Three heads are better than one

Arnica mollis, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Hairy arnica, Arnica mollis

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Upper Lost Man trailhead, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

As its name suggests, this arnica is fuzzy on its stems and leaves, grows taller than our other high-elevation arnicas, A. latifolia and A. rydbergii, usually has three flower heads growing at the top, and its pappus (bristly parts under the disk flowers/button) are tannish, not white, especially with age. It emerges as the common A. cordifolia, Heart-leaved arnica, is receding.

Seedheads, Linkins Lake Trial, 11,700’, September 4, 2023

Medicinal wonder

Achillea millefolium, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Roadside, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Yarrow is a circumboreal species (distributed throughout the Northern hemisphere, including Europe and Asia). In North America, it is found from the coast, or zero feet in elevation, to the alpine. The genus Achillea was named after Achilles, who used plant extracts to treat soldiers’ wounds in the battle of Troy, a nod to Yarrow’s many medicinal uses. “Millefolium” means “a thousand leaves” in Latin, referring to its feathery, fern-like leaves.

The Scottish bluebell

Campanula rotundifolia, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia

Family

Bellflower, Campanulaceae

Location

Roadside, 10,700’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This IS the bluebell of Scotland (not our smaller Mertensia bluebells). The fact that this plant is sometimes found in areas inhabited by hares—rabbits—may explain its common name. It is commonly found on the Pass in the montane and subalpine zones.

Meadow 10,400’, August 2, 2023

Ah-choo!

Hymenoxis hoopesii, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Sneezeweed, Hymenoxis hoopesii

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Roadside, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This funky flower is always a surprise: in its characteristically droopy, bedraggled petals (ray florets), its orange-ish color, its tall stature, and its ability to grow at myriad elevations and times of year.

Apparently its common name comes from the historic use of the crushed, dried leaves and flower heads to make a snuff that caused sneezing. In any event, how can you not love a flower named “sneezeweed!”

A pink wet woods dweller

Pyrola asarifolia, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Pink pyrola or wintergreen, Pyrola asarifolia

Family

Wintergreen, Pyrolaceae or Heath, Ericaceae

Location

Roadside, 10,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

Grows in wetter forests or shaded meadows, and owing to its color and shape can’t easily be confused with other wintergreens. Look for it when it starts to go to seed—it looks like an elephanthead!

Lakeside hemlock

Conioselinum scopulorum, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Hemlock parsley, Conioselinum scopulorum

Family

Parsley, Apiaceae

Location

Linkins Lake, 12,000’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

The sheath on the single stem leave midway up the plant is the defining feature of this uncommon, water-loving parsley. I PRESUME it’s poisonous owing to its name, but can’t find info one way or the other (?)

Deep purple

Gentianopsis thermalis, August 1, 2023

Roadside, 10,600’, August 7, 2023

Common & scientific name

Rocky Mountain fringed gentian, Gentianopsis thermalis

Family

Gentian, Gentianaceae

Location

Roadside, 11,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This delightful, widespread gentian (think roadside ditches, among other wet places) has four spiraling, delicately-fringed, deep-blue or deep-purple petals (compare the photos at left). “Thermalis” refers to the thermal pools of Yellowstone, where this gentian is particularly abundant and has been designated the park’s official flower.

Linkins Lake, 12,000’, August 7, 2023

Lost Man Reservoir, 10,600’, August 10, 2023

IPF mascot

Senecio atratus, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Black-tipped senecio, Senecio atratus

Family

Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location

Roadside, 11,500’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

We LOVE this native flower at the Independence Pass Foundation because it doesn’t mind—maybe prefers—disturbed ground, like roadsides or rock retaining walls, where it stabilizes steep slopes where other flowers find it hard to grow. It is also tall, handsome, and an unusual shade of gray-green (owing to the thick hairs on its leaves), and grows in large colonies. And it’s well-named and easy to remember: its phyllaries have distinct black tips!

The wide-mouthed one

Gentiana parryi, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Bottle gentian, Gentiana parryi

Family

Gentian, Gentianaceae

Location

Linkins Lake Trail, 11,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This bright, blue-purple goblet puts out one to a half-dozen blooms per plant (alpine plants tend to have single blooms, lower growing more), opening fully only in sunshine. This and its other purple gentian cousins are some of the last wildflowers to grace the Pass above treeline—enjoy!

August 1

Greenland's national flower

Chamerion latifolium, August 1, 2023

Common & scientific name

Dwarf fireweed, Chamerion latifolium

Family

Evening primrose, Onagraceae

Location

Roadside, 11,000’

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 or ditch-side. It is the national flower of Greenland: good choice, Greenland!

Mountain Boy, 11,000’, August 10, 2023