A deadly beauty

Anticlea elegans, July 4, 2022

A. elegans, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,500’, July 5, 2022

Common & scientific name
Mountain death camas, Anticlea elegans

Family
False hellebore, Melanthiaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Its name says it all: this lovely (former) member of the lily family is extremely poisonous, responsible for the death of early western settlers who mistook its bulbs for Alliums (wild onions) or other edibles.

A. elegans, Linkins Lake Trail 11,800’, July 19, 2022

Go ahead, be crass

Senecio crassulus, July 4, 2022

Common & scientific name
Thickleaf ragwort, Senecio crassulus

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This hairless Senecio has thick leaves (“crass” means “thick” in Latin) with sharp teeth at least on its stem flowers and a bulging involucre below the ray flowers. Its phyllaries are black-tipped.  This is a common Senecio of subalpine & alpine meadows on the Pass.

A little licorice, anyone?

Osmorhiza depauperata, July 4, 2022

O. depaurperata in fruit, Weller Trail, 9,500’, July 20, 2022

Common & scientific names
Blunt sweet cicely, Osmorhiza depauperata

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,900’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known facts
This delicate parsley (“depauperata” translates as “diminutive”) produces blunt-ended seed pods (hence its common name). Its leaves are delightfully licorice-scented.

Finally the fairy slipper!

Calypso bulbosa, July 4, 2022

C. bulbosa, July 4, 2022

Common & scientific name
Fairy slipper, Calypso bulbosa

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
Jack Creek, 10,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This (usually!) early-blooming, circumboreal orchid was named after the sea nymph Calypso of Homer’s Odyssey. Like Calypso, this delicate beauty prefers secluded forest haunts, where she brings delight to the observant hiker.

Wind River draba

Draba ventosa, July 1, 2022

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.

Difficult drabas

Draba crassa, July 1, 2022

D. crassa, Geissler, 13,200’, July 7, 2022

Common & scientific name
Thickleaf draba, Draba crassa

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Twining, 13,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

One of many, difficult-to-distinguish alpine Drabas, this one 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.

The leaves have it

Claytonia megarhiza, July 1, 2022

C. megarhiza, July 1, 2022

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

C. megarhiza, above Linkins Lake, 12,800’, August 5, 2022

Our best berry?

Rubus parviflorus, July 1, 2022

Common & scientific name
Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Weller, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This rather sad-looking bloom represents the last of the flowers, before it drops its petals and becomes a berry. And just as I denigrate the fruit of its cousin, Woods rose, as “mealy,” I am here to defend to the death the thimbleberry, often accused of same.  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.

Wormskjold makes his mark

Veronica wormskjoldii, July 1, 2022

V. wormskjoldii, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’, July 19, 2022

Common & scientific name
Alpine speedwell, Veronica wormskjoldii

Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae

Location
Roadside, 11,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Common, variably-sized, delightful subalpine and alpine plant that frequently grows trailside near streams or wetlands.  Named after Danish botanist, Morton Wormskjold.  Hopefully he didn’t discover too many other plants.

Arnica #2

Arnica rydbergii, June 29, 2022

Common & scientific name
Rydberg’s arnica,  Arnica rydbergii

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This Arnica can be distinguished from the other half-dozen hard-to-tell-apart Arnicas by its location (likes treeline and dry slopes), single flower on top (unlike A. mollis which usually has three—a rare instance where Bill Weber got it wrong), usually smaller than A. latifolia, and as it ages the tips of its petals whiten (see photo to come).

Lady of the Evening

Oenothera villosa, June 29, 2022

Common & scientific name
Hairy evening primrose, Oenothera villosa

Family
Evening primrose, Onograceae

Location
Winter gate,8,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This tall, striking primrose, often showing its yellow petals wilted during the day as orange, has a red, hairy stem and hairy leaves.  It can be seen roadside from the bottom of the Pass to about 9,700’ in elevation.  One of the only other families of flowers to have four petals (like the mustards), its flowers open in the evening to invite long-tongued moths in.

You needn't get bogged down

Micranthes oregana, June 29, 2022

M. oregana in fruit, Lost Man Reservoir, 10,600’, August 15, 2022

Common & scientific name
Bog saxifrage,  Micranthes oregana

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man TH, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Distinguishable from Snowball saxifrage by blooming later, being taller, having multi-flowered stems (not just one ball of flowers at the top), always growing in wet places, not having diamond-shaped basal leaves, AND erupting in huge numbers about now in the subalpine & alpine wherever water is found!

I am not a parasite

Pedicularis parryi, June 29, 2022

Common & scientific name
Parry’s lousewort, Pedicularis parryi

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
With characteristic beaked flowers and fern-like leaves, this highest growing and smallest of the fascinating Pedicularis genus whorls around on itself in delightful fashion.  It is hemiparasitic (hence its move from the Snapdragon family into the Broomrape family), meaning it produces chlorophyll and thus can survive on its own, but obtains additional nutrients from the roots of other plants.

Another lousy wort

Pedicularis bracteosa, June 29, 2022

Common & scientific name
Bracted lousewort, Pedicularis bracteosa

Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man TH, 11,600

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Smaller than towering lousewort, Pedicularis procera, but bigger than all the other Pedicularis species, this is commonly found in wetter meadows and forests from the montane to the alpine.  It has the typical fern/ladder-like leaves of the genus, this one with a spike of yellow flowers that begin growing from the bottom up. 

Tricky tansymustards

Descurainia californica, June 28, 2022

D. californica, summit, 12,000’, July 13, 2022

Common & scientific name
Sierra tansymustard, Descurainia californica

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Roadside near Lincoln Creek turnoff, 9,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Almost every wildflower has something fun, weird, or otherwise interesting to say about it.  However, when you get into the individual Descurainias, of which we have a handful on the Pass, it gets challenging  They’re all a bit gangly, with small yellow cross-shaped flowers and skinny siliques (seed pods).  These similarities make them trick to tell apart. This one happens to identify as D. californica owing to the size, shape, and stature of its siliques and the shape of its leaves.  If you want more details, you are a worthy botanist

The abundance

Mertensia ciliata, June 28, 2022

M. ciliata, summit 12,200’, July 13, 2022

Common & scientific name
Mountain bluebells, Mertenisa ciliata

Family
Borage, Boraginaceae

Location
New York Trail, 10,,300’

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)

Breathe deep

Platanthera dilatata, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
White bog orchid, Platanthera dilatata

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
New York Trail, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There may be as many as 35,000 species of orchids worldwide, making the Orchid family the largest family of vascular plants.  With 33 species, Platanthera is the largest genus of orchids found in North America.  

White bog orchid, one of our area’s most common, is found streamside, in ditches, and all manner of wet places.  It has nectar-secreting glands that line the spur (the projection on the backside of the flower) that produce an aromatic, sugary reward to attract pollinators (and that creates a beautiful smell for us, as well).  The shape and length of the spur varies from species to species and is co-adapted to fit the tongue-length of pollinating moths or butterflies.

A thistle to love

Cirsium eatonii, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Eaton’s thistle, Cirsium eatonii

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
New York Trail, 10,300

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
First, importantly, not all thistles are “bad”—i.e., non-native  invasives—and indeed with a little time and attention paid can take on a certain charm (in addition to being pollinator favorites).  This thistle is common (but not TOO common) on the Pass, from the montane to the alpine in meadows and forest openings.  It has white, pink, or purple flowers protruding up from its cobwebby head.  Its stem is often dark red (below) and its leaves are spiny.  It has learned well how to protect itself!

Not a lawn dweller

Agoseris aurantiaca, June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Orange agoseris, Agoseris aurantiaca

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
New York Trail, 10,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
There aren’t many true orange flowers in the wild, which may be the reason why this otherwise very dandelion-like flower grabs ones attention.  Like dandelions, Orange agoseris is composed exclusively of ray flowers, and produces a similar seed head.  Unlike dandelions, though, you will not see it lining the roadside or invading your lawn.  It modestly limits itself, in sparing numbers, to dry meadows from the montane to the alpine on the Pass.

Ain't no sunshine (needed)

Corallorhiza trifida June 28, 2022

Common & scientific name
Yellow corralroot, Corallorhiza trifida

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
New York Trail, 10,000’

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 wet, humus-rich spruce/fir woods or by water. This is a first find for me!