Antennaria pulcherrima, June 18, 2023
Common & scientific name
Showy pussytoes, Antennaria pulcherrima
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
South Fork Lake Creek, 10,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This species of pussytoe, which has a taller stem and larger head than our other local species, doesn’t look much like a sunflower because it only has disk flowers (the flowers that usually make up the button of a sunflower), and no ray flowers (the “petals”).
Besseya alpina, June 18, 2023
Geissler, 13,000’, July 21, 2023
Common & scientific name
Alpine besseya or alpine kittentails, Besseya alpina
Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae
Location
Lower Twining, 12,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This gem of an alpine flower is found only in the high mountains of the Four Corners states, and most abundantly in Colorado. A swift glance might mistake it for Silky phacelia, Phacelia sericea, but its leaves are dark green and thick, not feathery, and it stands just a couple of inches tall. It is usually found nestled within rock gardens, and is always a worthy find.
June 23, Mt. Champion, 13,000’
Saxifraga bronchialis, June 18, 2023
Linkins Lake area, 12,300’, July 18, 2023
Common & scientific name
Spotted saxifrage, Saxifraga bronchialis
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae
Location
Star Mountainl, 10,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This delightfully dainty Saxifrage earns its name as a “rock breaker,” as it is usually found sprouting out of the side of a rock crevice or fracture. Saxifrages grow as far north as any species of wildflower in the world, and as such are quite at home in our high mountains.
Linkins Lake area, 12,300’, July 11, 2023
Vicia americana, June 18, 2023
Common & scientific name
American vetch, Vicia americana
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Difficult Campground, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Look for this small but vivid flower hiding among other shrubs and flowers—it is one of only a few members of the enormous Pea family that is a climbing vine, using tendrils to climb other plants and make its way to the sunlight
Podistera eastwoodiae, June 18, 2023
Common & scientific name
Eastwood’s woodroot, Podistera eastwoodiae
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Linkins Lake, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Endemic and common in our subalpine and alpine meadows, it can at first glance be confused with the equally or more common Alpine parsley, Cymopterus alpina, or Mountain parsley, Cymopteruus lemmonii, but a careful inspection of its bright-green, tight, ladder-like leaves distinguish it, along with its size/stature, which is between the above two.
Cynoglossum officinale, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Houndstongue, Cynoglossum officinale
Family
Borage, Boraginaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The Colorado Noxious Weed Act lists houndstongue as a List B species, meaning land owners or managers are required to eliminate or control it. It’s a short-lived perennial or biennial that produces rosettes in the first year and bolts a stout, 1-4 feet tall stem the second year. Its thick, woody taproot can reach 3-4 feet deep. It can produce up to 2,000 seeds with velcro-like attachments that remain viable for up to 3 years. It is poisonous.
This photo is the last you’ll see of it!
Phacelia heterophylla, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Wand phacelia, Phacelia heterophylla
Family
Waterleaf, Hydrophyllaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This white version of its showier purple cousin, Phacelia hastata, which grows in the alpine, can be found along roadsides at lower altitudes. Waterleafs are distinguished by their stamens exerted on long filaments.
Draba aurea, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Golden draba, Draba aurea
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,400’
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.
Lloydia serotina, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Alp lily, Lloydia serotina
Family
Lily, Liliaceae
Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A dainty lily with purple pencil markings on its white petals, grass-like leaves, and standing just 4 or 5” high, easily overlooked hiding among rocks or other alpine flowers and grasses. Worth seeking out!
Cerastium arvense, June 16, 2023
North summit, 12,300’, July 18, 2023
Common & scientific name
Field chickweed, Cerastium arvense ssp. strictum
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
North Fork Lake Creek TH, 10,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The foremost authority on Colorado flora, William Weber (at least prior to Jennifer Ackerfield’s arrival: the jury is still out), believes this flower is classified erroneously not only species-wise, but family-wise: “This family [which he identifies as Alsinaceae] is usually placed as a subfamily of Caryophyllaceae, but it differs obviously in having its flowers constructed differently, with separate instead of united sepals, and petals without narrow basal claws.”
Obviously.
Furthermore: “C. arvense is a northern European tetraploid [having four sets of similarly structured chromosomes] occurring in America at low altitudes only as a weed. Our plants are diploid [two sets] and are related to, if not identical to, the diploid C. strictum of the high mountains of Eurasia.”
This plant is also called Mouse-ear chickweed. As in Mickey.
All joking aside, I am forever indebted to Dr. Weber for his meticulous work and complete devotion to Colorado’s flora, without which all Colorado wildflower lovers would be wildly impoverished.
Lonicera involucrata, June 16, 2023
In fruit, Weller Lake, 9,800’, August 15, 2023
Common & scientific name
Twinberry, Lonicera involucrata
Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae
Location
Difficult Campground, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
From the USDA’s Plant Fact Sheet: “Reports on the fruit (below) vary from poisonous, to mildly toxic, to bitter and unpalatable, to edible and useful as food, depending on tribe, region or publication.” Got it? In any event, its twin berries are eaten by bears, small mammals, quail, grouse, and songbirds such as thrushes. So be safe and leave it be!
In fruit, lower Green, 11,000’, August 2, 2023
Packera streptanthifolius, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific names
Rocky Mountain groundsel, Packera streptanthifolia
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Winter gate, 8,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This early-season groundsel is native to, widespread, and variable throughout the Western Cordillera. Its hairiness depends on the particular plant and its age. It can be distinguished from the other low-elevation Pass groundsel, Packera neomexicana x tridenticulata, by its height (taller), more extensively toothed leaves (usually: see variety of basal leaf forms below), and greener (less gray/hairy) appearance.
Silene acaulis, June 16, 2023
June 23, Mt. Champion 11,600’
Garden above Ruby, 12,800’, August 4, 2023
Common & scientific name
Moss campion, Silene acaulis
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This perennial favorite of the high alpine occurs in almost all arctic and alpine habitats throughout the northern hemisphere. It reaches as far south as Arizona and as far north in Greenland well above the arctic circle, within twenty-five miles of the most northern growing of any plant. And according to extensive studies done on this alpine jewel in the 1950s in Rocky Mountain National Park, its roots go down as far as six feet—hard to believe in the (very) Rocky Mountains.
Geissler, 12,200’, July 21, 2023
Geissler, 12,900’, July 21, 2023
Minuartia obtusiloba, June 16, 2023
Mt. Champion 12,500’, June 23
Geissler, 12,300’, July 21, 2023
Common & scientific name
Alpine sandwort, Minuartia obtusiloba
Family
Pink, Caryophyllacaea
Location
Blue Lake, 12,400’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Reminiscent of Alpine forget-me-nots and Moss campion in its matted structure and (relatively) large flowers compared to its leaves, alpine sandwort thrives, too, on dry, rocky, windy alpine ridges, and is always a treat to encounter.
East summit, 12,100’, July 2, 2023
Mertensia lanceolata, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Alpine bluebells, Mertensia lanceolata
Family
Borage, Boraginaceae
Location
Blue Lake area, 12,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
These are not the bluebells of Scottish fame (those are harebells, in their own Bellflower family), but our Mertensias grace our slopes from the valley floor in spring (M. fusiformis) to the alpine (here) and at all elevations near water in their largest form (M. ciliata).
Mt. Massive, 13,500’, July 4, 2023
Rubus parviflorus, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus
Family
Rose, Rosaceae
Location
Difficult Campground, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
While some denigrate the thimbleberry’s fruit as “mealy,” this only indicates a lack of experience. When the berry of this lovely shrub is discretely chosen—it should be bright red, plump, and soft—it is hands down, in this writer’s opinion, our tastiest berry, a perfect blend of sweet and tart, and readily available trailside to boot: look for it in late July & early August.
June 27, 2023
Thalictrum fendleri, male, June 16, 2023
Female, June 16
Common & scientific name
Fendler’s meadowrue, Thalictrum fendleri
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
Difficult Campground, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This is one of my favorite wildflowers. First, unusually, its plants come in male and female versions. The first flower shown at left, reminiscent of a tasseled lampshade, is male. The female version below is star-like, akin to skinnier versions of False Solomon’s seal. They love aspen groves, and their leaves look like columbines’. In their intricacy, they are wonders of nature!
June 28, 2023
Symphoricarpos rotundifolius, June 16, 2023
In fruit, September 21, 2023, Difficult
Common & scientific name
Roundleaf snowberry, Symphoricarpos rotundifolius
Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common shrub, native to the western United States, produces a white berry apparently enjoyed by no one: birds, animals, or people. Its dainty pink and white flowers, though, deserve a close look!
Thermopsis montana, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Golden banner, Thermopsis montana
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Grottos, 9,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Looks like a lupine, but it’s yellow, and that’s all you need to know to distinguish it! Golden banner grows easily and in great quantities around our valley, but in only a few spots on the Pass.
Ceanothus velutinus, June 16, 2023
Common & scientific name
Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus
Family
Buckthorn, Rhamnaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A native evergreen shrub growing 2-9 feet tall with shiny, sticky leaves, its fruit is a capsule a few millimeters long which snaps open explosively to expel the three seeds onto the soil, where they may remain buried for well over 200 years before sprouting