Senecio wootonii, July 10, 2023
Common & scientific name
Wooton’s ragwort, Senecio wootonii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Roadside, 10,000’
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!
Securigeria varia, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Crownvetch, Securigera varia
Family
Pea, Fabacaea
Location
Above the winter gate, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Native to Africa, Asia, and Europe, but not here! This cheery plant is often used to stabilize and beautify roadsides and to rehabilitate soil (as a pea, it is a nitrogen-fixer). It is currently confined to one small location just above the winter gate, and as long as it stays there, we can all get along!
Micranthes oregana, July 6, 2023
Upper Lost Man, 12,400’, July 21, 2023
In fruit, August 26
Common & scientific name
Bog saxifrage, Micranthes oregana
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Upper Lost Man TH, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Distinguishable from Snowball saxifrage by blooming later, being taller, having multi-flowered stems (not just one ball of flowers at the top), always growing in wet places, not having diamond-shaped basal leaves, AND erupting in huge numbers about now in the subalpine & alpine wherever water is found!
In flower & fruit, Upper Lost Man, 12,000’, August 26, 2023
Mitella pentandra, July 6, 2023
In fruit, RFR 9,800’ 8.10.23
Common & scientific name
Five-star mitrewort, Mitella pentandra
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Grottos, 9,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Oh how I love these miniature satellites, these most delicate, complex, and airy of wildflowers. It feels like they shouldn’t even be called “flowers,” they are so totally unique. Look (HARD) for them now in moist woods, and be delighted!
In fruit, RFR 9,800’ 8.10.23
Spergularia rubra, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Red sandspurry, Spergularia rubra
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
Roadside, 11,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This non-native from Eurasia has been in the US since at least the 1860s, according to Flora of North America, and seems limited in our area to trailhead parking lots. It is a glandular plant with pointed leaves and charming, five-petaled, lavender flowers. A fine parking lot addition!
Oxypolis fendleri, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Fendler’s cowbane, Oxypolis fendleri
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Roadside, 11,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A most delicate parsley, usually found growing stream or ditch-side tucked in among larger plants. It can be distinguished from other parsleys by the sheaths at the base of its branches (often just one: see photo below), its pinnate basal leaves, not carrot-like (look carefully in photo to left), small (3”) umbels of white flowers, and overall delicate appearance. Apparently poisonous to cattle, hence the name.
Trillium parryi, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Parry’s clover, Trifolium parryi
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Roadside, 11,500’
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).
Castilleja sulphurea, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Sulfur indian paintbrush, Castilleja sulphurea
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
Independence ghost town, 10,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
I always had a hard time understanding how the paintbrushes fit within the Snapdragon (Scrophularaceae) family, along with the penstemons and monkey flowers and louseworts. Now I know they don’t (nor, it seems, do the aforementioned: more on that in those plants’ profiles!) Some time in the last few years when I wasn’t paying attention, they got moved to the Broomrape (Orobanchaceae) family, not because of their physical characteristics, but because of their genetics and the fact that they are parasitic on other plants, like other broomrapes.
Plantanthera dilatata, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
White bog orchid, Platanthera dilatata
Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae
Location
Roadside, 11,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There may be as many as 35,000 species of orchids worldwide, making the Orchid family the largest family of vascular plants. With 33 species, Platanthera is the largest genus of orchids found in North America.
White bog orchid, one of our area’s most common, is found streamside, in ditches, and all manner of wet places. It has nectar-secreting glands that line the spur (the projection on the backside of the flower) that produce an aromatic, sugary reward to attract pollinators (and that creates a beautiful smell for us, as well). The shape and length of the spur varies from species to species and is co-adapted to fit the tongue-length of pollinating moths or butterflies.
Erigeron speiosus, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Aspen fleabane/Showy fleabane , Erigeron speciosus
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Roadside, 8,350
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This red-stemmed, light lavender-to-purple daisy appears in large numbers throughout our area, usually in July. It can be found in montane meadows, roadsides, and to a lesser extent aspen groves—despite its name. According to a 1962 study at RMBL, Aspen fleabane was much more common (100% constancy and 5% average cover) in younger aspen woodlands with a Thurber’s fescue (grass) understory than in mature woodlands with a forb (wildflower)-dominated understory. In other words, it’s not the king of mature aspen groves. Maybe Showy fleabane’s a better fit!
Oenothera villosa, July 6, 2023
Common & scientific name
Hairy evening primrose, Oenothera villosa
Family
Evening primrose, Onograceae
Location
Roadside, 8,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This tall, striking primrose, often showing its yellow petals wilted during the day as orange, has a red, hairy stem and hairy leaves. It can be seen roadside from the bottom of the Pass to about 9,700’ in elevation. One of the only other families of flowers to have four petals (like the mustards), its flowers open in the evening to invite long-tongued moths in.
Ribes montigenum, July 4, 2023
Common & scientific name
Mountain gooseberry, Ribes montigenum
Family
Gooseberry, Grossulariaceae
Location
North Halfmoon Lakes Trail, 10,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our half-dozen species of gooseberry, producing arguably the tastiest of the group in late summer, Mountain gooseberry’s branches are covered in short prickles along with whorls of thicker, longer spines at the leaf nodes—so pick your berries carefully! It can be distinguished from other gooseberries by its leaves, which are divided almost to the base into three coarsely toothed lobes, and are covered in sticky, glandular hairs. Its berries are bright red and covered in short, tasteless, and totally unharmful hairs. Enjoy the bounty!
Hymenoxis richardsonii, July 3, 2023
Common & scientific name
Richardson’s bitterweed, Hymenoxis richardsonii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Interlaken/Twin Lakes, 9,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This plant, new to me and only found on the lower east side of the Pass near Twin Lakes, was previously misidentified as a Senecio, based on a superficial resemblance (yellow flowers, pretty much). Upon closer examination of its “petals” (ray florets), I noticed they have three teeth, or lobes, just like Old Man of the Mountain. Once the genus was identified, getting to the species was easy. With as many genera of Aster as we have, that is the tricky part, and a reminder that ALL parts of the plant must be closely observed to make a positive ID.
Potentilla pensylvanica, July 3, 2023
Common & scientific names
Pennsylvania cinquefoil, Potentilla pensylvanica
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Interlaken/Twin Lakes, 9,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
Yet another Potentilla, totally distinctive owing to its clustered flowers,. tall stature, and pinnate leaves with many pairs. Not found on the west side of the Pass.
Dodecatheon pulchellem, July 4, 2023
Common & scientific name
Shooting star, Dodecatheon pulchellem
Family
Primrose, Primulaceae
Location
North Halfmoon Lakes Trail, 10,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Found only in consistently wet places, its elegant shape and delicate, contrasting colors make this a top find of the summer. Its name derives from “twelve gods” (genus) and “handsome” (species) (thank you, Janis Huggins!). This is the closest to the Pass I’ve found this flower: the Crested Butte-Marble area is better endowed. (Apologies for this terrible photo, BTW!)
Solidago simplex, July 4, 2023
Common & scientific name
Sticky goldenrod, Solidago simplex
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
North Halfmoon, 10,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The only sure-fire method of distinguishing this from the other look-a-like goldenrod on the Pass, Solidago multiradiata, is to look at the petioles (the leaf stems) to see if they are ciliate-margined (have hairs sticking straight out on their edges): this plant does not.
Penstemon hallii, July 4, 2023
Summit, 12,100’, July 7, 2023
Common & scientific name
Hall’s penstemon, Penstemon hallii
Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae
Location
Mt. Massive, 12,800’
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.
Summit, 12,100’, July 7, 2023
Taraxacum scopulorum, July 4, 2023
Above Ruby, 12,600’, August 4, 2023
Common & scientific name
Dwarf alpine dandelion, Taraxacum scopulorum
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Mt. Massive, 13,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Standing only a couple inches tall and with a small head and blackish bracts that don’t bend down and outward, this native subalpine to alpine dandelion can be distinguished from its lawn-loving (and everywhere-loving) cousin by these traits.
Above Ruby, 12,600’, August 4, 2023
Rhodiola integrifolia, July 4, 2023
July 4
Common & scientific name
King’s crown, Rhodiola integrifolia
Family
Stonecrop, Crassulaceae
Location
Mt. Masive, 13,200’
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!
Ruby area, 11,700’, August 4, 2023
Heuchera parviflora var. nivalis, July 4, 2023
Common & scientific name
Littleleaf or Common alumroot, Heuchera parvifolia var. nivalis
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Mt. Massive, 12,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Delicate, wonderful, if somewhat nondescript plant of the alpine. It is generally found tucked up against the leeward side of rocks, amongst lovely alpine gardens.
Linkins Lake area, 12,200’, July 18, 2023