Fringed Pinesap (Pleuricospora fimbriolata)
Table Rock Trail, Table Rock Wilderness, OR 8/2016.
Easy to miss, and difficult to identify (more…)
Yellow Mountain Heather (Phyllodoce glanduliflora)
Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness, WA, 7/2016.
We’ve only encountered this heather variety a handful of times; (more…)
Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)
Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills State Park, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2014.
Also known as Antelope Bush, this shrub puts on quite a show in the late spring. (more…)
Yellow Fireweed (Epilobium luteum)
Near South Puyallup Camp, Mt. Rainier NP, WA, 7/2015
Also known as Yellow Willow herb.
Tooth-leaved Monkeyflower (Mimulus dentatus)
St. Perpetua Trail, Cape Perpetua State Park, OR, 5/2015.
We’ve been seeing a lot of these on recent hikes–both in the gorge and on the coast. (more…)
Columbia Gorge Daisy (Erigeron oreganus)
McCord Creek Falls Trail, Columbia Gorge, OR 6/2013.
Look for these on the cliff trail approaching upper McCord Creek Falls in June.
California Pitcher Plant (Darlingtonia californica)
Near Eight-Dollar Mountain, Selma, OR, 4/2015.
The only carnivorous plant native to the west coast. (more…)
Yakima Milk-vetch (Astragalus reventiformis)
Dalles Mountain Road, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2014.
Yakima is the name of a group or tribe of Native Americans who live in Washington state. (more…)
Gold Stars (Crocidium multicaule)
Lyle Cherry Orchard, Columbia Gorge, WA , 2/2015.
These charming members of the aster family, and the senecio (groundsel) tribe, bloom in early spring, usually in large groups. (more…)
White Western Groundsel (Senecio integerrimus var. ochroleucus)
Starvation Ridge Trail, Columbia Gorge, OR, 5/2014.
Varying in color from white to yellow, this single-stemmed plant concentrates alkaloids from the soil, causing it to be poisonous to cattle in its later stages. Also known as Paleyellow Ragwort.
Cushion Fleabane (Erigeron poliospermus var. poliospermus)
Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills State Park, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2014.
“The name Fleabane was applied to this plant because there was a popular belief among country people that the flowers possessed some objectionable features that caused undesirable insects to give it a wide berth. (more…)
Rainiera aka Tounge-Leaf Luina (Rainiera Stricta)
Union Creek Trail, William O. Douglas Wilderness, WA, 7/2014.
Stricta, once thought to be a member of the closely related luina (pronounced ‘lew-eye-na’) genus, is now the sole member of the Rainiera genus. (more…)
Brewer’s Mitrewort (Mitella breweri)
Inlet of “Big” Cougar Lake, William O. Douglas Wilderness, WA, 7/2014.
The name has us thinking of mitrewort beer, but it’s actually named after William Henry Brewer (1828-1910), a prestigious botanist who explored California and the northwest, and has his name on several flowers. (more…)
Silvery Raillardella (Raillardella argentea)
Collier Cone, Three Sisters Wilderness, OR, 8/2013.
According to Turner & Gustafson (Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest), this groundsel relative is found mostly in California, and is rare in central and southern Oregon. (more…)
Pinesap (Hypopitys monotropa)
Timberline trail near McNeil point, Mount Hood, OR, 8/2014.
Along with Mertens’ Coral Root, one of the more common, and less attractive of the chlorophyll lacking plants in northwest forests. (more…)
Woolly Sunflower aka Oregon Sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum)
Iron Mountain, OR, 7/2014.
Contrary to popular belief, we get plenty of sunshine in Oregon, especially during the summer months, when these flowers, coincidentally, are in bloom. (more…)
Yellow Bells (Fritillaria pudica)
Seven-mile Hill, Columbia Gorge, OR, 2/2015.
According to Ronald Taylor’s Sagebrush Country, the Latin fritillaria comes from fritill, which is Latin for “dice box” (more…)
Golden-pea (Thermopsis montana var. ovata)
Silver Star Mountain, Columbia Gorge, WA, 6/2014.
This attractive plant is sometimes called “false lupine” due to its resemblance to another pea family member and other times, “mountain goldenbanner.” (more…)
Yellow Water Lily (Nuphar polysepalum)
Burnt Lake, Mount Hood N.F., OR, 7/2013.
Like some other water plants (including rice) the water lily gives off alcohol instead of carbon dioxide.
Partridge Foot (Luetkea pectinata)
Lookout Mountain, OR, 7/2013.
Both the Latin and the common name come from the leaves. Pectinata means “comb-like,” and the birds whose feet they are compared to are really grouse, who were once called partridges by hunters, and who have feathery feet. (more…)
Small-flowered Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii)
Labyrinth Trail, Columbia Gorge, WA 6/2013.
The nickname comes from the flower head’s resemblance to the curled tuning head of a violin. The bristle-like hairs that cover this plant can irritate the skin. The tiny black nuts that are produced by each flower are said to be poisonous to cattle.
Large-leaved Avens (Geum macrophyllum)
McCord Creek Falls Trail, Columbia Gorge, OR 6/2013.
“It is rarely abundant, easily overlooked and often mistaken for a cinquefoil or buttercup.” -Robert Ross and Henrietta Chambers in Wildflowers of the Western Cascades.
Common Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus)
Catherine Creek Trail, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA. 4/2013.
The latin translates to “little mimic.” (more…)
Meadow Death Camas (Zigadenus venenosus var. venenosus)
Near Eight-Dollar Mountain, Selma, OR, 4/2015.
Some believe that mistaking the poisonous root of the Death Camas for the edible root of the Common Camas was what caused the death of Christopher McCandles (more…)
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