Feel the burn

Urtica dioica, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica

Family
Nettle, Urticaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A native plant found only occasionally on the Pass, usually at the base of rock cliffs or slopes where it can find water.  The hollow, stinging hairs on its leaves and stems act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when touched.  Use water to alleviate the sting! 

Black hairs matter

Erigeron melanocephalus, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Blackhead daisy,  Erigeron melanocephalus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
New York Trail, 11,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There’s no mistaking this daisy: the black hairs on the underside of its flower, covering the phyllaries, make this an easy ID in the field.  Found in large numbers in the alpine, growing several inches tall with bright-white to very-pale lavender ray flowers.  Another well-named flower!

E. melanocephalus, 12,000’, Geissler, August 24, 2022

The elephants have arrived!

Pedicularis groenlandica, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Elephanthead, Pedicularis groenlandica

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
New York Trail, 10,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Mother Nature at her most whimsical! Who could not love this faithful reproduction of an elephant’s head on a flower?  Enjoy it for the next month in all high, wet places.

P. groenlandica, roadside, 11,700’, July1, 2022

Satellite saxifrage

Mitella stauropetala, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Side-flowered mitrewort, Mitella stauropetala

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae 

Location
New York Trail, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Oh how I love these miniature satellites, these most delicate, complex, and airy of wildflowers.  It feels like they shouldn’t even be called “flowers,” they are so totally unique. Look (HARD) for them now in moist woods, and be delighted!

Whip's veneration

Penstemon whippleanus, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Whipple’s penstemon, Penstemon whippleanus

Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae 

Location
New York Trail, 10,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Named for the leader of a transcontinental railroad survey team, this is one of our most unforgettable flowers, with its large, tightly-packed, and unusually colored flowers, ranging in our area from deep-purple to wine-colored to nearly white (photo to come).

The cow's bane

Oxypolis fendleri, June 28, 2022

O. fendleri, same

Common & scientific name
Fendler’s cowbane, Oxypolis fendleri

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae 

Location
New York Trail, 10,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A most delicate parsley, usually found growing stream or ditch-side tucked in among larger plants. It can be distinguished from other parsleys by the sheaths at the base of its branches (often just one: see photo below), its pinnate basal leaves, not carrot-like (look carefully in photo to left), small (3”) umbels of white flowers, and overall delicate appearance. Apparently poisonous to cattle, hence the name.

O. fendleri, roadside 11,700’, July 1, 2022

A Colorado native who never left

Penstemon hallii, June 27, 2022

P. hallii, summit, 12,100’, July 9, 2022

Common & scientific name
Hall’s penstemon, Penstemon hallii

Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae

Location
Summit, 12,200

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A true blue (well, magenta-purple) Colorado native, this brilliant wildflower, large for the tundra, is found mostly near the Continental Divide and nowhere else on the planet—lucky us!  Don’t miss its brief stay.

Baby blues

Hackelia floribunda, June 27, 2022

Common & scientific name
Many-flowered stickseed, Hackelia floribunda

Family
Borage, Boraginaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Named after Josef Hackel, an early 19th century Czech botanist, Hackelia floribunda's endearing light-blue flowers become small, flattened nutlets with prickles along the edge, in typical Borage/velcro-like fashion.  This tall, lovely plant is unusual on the Pass—keep your eyes peeled!

Eat but don't touch (?)

Heracleum maximum, June 27, 2022

H. maximum, roadside, 8,500’, July 11, 2022

Common & scientific name
Cow parsnip, Heracleum maximum

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This giant of the aspen forests is unmistakable, for its height and width, its enormous maple-like leaves, and platter-sized white umbels of flowers.  

This from a fascinating, and just-discovered (by me) website called The Botanist, sponsored by Islay Dry Gin, which brings together and shares recommendations from foragers:  “Cow parsnip has been used historically as fodder for livestock, and the scent of its flowers (the only non-delicious part) is of dung and pigs (to attract midges, flies and hoverflies) perhaps explaining the unglamorous common English name [“Common hogweed," which, needless to say, I will not be using!] . . . . Common hogweed also comes with a health warning. As the leaves develop and start to photosynthesise, it develops a sap that can sensitize the skin to bright sunlight, to the point where a recurring burn appears.”

Not just a pretty face

Bistorta bistortoides, June 27, 2022

Common & scientific name
American bistort, Bistorta bistortoides

Family
Buckwheat, Polygonaceae 

Location
Roaring Fork River, 10,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our most common subalpine and alpine flowers.  Bistort has a long history of use by Native Americans as food and for medicinal purposes, and is also favored by many animals.

Worst named flower?

Pedicularis sudetica, June 27, 2022

P. sudetica, Twining, 12,200’, July 1, 2022

P. sudetica, upper Lost Man, 11,600’, July 7, 2022

Common & scientific name
Sudetic lousewort, Pedicularis sudetica

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Roaring Fork River, 10,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our loveliest flowers, uncommon except in high, wet places (this first species is lower in elevation than typical).  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!

P. sudetica, Twining, 12,200’, July 1, 2022

Green with envy

Platanthera aquilonis, June 27, 2022

P. aquilonis, Braille Trail, 10,400’, July 15, 2022

Common & scientific name
Northern green orchid, Platanthera aquilonis

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Northern green 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 huronenis, also greenish (but perhaps a bit more white on the petals), also hanging out in similar areas. I’m calling this one P. aquilonis based on the shape of the lip (the lower petal sticking straight out), which is wider for longer than P. huronensis and tapers more quickly to a point. Or something like that: good luck and just enjoy the orchid! (Also, the smell is generally not as strong as that of White bog orchid.)

Triangles in nature?

Senecio triangularis, June 27, 2022

S. triangularis, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,600’, July 19, 2022

Common & scientific name
Arrowleaf ragwort, Senecio triangularis

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 8,900’

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!

Pledge allegiance

Aquilegia coerulea, June 27, 2022

A. coerulea, Top Cut 12,100’ July 14, 2022

Seed pod, Portal campground area, 10,600’, July 29, 2022

Common & scientific name
Colorado columbine, Aquilegia coerulea

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Ghost town, 10,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Our beloved state flower, equally at home in aspen groves and on rocky tundra, manifesting all kinds of color combinations, hybridizing with all other species of Aquilegia, occasionally with spurless variants: how lucky we are to call this endlessly interesting flower our own!

A. coerulea, Top Cut, 12,100’, July 14, 2022

A. coerulea, above Linkins Lake, 12,800’, August 5, 2022

Seems a little early, but . . .

Achillea millefolium, June 27, 2022

Common & scientific name
Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 8,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Yarrow is a circumboreal species (distributed throughout the Northern hemisphere, including Europe and Asia).  In North America, it is found from the coast, or zero feet in elevation, to the alpine. The genus Achillea was named after Achilles, who used plant extracts to treat soldiers’ wounds in the battle of Troy, a nod to Yarrow’s many medicinal uses.  “Millefolium” means “a thousand leaves” in Latin, referring to its feathery, fern-like leaves.  

And once again, and you’ll probably get tired of reading this, but it feels awfully early to be seeing this on the Pass in mid/late-June . . . .

Oy, vetch!

Securigera varia, June 27, 2022

Common & scientific name
Crownvetch, Securigera varia

Family
Pea, Fabacaea

Location
Above the winter gate, 8,600

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Native to Africa, Asia, and Europe, but not here!  This cheery plant is often used to stabilize and beautify roadsides and to rehabilitate soil (as a pea, it is a nitrogen-fixer).  It is currently confined to one small location just above the winter gate, and as long as it stays there, we can all get along!

What a clown

Mimulus guttatus, June 27, 2022

M. guttatus, Ptarmigan Creek area, 11,000’, August 8, 2022

Common & scientific name
Yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus

Family
Lopseed, Phrymaceae

Location
Roadside, 9,000’

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.

Close-up of left

Short life but many offspring

Trifolium repens, June 21, 2022

Common & scientific name
White clover, Trifolium repens

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,700

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.

Things are looking rosy

Castilleja rhexifolia, June 21, 2022

C. rhexifolia, Lower Lost Man, 10,900’, July 4, 2022

C. rhexifolia, Lower Lost Man, 10,900’, July 4, 2022

Common & scientific name
Rosy paintbrush, Castilleja rhexifolia

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man, 12,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Whether “rosy” or bright magenta or soft lavender or striped with white or some combination of all of the above, Rosy paintbrush is by all accords one of our most stunning flowers.  Hybridization with other species, like the whitish-yellow C. occidentalis, is thought to be responsible for the variation (see below). As with all members of the Castilleja genus, the colorful parts are actually modified leaves, or “bracts.”  Its flowers are small, tubular, greenish-yellow, and barely visible within its colorful bracts. Enjoy this summertime treat!

C. rhexifolia hybrid, New York Trail, 11,200’, June 28, 2022

Another pygmy

Ranunculus pygmaeus, June 21, 2022

Common & scientific name
Pygmy buttercup, Ranunculus pygmaeus

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man area, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Standing just a few inches tall, usually tucked up against a wet rock or cliff area for protection, this tiny buttercup is always a treat to find!  Its palmate, wider-than-tall leaves, with a single middle lobe and double side lobes, are diagnostic, as are its small size and elevation range (alpine).