Paxistima myrsinites, May 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Oregon boxleaf, Paxistima myrsinites
Family
Stafftree, Celastraceae
Location
Difficult Trail, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Easy to miss as Oregon boxleaf’s tiny, cross-shaped flowers hide within the axils of its evergreen leaves. It’s worth taking note of these rosy gems, though, because this common shrub will be a constant companion on the lower stretches of the Pass.
Noccaea fendleri, May 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Wild candytuft, Noccaea fendleri
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Difficult, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This ubiquitous flower is one of our earliest bloomers. It can be found from the valley floor in Glenwood Springs in early April to the highest peaks on the Pass in July. Like all mustards, it is edible, but less bitter than most—hence the common name!
With siliques, June 6, 2023
Taraxacum officinale, May 13, 2023
In road, 10,400’, August 2, 2023
Common & scientific name
Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale
Family
Aster, Asteraceae
Location
Weller Curve, 9,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Of Eurasian origin and now virtually everywhere, owing in part to the fact that its seeds remain viable for nine years or more, with a single plant producing more than 5,000 seeds a year. The good news: Dandelions are an important early spring food source for deer, elk, bear, and (maybe) moose? They are also incredibly tough and adaptable (see photo below left).
The Sunflower family is considered the most highly evolved of all flowering plants: what appears to be one “flower” actually consists of many tiny flowers aggregated together in a flower head consisting most commonly of ray flowers—the “petals”—and disk flowers—the “button” in the middle—in the case of the dandelion, just ray flowers. This aggregation strategy is thought to attract more pollinators.
Packera tridenticulata, May 13, 2023
June 13, 2023
Common & scientific names
Three-toothed groundsel, Packera tridenticulata
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Weller Curve, 9,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This flower could be a cross, i.e, a hybrid, between two species, with its basal leaves usually—with an emphasis on “usually”— having three terminal lobes (the “teeth” of “tridenticulata”) and the plant having a hairy, cobwebby appearance overall (more like the P. neomexicana species). I’m going for P. tridenticulata on this one.
June 16, Discovery area, 10,400’
Corydalis aurea, May 9, 2023
Common & scientific names
Golden smoke, Corydalis aurea
Family
Fumitory, Fumariaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,750
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of only four species found in Colorado from the Fumitory family, which has many species on the east and on the west coast. These unusual flowers are related to Dutchman’s breeches and Bleeding-hearts, and are the yellow cousin of one of Colorado’s most spectacular flowers, Case’s fitweed, Corydalis caseana, found only in wetter areas of Colorado like Marble and Crested Butte.
Claytonia lanceolata, May 16, 2023
May 23, 2023
Common & scientific name
Spring beauty, Claytonia lanceolata
Family
Miner’s Lettuce, Montiaceae
Location
Difficult Trail, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Wherever you find this cheery, candy-cane-striped flower, you’ll know the snow just melted there. Spring beauty is sometimes called “Indian potato” because its corm—the enlarged, bulb-like base of its stem under the soil—apparently tastes like potato when cooked. I say “apparently” because I haven’t personally tried them. I prefer ogling them to eating them (and I’m lazy). Note the variation in color, from almost white to lavender.
Southeast facing slope at 11,500’, May 30, 2023
Mertensia fusiformis, May 06, 2023
May 23, 2023
Common & scientific name
Spring bluebells, Mertensia fusiformis
Family
Borage, Boraginaceae
Location
Difficult Trail, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This bluebell’s charming genus starts small in the spring at lower elevations with Mertensia fusiformis (or M. brevistyla, depending on your botany expert of choice), shows up similarly small in the alpine in early-mid June as Mertenisa lanceolata, and goes big (like 6-feet big) in mid-summer as Mertensia ciliata.
