The consummate babbling brook beauty

Saxifraga odontoloma, July 8, 2021

S. odontoloma, Tabor Creek, 12,000’, July 25, 2021 (photo courtesy of Amanda Crow)

Common & scientific name
Brook saxifrage, Micranthes odontoloma

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Mountain Boy, 11,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The rosy-pink centers of its intricate, white-petaled flowers, splaying out from a leafless stem and usually set against a babbling brook background, makes Brook saxifrage one of the true delights of a summer hike.  It’s toothed, bright-green, heart-shaped basal leaves add to this plant’s consummate beauty.  

S. odontoloma, lower Lost Man, 10,500’, July 20, 2021

Terrestrial dolphins

Delphinium barbeyi, July 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Subalpine larkspur, Delphinium barbeyi

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Mountain Boy, 11,600

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A giant of the subalpine, look for it growing over six feet tall near monkshood, bluebells, cow parsnip, and triangle-leaved senecio.  “Delphinium” is from the Latin “delphinus” meaning dolphin.  With a little imagination its spike of purple flowers looks like a pod of swimming dolphins. 

D. barbeyi in fruit, Green Mountain, 11,200’, August 10, 2021

Not just a pretty face

Bistorta bistortoides, July 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
American bistort, Bistorta bistortoides

Family
Buckwheat, Polygonaceae 

Location
Mountain Boy, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our most common subalpine and alpine flowers.  Bistort has a long history of use by Native Americans as food and for medicinal purposes, and is also favored by many animals.  

A (non) ray of sunshine

Arnica parryi, July 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Parry’s arnica, Arnica parryi

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 10,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Rayless and nodding, Parry’s arnica is easy to tell apart from our other arnicas, all of which have opposite and (mostly) fuzzy leaves.  It was named after the eminent, mid-19th century botanist Charles Parry, for whom many of Colorado’s wildflowers are named. 

A. parryi, July 8, 2021

Snow-white east side wonder

Phlox condensata, July 3, 2021

P. condensata, July 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Dwarf phlox, Phlox condensata

Family
Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location
Sayres Ridge, 13,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
What a beauty! And found only on the east side of Independence Pass. These dense cushions can cover large swaths of rocky tundra, conjuring up small snowfields. Its flowers are the purest white: unmistakeable.

She's a rambling man

Erigeron vagus, July 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Rambling daisy, Erigeron vagus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Sayres Ridge, 13,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This tiny talus-lover standing just a couple inches high has a single, relatively large flowering head above wonderful three-toed leaves covered with glandular hairs, giving it a soft, gray appearance. It is named for the long, elastic caudices (underground root stems) that can shift with moving talus.

Not just any LYF

Saxifraga flagellaris, July 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Whiplash saxifrage, Saxifraga flagellaris

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Sayres Ridge, 13,300

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Covered in sticky, red-tipped hairs, and sending red runners like wild strawberries across the tundra, this is a favorite alpine find that could be missed among the more common yellow alpine flowers (like Alpine avens or any number of Cinquefoils).  Just one more reason to move VERY SLOWLY in the high alpine!

A Colorado native who never left

Penstemon hallii, July 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Hall’s penstemon, Penstemon hallii

Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae

Location
Mt. Everett, 12,200

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A true blue (well, magenta-purple) Colorado native, this brilliant wildflower, large for the tundra, is found mostly near the Continental Divide and nowhere else on the planet—lucky us!  Don’t miss its brief stay.

P. hallii, Top Cut, 11,800’, July 11, 2021

There's gold in them thar hills

Saxifraga chrysantha, July 3, 2021

S. chrysantha, Champion, 13,200’, July 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Goldbloom saxifrage, Saxifraga chrysantha

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Sayres Ridge, 13,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A single yellow flower with orange dots at the base of its petals sits atop a 2”-3” red stem covered with gland-tipped hairs (as can be seen in this photo) arising from a sweet little rosette of succulent leaves.  Yet another jewel of the alpine!  It does not have the red runners of its close cousin, Saxifraga flagellaris.

The Scottish bluebell

Campanula rotundifolia, July 8, 2021

C. rotundifolia, roadside 9,500’, July 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia

Family
Bellflower, Campanulaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This IS the bluebell of Scotland (not our smaller Mertensia bluebells).  The fact that this plant is sometimes found in areas inhabited by hares—rabbits—may explain its common name.  It is commonly found on the Pass in the montane and subalpine zones. 

Wet woods dweller

Pyrola asarifolia, July 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pink pyrola or wintergreen, Pyrola asarifolia

Family
Wintergreen, Pyrolaceae or Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,600

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Grows in wetter forests or shaded meadows, and owing to its color and shape can’t easily be confused with other wintergreens.  Look for it when it starts to go to seed—it looks like an elephanthead!

P. asarifolia, Grizzly Creek, 11,800’, July 22, 2021

Beautiful sandwort (if you can find me, that is!)

Minuartia rubella, July 7, 2021

M. rubella, July 7, 2021

Common & scientific name
Beautiful sandwort, Minuartia rubella

Family
Pink, Caryophyllacaea

Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This delicate plant is easy to miss, as it stands just an inch off the ground and a couple inches in diameter. It grows in tufts, has numerous stems, is glandular, and has grass-like leaves. This is the kind of wildflower that one might only discover by stopping to go to the bathroom!

Telltale turions

Epilobium hornemannii, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Hornemann’s willowherb, Epilobium hornemannii

Family
Evening primrose, Onagraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man Trail, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Willowherbs are notoriously difficult to identify, as they often interbreed, are individually variable, and just plain look alike.  The only way one can be certain that this plant is indeed this species is by uprooting it and checking for turions, little fleshy bulbs attached to the base of the stem.  Hornemann’s doesn’t have them.  I have only done this once (sacrificed willowherbs for ID purposes), and won’t again.  Narrowing it down to “willowherb” is close enough!

E. hornemannii, in fruit, north summit, 13,000’, July 29, 2021

Another hairy beast

Erigeron grandiflorus, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Rocky Mountain alpine fleabane, Erigeron grandiflorus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Sayres Ridge, 12,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This large-headed but small-statured daisy is found throughout our subalpine and alpine meadows.  Its ray florets (the parts that look like petals) can number over 100. Its phyllaries (the small leaf-like parts enfolding its ray flowers) are covered in shaggy white and/or purple hairs. It can be distinguished from Erigeron simplex by its vastly hairier leaves, stem, and phyllaries, and I think its always deep-purple ray flowers. Some botanists lump the two, others don’t. I feel they are readily distinguishable, with E. simplex being much more common in our area.

E. grandiflorus, July 8, 2021

Synching with cinquefoils

Potentilla subjuga, frontside of leaf, July 7, 2021

P. subjuga, backside of leaf, July 7, 2021

Common & scientific names
Colorado cinquefoil, Potentilla subjuga

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
Distinguishable from other potentillas by its 3-5 upper leaflets extending out from one point with 1-2 pairs of leaflets lower down on the petiole (the leaf stem), backside fuzzier, usually above treeline.

P. subjuga, Mountain Boy, 12,400’, 7.8.21

Worst named flower?

Pedicularis sudetica, July 7, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sudetic lousewort, Pedicularis sudetica

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our loveliest flowers, uncommon except in high, wet places like the Upper Lost Man valley.  Its swirling flowers, typical of the Pedicularis genus, are distinct for their bright magenta color.  Don’t let its rather ugly name dissuade you—this is one wildflower you don’t want to miss!

P. sudetica, summit, 12,100’, July 12, 2021

A most golden weed

Tonestus lyalli, July 7, 2021

Common & scientific name
Lyall’s goldenweed, Tonestus lyallii

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Distinguishable from its close cousin, T. pygmaeus, by the gland tipped, pinhead hairs on its leaves.  Named after the early-19th century Scottish explorer, David Lyall. 

Valerian #3

Valerian occidentalis, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Western valerian, Valerian occidentalis

Family
Valerian, Valerianaceae

Location
Sayres gulch, 11,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The way I distinguish this valerian from V. acutiloba, sharpleaf valerian, is as follows: western valerian characteristically has the three cymes (heads of flowers: kind of person-like, holding up two hands), while sharpleaf generally has one cyme; western doesn’t grown on steep, rocky slopes, like sharpleaf; western’s flowers tend to be white, while sharpleaf usually has a pinkish hue, and western is a bit larger/taller plant overall. Let me know if you have other/better ideas!

The nerves!

Helianthella quinquenervis, July 2, 2021

H. quinquenervis, Grizzly Lake Trail, 11,000’, July 22, 2021

Common & scientific name
Five-nerved sunflower, Helianthella quinquenervis

Family
Aster, Asteraceae

Location
South Fork Lake Creek, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
.If you’ve hiked to Crested Butte over West Maroon Pass before, you know this flower. Standing up to four feet tall with five (usually) prominent veins on the leaves, this is an unmistakeable sunflower that is seen in only a few places, here and there, on the Pass.

H. quinquenervis, phyllaries, July 22, 2021

Valerian #2

Valerian acutiloba, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Sharpleaf valerian, Valerian acutiloba

Family
Valerian, Valerianaceae

Location
South Fork Lake Creek, 10,400’

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. Sharpleaf valerian is a smallish plant with soft-pink flowers that can be found into the alpine. It is less common in our area than its taller, smellier cousin, V. edulis.