Climate change bellweather

Dryas octopetala, June 29, 2023

Seedhead, Green Mountain 12,000’, August 2, 2023

Common & scientific name

Mountain avens, Dryas octopetala

Family

Rose, Rosaceae

Location

Twining, 12,500

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This white, eight-petaled, evergreen-leaved, mat-forming soil stabilizer is playing an important part in the study of climate and climate change. “Fossils of Dryas plants are important to paleo-ecologists studying past episodes of climate change and shifts in arctic-alpine vegetation. Late in the Pleistocene, the climate of the northern hemisphere began to gradually warm as the last great Ice Age went into retreat. On two occasions, the general pattern of warming was abruptly reversed for periods of 300-1000 years and arctic tundra vegetation returned to areas that had been changing to forest cover. Ecologists refer to these periods as the Older Dryas (approximately 13,800 years ago) and the Younger Dryas (11,500-12,800 years ago) because of the prevalence of Dryas fossils. The exact cause of the relatively rapid change in climate (estimated to have taken just a few decades) are still being debated, but may bear on research into contemporary climate change.”

Info courtesy of the US Forest Service’s wonderful “Plant of the Week” website: go to https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/ to see more.

A rare find

Draba globosa, June 29, 2023

June 29

Common & scientific name

Beavertip draba, Draba globosa

Family

Mustard, Brassicaceae

Location

Lower Twining, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

A rare alpine draba, standing an inch high, with a tight mat of leaves. Its stem and leaves are mostly glabrous (non-hairy), somewhat glandular, with a few stiff hairs along the leaf edges and an extra-thick, stiff, terminal hair at the apex of the leaf (hence the “beavertip”—although not exactly sure what that means). This one is easy to miss!

Fuzzy, wasn't he?

Castilleja occidentalis, June 29, 2023

June 29

Cross (?) w/C. rhexifolia, Green Mountain, 12,000’, August 2, 2023

Common & scientific name

Western Indian paintbrush, Castilleja occidentalis

Family

Broomrape, Orobanchaceae

Location

Twining, 12,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

What a wonderful alpine fuzzball this is! Especially when it hybridizes with other paintbrushes like the magenta C. rhexifolia to create tie-dyed, striped wonders (note that not all botanists agree these hybridize: some argue for separate speciation).

While there is much discussion among botanists about the proper classification of paintbrushes, including the genetic difference (if any) between C. occidentalis and the similarly yellowish-white C. sulphurea (also called C. septentrionalis), the two are readily distinguishable in the field by their elevation (C. occidentalis is an alpine plant, C. sulphurea is found lower), their size (C. occidentalis is shorter), and their fuzziness factor (C. occidentalis wins!) It also crosses with other high-elevation Castillejas like C. rhexifolia and C. miniata to create colorful, striped versions, coming soon!

Geissler, 12,800’, July 21, 2023

Red clover, red clover

Trifolium pratense, June 29, 2023

Common & scientific name

Red Clover, Trifolium pratense

Family

Pea, Fabaceae

Location

Difficult, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Seen in every part of the valley, from backyards up to tree line, red clover hails from Europe and Asia, has pretty pink heads, two-toned leaves, and grows tall if it needs to to compete with other plants to reach the sun, staying lower if on bare ground. Like all peas, it is a nitrogen-fixer (more on that later), therefore good for the soil and mostly endured by weed fanatics even though it is non-native.

Don't call a medic

Medicago lupulina, June 28, 2023

Common & scientific name

Black medick, Medicago lupulina

Family

Pea, Fabaceae

Location

Difficult, 8,100’

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.

Feel the burn

Urtica doica, June 28, 2023

Common & scientific name

Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica

Family

Nettle, Urticaceae

Location

Difficult, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

A native plant found only occasionally on the Pass, usually at the base of rock cliffs or slopes where it can find water. The hollow, stinging hairs on its leaves and stems act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when touched. Use water to alleviate the sting!

Baby blues

Hackelia floribunda, June 28, 2023

Gone to seed, July 11, 2023

Common & scientific name

Many-flowered stickseed, Hackelia floribunda

Family

Borage, Boraginaceae

Location

Difficult, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Named after Josef Hackel, an early 19th century Czech botanist, Hackelia floribunda's endearing light-blue flowers become small, flattened nutlets with prickles along the edge, in typical Borage/velcro-like fashion (see photo bottom left). This tall, lovely plant is unusual on the Pass—keep your eyes peeled!

Aspen grove below 82, 8,600’, June 30, 2023

Eat but don't touch (?)

Heracleum maximum, June 28, 2023

Common & scientific name

Cow parsnip, Heracleum maximum

Family

Parsley, Apiaceae

Location

Difficult, 8,100’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This giant of the aspen forests is unmistakable, for its height and width, its enormous maple-like leaves, and platter-sized white umbels of flowers.

This from a fascinating, and just-discovered (by me) website called The Botanist, sponsored by Islay Dry Gin, which brings together and shares recommendations from foragers: “Cow parsnip has been used historically as fodder for livestock, and the scent of its flowers (the only non-delicious part) is of dung and pigs (to attract midges, flies and hoverflies) perhaps explaining the unglamorous common English name [“Common hogweed," which, needless to say, I will not be using!] . . . . Common hogweed also comes with a health warning. As the leaves develop and start to photosynthesise, it develops a sap that can sensitize the skin to bright sunlight, to the point where a recurring burn appears.”