Rare & twisted

Draba streptobrachia, June 30, 2021

D. streptobrachia, June 30, 2021

D. streptobrachia, with siliques, Mountain Boy, 12,600’, 7.8.21

Common & scientific name
Alpine tundra draba, Draba streptobrachia

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Twining, 13,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This uncommon Draba’s names, common and scientific, say it all: found only on high peaks, and sporting twisted siliques (seed pods): see photos below. To tell this Draba apart from the others: leaves and stem have variable, star-shaped, dendritic, and/or pectinate hair, fairly sessile (not long stalked), not usually dense (but this, too is variable). Its siliques are largely glabrous but with some hairs on the edges. It can have 1-3 leaves on its stems. The stem is (more) densely hairy (generally) than the leaves.

D. streptobrachia, with siliques, Mtn. Boy 12,600’, July 8, 2021

A first!

Draba globosa, June 30, 2021

D. globosa, June 30, 2021

Common & scientific name
Beavertip draba, Draba ventosa

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Twining, 13,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A rare alpine draba, standing an inch high, with a tight mat of leaves. Its stem and leaves are mostly glabrous (non-hairy), somewhat glandular, with a few stiff hairs along the leaf edges and an extra-thick and stiff, terminal hair at the apex of the leaf (hence the “beavertip”—although not exactly sure what that means). This is my first sighting of this rare but also easy to miss alpine plant.

The elephants are here!

Pedicularis groenlandica, June 30, 2021

Common & scientific name
Elephanthead, Pedicularis groenlandica

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man, 11,600’

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.  

Death camas

Anticlea elegans, July 28, 2021

Common & scientific name
Mountain death camas, Anticlea elegans

Family
False hellebore, Melanthiaceae

Location
Independence ghost town, 10,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Its name says it all: this lovely (former) member of the lily family is extremely poisonous, responsible for the death of early western settlers who mistook its bulbs for Alliums (wild onions) or other edibles.

O-Tay, Buckwheat

Eriogonum umbellatum var. porteri, July 22, 2021

E. umbellatum var. porteri, Indy Ridge,12,400’, August 3,2021

Common & scientific name
Subalpine buckwheat, Eriogonum umbellatum var. porteri

Family
Buckwheat, Polygonaceae

Location
Grizzly Lake Trail, 10,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Widespread in habitat, elevation, and appearance, and according to Janis Huggins in Wild at Heart, its genus Eriogonum is “the largest genus endemic to North America, with more than 300 species, fifty of them occurring in the Rocky Mountains.”

E. umbellatum var. porteri, July 22, 2021

A perennial favorite

P. patens var. multifida, Mt. Shimer, 11,700’, June 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pasqueflower, Pulsatilla patens var. multifida

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Mt. Shimer, 11,600’ (below)

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
According to the Flora of North America, this perennial favorite’s elevational range is unusually broad, from 330 to 12,500 feet (closer to where this one was found). It is an early bloomer, starting in April and continuing through August, depending on the elevation and cooler latitudes. It can be found on prairies, open slopes and woods, or granite outcrops (like the one at left, found a bit late).

A work of art

Iris missouriensis, June 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Rocky Mountain iris, Iris missouriensis

Family
Iris, Iridaceae

Location
Grottos, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

More modest in size and coloring than its cultivated brethren, but always a thrill to find in the wild (and to this observer’s eye, more beautiful in its delicacy), this wild iris thrives in wet areas like Twin Lakes meadow and the Grottos.

Follow the sun and the flies will come

Ranunculus adoneus, June 27, 2021

R. adnoeus, Grizzly ridge, 12,500’, July 22, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine buttercup, Ranunculus adoneus

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Mount Shimer, 11,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This beaming buttercup emerges along the edges of snowfields immediately after the snow melts, and sports fine, thread-like leaves (compared to its cousin, R. escholtzii).  The flowers of the Alpine buttercup display heliotropism; that is, they track the sun's movement from early morning until mid-afternoon.   Flowers aligned parallel to the sun's rays reach average internal temperatures several degrees Celsius above ambient air temperature, and attract more pollinators (in this case, flies) more often as a result. 

A crowning achievement

Rhodiola integrifolia, June 27, 2021

R. integrifolia, Sayres Gulch, 11,500’, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
King’s crown, Rhodiola integrifolia

Family
Stonecrop, Crassulaceae

Location
New York basin, 11,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Who doesn’t love the succulent, uniquely-colored high mountain wildflower?  Rhodiola integrifolia’s flat-topped flower clusters have dozens of wine-colored to almost black flower heads packed tightly together.  King’s crown plants sprout from rhizomes, forming dense colonies, making them hard to miss and easy to enjoy!

Daisy vs. fleabane

Erigeron peregrinus, June 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Subalpine daisy, Erigeron peregrinus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
New York trail, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
I prefer “daisy” over the more commonly used “fleabane” for this lovely flower—it deserves better!  (“Fleabane” apparently referred to the Erigeron genus’s ability to drive away fleas or other insects when burned—which would probably hold true for many things.)  This Erigeron can be distinguished from the many lavender/purple erigerons to come this summer by its wider florets and red-tipped phyllaries that curl backward (photo of same to come).

Dr. Parry scores another

Trifolium parryi, June 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Parry’s clover, Trifolium parryi

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
New York basin, 11,400’

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 western science, that is—native Americans had known these plants well for thousands of years).

And another . . . .

Draba ventosa, June 16, 2021

Common & scientific name
Wind River draba, Draba ventosa

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Summit area, 12,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A rare alpine draba, standing an inch or two high, densely pubescent with many-forked hairs covering the stem and leaves (all basal). Weber describes the hairs as “stalked,” but they look closer to sessile to me.

I'm a knee-bender

Veronica serpyllifolia, June 25, 2021

Common & scientific name
Thymeleaf speedwell, Veronica serpyllifolia

Family
Figwort, Scrophulariaceae 

Location
Lincoln Creek, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This small veronica with its tiny, intricate, four-petaled, blue-white flowers is easily lost amidst other water-loving plants and grasses but merits a closer look. Look for it stream or ditch-side. Its tiny, flat seeds can cling to the feathers of birds, fur of mammals, and shoes of humans, helping spread the seeds into new areas.

V. serpyllifolia, June 25, 2021

Pin cushion plant

Common & scientific name
Large-leaved avens, Geum macrophyllum

Family
Rose, Rosaceae 

Location
Lincoln Creek, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Can easily be confused at first glance with a cinquefoil (Potentilla), with its tall habit and yellow cinquefoil-like flowers, but can be distinguished by the three-parted stem leaves, its more maple-like basal leaves, and especially by its seedhead, seen in the photo at left, which has a bristly, pin cushion look with pinkish styles that are curly-cue shaped at the end. This uncommon (on the Pass) plant grows near streams and in wet areas.

The cow's bane

Oxypolis fendleri, June 25, 2021

O. fendleri, June 25, 2021

Common & scientific name
Fendler’s cowbane, Oxypolis fendleri

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae 

Location
Lincoln Creek, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A most delicate parsley, usually found growing stream or ditch-side tucked in among larger plants. It can be distinguished from other parsleys by the sheaths at the base of its branches (often just one), its pinnate basal leaves, not carrot-like, small (3”) umbels of white flowers, and overall delicate appearance. Apparently poisonous to cattle, hence the name.

O. fendleri, Mountain Boy, 11,600’, July 8, 2021

Sucking not recommended

Lonicera involucrata, June 25, 2021

L. involuncrata, in fruit, Weller Lake, 9,800’, August 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Twinberry honeysuckle, Lonicera involucrata

Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae 

Location
Lincoln Creek, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
An unusual-looking (for our parts), large, deciduous shrub, sporting twin tubular, yellow flowers that turn to (more noticeable) black and distinctly untasty berries, subtended by bright red bracts. It prefers moist forest edges, streams or roadsides. Impossible to confuse with any other plant in our region—one of the few!

L. involucrata in fruit, roadside, 10,500’, July 20, 2021

Satellite saxifrage

Mitella pentandra, June 25, 2021

Common & scientific name
Five-stamened mitrewort, Mitella pentandra

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae 

Location
Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Oh how I love these miniature satellites, these most delicate, complex, and airy of wildflowers.  It feels like they shouldn’t even be called “flowers,” they are so totally unique. Look (HARD) for them now in moist woods, and be delighted!

M. pentandra in fruit, Grottos 9,700’, July 14, 2021

Whip's veneration

Penstemon whippleanus, June 25, 2021

Common & scientific name
Whipple’s penstemon, Penstemon whippleanus

Family
Snapdragon/Figwort, Scrophulariaceae 

Location
Lincoln Creek, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Named for the leader of a transcontinental railroad survey team, this is one of our most unforgettable flowers, with its large, tightly-packed, and unusually colored flowers, ranging in our area from deep-purple to wine-colored to nearly white. 

Go ahead, be crass

Senecio crassulus, June 25, 2021

Common & scientific name
Thickleaf ragwort, Senecio crassulus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lincoln Creekl, 9,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This hairless Senecio has thick leaves (“crass” means “thick” in Latin) with sharp teeth and a bulging involucre below the ray flowers.  Its phyllaries are black-tipped.  This is a common Senecio of subalpine & alpine meadows on the Pass.