2020 Wildflower Checklist
Campanula parryi, August 26, 2020
Common & scientific name
Parry’s bellflower, Campanula parryi
Family
Bellflower, Campanulaceae
Location
Wet Gulch, 11,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This uncommon but delightful bellflower can be distinguished from the much more abundant C. rotundifolia by its flowers, which grow singly on the stem, are more upright than nodding, are more open, and often lighter lavender in color than the common harebell.
Hymenoxis hoopesii, August 24, 2020
Common & scientific name
Sneezeweed, Hymenoxis hoopesii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Summit, 12,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This funky flower is always a surprise: in its characteristically droopy, bedraggled petals (ray florets), its orange-ish color, its tall stature, and its ability to grow at myriad elevations and times of year, like this plant which didn’t emerge until late August at over 12,000.’
Apparently its common name comes from the historic use of the crushed, dried leaves and flower heads to make a snuff that caused sneezing. In any event, how can you not love a flower named “sneezeweed!”
Goodyera oblongifolia, August 13, 2020
Common & scientific name
Rattlesnake plantain, Goodyera oblongifolia
Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae
Location
Difficult Creek Trail, 9,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A common forest orchid in our area, one of the few species of wildflowers (along with several other orchids and heaths) that is able to thrive in the limited sunshine and acidic soils of our lodgepole and spruce-fir forests. Its leaves have a distinctly wide, white vein down the middle.
Pterospora andromedea, August 13, 2020
Common & scientific name
Woodland pinedrops, Pterospora andromedea
Family
Heath, Ericaceae
Location
Difficult Creek Trail, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This photo captures a Pinedrop after it has bloomed and begun to dry out—it may appear next spring, almost identically, if not felled by snow or wind during the winter. This wonderful woodland plant grows up to 2 feet high in our forests. It has no chlorophyll and thus cannot make its own food. It obtains the nutrients it needs through its mycorrhizal fungus that are parasitic on pines (in our area, Ponderosa or Lodgepole).
Eucephalus engelmannii, August 13, 2020
Common & scientific name
Engelmann’s aster, Eucephalus engelmannii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Difficult Creek, 9,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The Aster genus continues to shrink! This late-blooming, woods-loving aster is the tallest of all, up to five feet, with rather scraggly white, widely-spaced “petals” (ray florets).
Gentiana parryi, August 9, 2020
G. parryi, August 9, 2020
Common & scientific name
Bottle gentian, Gentiana parryi
Family
Gentian, Gentianaceae
Location
Linkins Lake Trail, 11,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This bright, blue-purple goblet puts out one to a half-dozen blooms per plant (alpine plants tend to have single blooms, lower growing), opening fully only in sunshine. This is one of the last, great wildflowers to grace the Pass above treeline—enjoy!
Linnaea borealis, August 13, 2020
Common & scientific name
Twinflower, Linnaea borealis
Family
Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae
Location
Difficult Creek, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Named after Swede Carl Linnaeus, who invented the binomial (genus + species) system, as he claimed this to be his favorite flower (and indeed it is one of mine). It stands just a few inches high, with demure, bell-shaped, pink and white flowers. In our area it is found in deep spruce/fir forests, only occasionally, and only for those keeping a sharp eye out, although once found it usually boasts numerous neighbors. It is the sole species of its genus. It is circumboreal (found throughout the northern hemisphere). It is why we care about wildflowers!
L. borealis, August 13, 2020
Shepherdia canadensis, August 13, 2020
Common & scientific name
Canada buffaloberry or Soapberry, Shepherdia canadensis
Family
Oleaster, Elaeagnaceae
Location
Difficult Creek, 9,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
I’m showing this plant in fruit, as opposed to in bloom, because I missed bloom time, which is easy to do: the flowers are tiny, greenish, and somewhat hidden in the plant’s leaf axils. Their August red berries, by contrast, are so bright as to be impossible to miss, and are favorites of grouse and black bears. They are also edible for humans: I tried one pictured and found it pleasantly sweet, although every book says that that sweetness devolves into an unpleasant soapy flavor (hence its other common name, “soapberry”). Try for yourself, then cleanse the palate with a neighboring thimbleberry, if necessary!
Ligusticum tenuifolium, August 13, 2020
Common & scientific name
Slender-leaf lovage, Ligusticum tenuifolium
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Difficult Creek, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This plant is smaller and found in wetter places than its more common cousin, Ligusticum porteri, Porter’s lovage, also known as Osha. For no real reason other than bad luck, I haven’t this summer seen the latter in bloom on the Pass, so was happy to welcome its more diminutive cousin into the fold! Osha is famous for its medicinal properties, as taught to Native Americans by grizzlies.
Senecio amplectens var. holmii, August 7, 2020
Common & scientific name
Holm’s ragwort, Senecio amplectens var. holmii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Tabor pass, 12,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Prediction: this singular alpine wildflower will be given separate species status soon, as Bill Weber has done (along with a new genus, Ligularia holmii). It is quite distinct from its close cousin, Senecio amplectens var. amplectens, in that it grows only above tree line (not in forests like S. amplectens), usually in rocky places like passes, sits low to the ground (naturally), and has red-edged, succulent leaves. It DOES, however, have yellow flowers!
S. amplectens var. holmii, August 7, 2020
Arnica latifolia, August 7, 2020
Common & scientific name
Broadleaf arnica, Arnica latifolia
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Tabor Creek valley, 11,600’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Has broader, slightly toothed leaves, red-tipped phyllaries, and is more rarely seen than the very common and similar Arnica rydbergii (which is less hairy and gets white tips on its petals as it ages) or Arnica mollis (which is much taller and often has three flowerheads). This is the first Arnica latifolia I’ve seen this year (maybe more accurately have noticed this year).
Erigeron leiomerus, August 7, 2020
Common & scientific name
Rockslide daisy, Erigeron leiomerus
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Tabor pass, 12,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Surprisingly, this is one of the few Rockslide daisies I’ve seen on the Pass this year. “Surprising” in that it is commonly found on rocky, alpine slopes and saddles—like much of the Pass! In any event, this cheery lavender flower has glandular, deep-purple phyllaries (see photo below) and few, very small stem leaves.
E. leiomerus, August 7, 2020
Gentiana algida, August 6, 2020
Common & scientific name
Arctic gentian, Gentiana algida
Family
Gentian, Gentianaceae
Location
Lost Man Lake, 12,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our loveliest and latest-blooming alpine flowers. Its delicate, whitish, almost see-through petals are decorated with purple lines and tiny spots. Its thick rosette of long, green leaves comes out a month or more before the flower. It can be found on dry alpine ground where only a few hearty flowers remain. See this jewel of a gentian and kiss summer on the tundra goodbye!
Erigeron divergens, August 4, 2020
Common & scientific name
Spreading fleabane or daisy, Erigeron divergens
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Roadside, 9,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A densely hairy, late-blooming, highly-branching (hence the name) Erigeron rarely seen on the Pass (this being my first time, actually!) This plant was found just below the Lincoln Creek turnoff, roadside.
Parnassia fimbriata, August 4, 2020
P. fimbriata, August 4, 2020
Common & scientific name
Fringed Grass of Parnassus, Parnassia fimbriata
Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae, Staff Tree, Celastraceae, or Parnassus, Parnassiaceae
Location
Roadside, 10,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This bright white, late-blooming, water-loving flower is always a delight to find, often in roadside ditches where orchids and elephanthead bloomed earlier. Its petals are fringed at the base, and its leaves heart-shaped. While the family it belongs to is in dispute (or in transition may be a better way to put it), its delicate beauty is not!
Medicago sativa, August 4, 2020
Common & scientific name
Alfalfa, Medicago sativa
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Roadside, 8,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A quick history of this common roadside, and agriculturally cultivated, plant:
“Alfalfa originated in southwestern Asia, was first cultivated in Iran, and now has a worldwide distribution due to its popularity as an agricultural species. It was introduced into the United States in 1736 in Georgia, but it was not until around 1850 that it began to be more widely planted. It is planted in all 50 states and is widely planted in Canada. It is naturalized in many areas.”
USFS, FEIS website
M. sativa, roadside, August 4, 2020
Ranunculus alismifolius, July 30, 2020
Common & scientific name
Plantainleaf buttercup, Ranunculus alismifolius
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
Linkins Lake, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This buttercup is—can I say it?—fairly non-descript, with long, skinny, hairless leaves and stems and small yellow flowers. It grows primarily in wet meadows and on the edges of ponds and streams.
Conioselinum scopulorum, July 30, 2020
Common & scientific name
Hemlock parsley, Conioselinum scopulorum
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Linkins Lake, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The sheath on the single stem leave (midway up the plant—see photo below) is the defining feature of this uncommon, water-loving parsley. PRESUME it’s poisonous owing to its name, but can’t find info one way or the other (?)
C. scopulorum, July 23, 2020
Gentianopsis thermalis, July 30, 2020
Common & scientific name
Rocky Mountain fringed gentian, Gentianopsis thermalis
Family
Gentian, Gentianaceae
Location
Linkins Lake, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This delightful, widespread gentian (think roadside ditches) has four spiraling, delicately-fringed, deep-bluish-purple petals. “Thermalis” refers to the thermal pools of Yellowstone, where this gentian is particularly abundant and has been designated the park’s official flower.
G. thermalis, August 13, 2020
Senecio fremontii, July 30, 2020
S. fremontii, August 6, 2020
Common & scientific name
Dwarf mountain ragwort, Senecio fremontii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Geissler 3, 12,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This mostly alpine plants grows up to a foot high in rounded clumps in and around rock fields and boulders. Its leaves are succulent and sharply toothed. It is always a joy and an encouragement, somehow, to see dwarf mountain ragwort on a high mountain climb!
