Genus vs. Genus

Packera dimorphophylla, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Two-leaved groundsel or ragwort, Packera dimorphophylla

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Sayres Gulch, 11,400

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A number of yellow sunflowers previously included within the Senecio genus were moved three decades ago into the Packera genus.  P. dimorphophylla has triangular-shaped, clasping/auricled stem leaves and can be distinguished from its close cousin, P. crocatus, by those clasping stem leaves and yellower (less orange) color.

Showiest in show

Oxytropis splendens, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Showy locoweed, Oxytropis splendens

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
South Fork Lake Creek, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Showy, indeed!  Covered in long, white hairs, the plant takes on a  silvery appearance, which contrasts with its numerous, richly colored flowers, ranging from dark purple to lavender, that sit atop tall, leafless stems that grow in large clusters.  

When I first encountered this flower, I thought it might be a cultivated Oxytrope that had been planted and escaped back in the Hotel Interlaken days, as I had NEVER seen a wildflower in our area quite as large and dramatic as this.  Alas, it IS a native, one you won’t see on the west side of the Pass, and worth a trip all by itself to the south side of Twin Lakes (you can also see it up South Fork Lake Creek meadows and alongside Highway 82!

The big fuzzy wuzzy

Agoseris glauca var. dasycephala, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pale agoseris,  Agoseris glauca var. dasycephala

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Sayres Gulch, 11,400

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Much taller than A. glauca, much fuzzier, much bigger head, and found only in the high subalpine or alpine.  I love this big fuzz head!

Black hairs matter

Erigeron melanocephalus, back, July2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Blackhead daisy,  Erigeron melanocephalus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Sayres Gulch, 11,400

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There’s no mistaking this daisy: the black hairs on the underside of its flower, covering the phyllaries, make this an easy ID in the field.  Found in large numbers in the alpine, growing several inches tall with bright-white ray flowers.  Another well-named flower!

E. melanocephalus, front, July 2, 2021

Wood nymph-o-mania!

Moneses uniflora, July 6, 2021

Common & scientific name
Wood nymph, Moneses uniflora 

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Braille trail, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Standing just a few inches off the ground, this perennial favorite’s single, nodding flower hides a clever stigma that can take pollen off the back of a visiting bumblebee after the bee has shaken pollen off the flower’s anthers. Look for this shy beauty in moist spruce-fir woods.

Hostess with the worstest?

Pedicularis racemosa, July 6, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sickletop lousewort, Pedicularis racemosa 

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Braille Traill, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Look for this wonderfully-shaped wildflower en masse under spruce and fir trees in the subalpine zone. From the US Forest Service’s wonderful “Plant of the Week” post:  

“Traditionally, Pedicularis has been included in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). Louseworts have green leaves and produce their own food through photosynthesis but also have roots capable of capturing nutrients and water from adjacent plants, making them partially parasitic. Recent genetic studies have shown that Pedicularis and other hemiparasitic genera in the Scrophulariaceae (including the Indian paintbrushes, Castilleja) are better placed in the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae), with species that are true parasites that lack green chlorophyll.

Another recent discovery implicates Leafy [Sickletop] lousewort as an alternate host for White pine blister rust. An introduced fungus called Cronartium ribicola causes this infectious disease of five-needled pines [including Limber and Bristlecone pines]. . . . It remains unknown whether Leafy [Sickletop] lousewort has served as an alternate host for blister rust for decades, or if this relationship has evolved only recently.”

Wormskjold, indeed!

Veronica wormskjoldii, July 6, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine speedwell, Veronica wormskjoldii

Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae

Location
Braille trail, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Common, variably-sized, delightful subalpine and alpine plant that frequently grows trailside near streams or wetlands.  Named after Danish botanist, Morton Wormskjold.  Hopefully he didn’t discover too many other plants.

V. wormskjoldii, Roaring Fork River, 10,700’, July 7, 2021

Ranunculus redux

Ranunculus alismifolius, July 4, 2021

Common & scientific name
Plantainleaf buttercup, Ranunculus alismifolius

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Jack Creek basin, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This buttercup is—can I say it?—fairly non-descript, with long, skinny, hairless leaves and stems and small yellow flowers.  It grows primarily in wet meadows and on the edges of ponds and streams.

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.