How low can you go

Cymopterus alpina, June 16, 2023

June 16

Common & scientific name

Alpine parsley, Cymopterus alpina

Family

Parsley, Apiaceae

Location

Above Linkins Lake, 12,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

William Weber, the foremost authority on the flora of Colorado, describes Cymopterus alpina as “a common dwarf alpine on granitic mountains of the Continental Divide.” Bingo! This minute yellow flower is a common early summer companion on the high mountains and ridges of Independence Pass, where it stays low to the ground and protected from wind by surrounding rocks and vegetation.

Sufferin' saxifrage!

Saxifraga rhomboidea, June 16, 2023

Common & scientific name

Diamond-leaf saxifrage, Saxifraga rhomboidea

Family

Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location

Linkins Lake area, 12,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Saxifrages are one of our most delightful families. They’re mostly white (sometimes yellow), usually delicate, and always a treat to find. This will be the first of over a dozen saxifrage species to come on the Pass.

Daisy rockin' it

Erigeron leiomerus, June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

Rockslide daisy, Erigeron leiomerus

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Ridge above Turkey Rock, 10,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This cheery lavender and occasionally white daisy has glandular, deep-purple phyllaries and few, small stem leaves (most of its leaves are at the base of the plant, i.e., they are “basal”).

Pika produce

Geum rossii, June 13, 2023

Twining Peak, 12,700’, June 29, 2023

Common & scientific name

Alpine avens, Geum rossii

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Ridge above Turkey Rock, 11,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Alpine avens, one of our most common alpine plants, can often be seen in the mouth of the Pass’s mascot, the American pika. This is surprising because Alpine avens contain tannins, bitter-tasting compounds that are intended to make them unpalatable to animals before their fruits or seeds are ripe. (Tannins cause that astringent, mouth-coating feeling you get from biting into an unripe pear—yuck). However, those same tannins act as preservatives, which help the pika preserve the other plants they store in their winter “haypiles” so they don’t mold or rot during their long winter lock-down. And Alpine avens’ leaves turn a lovely red in late summer, blanketing the browning tundra. So we love Alpine avens!

Alpine cinquefoil

Potentilla nivea, June 13, 2023

Front side of leaf

Common & scientific names

Snow cinquefoil, Potentilla nivea

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts

Our most common alpine cinquefoil, its three-parted leaves are densely white/hairy below, greener on top (but still hairy: see photos to left and below). There is substantial confusion/flux around a number of potentillas, including this one (does it include P. uniflora, for example? or is the difference that it lacks the cottony hairs on snow cinquefoil’s petioles?), and they do tend to hybridize. But for now most experts seem to agree this cinquefoil is properly classified. For now, anyway . . .

Back side of leaf

Short life but many offspring

Trifolium repens, June 13, 2023

June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

White clover, Trifolium repens

Family

Pea, Fabaceae

Location

Weller curve, 9,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

White clover is one of the most widely cultivated clovers for pastures and agricultural purposes in the world. It is not as hardy as Red clover, though: after only 1–2 years, the original plant dies. It IS, however, a prolific seed producer, so stands of white clover may persist almost indefinitely.

Syncing with the cinquefoils

Potentilla glaucophylla, front side of leaf, June 13, 2023

Back side of leaf

Common & scientific name

Blue-leaf cinquefoil, Potentilla glaucophylla

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Upper Lost Man, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Blue-leaf cinquefoil is very common in the subalpine and alpine on the Pass. It has 5 to 7 leaflets arranged palmately, like the fingers of a hand connected in the middle. The leaves are green, with a bluish tint, on both sides (with the backside a bit less blue-green, but neither side is hairy). Its leaflets are serrate, or toothed, but not for the whole length of the leaf (see leaves in photos).

Kinnikinnik spelled backwards . . .

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, June 13, 2023

June 16, Discovery area, 10,400’

Common & scientific name

Kinnikinnik, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Family

Heath, Ericaceae

Location

Ridge above Turkey Rock, 10,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Kinnikinnik, or Bearberry (see its scientific name), is a ground-hugging, evergreen shrub with thick, leathery, paddle-shaped leaves that are yellow-green in the spring, dark-green in the summer, and reddish-purple in the fall. Its tiny, bell-shaped, pink-tipped, white flowers nod in clusters from red stems. Bright-red berries succeed the flowers and persist into winter. This wonderful alpine ground cover is equally at home at sea level back east.

September 23, in fruit, Willis Gulch, 11,000’

Lucky us

Trifolium dasyphyllum, June 13, 2023

June 23, Mt. Champion, 11,500’

Common & scientific name

Alpine clover, Trifolium dasyphyllum

Family

Pea, Fabiaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

One of our three throughly delightful alpine clovers, this early bloomer can be distinguished from its similarly shaped but (usually) later blooming cousin, T. parryi, by its lighter overall color (often white or light pink) and darker, contrasting (here magenta) keel, where T. parryi is a darker magenta or purple overall, without the boldly contrasting keel

Shiny, beautiful things

Ranunculus ___, May 29, 2023

June 11, 2023

Common & scientific name

_______ buttercup, Ranunculus ________

Family

Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location

Twin Lakes, 9,250’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Many of us can recall holding a buttercup up to a friend’s chin and seeing its yellow reflection. This glossy-reflective property on the outside (but not innermost part) of the buttercup’s petals is water repellent, causing dew or rain to drain off and leave pollen floating just at the level of the stigmas and thus aiding pollination. Most beautiful adaptations are, indeed, useful, as well!

As for this particular buttercup . . . found in a wet but currently dry meadow next to Twin Lakes, heart-shaped, scalloped basal leaves and clustered simple leaves on stem. Possibly R. glabberimus or R. macounii, but still determining with certainty its species. Feels different than R. inamoenus.

The most delicate of drabas

Draba crassifolia, June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

Snowbed draba, Draba crassifolia

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Lower Lost Man, 10,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This tiniest of mustards is short-lived but abundant in our alpine and subalpine zones. It stands a couple of inches tall, on the slenderest of leafless stalks, above a rosette of linear leaves, often in the protection of rocks or other plants. Unlike many other Drabas, it is unmistakeable!

First wild blueberry

Vaccinium scoparium, June 13, 2023

Linkins Lake trail, 11,700’, June 27, 2023

Common & scientific name

Broom huckleberry, Vaccinium scoparium

Family

Heath, Ericaceae

Location

Ridge above Turkey Rock, 11,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Found mostly near treeline, tightly packed with leaves widest at or below the middle, distinguishing it from its (sometimes) neighbor Vaccinium cespitosum, but likes its neighbor, producing sweet little berries come August!

In fruit, Ptarmigan area, 11,000’, August 12, 2023

Be careful where you step

Trifolium nanum, June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

Dwarf clover, Trifolium nanum

Family

Pea, Fabaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This exclusively alpine pea hugs the ground, coming in at just an inch or so high (“nanum” is Greek for “dwarf.”) It’s hard to miss, though, as it forms densely-packed mats of elegant pin-striped flowers ranging from whiteish-pink, to lavender, magenta, and purple.

Yellow genetically mutated version, Mt. Massive, 12,500’, July 4, 2023

It's all about the leaves

Potentilla subjuga, June 13, 2023

Front side of leaf

Common & scientific names

Colorado cinquefoil, Potentilla subjuga

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts

Cinquefoils all have basically the same-looking flower (except P. arguta, which is white), so everything depends on their leaves and their location/elevation.

P. subjuga is common in the alpine in our area. It has palmate leaves often with two or a pair of two, smaller leaflets separated slightly on the stem from the “hand” above. The teeth of the leaves are deep, the surface of the “front” side of the leaves are green but with hairs, the back side white and very hairy (see photos below)

Back side

Look for me high and low (and always low)

Androsace septentrionalis, June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

Pygmyflower rockjasmine, Androsace septentrionalis

Family

Primrose, Primulaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This delightfully delicate primrose has a huge elevational range and a variety of forms to go with it: more compact in the alpine (as in the first photo), taller, lankier in the foothills, and florally abundant when conditions are right.

Yellow to the west, lavender to the east

Erysimum capitatum, June 13, 2023

Lavender version, Mt. Massive, 13,500’, July 4, 2023

Common & scientific name

Western wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This big, cheery mustard is as at home on the summit of Independence Pass as it is in the deserts of Utah. It is most commonly yellow, but on the east side of the Pass, especially up near treeline, it is a striking lavender-magenta, as seen here.

What makes a wildflower a weed?

Barberea orthoceras, June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

American yellowrocket, Barberea orthoceras

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Winter gate, 8,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This is a circumpolar species, meaning it is distributed around the world in the Northern Hemisphere. If it looks like a “weed,” well . . . that brings up the interesting question of what a “weed” really is. This plant is native and has evolved over many thousands of years to share space with other natives. But it isn’t particularly attractive, and can grown in great numbers (not on the Pass, however). Probably the best definition of a weed is a plant that grows where people don’t want it to grow!

Bursting with abundance

Cardamine cordifolia, June 13, 2023

Blue Lake area, 12,000’, July 30, 2023

Common & scientific name

Heartleaf bittercress, Cardamine cordifolia

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Roadside, 8,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Like all mustards, Heartleaf bittercress has four petals in the shape of a cross, and all its parts are edible (if bitter). It will bloom in profusion near streamsides all summer. When it has gone to seed, give its pods a squeeze and watch them burst!

June 30, 2023

Never to be forgotten

Eritrichium nanum, June 13, 2023

June 13, 2023

Mt. Massive, 14,400’, July 4, 2023

Common & scientific name

Alpine forget-me-nots, Eritrichium nanum

Family

Borage, Boraginaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This ground-hugging alpine jewel is many people’s favorite wildflower, period. Its Kodachrome-blue petals and golden eyes are unique in our region, and its favorite habitat—rocky, windswept, highly inhospitable mountain tops and ridges—makes its beauty and sheer existence all the more jaw-dropping. Because this flower blooms early and won’t stick around too long, it is worth dropping everything to get up high and bow down to this wonder of creation.

June 16, above Linkins Lake, 12,400’

Best name ever

Smelowskia calycina, June 13, 2023

June 13, 2023

Common & scientific name

Alpine smelowskia, Smelowskia calycina

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

I love this flower so very, very much. In part because it is one of the first flowers of the season to emerge in the high alpine, so it is always a welcome sight. In part because it can range dramatically in size depending on how protected it is—there is a bouquet on Treasure Mountain tucked into a large marble boulder that is three times the size of the plants, both stems and flowers, seen in these photos. In part because its usually white petals sometimes emerge a lovely soft lavender. But mostly because of its name, in honor of the 18th century Russian botanist T. Smelovskii. This is one botanical name that is a joy to learn and say.

June 16, above Linkins Lake 12,400’