Rocky Mountain regal

Penstemon strictus, June 28, 2023

June 29

Common & scientific name

Rocky Mountain penstemon, Penstemon strictus

Family

Plantain, Plantaginaceae

Location

Dificult, 8,100’

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, or blue-lavender of the Pass’s half-dozen species.

Beauty subjective

Descurainia incisa, June 28, 2023

Lower leaf

Common & scientific name

Mountain tansymustard, Descurainia incisa

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Difficult, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Yes, it’s weedy looking, tall and stringy, but it’s native, it’s edible, and it’s part of the great floral melting pot!

Distinguish Descurainia species by their siliques (seed pods), photo to come, and their leaves (seen below, a particularly large one), using a good key by Weber or Ackerman. I won’t bore you with how I arrived at D. incisa .

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

Rosa woodsii, June 28, 2023

June 28, 2023

Common & scientific name

Wood’s rose, Rosa woodsii

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Difficult Campground, 8,100’

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!

In fruit, Willis Gulch, 10,000’, September 23, 2023

A rose by any other name . . .

Sibbaldia procumbens, June 27, 2023

Upper Lost Man, 12,100’, July 21, 2023

Common & scientific name

Sibbaldia, Sibbaldia procumbens

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Linkins Lake Trail, 11,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

At first glance Sibbaldia doesn’t look like it belongs in the Rose family: its three-part leaves are clover ( Pea)-like, and its tiny, greenish-yellow flowers hardly call to mind our showy Wild rose, Rosa woodsii.

Upon closer inspection, however, one finds they do indeed have 5 petals and 5 sepals (the green, leaf-like parts enclosing and protecting the bud/flower), and their leaves are reminiscent of Wild strawberries (in the Rose family). Indeed, upon further consideration, only Rosa woodsii REALLY looks like a rose proper—it’s a wonderfully variable family.

Ruby area, 12,300’, August 4, 2023

I am not a parasite

Pedicularis parryi, June 27, 2023

Common & scientific name

Parry’s lousewort, Pedicularis parryi

Family

Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location

Above Linkins Lake, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

With characteristic beaked flowers and fern-like leaves, this highest growing and smallest of the fascinating Pedicularis genus whorls around on itself in delightful fashion. It is hemiparasitic (hence its move from the Snapdragon family into the Broomrape family), meaning it produces chlorophyll and thus can survive on its own, but obtains additional nutrients from the roots of other plants.

Linkins Lake area, 12,200’, July 11, 2023

Another hairy beast

Erigeron grandiflorus, June 27, 2023

Common & scientific name

Rocky Mountain alpine fleabane, Erigeron grandiflorus

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Above Linkins Lake, 12,300’

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.

Bedding down for the summer

Paronichia pulvinata, July 5, 2023

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!

Narcissism earned?

Anemone narcissiflora, June 27, 2023

Common & scientific name

Narcissus anemone, Anemone narcissiflora

Family

Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location

Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’

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

Meet me by the lake

Kalmia microphylla, June 27, 2023

July 4, 2023

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.

Drilling down on reproduction

Geranium richardsonii, June 27, 2023

Common & scientific name

Richardson’s geranium, Geranium richardsonii

Family

Geranium, Geraniaceae

Location

Weller, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Distinguishable from its close relative, Geranium viscosissimum, by the sticky, red-ball-tipped (“glandular”) hairs on the stem below its flower, as opposed to the yellow-tipped hairs on G. viscosissimum.

Geraniums have evolved a wonderful method for successfully planting their own seeds. Its seeds are attached to a reproductive part of the flower, the style, that coils like a spring. Once it falls to the ground, it coils and uncoils in response to changes in atmospheric pressure, thereby drilling itself and its seeds into the ground.

A culinary delight

Cornus sericea, June 25, 2023

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.

June 25

A hairy beast

Draba aurea, June 23, 2023

Common & scientific name

Golden draba, Draba aurea

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Mt. Champion, 11,700’

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. This Draba’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. This highly variable species can (sometimes, maybe) be distinguished from its close cousin, Draba helleriana, by (usually) the lack of teeth on the edge of its leaves, and its slightly smaller overall stature. Both are (possibly) common on the Pass, unless they’re not: Ackerman does not place D. helleriana in Pitkin or Lake Counties.

Another daisy to delight in

Erigeron pinnatisectus, June 23, 2023

Common & scientific name

Cutleaf daisy, Erigeron pinnatisectus

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Mt. Champion, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Its finely-cut leaves and large, light-purple heads distinguish Erigeron pinnatisectus from other subalpine and alpine daisies. It is common on our rocky tundra.

Psyched to smell a skunk

Polemonium confertum x viscosum, June 23, 2023

Polemonium confertum, Twining Peak, 12,500’, June 29, 2023

Mt. Massive, 14,100’, July 4, 2023

Polemonium confertum, Geissler, 13,000’, July 21, 2023

Common & scientific name

Sky pilot, Polemonium viscosum x confertum

Family

Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location

Mt. Champion, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

If you’ve ever been scrambling along a rocky alpine ridge and swore you smelled a skunk, you were (sort of) correct! Sky pilot, a common but striking tundra flower, sometimes goes by the name “Skunkweed,” owing to the strong odor it sometimes puts out.

The photo here could be a cross between the two species found here, P. confertum—widely flaring, light blue or blue-purple flower, like the photo bottom left—and P. viscosum, more tubular and deeper purple, as seen below.

P. viscosum, Twining Peak, 13,000’, June 29, 2023

Polemonium confertum, Geissler, 13,000’, July 21, 2023

Inelegantly named

Lewisia pygmaea, June 23, 2023

White version, Geissler, 12,100’, July 21, 2023

Common & scientific name

Pygmy bitterroot, Lewisia pygmaea

Family

Miner’s Lettuce, Montiaceae

Location

Mt. Champion, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

The much tinier cousin of the state flower of Montana, the Bitterroot, this light pink to lavender to magenta (when it first comes out) beauty sits tight on the tundra among its long, fleshy leaves, protecting itself from the cold temps and desiccating winds. Add it to your list of miniature alpine wonders!

Twining, 12,500’, June 29, 2023

White draba

Draba cana, June 23, 2023

Common & scientific name

Cushion draba, Draba cana

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Above Linkins Lake, 12,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Another white alpine draba, this one quite a bit taller and fuller than D. lonchocarpa, standing 6+ inches high when fully grown, with leaves on its stem, some leaves with teeth, complex hairs on all parts, and with siliques standing straight up (photo to come).

Above Linkins Lake, June 27, 2023

Skunks are beautiful!

Polemonium pulcherrimum, June 23, 2023

Common & scientific name

Jacob’s ladder, Polemonium pulcherrimum

Family

Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location

Lackawanna Gulch, 11,200’

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!

Lower Lost Man, June 28, 2023

Lodgepole lupine

Lupinus parviflorus, June 21, 2023

Common & scientific name

Lodgepole lupine, Lupinus parviflorus

Family

Pea, Fabaceae

Location

Twin Lake, 9,250

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

While abundant in the mid valley and in the Elk Mountains, lupine is surprisingly sparse on the Pass. This lupine, Lodgepole lupine, has a narrow, densely-packed spike of small purple flowers, and skinny leaves that curl in on each other and are smooth on top and hairy (straight and appressed) on the back.

Ain't no stinkin' senecio

Hymenoxis richardsonii, June 21, 2023

Common & scientific name

Richardson’s bitterweed, Hymenoxis richardsonii

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Twin Lakes, 9,300’

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 as far as I know, I previously misidentified as a Senecio, based on a superficial resemblance (yellow flowers and similar “habit,” 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.

Mind the sheep

Oxytropis sericea, June 21, 2023

June 21

Common & scientific name

White locoweed, Oxytropis sericea

Family

Pea, Fabaceae

Location

Twin Lakes, 9,250’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Locoweed gets its name from the numerous problems it has caused in domestic livestock. Locoweeds contain an alkaloid that disrupts cellular function in these animals. According to Montana Plant Life, “locoism causes depression, incoordination, and nervousness under stress. Death can result. The cellular problems occur most readily in tissues of the nervous system. Pregnant animals often abort or give birth to young with congenital deformities. Congestive right heart disease occurs at high altitudes.”

June 21