A new orchid!

Spiranthes romanzoffiana, August 6, 2021

Common & scientific name
Hooded ladies-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana

Family
Orchid, Orchidaceae

Location
Lost Man, 10,600’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
We don’t see this one very often on the Pass, so it is an exciting find. Its braid-like design of white flowers ascending in a geometric spiral distinguishes it from other orchids like white bog orchid. It grows in wet, often sheltered or shady places, and is a singular delight!

S. romanzoffiana, August 6, 2021

The tundra's final act

Gentiana algida, August 5, 2021

Common & scientific name
Arctic gentian, Gentiana algida

Family
Gentian, Gentianaceae

Location
Green Mountain, 11,800’

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 or green 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!

G. algida, August 5, 2021

The crazy-making daisy

Leucanthemum vulgare, August 3, 2021

L. vulgate’s diagnostic phyllaries, August 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Oxeye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside everywhere up to 11,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
YES, they’re pretty, YES, they’re cheery, YES, you may stop, look, and enjoy them.  Then do your part for our native wildflowers and pull them!  Oxeyes are a highly invasive perennial that LOVE disturbed places like roadsides—even a fresh layer of asphalt won’t dissuade them!  A single plant can produce up to 200 seeds per flowering head, sitting atop up to 40 flowering stems per plant—that leads to a ginormous seed bank.   Leucanthemum vulgare is native to Europe and was introduced into the United States as an ornamental in the 1800s. In the 2000s, it is the bane of Independence Pass.

Decorating our roadsides

Heterotheca pumila, August 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine goldenaster, Heterotheca pumila

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside, 11,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
While all guide books describe this and its close cousin Heterotheca villosa as “highly variable” (in size, leaf shape, hairiness, etc.), it is easily identifiable by its strongly pungent smell, location (subalpine to alpine, in dry, exposed places like trailside or roadside), and its numerous yellow flowers atop a roundish mound of grayish-green leaves. 

Our smallest saxifrage

Saxifraga rivularis, July 29, 2021

S. rivularis, July 29, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine brook saxifrage, Saxifraga rivularis

Family
Saxifrage, Saxifragaceae

Location
North summit area, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This total jewel of a flower, also known as “pygmy saxifrage,” is almost always found tucked into wet caves and boulder-created crevasses. It stands just three inches high, is usually single-flowered, has adorably-lobed leaves, and is guaranteed to make your day. Never let rock gardens go unexplored: treasures await!

High arnica

Arnica latifolia, July 29, 2021

Common & scientific name
Broadleaf arnica, Arnica latifolia

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
North summit, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This arnica has broad, slightly toothed leaves (unlike A. rydbergii), red-tipped phyllaries, is glandular, and is less common than the similar Arnica mollis (which is usually taller and often has three flowerheads). Perhaps the best distinguishing feature is its pappus which consists of white, barbellate (short-barbed) hairs, while A. mollis has a pappus that is tawny/tan and subplumose (feathery).

For your parking pleasure

Spergularia rubra, July 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Red sandspurry, Spergularia rubra

Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae

Location
North Fork Lake Creek TH, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This non-native from Eurasia has been in the US since at least the 1860s, according to Flora of North America, and seems limited in our area to trailhead parking lots. It is a glandular plant with pointed leaves and charming, five-petaled, lavender flowers. A fine parking lot addition!

Rorippin' mustard

Rorippa alpina, July 27, 2021

R. alpina, July 21, 2021

Common & scientific name
Alpine yellowcress, Rorippa alpina

Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location
Linkins Lake TH, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Alpine yellowcress is a low-growing plant found in wet places, including roadside ditches here. It is weedy looking, but not a weed (it is native), and like all mustards, is edible.

Autumn arrives early in the high country

Gentianella amarella, July 27, 2021

Common & scientific name
Autumn gentian, Gentianella amarella

Family
Gentian, Gentianaceae

Location
Lower Mt. Champion, 11,250’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Autumn gentian’s flowers are a lovely shade of lavender. They grow in small clusters from the tip of the stem and from most of the leaf axils. They have five petals that flare widely to reveal a circle of long white hairs, and small fringes at the base of their lobes. Autumn gentian can be tall like this plant, or much smaller depending on elevation and conditions. While July 27 hardly counts as “autumn,” it is like all gentians (save green gentian) a sign of the waning summer season.

G. amarella, July 27, 2021