Don't be fooled

Symphyotrichum spathulatum, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Western mountain aster, Symphyotrichum spathulatum

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man trailhead, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Can be distinguished from S. foliaceum by its skinnier, pointier phyllaries, and skinner, longer leaves. That being said, this is known to hybridize with S. foliaceum, so if you find something that has characteristics of both, or lies somewhere in between, well, in a sense you’ve found both!

S. spathulatum, Indy ghost town, 10,800’, August 4, 2021

Itsy bitsy

Gaultheria humifusa, July 20, 2021

G. humifusa, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine spicy wintergreen, Gaultheria humifusa

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Discovery/Braille Trail, 10,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
An evergreen found in moist subalpine forests, uncommon in our area, even more uncommon to find one of its delightful, but tiny flowers—just a few millimeters in size. Both its leaves and red berries are edible. Thank you, Janis Huggins, for pointing me to this wonderful plant!

G. humifusa in fruit, September 7, 2021

Leave it to cleavers

Galium aparine, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Cleavers, Galium aparine

Family
Madder, Rubiaceae

Location
Weller Trail, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The name cleavers means "to cling," in this case by hooked hairs on both this plant’s leaves and seeds. This is one of the rare annuals found on the Pass.

Good guess, Carl, but . . .

Trifolium hybridum, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum

Family
Pea, Fabaceae

Location
Roadside, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Despite its scientific name, alsike clover is not a hybrid. Its common name comes from the town of Alsike in Sweden, where Carl Linnaeus thought it was a cross between white clover (T. repens) and red clover (T. pratense): in fact, it is its own species.

Calling Luke Skywalker . . .

Aconytum columbianum, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Monkshood, Aconytum columbianum

Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This large, water-loving plant is usually found packed in with other big boys like subalpine larkspur, triangle-leaved senecio, mountain bluebells, and willow, but its flowers will always distinguish it: miniature Darth Vader heads!  Don’t let the summer go by without taking a moment to delight in nature’s quirky concoction.

Don't need no stinkin' sunshine

Corallorhiza maculata, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Spotted corralroot, Corallorhiza maculata

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
Weller Trail, 9,600’

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 our dry, spruce/fir woods.  

The "Asters" are out!

Symphyotrichum foliaceum, July 20, 2021

S. foliaceum, Grizzly ridge, 12,800’, July 22, 2021

Common & scientific name
Leafy aster, Symphyotrichum foliaceum (Aster foliaceus)

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man trailhead, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
What an incredibly variable plant this late-summer aster is!  Its wider “petals” (ray florets)and broader, layered, leaf-like phyllaries distinguish it from the earlier-blooming Erigerons. In subalpine and alpine meadows, it commonly grows just 6” high, with few flower heads, and is often a deep purple/lavender as shown at left. Roadside it grows up to 3’ high with many (lighter-colored) flowered heads and noticeably red stems (see below). And sometimes it’s in between (see bottom).

I just wish they had come up with a more memorable, or pronounceable, or spell-able, name to replace “Aster” with . . . .  

Fuzzy wuzzy #2

Erigeron elatior, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Tall fleabane, Erigeron elatior

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man trailhead, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Despite its common name, what sets this daisy apart is its extremely fuzzy, purple phyllaries.  Can be found in subalpine aspen forests and wet alpine areas.  

Goldenrod granddaddy

Oreochrysum parryi, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Parry’s goldenrod, Oreochrysum parryi

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 10,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
For many years this flower was in the Solidago (goldenrod) genus, and it certainly looks a great deal like our Solidago multiradiata or S. simplex—just bigger.  The flower heads are bigger, its leaves are wider and longer, and its phyllaries and bracts are leaf-like (aka bigger!)

A late bloomer

Erigeron coulteri, July 20, 2021

E. coulteri, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Coulter’s daisy, Erigeron coulteri

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lost Man trailhead, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This is one of our most common late-summer daisies, blooming from the montane to the alpine in meadows and moist woodlands.  It is of medium height (usually less than a foot), has bright white, very thin ray florets (petals), and has white and black hairs on the underside of its flowerhead (on its phyllaries—see photo below left).  If you see a giant version of this, standing several feet tall, with fewer but wider petals, you are seeing Engelmann’s aster, another late-summer bloomer. 

E. coulteri, July 20, 2021

Greenland's national flower

Chamerion latifolium, July 20, 2021

C. latifolium, Grizzly Creek, 11,500’, July 22, 2021

Common & scientific name
Dwarf fireweed, Chamerion latifolium

Family
Evening primrose, Onagraceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Smaller plant and larger flowers than its close cousin, Chamerion angustifolium, and won’t be found roadside but rather creekside.  It is the national flower of Greenland: good choice, Greenland!

C. latifolium, Tabor Creek, 10,250’, July 28, 2021

Water-loving hemlock

Conioselinum scopulorum, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Hemlock parsley, Conioselinum scopulorum

Family
Parsley, Apiaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The sheath on the single stem leave (midway up the plant—see photos) 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, Linkins Lake, 12,000’, July 22, 2021

A tall, bedraggled fellow

Eucephalus engelmannii, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Engelmann’s aster, Eucephalus engelmannii

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 8,400’

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).  

The dog's bane

Apocynum androsaemifolium, July 15, 2021

Common & scientific name
Spreading dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium

Family
Dogbane, Apocynaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,300’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
A bane to dogs and other animals owing to its toxic, milky sap, it nevertheless has delightful, bell-shaped, white & pink-striped flowers on large, attractive plants.

Another Colorado rarity

Pyrola picta, July 15, 2021

P. picta leaves/plants, July 15, 2021

Common & scientific name
White-veined wintergreen, Pyrola picta

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
NOT DISCLOSED TO PROTECT THIS RARE PLANT

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This coniferous forest-dweller, unmistakeable owing to its white-veined leaves, has been formally recorded in only a handful of counties in Colorado (one of which is NOT Pitkin County, despite the photo here to the contrary), and is deemed “rare” by the Colorado Native Plant Society & Heritage Program. Interestingly, it is widespread to the west, including in the Sierras and the Cascades; it doesn’t seem to require a particular geologic substrate (volcanic or granitic soil will do; and there is ample, seemingly suitable (i.e., similar) habitat in Colorado. So why it is rare here is a bit of a mystery. Enjoy the mystery and the beauty of this shy forest-dweller!

A tall drink of water

Rudbeckia laciniata var. ampla, July 15, 2021

R. laciniata var. ampla, July 20, 2021

Common & scientific name
Cutleaf coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata var. ampla

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This tall sunflower likes wet places, including the wetlands on the way to Difficult Campground. It grows throughout the US, and can reportedly grow up to 10-feet tall! I see this plant in the wetter Marble area more often than Indy Pass.

Four by four by four

Galium boreale, July 15, 2021

Common & scientific name
Northern bedstraw, Galium boreale

Family
Madder, Rubiaceae

Location
Difficult Campground, 8,200’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This common (but rather uncommon on the Pass) plant is all about fours: it has whorls of four leaves around its square stem, and its clusters of white flowers have four petals. Its name refers to a different species of Galium that was used as bedstraw.

G. boreale, July 20, 2021

Didn't mean to ignore you, but . . . .

Lepidium ramosissimum, July 14, 2021

Common & scientific name
Many-branched pepperweed,  Lepidium ramosissimum

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Roadside, 9,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Likes disturbed soil (like roadsides), and I’ve never noticed it until this year, when it had gone to seed. Apparently its flowers are so rudimentary, or altogether absent, that it’s easy to overlook; at least, that is, until its hundreds of round siiques make their appearance.

Pippisewa

Chimaphila umbellata, July 15, 2021

Common & scientific name
Pippisewa, Chimaphila umbellata

Family
Heath, Ericaceae

Location
Difficult Trail, 8,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This delightful deep forest dweller is, according to Janis Huggins, author of the incomparable Wild at Heart, indicative of a healthy forest. If beauty is an indication of health—and I think it is—she is correct!
. 

C. umbellata, July 15, 2021