Apocynum androsaemifolium, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Spreading dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium
Family
Dogbane, Apocynaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Called the “bane of dogs” owing to the toxic milky sap in its stems, our native dogbane with its lovely but diminutive white & pink-striped flowers belongs to the same family as oleanders.
Anaphalis margaritaceae, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Pearly everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Classy Cliffs, 8,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Pearly everlasting, seen roadside and in meadows throughout our valley, grows in profusion via underground stems (“rhizomes”). It has no ray flowers, just small yellow disk flowers that early in bloom are completely enclosed within papery white bracts, making them appear pearl-like (as in this photo). And while Pearly everlasting looks like a Pussytoe (Antennaria sp.), it is taller and doesn’t have an extensive mat of small leaves at its base.
Weller Lake area, 9,800’, August 15, 2023
Micranthes odontoloma, June 30, 2023
Blue Lake area, 12,000’, July 30, 2023
Green Mountain, 11,700’, August 2, 2023
Common & scientific name
Brook saxifrage, Micranthes odontoloma
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,600’
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.
June 30
Blue Lake area, 12,000’, July 30, 2023
Mountain Boy, 11,700’, August 10, 2023
Osmorhiza depauperata, June 30, 2023
Gone to see, Jack Creek, 10,900’, August 7, 2023
Common & scientific names
Blunt sweet cicely, Osmorhiza depauperata
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
This delicate parsley (“depauperata” translates as “diminutive”) produces blunt-ended seed pods sa seen below (hence its common name). Its leaves are delightfully licorice-scented.
In fruit, June 30
Galium boreale, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Northern bedstraw, Galium boreale
Family
Madder, Rubiaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Northern bedstraw’s four-petaled leaves, square stems, and groups of four leaves attached directly to the stem, evenly spaced like a spoke of wheels (“whorled”), make it unmistakeable. It is sweet-smelling and edible.
July 12, 2023
Ligusticum porteri, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Osha, Ligusticum porteri
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8.700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Osha is famous for its medicinal properties and insect repellent properties , as taught to Native Americans by grizzlies.
Roadside, 10,000’, August 2, 2023
Senecio triangularis, June 30, 2023
Ptarmigan area, 10,800’, August 11, 2023
Common & scientific name
Arrowleaf ragwort, Senecio triangularis
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A tall (up to 5’), leafy senecio with unbranched stems that have numerous, triangle-shaped, toothed leaves, topped by yellow flower clusters of 10 to 30 heads. It grows near bluebells, monkshood, and other tall, water-loving, subalpine species. Look for the triangle!
Blue Lake area, 11,900’, July 30, 2023
Aconitum columbianum, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Monkshood, Aconytum columbianum
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
Aspens below Highway 82, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This large, water-loving plant is usually found packed in with other big boys like subalpine larkspur, triangle-leaved senecio, mountain bluebells, and willow, but its flowers will always distinguish it: miniature Darth Vader heads! Don’t let the summer go by without taking a moment to delight in nature’s quirky concoction.
Veronica serpyllifolia, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Thymeleaf speedwell, Veronica serpyllifolia
Family
Figwort, Scrophulariaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This small veronica with its tiny, intricate, four-petaled, blue-white flowers is easily lost amidst other water-loving plants and grasses but merits a closer look. Look for it stream or ditch-side. Its tiny, flat seeds can cling to the feathers of birds, fur of mammals, and shoes of humans, helping spread the seeds into new areas.
Corallorhiza maculata, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Spotted corralroot, Corallorhiza maculata
Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Like other members of its genus, this orchid has no chlorophyll, so it obtains its nutrients not from photosynthesis but through mycorrhizal fungi. It is found in our dry, spruce/fir woods. This nifty orchid must be viewed up close to be appreciated!
June 30
Geum macrophyllum, June 30, 2023
Seedhead, roadside 10,000’, August 2, 2023
Common & scientific name
Large-leaved avens, Geum macrophyllum
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Aspens below Highway 82, 8,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Can easily be confused at first glance with a cinquefoil (Potentilla), with its tall habit and yellow cinquefoil-like flowers, but can be distinguished by the three-parted stem leaves, its more maple-like basal leaves, and especially by its seedhead, below left, which has a bristly, pin cushion look with pinkish styles that are curly-cue shaped at the end. This uncommon (on the Pass) plant grows near streams and in wet areas.
Mimulus guttatus, June 30, 2023
Common & scientific name
Yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus & tilingii
Family
Lopseed, Phrymaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This cheery yellow wildflower can be found along streams, seeps, or ditches from the montane to the alpine. “Mimulus” comes from “mimus,” meaning “buffoon," for the clownish appearance of its flower. This flower is another Snapdragon castaway, into an entirely new family, the “Lopseeds” (per Ackerman), which is a first to me. The subalpine/alpine version is shorter with creeping rhizomes.
Mimulus tilingii, Ruby area, 12,000’, August 4, 2023
Platanthera huronensis, June 30, 2023
June 30
Common & scientific name
Huron bog orchid, Platanthera huronensis
Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Huron bog orchid, like other similar members of the Platanthera genus, is found streamside, in ditches, and all manner of wet places, often alongside White bog orchid. It can be difficult to tell this apart from our other green bog orchid, Platanthera aquilonis, also greenish, also hanging out in similar areas. I’m calling this one P. huronensis based on the shape of the lip (the lower petal sticking straight out), which tapers gradually from the wider base, and owing to its club-like spur, visible in the photo below-left. Or something like that: good luck and just enjoy the orchid! (Also, the smell is not as strong as that of White bog orchid.)
Mertensia ciliata, June 30, 2023
Green Mountain, 11,000’, August 2, 2023
Common & scientific name
Mountain bluebells, Mertenisa ciliata
Family
Borage, Boraginaceae
Location
Aspen grove below Highway 82, 8,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Mountain bluebells grace wet areas with their delicate pink-to-blue flowers, bluish-green leaves, and sheer abundance. Standing several feet high, they are often found in the company of subalpine larkspur and monkshood (and here, Sambucus racemosa)
Upper Lost Man, 11,500’, July 11, 2023
Draba ventosa, June 29, 2023
Common & scientific name
Wind River draba, Draba ventosa
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Twining, 13,000’
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”: I would say short-stalked.
Saxifraga flagellaris, June 29, 2023
Common & scientific name
Whiplash saxifrage, Saxifraga flagellaris
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Twining Peak, 12,500’
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!
Claytonia megarhiza, June 29, 2023
Common & scientific name
Alpine springbeauty, Claytonia megarhiza
Family
Purslane, Portulaceae
Location
Twining, 13,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This totally unmistakeable plant can be found growing among rocks in the high alpine. Its white flowers, colored with yellow centers and pink anthers, are found squeezed tight within a round rosette of succulent leaves that are deep purple at emergence, turn green during bloom, then bright red after
Pedicularis sudetica, June 29, 2023
Summit, 12,100’, July 25, 2023
Upper Lost Man, 12,000’, August 26, 2023
Common & scientific name
Sudetic lousewort, Pedicularis sudetica
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
Twining, 12,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our loveliest flowers, uncommon except in high, wet places. 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!
Upper Lost Man, 12,200’, July 21, 2023
Ruby, 11,500’, August 4, 2023
Draba crassa, June 29, 2023
Common & scientific name
Thickleaf draba, Draba crassa
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Twining, 13,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Although many alpine Drabas are difficult to distinguish, this one is fairly easy as it has smooth, green, relatively large leaves and yellow flowers, with simple hairs only on the edges of the leaves. It likes to sequester itself among rocks and other plants for maximum protection from the elements. This photo shows how much mustard flowers—four petals, always—even of different genera look alike.
Primula angustifolia, June 29, 2023
Common & scientific name
Alpine primrose, Primula angustifolia
Family
Primrose, Primulaceae
Location
Twining, 12,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Found only in Colorado and northern New Mexico, this diminutive version of its much taller cousin, the water-loving Parry’s primrose, is found on dry subalpine and alpine ridges, often in the protection of rocks. Its neon-magenta flowers, largely identical to those of Parry’s, light up the tundra under our feet.
June 29