Sedum lanceolatum, June 25, 2021
Common & scientific name
Yellow Stonecrop, Sedum lanceolatum
Family
Stonecrop, Crassulaceae
Location
Lincoln Creek, 9,800’
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.
S. lanceolatum, S. Fork Lake Creek, 10,400’, July 2, 2021
Artemesia scopulorum, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Rocky Mountain sage, Artemesia scopulorum
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Linkins Lake Trail, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common alpine sage requires a good eye and patience to appreciate (a loop doesn’t hurt, either!). It is odd and intricate up close, and has Smelowskia-like, grayish leaves. Yes, this, too, is a “wildflower.” Viva la difference!
Anemone multifida, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Cutleaf anemone, Anemone multifida
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
Green Mountain, 10,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Sometimes open, sometimes closed; sometimes white; sometimes rose. This charming, fickle & fussy buttercup is a delight in all of its forms.
Phacelia hastata, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Silverleaf phacelia, Phacelia hastata
Family
Waterleaf, Hydrophyllaceae
Location
Green Mountain, 11,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Silverleaf phacelia has dense, tightly coiled clusters of purple flowers with long, conspicuous stamens and leaves covered in short, silvery hairs. Uncommon on the Pass, but always a treat to find.
P. hastata, June 24, 2021
Saxifraga oregana, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Bog saxifrage, Saxifraga oregana
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Upper Lost Man, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Distinguishable from Snowball saxifrage by blooming later, being taller, having multi-flowered stems (not just one ball of flowers at the top), always growing in wet places, AND erupting in huge numbers about now in the subalpine & alpine wherever water is found!
S. oregana, Mountain Boy, 11,600’,July 8, 2021
Agoseris aurantiaca, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Orange agoseris, Agoseris aurantiaca
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Linkins Lake trail, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There aren’t many true orange flowers in the wild, which may be the reason why this otherwise very dandelion-like flower grabs ones attention. Like dandelions, Orange agoseris is composed exclusively of ray flowers, and produces a similar seed head. Unlike dandelions, though, you will not see it lining the roadside or invading your lawn. It modestly limits itself, in sparing numbers, to dry meadows from the montane to the alpine on the Pass.
Cirsium eatonii, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Eaton’s thistle, Cirsium eatonii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Linkins Lake trail, 11,800
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
First, importantly, not all thistles are “bad”—i.e., non-native invasives—and indeed with a little time and attention paid can take on a certain charm (in addition to being pollinator favorites). This thistle is common (but not TOO common) on the Pass, from the montane to the alpine in meadows and forest openings. It has white, pink, or purple flowers protruding up from its cobwebby head. Its stem is often dark red (below) and its leaves are spiny. It has learned well how to protect itself!
Oenothera villosa, June 24, 2021
Common & scientific name
Hairy evening primrose, Oenothera villosa
Family
Evening primrose, Onograceae
Location
Winter gate,8,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This tall, striking primrose, often showing its yellow petals wilted during the day as orange, has a red, hairy stem and hairy leaves. It can be seen roadside from the bottom of the Pass to about 9,700’ in elevation. One of the only other families of flowers to have four petals (like the mustards), its flowers open in the evening to invite long-tongued moths in.
O. villosa, roadside 9,500’ July 8, 2021
Galium boreale, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Northern bedstraw, Galium boreale
Family
Madder, Rubiaceae
Location
Difficult, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The Madder family is one of the few local families (along with mustards and evening primroses) to sport flowers with just four petals. Northern bedstraw is unmistakeable thanks to its whorls of four leaves, spaced far apart along a square stem: everything’s in fours!
Arenaria/Eremogone fendleri, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Fender’s sandwort, Arenaria/Eremogone fendleri
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
Northeast of summit, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This charming pink likes loose rock and dirt, and delights with its dainty structure and magenta anthers, in such contrast to its preferred habitat. The anthers and its glandular habit (dots of sticky secretions, which often collect dirt) distinguish this from Arenaria/Eremogone congesta.
Antennaria umbrinella, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Umber pussytoes, Antennaria umbrinella
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Roadside, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This species of pussytoes has brownish coloring at the base of its “paws,” that is, on the lower portion of its phyllaries. A. rosea has phyllaries that are distinctly red, A. media black, A. corymbosa a dark spot, and A. parviflora white or pinkish. Get out the loop and good luck!
Platanthera huronensis, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Huron bog orchid, Platanthera huronensis
Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae
Location
Roadside, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Huron bog orchid, one of our area’s most common, is found streamside, in ditches, and all manner of wet places, often alongside White bog orchid. It can be difficult to tell this apart from our other green bog orchid, Platanthera hyperborea, also green/greenish-white, also hanging out in similar areas. I’m calling this one P. huronensis based on the shape of the lip (the lower petal sticking straight out), which is wider at the base and tapers toward the end, while P. hyperborea’s lip is wider for longer, then tapers more quickly to a point. Or something like that: good luck and just enjoy the orchid! (Also, the smell is generally not as strong as that of White bog orchid.)
Pedicularis bracteosa, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Bracted lousewort, Pedicularis bracteosa
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
Upper Lost Man TH, 11,400
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Smaller than towering lousewort, Pedicularis procera, but bigger than all the other Pedicularis species, this is commonly found in wetter meadows and forests from the montane to the alpine. It has the typical fern/ladder-like leaves of the genus, this one with a spike of yellow flowers that begin growing from the bottom up.
Packera wernerifolia, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Hoary groundsel, Packera wernerifolia
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
N.E. of summit, 12,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
An apparently variable yellow senecio (not always “hoary”), but easy to identify in our area owing to its location (alpine), stature (short), reduced, bract-like stem leaves, and often (subtly) three-toothed leaves at the apex . Named after another genus not found in the US—not Mr. Werner!
P. wernerifolis, Mountain Boy, 12,500’, July 8, 2021
Pedicularis parryi, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Parry’s lousewort, Pedicularis parryi
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
N.E, of summit, 12,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
With characteristic beaked flowers and fern-like leaves, this highest growing and smallest of the fascinating Pedicularis genus whorls around on itself in delightful fashion. It is hemiparasitic (hence its move from the Snapdragon family into the Broomrape family), meaning it produces chlorophyll and thus can survive on its own, but obtains additional nutrients from the roots of other plants.
Saxifraga bronchialis, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Spotted saxifrage, Saxifraga bronchialis
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
N.E. side of summit, 11,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This delightfully dainty Saxifrage earns its name as a “rock breaker,” as it is usually found sprouting out of the side of a rock crevice or fracture. Saxifrages grow as far north as any species of wildflower in the world, and as such are quite at home in our high mountains.
Heliomerus multiflora, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Showy goldeneye, Heliomeris multiflora
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Roadside, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Grows from the foothills to the subalpine, and is most often seen roadside on the lower portion of Independence Pass. The penultimate sunflower (“helios” means “sun”), it is a favorite of bees, both sweat and bumble. It is considered a late summer flower—and is blooming in June! (Hint: don’t wait to see the flower show this summer—it will end early.)
Castilleja rhexifolia, June 23, 2021
C. rhexifolia, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’, June 24, 2021
C. rhexifollia possibly crossing with C. occidentalis, Grizzly Lake Trail, 12,000’, July 22, 2021
Castilleja rhexifolia, June 27, 2020
Common & scientific name
Rosy paintbrush, Castilleja rhexifolia
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
Linkins Lake TH, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Whether “rosy” or bright magenta or soft lavender or striped with white or some combination of all of the above, Rosy paintbrush is by all accords one of our most stunning flowers. Hybridization with other species, like the whitish-yellow C. occidentalis, is thought to be responsible for the variation. As with all members of the Castilleja genus, the colorful parts are actually modified leaves, or “bracts.” Its flowers are small, tubular, greenish-yellow, and barely visible within its colorful bracts. Enjoy this summertime treat!
C. rhexifolia, NY Basin, 11,400’, June 27, 2021
Ranunculus pygmaeus, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Pygmy buttercup, Ranunculus pygmaeus
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
N.E. of summit, 12,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Standing just a few inches tall, usually tucked up against a wet rock or cliff area for protection, this tiny buttercup is always a treat to find! Its palmate, wider-than-tall leaves, with a single middle lobe and double side lobes, are diagnostic, as is its small size.
R. pygmaeus, Jack Creek basin, 12,000’, July 4, 2021
Arnica mollis, June 23, 2021
Common & scientific name
Hairy arnica, Arnica mollis
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
N.E. of summit, 11,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As its name suggests, this arnica is fuzzy on its stems and leaves, grows taller than our other high-elevation arnicas, A. cordifolia, A. latifolia, or A. rydbergii, and usually has three flower heads growing at the top. It emerges as the common A. cordifolia, Heart-leaved arnica, is receding.
A. mollis, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,500’, July 22, 2021