Antennaria pulcherrima, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Showy pussytoes, Antennaria pulcherrima
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Northeast of summit, 12,000’
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”).
Potentilla nivea, June 16, 2021
P. nivea, Mountain Boy, 12,600’, July 8, 2021
Common & scientific names
Snow cinquefoil, Potentilla nivea
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
Our most common alpine cinquefoil, its three-parted leaves are densely white/hairy below, greener on top (but still hairy). There is substantial confusion/flux around a number of potentillas, including this one (does it include P. uniflora, for example?), and they do tend to hybridize. But for now most experts seem to agree this cinquefoil is properly classified. For now, anyway.
D. aurea, smaller stature, summit, 12,500’ June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Golden draba, Draba aurea & Heller’s draba, Draba helleriana
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Summit south, 12,900
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Ah, the wonderful yellow alpine drabas! Time to get the microscope out to study the hairs on its leaves, the only way to tell the various species apart. Draba aurea’s hairs are dense, overlapping each other in a tangled mess of cruciform (4-forked) hairs on top of short stalks, giving the plant an overall grayish-green look. It is common on the high Pass. It also has greenish sepals with clear edges, and does not have denticulate leaves, helping distinguish it from its near twin, D. helleriana, pictured below.
Draba helleriana, summit 12,900’, June 23, 2021
Draba crassa, June 18, 2021
Common & scientific name
Thickleaf draba, Draba crassa
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Lackawanna ridge, 13,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of many, difficult-to-distinguish alpine Drabas, this one has smooth, green, relatively large leaves and yellow flowers, with simple hairs only on the edges of the leaves. It likes to sequester itself among rocks and other plants for maximum protection from the elements. This photo shows how much mustard flowers—four petals, always—even of different genera look alike.
Sorbus scopulina, June 16, 2021
Common & scientific name
Mountain ash, Sorbus scopulina
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Difficult Trail, 8,200’
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.
Penstemon strictus, June 16, 2021
P. strictus, lower Lost Man TH, 10,500’, August 18, 2021
Common & scientific name
Rocky Mountain penstemon, Penstemon strictus
Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
In her fabulous local guide, Wild at Heart, Janis Huggins notes that “with more than 250 species . . . [penstemon] is the largest genus of flowering plants native to North America and one that is still actively evolving—closely related species in the same vicinity readily hybridize.” This being said, it is impossible to mistake our regal Rocky Mountain penstemon for any other kind. It grows only near the bottom of the Pass in sunny, dry areas, and is by far the tallest and lightest blue-lavender of the Pass’s half-dozen species.
Frasera speciosa, June 16, 2021
F. speciosa close-up, June 16, 2021
F. speciosa masting, ghost town, 10,800, June 28, 2021
Common & scientific name
Green gentian, Frasera speciosa
Family
Gentian, Gentianaceae
Location
Difficult, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A monocarpic monster that produces a root system and rosette of leaves for between 20-80 years (averaging 35) before sending up its stalk of 4-petaled flowers, then dying. 2019 saw a superbloom of green gentian in our region. After studying what causes superblooms, or “masts,” in green gentian, Dr. David Inouye at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab in Gothic determined that a very wet July and August 4 years previous seemed to trigger the plant in preforming its (initially microscopic) stalk. It looks like 2021 may be another superbloom year, as Green gentians are starting to send up stalks and bloom on both sides of the Pass in large numbers: stay tuned for more photos!
F. speciosa, ghost town, 10,800’, June 28, 2021
F. speciosa superbloom, Grizzly Creek Trail, 11,000’, July 22, 2021
Erigeron simplex, June 16, 2021
Common & scientific name
One-stem daisy, Erigeron simplex
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Summit, 12,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common tundra plant ranges from lavender to pink to white, has hairy phyllaries (the whorl of bracts surrounding the flower (actually flowers—as a member of the Sunflower family, the daisy has multiple ray flowers (the “petals”) surrounding multiple disk flowers that make up the yellow middle (the “button”)), and simple (undivided, smooth on the edge) leaves. This is how to tell it apart from other Erigerons it shares the high country with.
E. simplex, Green Mountain, 10,800’, June 24, 2021
Crepis atribarba, June 16, 2021
Common & scientific name
Slender hawkweed, Crepis atribarba
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Difficult, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
An uncommon hawkweed, found on the Pass only in the lower-elevation, dry habitat at Difficult meadow, its leaves distinguish it from other, more common hawkweeds as they are divided into long, slender, well-separated lobes ending in a point. While a gangly-looking fellow, and despite its name, Slender hawkweed is native and enjoyed by many pollinators.
C. atribarba leaf, June 16, 2021
Cornus sericia, June 16, 2021
Common & scientific name
Redosier Dogwood Cornus sericea
Family
Dogwood, Cornaceae
Location
Difficult, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This lovely, water-loving shrub is enjoyed by dozens of our local animals: its stems and shoots are browsed by moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, beavers, and smaller rodents, and its berries are eaten in the fall by bear, rabbits, squirrels, and many birds, including woodpeckers.
Rosa woodsii, June 16, 2021
R. woodsii in fruit, Lincoln Creek, 9,600’, August 19, 2021
Common & scientific name
Wood’s rose, Rosa woodsii
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Difficult Campground, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There are few flowers that cry for attention like Wood’s rose, between its swoony smell and showy flowers ranging in color from light pink to deep magenta. Found most often on the Pass in Aspen groves or roadside, its fruits (“rose hips”) are known for their nutritional value and high vitamin c content, but I’ve generally found them to have a mealy texture and bland taste. I am grateful to the Southwest Colorado Wildflowers website for suggesting they are best eaten after several frosts!
R. woodsii, roadside 8,900’, June 22, 2021
C. occidentalis, June 16, 2021
C. occidentalis, Shimer, 12,000’, June 27, 2021
Common & scientific name
Western Indian paintbrush, Castilleja occidentalis
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
What a wonderful alpine fuzzball this is! Especially when it hybridizes with other paintbrushes like the magenta C. rhexifolia to create tie-dyed, striped wonders.
While there is much discussion among botanists about the proper classification of paintbrushes, including the genetic difference (if any) between C. occidentalis and the similarly yellowish-white C. sulphurea (also called C. septentrionalis), the two are readily distinguishable in the field by their elevation (C. occidentalis is an alpine plant, C. sulphurea is found lower), their size (C. occidentalis is shorter), and their fuzziness factor (C. occidentalis wins!) It also crosses with other high-elevation Castillejas like C. rhexifolia and C. miniata to create colorful, striped versions, like that below.
C. occidentalis x. C. rhexifolia, summit, 12,100’, July 12, 2021
Mertensia ciliata, June 16, 2021
M. ciliata, Grizzly Ridge, 12,200’, July 22, 2021
Common & scientific name
Mountain bluebells, Mertenisa ciliata
Family
Borage, Boraginaceae
Location
Roadside, 9,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Mountain bluebells grace wet areas with their delicate pink-to-blue flowers, bluish-green leaves, and sheer abundance. Standing several feet high, they are often found in the company of subalpine larkspur and monkshood.
bouquet, June 23, 2021
M. ciliata, north summit, 13,000’, July 29, 2021
Anemone narcissiflora, June 16, 2021
Common & scientific name
Narcissus anemone, Anemone narcissiflora
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A flower named Narcissus would have LOVED all the attention it gets from scientists! From the authoritative E-Flora: “The taxonomy of this highly variable, widespread species is extremely controversial. The conservative approach taken here most closely approximates S.L. Welsh's (1974) treatment for the Alaskan varieties. E. Hultén's discussion (1941-1950, vol. 4, pp. 735-736) of local races and the variation within this species, however, clearly illustrates the need for a thorough biosystematic investigation. Recognition of about 12 varieties is in light of S. V. Juzepczuk's (1970) work; however, he elevated local races to specific rank in his treatment.” What a complex character, indeed!
What I KNOW is that Anemone narcissiflora can be distinguished from the habitat-sharing, similar-looking Globeflower by its hairy stem, and from Marsh marigold by its divided (rather than simple, smooth-edged) leaves.
Geum triflorum, June 19, 2021
G. triflorum, Lower Lost Man, 10,500’, July 4, 2021
Common & scientific name
Prairie smoke, Geum triflorum
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
North Fork Lake Creek TH, 10,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This sublimely soft, rosy, nodding flower is always a delight to find, whether it’s a single plant or whether it fills a meadow. Its seed heads are reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss hair style, and will be featured here later this summer when they go to seed! Interestingly, it is the plant’s rosy bracts and sepals, not its small, pale petals just protruding at the tip of the flower, that give Prairie smoke its elegant color and shape.
G. triflorum, in fruit, S. Fork Lake Creek, 10,400’, July 2, 2021
Geum rossii, June 14, 2021
Common & scientific name
Alpine avens, Geum rossii
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
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!
Mertensia lanceolata, June 14, 2021
M. lanceolata, June 16, 2021, summit
Common & scientific name
Alpine bluebells, Mertensia lanceolata
Family
Borage, Boraginaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
These are not the bluebells of Scottish fame (those are harebells, in their own Bellflower family), but our Mertensias grace our slopes from the valley floor in spring (M. fusiformis) to the alpine (here) and at all elevations near water in their largest form (M. ciliata).
Oreoxis alpina, June 14, 2021
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.
O. alpina, June 16, 2021
Trifolium nanum, June 14, 2021
Common & scientific name
Dwarf clover, Trifolium nanum
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This exclusively alpine pea hugs the ground, coming in at just an inch or so high (“nanum” is Greek for “dwarf.”) It’s hard to miss, though, as it forms densely-packed mats of elegant pin-striped flowers ranging from whiteish-pink, to lavender, magenta, and purple.
T. nanum, June 16, 2021
Trifolium dasyphyllum, June 14, 2021
T. dasyphyllum, ne of summit, 12,200’, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Alpine clover, Trifolium dasyphyllum
Family
Pea, Fabiaceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our three throughly delightful alpine clovers, this early bloomer can be distinguished from its similarly shaped but later blooming cousin, T. parryi, by its lighter overall color (often white or light pink) and darker, contrasting (here magenta) keel, where T. parryi is a darker magenta or purple overall, without the boldly contrasting keel.