
Mt. Ellinor trail, Olympic National Forest, WA, 8/2020.
We often see these spikes of cream-colored bells on rocky peaks and ridges. (more…)
August 11, 2020 | Categories: Alpine, August, Cascades, Olympics, raceme, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white, yellow | Tags: botanizing, flower, hiking, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, pacific northwest, wildflower | Leave a comment

Tygh Creek Trail, Badger Creek Wilderness, OR, 5/2016.
Roundleaf Alumroot is a demure relative of the bold colored Heucheras one finds in home gardens. (more…)
October 20, 2019 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, Cascades, East of Cascades, July, June, Low Elevation, Mid Elevation, Oregon, raceme, rocky slopes, saxifrage, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, white, yellow | Tags: badger creek wilderness, flower, heuchera, wildflower | Leave a comment

Bagley Creek, Mount Baker National Forest, WA, 7/2016.
We didn’t initial think this plant was a saxifrage because we mostly saw the red seed heads and stems, (more…)
April 11, 2019 | Categories: alpine/subalpine meadow, August, Cascades, July, marsh wetland/water's edge, medicinal, Mid Elevation, Olympics, saxifrage, SE Alaska, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white | Tags: bagley creek, flower, mt baker, wildflower | 1 Comment

Vista Ridge Trail, Mt. Hood Wilderness, OR, 8/2016.
Yet another of the many northwest saxifrage species; (more…)
November 25, 2018 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, August, Cascades, Mid Elevation, Oregon, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Unique to Northwest, white | Tags: flower, hudson bay company, mount rainier, tolmie, Vista ridge, wildflower | Leave a comment

Upper Royal Basin, Olympic National Park, 7/2016.
This less-common saxifrage variety can be identified by its matted, basal, rosette-shaped leaves (shared with the Tolmiei species) and its upright, red stems, but mainly by the yellow, orange and red spots on its petals. (more…)
June 4, 2018 | Categories: Alpine, August, Cascades, Coastal, July, Olympics, Oregon, rocky slopes, saxifrage, SE Alaska, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white | 1 Comment
Nearly twenty species of saxifraga occur in the pacific northwest, and up until now, we’ve only posted three! (more…)
September 13, 2017 | Categories: Alpine, Coastal, July, Low Elevation, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Washington, white, yellow | Tags: flower, Olympic National Park, wildflower | Leave a comment

Castle Rock Trail, Tumwater Canyon, WA. 5/2017
Ran across this single specimen of an uncommon late-spring flower we’d spent days looking for in the Columbia Gorge, (more…)
May 29, 2017 | Categories: Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, purple/blue, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Unique to Northwest, Washington | Tags: Flowers, tumwater canyon, wildflower | Leave a comment

Catherine Creek, Columbia Gorge, WA, 2/2015.
Most sources set the bloom time for this common gorge variety in March, but this year we found it at Catherine Creek in mid February! (more…)
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-121.278829
February 23, 2015 | Categories: Alpine, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, East of Cascades, July, Mid Elevation, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Washington, white | Tags: Catherine Creek, Columbia Gorge, flower, wildflower | 1 Comment

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…)
September 20, 2014 | Categories: Cascades, East of Cascades, July, marsh wetland/water's edge, Mid Elevation, raceme, saxifrage, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, yellow | Tags: flower, Wildflowers | Leave a comment

Cascade Head Nature Preserve, OR, 4/2014.
This odd-looking member of the saxifrage family occurs almost exclusively in the western portion of the Northwest U.S. and Canada. (more…)
May 12, 2014 | Categories: Cascades, Coastal, Coastal, Columbia Gorge West, Low Elevation, May, orange/red, Oregon, raceme, saxifrage, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest | Tags: Cascade Head, flower, Wildflowers | 1 Comment

Coyote Wall Trail, Columbia Gorge, WA, 3/2014.
The Latin word saxifraga means, literally, “rock splitter”. (more…)
April 7, 2014 | Categories: marsh wetland/water's edge, saxifrage, Washington, white | Tags: Columbia Gorge, Coyote Wall, flower, Wildflowers | Leave a comment

Dog Mountain, Columbia Gorge, WA, 5/2013.
While it can be found inland, as above, this plant, along with Youth-on-Age, is one of the only saxifrages one sees on coastal hikes. (more…)
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-121.705075
January 20, 2014 | Categories: Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge West, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, May, pink, raceme, saxifrage, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington | Tags: Columbia Gorge, Dog Mountain, flower, Wildflowers | Leave a comment

Ed’s Trail, Silver Star Mountain, WA 6/2013.
Three or four of the five petals on these small flowers are larger than the others and sport yellow dots. The anthers are bright orange. The leaves are oval and toothed. The reddish central capsule is what gives the flower its common name. (more…)
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-122.238980
August 12, 2013 | Categories: Cascades, Coastal, dry open woods, grasslands/prarie, July, Mid Elevation, Oregon, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white | Tags: Columbia Gorge, flower, Wildflowers | Leave a comment

Grassy Knoll Trailhead, Columbia Gorge, WA 5/2013.
Lithophragma means “stone breaker” in Greek, similar to its Latin family name Saxifraga which means “rock splitter”. (more…)
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-121.755632
June 4, 2013 | Categories: All Northwest, alpine/subalpine meadow, grasslands/prarie, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, rocky slopes, saxifrage, Washington, white | Tags: Columbia Gorge, flower, Wildflowers | Leave a comment

Fisher Creek trail, North Cascades N.P., WA, 8/2012.
(more…)
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-120.937726
October 15, 2012 | Categories: All Northwest, July, Low Elevation, Mid Elevation, raceme, saxifrage, shaded forests, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white | Tags: false mitrewort, fisher creek, flower, North Cascades National Park, Wildflowers | 1 Comment

Strawberry Mountains, OR. 8/2008.
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-118.716611
May 2, 2011 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, August, Cascades, Mid Elevation, Oregon, saxifrage, Southern Oregon / Northern California, white | Tags: flower, Strawberry Mountains, Wildflowers | 1 Comment