bluebells, and willow, but its flowers will always distinguish it: miniature Darth Vader heads!  Don’t let the summer go by without taking a moment to delight in nature’s quirky concoction.

Naturalizing nicely

Rumex densiflorus, July 9, 2020

Common & scientific name
Dense-flowered dock, Rumex densiflorus

Family
Buckwheat, Polygonaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A Eurasian non-native, long-lived (50 years!), wind-pollinated so it has no scent.  It makes only an occasional appearance on the Pass, generally roadside, and therefore is not a weed of great concern. 

Your roadside companion

Erigeron formossisimus, July 9, 2020

Common & scientific name
Beautiful fleabane, Erigeron formossisimus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man roadside, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
THIS is the purple daisy you see roadside, everywhere, around the middle of the Pass (9,500-10,500), standing 6-10” high.  To distinguish if from other Erigerons—of which we have MANY—look for  glandular, hairy, purplish phyllaries; stems with straight hairs, that usually support a single flower; and stem leaves progressively reduced in size and number as you move up the stem.

Tricky tansymustards

Descurainia californica, July 9, 2020

Common & scientific name
Sierra tansymustard, Descurainia californica

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Almost every wildflower has something fun, weird, or otherwise interesting to say about it.  However, when you get into the individual Descurainias, of which we have a handful on the Pass, it gets challenging  They’re all a bit gangly, with small yellow cross-shaped flowers and skinny siliques (seed pods).  These similarities make them trick to tell apart. This one happens to identify as D. californica owing to the size, shape, and stature of its siliques and the shape of its leaves.  If you want more details, you are a worthy botanist!

The elephant in the alpine

Pedicularis groenlandica, July 15, 2020

Common & scientific name
Elephanthead, Pedicularis groenlandica

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’ & north side summit, 12,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Mother Nature at her most whimsical! Who could not love this faithful reproduction of an elephant’s head on a flower?  Enjoy it for the next month in all high, wet places.  

P. groenlandica, August 24, 2020

Why ciliate-margined petioles matter

Solidago simplex, July 9, 2020

Common & scientific name
Sticky goldenrod, Solidago simplex

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The only sure-fire method of distinguishing this from the other common goldenrod on the Pass, Solidago multiradiata, is to look at the petioles (the leaf stems) to see if they are ciliate-margined (have hairs sticking straight out on their edges).  This species also comes in a smaller, alpine version, S. simplex var. nana (photo below).

Solidago simplex var. nana, July 17, 2020

The Scottish bluebell

Campanula rotundifolia, July 9, 2020

Common & scientific name
Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia

Family
Bellflower, Campanulaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This IS the bluebell of Scotland (not our smaller Mertensia bluebells).  The fact that this plant is sometimes found in areas inhabited by hares—rabbits—may explain its common name.  It is commonly found on the Pass in the montane and subalpine zones. 

A Royal Family member

Sedum lanceolatum, July 9, 2020

S. lanceolatum’s lovely, succulent rosettes

Common & scientific name
Yellow Stonecrop, Sedum lanceolatum

Family
Stonecrop, Crassulaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Found from the bottom to the top of our valley on exposed, sunny places on rocks or gravelly soil, with yellow, star-like flowers, maroon stems, and succulent leaves.  In the same family as King’s and Queen’s Crown.

Hostess with the worstest?

Pedicularis racemosa, July 9, 2020

Common & scientific name
Sickletop lousewort, Pedicularis racemosa 

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man trail, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Look for this wonderfully-shaped wildflower en masse under spruce and fir trees in the subalpine zone. From the US Forest Service’s wonderful “Plant of the Week” post:  

“Traditionally, Pedicularis has been included in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). Louseworts have green leaves and produce their own food through photosynthesis but also have roots capable of capturing nutrients and water from adjacent plants, making them partially parasitic. Recent genetic studies have shown that Pedicularis and other hemiparasitic genera in the Scrophulariaceae (including the Indian paintbrushes, Castilleja) are better placed in the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae), with species that are true parasites that lack green chlorophyll.

Another recent discovery implicates Leafy [Sickletop] lousewort as an alternate host for White pine blister rust. An introduced fungus called Cronartium ribicola causes this infectious disease of five-needled pines [including Limber and Bristlecone pines]. . . . It remains unknown whether Leafy [Sickletop] lousewort has served as an alternate host for blister rust for decades, or if this relationship has evolved only recently.”

There’s gold in them there hills

Saxifraga chrysantha, August 6, 2020

Common & scientific name
Goldbloom saxifrage, Saxifraga chrysantha

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Lost Man Lake, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A single yellow flower with orange dots at the base of its petals sits atop a 2”-3” red stem covered with gland-tipped hairs (as can be seen in this photo) arising from a sweet little rosette of succulent leaves.  Yet another jewel of the alpine!  It does not have the red runners of its close cousin, Saxifraga flagellaris.

S. chrysantha, August 6, 2020

The leaves are half the show

Claytonia megarhiza, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Alpine springbeauty, Claytonia megarhiza

Family
Purslane, Portulaceae

Location
Twining Peak, 13,500’ & Tabor Creek, 12,500

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This totally unmistakeable beauty can be found growing among rocks in the high alpine.  Its white flowers, colored with yellow centers and pink anthers, are found squeezed tight within a round rosette of succulent leaves that are deep purple at emergence, turn green during bloom, then bright red after. 

C. meharhiza, August 7, 2020

Mr. Parry gets another great flower

Trifolium parryi, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Parry’s clover, Trifolium parryi

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Twining Peak, 13,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our half-dozen wonderful clovers, found primarily in the alpine in wettish places, and named, as so many plants are, after the 19th century botanist/explorer, Charles Parry.  How thrilling it must have been for Mr. Parry to be exploring the West in the early 1800s, seeing new flower after new flower, making one amazing “discovery” after the next (for science, that is—native Americans had known these plants well for centuries).

A most golden "weed"

Tonestus lyallii, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Lyall’s goldenweed, Tonestus lyallii

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Twining Peak, 13,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Distinguishable from its close cousin, T. pygmaeus, by the gland tipped, pinhead hairs on its leaves.  Named after the early-19th century Scottish explorer, David Lyall. 

Good thistle!

Cirsium scopulorum, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Mountain thistle, Cirsium scopulorum

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Twining Peak, 12,800’ & upper Lost Man, 12,500

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
These dramatic, native thistles (yes—not all thistles are “bad” non-natives!) have thorny edged leaves and flowers (disk florets only) cushioned by a downy mass of fine hair.  You can be assured it’s a native species because you will never see it taking over a mountainside—it grows in balance with and amongst our several hundred other subalpine and alpine species of plants, and is loved by pollinators.

C. scopulorum, July 23, 2020

Maybe the worst named flower

Pedicularis sudetica, July 17, 2020

Common & scientific name
Sudetic lousewort, Pedicularis sudetica

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’ & Upper Lost Man trail, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our loveliest flowers, uncommon except in high, wet places like the Upper Lost Man valley.  Its swirling flowers, typical of the Pedicularis genus, are distinct for their bright magenta color.  Don’t let its rather ugly name dissuade you—this is one wildflower you don’t want to miss!

P. sudetica, July 8, 2020

A rarity

Chionophila jamesii, July 15, 2020

C. jamesii, August 6, 2020

Common & scientific name
Snowlover, Chionophila jamesii

Family
Snapdragon/Figwort, Scrophulariaceae

Location
Independence & Lost Man Lakes, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Classified as a rare plant of Colorado, the careful observer can find it with some regularity on the high peaks of Independence Pass.  It stands 3” high, and its one-sided, cream-colored flowers are the opposite of showy.  That being said, it is always a delight to find this snowlover, for three reasons: (1) it looks like no other wildflower, with a subtle, intricate beauty that requires a close-up viewing, (2) it is a rare plant, seen probably by  0.0001% of the world’s population, and you’re one of them!, and (3) if you’re finding it, you’re in the high alpine, which is the definition of delight.

What a clown

Mimulus tilingii, July 8, 2020

Common & scientific name
Subalpine monkeyflower, Mimulus tilingii

Family
Snapdragon/Figwort, Scrophulariaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This cheery yellow wildflower can be found along streams, seeps, or ditches from the montane to the alpine. “Mimulus” comes from “mimus,” meaning “buffoon," for the clownish appearance of its flower.

A crowning achievement

Rhodiola rhodantha, July 8, 2020

R. rhodantha, August 6, 2020

Common & scientific name
Queen’s crown, Rhodiola rhodantha

Family
Stonecrop, Crassulaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This succulent beauty always grows in wet places and has a taller, rounder top of pinkish-red flowers than King’s crown, which has a flatter top of dark-wine, sometimes almost black flowers, and which can grow in dryer locations. 

R. rhodantha, July 15, 2020

R. rhodantha leaves, August 24, 2020