Bluebells abound

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).

How low can you go?

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

Peas mind where you're stepping

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

Lilliputian lily

Lloydia serotina, June 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alp lily, Lloydia serotina

Family
Lily, Liliaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

A dainty lily with purple pencil markings on its white petals, grass-like leaves, and standing just 4 or 5” high, easily overlooked hiding among rocks or other alpine flowers and grasses. Worth seeking out!

L. serotoina, summit, June 16, 2021

Lucky clovers

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.

Good news: I smell a skunk!

P. viscosum, ne of summit, 12,100’, June 23, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sky pilot, Polemonium viscosum

Family
Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

If you’ve ever been scrambling along a rocky alpine ridge and swore you smelled a skunk, you were (sort of) correct!  Polemonium viscosum, a common but striking tundra flower, sometimes goes by the name “Skunkweed,” owing to the strong odor it sometimes puts out.  Like its faunal namesake, however, it is a beauty to behold, no matter the smell.  So hold your nose and thank your lucky stars for being where you are: in the magnificent alpine among the magnificent Sky pilot!

P. viscosum, Sayres Ridge, 13,300’, July 2, 2021

A rose is a rose is a . . .

Sibbaldia procumbens, June 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sibbaldia, Sibbaldia procumbens

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
At first glance Sibbaldia doesn’t look like it belongs in the Rose family: its three-part leaves are clover ( Pea)-like, and its tiny, greenish-yellow flowers hardly call to mind our showy Wild rose, Rosa woodsii.

Upon closer inspection, however, one finds they do indeed have 5 petals and 5 sepals (the green, leaf-like parts enclosing and protecting the bud/flower), and their leaves are reminiscent of Wild strawberries (in the Rose family). Indeed, upon further consideration, only Rosa woodsii REALLY looks like a rose proper—it’s a wonderfully variable family.

Worldly, indeed

Silene acaulis, June 13, 2021

S. acaulis, summit, June 23, 2021

S. acaulis, Sayres Ridge, 13,300’, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Moss campion, Silene acaulis

Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae

Location
Above Midway, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This perennial favorite of the high alpine occurs in almost all arctic and alpine habitats throughout the northern hemisphere.  It reaches as far south as Arizona and as far north in Greenland well above the arctic circle, within twenty-five miles of the most northern growing of any plant.  And according to extensive studies done on this alpine jewel in the 1950s in Rocky Mountain National Park, its roots go down as far as six feet—hard to believe in the (very) Rocky Mountains!

S. acualis, Shimer-Difficult, 12,500’, 6.27.21

S. acaulis albino, Sayres Ridge, 13,300’, July 2, 2021

Tobacco's waning appeal

Valerian edulis, June 13, 2021

Common & scientific name
Edible valerian, Valeriana edulis

Family
Valerian, Valerianaceae

Location
Grottos, 9,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Valerian is famous in part for its roots, which when cooked are appealing in the way that tobacco is (it is also commonly known as “Tobacco root”): that is, very appealing to some, almost nauseating to others.   It’s really just as fun to look at.

Pygmy bitterroot (yep, that's my name, alright)

Lewisia pygmaea, June 13, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pygmy bitterroot, Lewisia pygmaea

Family
Purslane, Portulaceae

Location
Midway trail, 11,400

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The much tinier cousin of the state flower of Montana, the Bitterroot, this lavender lovely sits tight on the tundra among its long, fleshy leaves, protecting itself from the cold temps and desiccating winds.  Add it to your list of miniature alpine wonders!

L. pygmaea, ne of summit, 12,800’, June 23, 2021

A woolly one

Potentilla hippiana, June 8, 2021

Potentilla pulcherrima x. P. hippiana, front side of leaf, roadside 8,700’, June 22, 2021

Common & scientific name
Woolly cinquefoil, Potentilla hippiana

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Twin Lakes, 9,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
Woolly cinquefoil can be distinguished from its many cousins by the white-woolly underside of its leaflets and greener but still hairy top side, and numerous, pinnate (ladder-like) leaflets, as shown at left.

As for the leaves at left and below, these likely belong to a cross between Woolly cinquefoil and Beautiful cinquefoil, P. pulcherrima, owing to the sub-digitate nature of its leaves (not obviously pinnate as with most Woollies, like the above-left), but not quite palmate/digitate (starting from the same central point, as in Beauties). Potentillas often present a good puzzle!

Backside of P. pulcherrima x P. hippiana

Social climber

Vicia americana, June 10, 2021

Common & scientific name
American vetch, Vicia americana

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
River valley, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Look for this small but vivid flower hiding among other shrubs and flowers—it is one of only a few members of the enormous Pea family that is a climbing vine, using tendrils to climb other plants and make its way to the sunlight.

Drilling down on reproduction

Geranium richardsonii, June 10, 2021

Common & scientific name
Richardson’s geranium, Geranium richardsonii

Family
Geranium, Geraniaceae

Location
River valley, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Distinguishable from its close relative, Geranium viscosissimum, by the sticky, red-ball-tipped (“glandular”) hairs on the stem below its flower, as opposed to the yellow-tipped hairs on G. viscosissimum.

Geraniums have evolved a wonderful method for successfully planting their own seeds.  Its seeds are attached to a reproductive part of the flower, the style, that coils like a spring.  Once it falls to the ground, it coils and uncoils in response to changes in atmospheric pressure, thereby drilling itself and its seeds into the ground.

Painting a pretty picture

Castilleja miniata, June 10, 2021

C. miniata, n.e. of summit, 11,900’, June 23, 2021

Common & scientific name
Red paintbrush, Castilleja miniata

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
River valley area, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Paintbrushes owe their lovely coloring not to their flowers, but to their bracts, specialized leaves which in this case are red (or orange, or deep red, or . . . ).  This species of paintbrush is thought to be the second most widely distributed paintbrush in the world.

C. miniata, n.e. of summit, 11,900’, June 23, 2021

C. miniata, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’, June 24, 2021

Little white berries enjoyed by no one

Symphoricarpos rotundifolius/oreophilus, June 8, 2021

S. rotundifolius in fruit, August 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Roundleaf snowberry, Symphoricarpos rotundifolius/oreophilus

Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common shrub, native to the western United States, produces a white berry apparently enjoyed by no one: birds, animals, or people. Its dainty pink and white flowers, though, deserve a close look!

Welcome to the wonderful world of cinquefoils (and good luck to you)

Potentilla glaucophylla/diversifolia, June 8, 2021

P. diversifolia, Lackawanna, 11,400’, June 18, 2021

Common & scientific name
Blue-leaf cinquefoil, Potentilla glaucophylla/diversifolia

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Here we go: welcome to the whacky world of Potentillas, or Cinquefoils, upwards of a dozen of which live on the Pass, all with similar looking yellow flowers (except the white P. arguta), all differentiated by their leaves.

Blue-leaf cinquefoil is very common in the subalpine and alpine on the Pass. It has 5 to 7 leaflets arranged palmately, like the fingers of a hand connected in the middle. The leaves are green, with a bluish tint, on both sides (with the backside a bit less blue-green, but neither side hairy). Its leaflets are serrate, or toothed, only on the upper part of the leaf, not the whole length of the leaf. Photo of leaf only to come!

Good morning, evening-primrose!

Oenothera caespitosa, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Evening-primrose, Oenothera caespitosa

Family
Tufted evening-primrose, Onograceae

Location
Twin Lakes roadside, 9,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As the name implies, this unusually large, four-petaled flower opens at night and wilts/closes during the day. Its primary pollinator is a night-flying hawk moth, which has the long tongue needed to reach down through the flower’s tube to the base of the flower, where the nectar lies. Evening-primrose grows in poor soil and needs little water—that’s why it frequently appears roadside!

Pollinators need not apply

Arnica cordifolia, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Heartleaf arnica, Arnica cordifolia

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
In the woods near Weller campground, elevation 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

From the highly excellent online resource, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com: “Since seeds of Arnica cordifolia are produced without fertilization . . . off-spring are genetically identical to their parents. The patches of Arnica cordifolia are, therefore, clones and this accounts for the wide variability of Arnica cordifolia characteristics from one location to another. Since there is no pollination there is no blending of characteristics to a common denominator.” Ah-ha! Look for them in varying form in our evergreen forests everywhere.

Eat your peas!

Astragalus alpinus, June 8, 2021

A. alpinus, Indy ghost town, 10,800’, June 28, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine milkvetch, Astragalus alpinus

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Roadside between La Plata & Twin Lakes, 9,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This circumpolar, pioneer plant may be the most widely distributed and common Astragalus in the world.  While it is rarely found above treeline in our area, despite its name, and is more common on the east side of the Pass than the west, it is always a delight to find, in subalpine woods, meadows, and even (especially!) roadside, with its dainty purple-and-white flowers set among its sprawling ladder-like leaves. It is also enjoyed by caribou, arctic hares, and greater snow geese (as food, that is), and grizzly bears forage its underground parts.

Tiny, delicate, and a world-beater

Androsace septentrionalis, June 9, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pygmyflower rockjasmine, Androsace septentrionalis

Family
Primrose, Primulaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A highly variable but totally distinctive wildflower, of the most diminutive and delicate sort. Standing just a few inches above the ground, with impossibly tiny flowers, it grows throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, from sea level to the alpine.

A. septentrionalis, alpine version, June 16, 2021