Welcome to the wonderful world of cinquefoils (and good luck to you)

Potentilla glaucophylla/diversifolia, June 8, 2021

P. diversifolia, Lackawanna, 11,400’, June 18, 2021

Common & scientific name
Blue-leaf cinquefoil, Potentilla glaucophylla/diversifolia

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Here we go: welcome to the whacky world of Potentillas, or Cinquefoils, upwards of a dozen of which live on the Pass, all with similar looking yellow flowers (except the white P. arguta), all differentiated by their leaves.

Blue-leaf cinquefoil is very common in the subalpine and alpine on the Pass. It has 5 to 7 leaflets arranged palmately, like the fingers of a hand connected in the middle. The leaves are green, with a bluish tint, on both sides (with the backside a bit less blue-green, but neither side hairy). Its leaflets are serrate, or toothed, only on the upper part of the leaf, not the whole length of the leaf. Photo of leaf only to come!

Good morning, evening-primrose!

Oenothera caespitosa, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Evening-primrose, Oenothera caespitosa

Family
Tufted evening-primrose, Onograceae

Location
Twin Lakes roadside, 9,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As the name implies, this unusually large, four-petaled flower opens at night and wilts/closes during the day. Its primary pollinator is a night-flying hawk moth, which has the long tongue needed to reach down through the flower’s tube to the base of the flower, where the nectar lies. Evening-primrose grows in poor soil and needs little water—that’s why it frequently appears roadside!

Pollinators need not apply

Arnica cordifolia, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Heartleaf arnica, Arnica cordifolia

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
In the woods near Weller campground, elevation 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

From the highly excellent online resource, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com: “Since seeds of Arnica cordifolia are produced without fertilization . . . off-spring are genetically identical to their parents. The patches of Arnica cordifolia are, therefore, clones and this accounts for the wide variability of Arnica cordifolia characteristics from one location to another. Since there is no pollination there is no blending of characteristics to a common denominator.” Ah-ha! Look for them in varying form in our evergreen forests everywhere.

Eat your peas!

Astragalus alpinus, June 8, 2021

A. alpinus, Indy ghost town, 10,800’, June 28, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine milkvetch, Astragalus alpinus

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Roadside between La Plata & Twin Lakes, 9,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This circumpolar, pioneer plant may be the most widely distributed and common Astragalus in the world.  While it is rarely found above treeline in our area, despite its name, and is more common on the east side of the Pass than the west, it is always a delight to find, in subalpine woods, meadows, and even (especially!) roadside, with its dainty purple-and-white flowers set among its sprawling ladder-like leaves. It is also enjoyed by caribou, arctic hares, and greater snow geese (as food, that is), and grizzly bears forage its underground parts.

Wondrous creation

Thalictrum fendleri, male, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Fendler’s meadowrue, Thalictrum fendleri

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8200’

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!

T. fendleri, female, June 8, 2021

Goodbye, snow, hello, Marsh marigolds!

Caltha leptosepala, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Marsh marigold, Caltha leptosepala

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

As the snow melts and streams & springs emerge, Marsh marigolds follow suit. They often emerge alongside or at the same time as Globeflowers, Trollius albiflorous.  Marsh marigolds can be distinguished by the blue streaks on the back of their flowers, and by their leaves, which are entire, while Globeflowers’ are palmate and cut.

A marigold's best friend

Trollius albiflorus, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Globeflower, Trollius albiflorus

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

These newly-blooming flowers will morph from light yellow to white over the next several days.  In addition to Marsh marigolds, Globeflowers can be confused with Narcissus-flowered anemones, Anemone narcissiflora, which bloom a bit later and have hairy stems, where Globeflowers are hairless. 

Sufferin' saxifrage!

Saxifraga rhomboidea, June 8, 2021

S. rhomboidea, late in bloom, Champion, 12,700’, 7.27.21

Common & scientific name
Diamond-leaf saxifrage, Saxifraga rhomboidea

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
Mountain Boy basin, 11,250’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Saxifrages are one of our most delightful families.  They’re mostly white (sometimes yellow), usually delicate, and always a treat to find.  This will be the first of over a dozen saxifrage species to come on the Pass.

S. rhomboidea, June 8, 2021

Yellow to the west, lavender to the east

Erysimum capitatum, June 8, 2021

E. capitatum, lavender version, Mt. Everett, 12,200’, July 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Western wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Ghost town, 10,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This big, cheery mustard is as at home on the summit of Independence Pass as it is in the deserts of Utah.  It is most commonly yellow, but on the east side of the Pass, especially up near treeline, it is a striking lavender-magenta—see photo bottom left!

E. capitatum, in fruit (with siliques/seed pods), ghost town, 10,800’, June 28, 2021

Never to be forgotten

Eritrichum aretioides, June 8, 2021

E. aretioides, summit, June 23, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine forget-me-nots, Eritrichum aretioides

Family
Borage, Boraginaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This ground-hugging alpine jewel is many people’s favorite wildflower, period.  Its Kodachrome-blue petals and golden eyes are unique in our region, and its favorite habitat—rocky, windswept, highly inhospitable mountain tops and ridges—makes its beauty and sheer existence all the more jaw-dropping.  Because this flower blooms early and won’t stick around too long, it is worth dropping everything to get up high and bow down to this wonder of creation.

E. aretioides, Twining 13,400’, June 30, 2021

Smelowskia--say it out loud!

Smelowskia calycina, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine smelowskia, Smelowskia calycina

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Summit, 12,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

I love this flower so very, very much.  In part because it is one of the first flowers of the season to emerge in the high alpine, so it is always a welcome sight.  In part because it can range dramatically in size depending on how protected it is—there is a bouquet on Treasure Mountain tucked into a large marble boulder that is three times the size of the plants, both stems and flowers, seen in these photos.  In part because its usually white petals sometimes emerge a lovely soft lavender.  But mostly because of its name, in honor of the 18th century Russian botanist T. Smelovskii.  This is one botanical name that is a joy to learn and say!

Big Daddy Dandelion

Tragapogon dubius, June 8, 2021

T. dubius seedhead, roadside, 9,500’, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Yellow salsify, Tragapogon dubius

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

A non-native known mostly for its huge, dandelion-like seed head, salsify was introduced from Europe owing to its edible roots.  The pointy phyllaries exceeding its ray florets distinguishTragapogon dubius (top) from T. pratensis (bottom).

T. pratensis, June 16, 2021

Patience pays

Ceanothus velutinus, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus

Family
Buckthorn, Rhamnaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,300’

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.

Carpe diem embodied

Linum lewisii, June 8, 2021

Common & scientific name
Blue flax, Linum lewisii

Family
Flax, Linaceae

Location
Weller curve, 9,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

“Pluck the day [for it is ripe], trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.”  This is the more accurate and complete translation of the oft-cited “carpe diem,” which is usually reduced to “seize the day” and leaves out “quam minimum credula postero.”  I prefer this translation because it captures perfectly, in botanical terms even, the lesson of the blue flax: it blooms for exactly one day.  Its petals open in the morning, and fall off by afternoon.  Blue flax knows no tomorrow.  Would that we all could live that way!

The chokes on you

Prunus virginiana, June 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana

Family
Rose, Rosaceae

Location
Classy Cliffs, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
So named because of its berries’ bitter flavor—and indeed their seeds contain cyanide—Chokecherry is popularly used to make jam, and was a staple of Native American diets, as cooking rids the fruit of its cyanide and bitter taste.

(Don't) call a medic!

Medicago lupulina, June 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Black medick, Medicago lupulina

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Roadside, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Yes, this non-native from Eurasia is the same flower that invades your lawn. However, it is nutritious, loved by bees, and seen in just a handful of roadside locations on the Pass, so not an invasive of concern. The genus name Medicago refers to the region of Iran known as Media, where this plant was believed to have originated.

Exactly WHICH yellow daisy is this?

Microseris nutans, June 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Nodding microseris, Microseris nutans

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This short-lived, early-blooming sun lover can be distinguished from Taraxacum officinale, Dandelions, by its phyllaries—the bracts, or much-reduced leaves, subtending the flower head of members of the sunflower family. Nodding microseris’s phyllaries cup the flower head tightly, while Dandelion’s curl outward at the tips. Nodding microseris’s phyllaries also distinguish it from its lookalike, Agoseris glauca, the former having tiny black hairs on them.

Waiting for the wolves

Ribes wolfii, June 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Wolf’s currant, Ribes wolfii

Family
Gooseberry, Grossulariaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common currant is the only Ribes in our area without spines. Unfortunately, its berries are small, spiny-hairy, and bitter—no need for protection!

The current currant

Ribes inerme, June 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Whitestem gooseberry, Ribes inerme

Family
Currant, Grossulariaceae

Location
Classy Cliffs, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The petals on this currant emerge greenish, as in this photo, but become whiter with age (photo to come). The long stalks coming out of the flower are the filaments, which support the anthers, the pollen-bearing organs of the flower.

Fireworks!

Ipomopsis aggregata, June 2, 2021

Common & scientific name
Scarlet gilia, Ipomopsis aggregata

Family
Phlox, Polemoniaceae

Location
Roadside near Difficult, 8,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Scarlet gilia, also know as Fairy trumpet, is among our most flamboyant and unmistakeable wildflowers. Like Old Man of the Mountain, Green Gentian, and other of our well known wildflowers, these gleaming crimson trumpets are monocarpic—that is, they bloom once, after a half dozen or so years of storing up nutrients in their roots, then die.

I. aggregata, June 2, 2021