Bistorta bistortoides, July 11, 2023
Common & scientific name
American bistort, Bistorta bistortoides
Family
Buckwheat, Polygonaceae
Location
Linkins Lake Trail, 11,900’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
One of our most common subalpine and alpine flowers. Bistort has a long history of use by Native Americans as food and for medicinal purposes, and is also favored by many animals.
Upper Lost Man, 12,000’, August 26, 2023
Pedicularis bracteosa, July 12, 2023
Common & scientific name
Bracted lousewort, Pedicularis bracteosa
Family
Broomrape, Orobanchaceae
Location
Upper Lost Man TH, 11,600
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Smaller than towering lousewort, Pedicularis procera, but bigger than all the other Pedicularis species, this plant is commonly found in wetter meadows and forests from the montane to the alpine. It has the typical fern/ladder-like leaves of the genus, this one with a spike of yellow flowers that begin growing from the bottom up. Often mountain goats, elk, or deer help themselves to the flowerhead before we get to enjoy it!
Ruby area, 11,700’, August 4, 2023
Arnica rybergii, July 11, 2023
Common & scientific name
Rydberg’s arnica, Arnica rydbergii
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This Arnica can be distinguished from the other half-dozen hard-to-tell-apart Arnicas by its location (likes treeline and dry slopes), single flower on top (unlike A. mollis which usually has three), usually smaller size than A. latifolia, and as it ages, the tips of its petals whiten (see photo to come).
Sabulina rubella, July 11, 2023
Common & scientific name
Beautiful sandwort, Sabulina rubella
Family
Pink, Caryophyllacaea
Location
Above Linkins Lake, 12,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This delicate plant is easy to miss, as it stands just an inch off the ground and a couple inches in diameter. It grows in tufts, has numerous stems, is glandular, and has grass-like leaves. This is the kind of wildflower that one might only discover by stopping to go to the bathroom!
Erigeron glacial, July 11, 2023
July 18, 2023
Common & scientific name
Subalpine daisy, Erigeron glacialis
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Lost Man Trail, 11,500’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
I prefer “daisy” over the more commonly used “fleabane” for this lovely flower—it deserves better! (“Fleabane” apparently referred to the Erigeron genus’s ability to drive away fleas or other insects when burned—which would probably hold true for many things.) This Erigeron can be distinguished from the many other lavender/purple Erigerons to come this summer by its wider florets and red-tipped phyllaries that curl backward (photo below).
July 18, 2023
Linkins Lake, 12,000’, August 7, 2023
Melilotus officinalis, July 10, 2023
Common & scientific name
Yellow sweetclover, Melilotus officinalis
Family
Pea, Fabaceae
Location
Roadside up to 9,800’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Yes, this is the same yellow-flowered plant you see growing 3 feet high by the side of the road seemingly everywhere. It stabilizes soil, fixes nitrogen, doesn’t mind roadsides or other disturbed places, and is loved by bees. These are its positive traits. It is also, as you can tell by its abundance, invasive and can potentially crowd out (or at least hide) native species. Thankfully I have not seen it creep into the back country, beyond roadside, where the bees have plenty of other native species to choose from.
Penstemon whippleanus, July 10, 2023
Linkins Lake Trail, 11,900’, July 11, 2023
Common & scientific name
Whipple’s penstemon, Penstemon whippleanus
Family
Plantain, Plantaginaceae
Location
Mountain Boy, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Named for the leader of a transcontinental railroad survey team, this is one of our most unforgettable flowers, with its large, tightly-packed, and unusually colored flowers, ranging in our area from deep-purple to wine-colored to nearly white (photo to come).
Roadside 10,000’, July 10, 2023
With Castilleja occidentalis, Green Mountain, 11,800’, August 2, 2023
Thalictrum sparsiflorm, July 10, 2023
Common & scientific name
Few-flowered meadowrue, Thalictrum sparsiflorum
Family
Buttercup, Ranunculaceae
Location
Roadside, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Unlike its more common cousin, Fendler’s meadowrue, Few-flowered’s flowers are perfect (both male and female), its leaves are smaller and more delicate (although the plant can be tall in height), and it is much less common on the Pass, preferring wet, protected areas like rivulets or seeping rock walls.
Eremogone congesta, July 10, 2023
Common & scientific name
Ballhead sandwort, Eremogone congesta
Family
Pink, Caryophyllaceae
Location
Roadside, 10,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Ballhead sandwort (poorly named, it seems to me, in light of its rarely “ball-like” clusters of flowers—usually only a few—although this first photo is one of those) lines the trails in dry, rocky, sandy soils. Its spindly appearance makes it easy to overlook, but a close-up viewing of its intricate, lovely flowers, like many in the Pink family, will inspire new appreciation!
Medicago sativa, July 10, 2023
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