High up in the Snowy Range of Wyoming–and we’re talking around 11,000 feet here–the flora is still clinging to the idea of summer.  Take this dwarf mountain groundsel (or dwarf mountain ragwort), Senecio fremontii var. blitoides, that I found on a hike yesterday near the Gap Lakes.  This plant managed to avoid the apparent early arrival of autumn by sheltering under some warm, sunny rocks.  Most other examples of this species in more exposed areas were already dried and heading towards seedheads, as shown in the photo below. 

Also called dwarf mountain butterweed, Fremont’s groundsel or rock ragwort, this plant has thick, toothed leaves and grows in clusters on rocky spots above treeline.  It is named after the explorer John Fremont, (the first man of European descent to see Lake Tahoe in California) who collected several new species and thus has several plants named in his honor.  The photo at the bottom shows this wildflower in the full bloom of summer.

You can find this species on high slopes throughout the central Rockies (another subspecies, var. fremontii, grows farther to the west), but look fast–summer is running out!