Senecio eremophilus, July 16, 2022
S. eremophilus, Grottos 9,700’, July 28, 2022
Common & scientific name
Cutleaf groundsel, Senecio eremophilus
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Weller Curve, 9,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Owing to its tall size, much-branched and leafy appearance, and deeply cut leaves, this Senecio is easy to tell apart from its many cousins. It is rarely seen on the Pass, most commonly roadside.
Trifolium hybridum, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific name
Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Roadside, 10,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Despite its scientific name, alsike clover is not a hybrid. Its common name comes from the town of Alsike in Sweden, where Carl Linnaeus thought it was a cross between white clover (T. repens) and red clover (T. pratense): in fact, it is its own species.
Senecio amplectens var. holmii, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific name
Holmes’ alpine ragwort, Senecio amplectens var. holmii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A smaller variation of the taller, scragglier alpine ragwort, with purple phyllaries, seen higher in the alpine on loose dirt or scree.
Draba uniflora, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific names
One-flowered cinquefoil, Potentilla uniflora
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
This exclusively alpine potentillas three-parted leaves white/hairy above and even more so below, and its flowers look large in comparison to its leaves. There is substantial confusion/flux around a number of potentillas, including this one—should it be included in P. nivea, for example?— and they do tend to hybridize. But for now most experts seem to agree this cinquefoil is properly classified. And to this observer, it appears quite distinct from the taller, more common, and differently-leaved P. nivea (whose leaves are distinctly greener on top).
Draba streptobrachia, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific name
Alpine tundra draba, Draba streptobrachia
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,600’
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.
Silene uralensis, July 16, 2022
Same as above
Common & scientific name
Apetalous campion, Silene uralensis
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Ackerman says this alpine plant is “uncommon,” and indeed I have never seen (or noticed) it before, and standing over 6” tall in rocky scree among much shorter-statured flowers, I would have thought I would have noticed it by now! Nonetheless, here it is, thrilling to see and undoubtedly now that I’m looking for it, I will see it again (and again).
As the photos show, it has a highly inflated calyx with 10 prominent purple veins and a barely-emerging (in this case white) flower. Very akin to its low-lying brethren, Silene hitchguirei/kingii, Alpine lanterns, which I’ve found on only a handful of occasions, as well. Indeed, according to the Flora of North America website, “some collections from the southern Rocky Mountains (Colorado and Utah) appear to intergrade with S. kingii in having a narrow wing to the seeds.”
Saxifraga chrysantha, July 16, 2022
Same as above
Common & scientific name
Golden saxifrage, Saxifraga chrysantha
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,600’
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.
Chaenactis douglasii var. alpina, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific name
Alpine dusty maiden, Chaenactis douglasii var. alpina
Family
Aster, Asteraceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Rayless, with pistils and stamens protruding around and beyond the white disk flowers, this decidedly odd, unmistakeable, and uncommon plant is always a delight to find.
Penstemon harbourii, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific name
Harbour’s penstemon, Penstemon harbourii
Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This one must be earned! Found only in Colorado, only in high talus fields, and only in a few spots on the Pass, this beautiful beardtongue is worth the climb and the search.
Senecio soldanella, July 16, 2022
Same as above
Common & scientific name
Colorado ragwort, Senecio soldanella
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our only flowers with (often) all-purple leaves, this unmistakeable oddity grows only in alpine scree and only in Colorado, save one high area of New Mexico near Taos. Take pride in this Colorado native!
Campanula uniflora, July 16, 2022
Common & scientific name
Arctic bellflower, Campanula uniflora
Family
Harebell, Campanulaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The following comes from a website called The Flora of Svalbard. Svalbard (in case you didn’t know, like I didn’t) is a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. One of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, it's known for its rugged, remote terrain of glaciers and frozen tundra sheltering polar bears, Svalbard reindeer and Arctic foxes. The Northern Lights are visible during winter, and summer brings the “midnight sun”—sunlight 24 hours a day.
What I found fascinating is how this other-worldly place’s treatment of this plant we enjoy in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado applies here equally:
“The plant flowers from mid July to mid August. Flowers potentially pollinated by insects but self pollination is probably common. We have no information on germination rate of seeds of the Svalbard populations; however, the plant must recruit regularly as populations of this relatively short-lived plant sustain in the same locations for a long time. . . . Local seed dispersal is facilitated by the stiff stems and the capsules with apical pores, resulting in ballistic dispersal during strong winds or when touched by animals (reindeer).”
Presumably elk, mountain goats, marmots & pika would perform the same role here!
Senecio amplectens var. amplectens, July 16, 2022
S. amplectens, Linkins Lake Trail 11,600’, July 19, 2022
Common & scientific name
Showy alpine ragwort, Senecio amplectens var. amplectens
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 11,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
I so love this flower! Something about the way its petals bend and fold in different directions, in sometimes scraggly ways, as seen below, and the fact that it appears only occasionally in spruce/fir forests or higher up near streams, makes this flower feel like a friend too rarely seen. Notice its dark purple, campanulate phyllaries (below).
Same as left, phyllaries
S. amplectens var. amplectens, backside, Ptarmigan Creek 10,800’, August 8,2022
Hymenoxis hoopesii, July 16, 2022
Summit, 12,100’, September 6, 2022
Common & scientific name
Sneezeweed, Hymenoxis hoopesii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This funky flower is always a surprise: in its characteristically droopy, bedraggled petals (ray florets), its orange-ish color, its tall stature, and its ability to grow at myriad elevations and times of year, like this plant which didn’t emerge until mid-late August.
Apparently its common name comes from the historic use of the crushed, dried leaves and flower heads to make a snuff that caused sneezing. In any event, how can you not love a flower named “sneezeweed!”
Senecio fremontii, July 14, 2022
Common & scientific name
Dwarf mountain ragwort, Senecio fremontii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Top Cut, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This mostly alpine plants grows up to a foot high in rounded clumps in and around rock fields and boulders. Its leaves are succulent and sharply toothed. It is always a joy and an encouragement, somehow, to see dwarf mountain ragwort on a high mountain climb!
Boechera fendleri, in fruit, July 13, 2022
Common & scientific name
Fendler’s rockcress, Boechera fendleri
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Roadside, 9,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As I’ve stated before, the Boechera genus is notoriously difficult to narrow down to species. This rockcress commonly seen on the lower part of the Pass can be identified by its tall stature (60cm), long, drooping, double-seeded siliques, and the hairs on the lowest part of its stem and basal leaves.
Gayophytum diffusum, July 13, 2022
G. diffusum, same
Common & scientific name
Spreading groundsmoke, Gayophytum diffusum
Family
Evening primrose, Onagraceae
Location
Roadside, 9,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Hard to spot amidst other flowers or grasses, gangly Spreading groundsmoke’s red stem and four-petaled flowers are diagnostic (aside from the mustards, they are one of the only four-petaled families). Their tiny flowers open in the morning and close up by late afternoon—just the opposite of its easier to spot cousins in the Oenothera (Evening primrose) genus.
Rhodiola rhodantha, July 13, 2022
R. rhodantha, Jack Lake, 12,300’, August 6, 2022
R. rhodantha, Independence Lake, 12,300’, August 23, 2022
Common & scientific name
Queen’s crown, Rhodiola rhodantha
Family
Stonecrop, Crassulaceae
Location
Summit, 12,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This succulent beauty always grows in wet places and has a taller, rounder top of pinkish-red flowers than King’s crown, which has a flatter top of dark-wine, sometimes almost black flowers, and which can grow in dryer locations.
R. rhodantha, Wet Gulch, in fall colors, 11,400’, August 5, 2022
R. rhodantha, post-bloom, upper Lost Man, 12,000', August 28, 2022
Senecio wootonii, July 13, 2022
Common & scientific name
Wooton’s ragwort, Senecio wootonii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Green Mountain, 11,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As Senecios go, this one is relatively easy to identify, owing to its smooth, hairless, almost blueish leaves. It is often found in dry meadows or forests (like lodgepoles). Give yourself a round of applause for learning (yet another) Senecio!
Cerastium beeringianum, July 13, 2022
Common & scientific name
Alpine chickweed, Cerastium beeringianum
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
Summit, 12,200
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
How to tell this flower apart from the more common (but similarly situated—read “high”) C. arvense var. strictum: the edges of this chickweed’s bract are NOT “scarious,” aka translucent, and its sepals are glandular.
Arnica parryi, July 13, 2022
Common & scientific name
Parry’s arnica, Arnica parryi
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500’
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.