Pearly vs. Pussy

Anaphalis margaritacea, June 17, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pearly everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Classy Cliffs, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Pearly everlasting, seen roadside and in meadows throughout our valley, grows in profusion via underground stems (“rhizomes”).  It has no ray flowers, just small yellow disk flowers that early in bloom are completely enclosed within papery white bracts, making them appear pearl-like (as in this photo).  And while Pearly everlasting looks like a Pussytoe (Antennaria sp.), it is taller and doesn’t have an extensive mat of small leaves at its base. 

A. margaritacea, roadside, 10,000’, August 3, 2021

Skunks are beautiful

Polemonium pulcherrimum, June 17, 2021

Common & scientific name
Jacob’s ladder, Polemonium pulcherrimum

Family
Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location
Ptarmigan Creek, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
“Pulcherrimum” means “very beautiful.”  Indeed.  These low-lying, soft-blue, light-purple flowers light up the brown understories of dry lodgepole and spruce/fir forests.  And like their alpine cousin, P. viscosum, Sky pilot, they emit a less-than-beautiful skunk-like odor in the wind.  Enjoy the paradox!

Bedding down for the summer

Paronychia pulvinata, June 17, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine nailwort, Paronychia pulvinata

Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae

Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Inconspicuous yellow-green flowers embedded in tight, sometimes large mats, often growing directly on the crumbling granite of our high peaks.  This low-lying, wonderfully subtle flower knows how to make the best of things amidst the hard, desiccating winds of the high alpine!

Meet me by the lake

Kalmia microphylla, June 17, 2021

K. microphylla, North Fork Lake Creek, 11,300’, June 19, 2021,

Common & scientific name
Alpine laurel, Kalmia microphylla

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Linkins Lake, 12,000

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Is there any more delightful sight than coming upon a high alpine lake or stream lined with Kalmia?  Its bright pink petals are fused into a shallow, saucer-shaped bowl, with anthers that are held under spring-like tension until a large-bodied pollinator (like a bumblebee) triggers the stamen and is showered by pollen.  Kalmia was named after one of the star pupils of Carl Linnaeus (the inventor of the binomial system and botanist extraordinaire), Peter Kalm, who collected 60 new species for Linnaeus in North America in 1748, including Alpine laurel. 

The mama bear of alpine parsleys

Podistera eastwoodiaem, June 16, 2021

Common & scientific name
Eastwood’s woodroot, Podistera eastwoodiae

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Endemic and common in our subalpine and alpine meadows, it can at first glance be confused with the equally or more common Alpine parsley, Oreoxis alpina, or Mountain parsley, Pseudocympoterus montanus, but a careful inspection of its bright-green, tight, ladder-like leaves distinguish it, along with its size/stature, which is between the above two.

The alpine cinquefoil

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.

A hairy mess

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

Difficult Drabas

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.

A Fall superstar

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.

A Rocky Mountain regal

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.

I could be 80 years old

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

Alpine daisy

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

A pointed difference

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

A culinary delight

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.

Looks good, smells good, tastes . . . well . . .

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

Fuzzy was he!

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

The abundance

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

Narcissist!

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.

Smokin' soft

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

Pika produce

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!