A collection of flora from the pacific wonderland.

marsh wetland/water’s edge

Klamath Rushlily (Hastingsia alba)

Gumboot Lake, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, CA, 7/2023.

What a find!  Just a handful of steps from our campsite were marshy areas filled with masses of white flower stalks (teeming with pollinators). We initially mistook them for bog orchids, (more…)


California Bog Asphodel (Narthecium californicum)

Near Gumboot Lake, Shasta Trinity NF, CA, 7/ 2023.

We encountered this attractive spike of yellow flowers several times in hikes near Mount Shasta.  (more…)


White Shooting Star (Dodecatheon dentatum)

Elowah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, OR. 5/2021.

Elated to discover multiple specimens of this unusual White Shooting Star growing out of a dripping wet cliffside in the Columbia Gorge! (more…)


Oregon Fetid Adder’s Tongue (Scoliopus hallii)

McDowell Creek Falls, Linn County, OR, 3/2021.

This  wildflower has been on our most wanted list for some time… (more…)


American Speedwell (Veronica americana)

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Devil’s Rest Trail, Columbia River Gorge, OR, 7/2020.

We often encounter the tiny four-petaled blue flowers of the Veronica genus on our hikes in a variety of settings. (more…)


Stream Orchid (Epipactis gigantea)

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Along the Trask River, Tillamook County, OR, 7/2020.

Yay!  After spending years at the top of our most wanted list, we finally tracked down this supposedly common orchid, but only after nearly walking by large groups of them twice.  (more…)


Narrow-Leaved Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis)

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Rowena Plateau, Tom McCall Preserve, Columbia Gorge, OR, 7/2015

Milkweeds, genus Asclepias, are often plain, overlooked, and rarely appear in our wildflower reference guides, but A. fascicularis, in particular is critical to the survival of  Monarch butterflies! (more…)


Bach’s Calicoflower (Downingia bacigalupii)

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Hyatt Lake Recreation Area, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, OR, 7/2019.

What a pleasant surprise to discover large patches of these tiny blue & yellow flowers in the dry outlet of Hyatt Lake, in Southern Oregon. (more…)


Royal Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium carneum)

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Cone Peak Trail, Willamette National Forest, OR, 6/2016.

We rarely see this flower in full bloom, and then hardly ever without an insect of some sort on its lovely petals.  (more…)


Giant White Wake Robin (Trillium albidum)

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Camassia Nature Preserve, West Linn, OR, 4/2019.

“What a pleasure, seeing the year’s first trilliums in March or April, just when the winter rains feel like Forever!”  —  Daniel Mathews, Cascade-Olympic Natural History

We couldn’t agree more! (more…)


Leatherleaf Saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrolifolia)

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Bagley Creek, Mount Baker National Forest, WA, 7/2016.

We didn’t initially think this plant was a saxifrage because we mostly saw the red seed heads and stems, (more…)


Arrow-leaved Groundsel (Senecio triangularis)

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Mt. Hood, Vista Ridge Trail, OR, 8/2016.

One of the more common and easy to identify of the dizzying array of yellow composite flowers; we were surprised to find we hadn’t yet posted it.  (more…)


Northern Gentian (Gentianella amarella)

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Horseshoe Basin, Pasayten Wilderness, WA, 7/2016.

In Washington’s Mt. Baker area, we stumbled upon this gentian, a less common variety within the pacific northwest (more…)


Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)

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Mirror Lake, Rooster Rock State Park, OR, 7/2015.

The big-heads of this aster family member can be dried, powdered and  used as snuff, (more…)


Western False Asphodel (Tofieldia glutinosa)

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Along the banks of Royal Lake, Olympic N.P., WA, 7/2016.

We’ve probably mistaken these for Death Camas, Bistort, or Valerian on many occasions. (more…)


Sitka Mistmaiden (Romanzoffia sitchensis)

 

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Mary’s Peak, Siuslaw National Forest, 6/2016.

The common name “mistmaiden” is surely appropriate for these delightful flowers. (more…)


Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus)

Wahclella Falls Trail (Tanner Creek), Columbia Gorge, OR,

Wahclella Falls Trail (Tanner Creek), Columbia Gorge, OR, 5/2015.

This flowering shrub is native to the northwest coast and Cascades (more…)


Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii)

 

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Lower Table Rock, BLM Medford district, Oregon, 4/2018.

Although  the flowers were quite small (less than 0.5 inches in diameter), we still believe the Nemophila we found growing among the grasses near the seasonal vernal pools on top of Table Rock a few weeks back are of the fairly common menziesii species (more…)


Chickweed Monkeyflower (Mimulus alsinoides)

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Britt Woods, Jacksonville, OR. 3/2018.

We tend to see three different species of yellow monkey flower in the Cascades and the Columbia River gorge (more…)


Western Meadowrue (Thalictrum occidentale)

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Upper Royal Basin, Olympic National Park, WA, 7/2016.

In moist meadows or forests you will often see these odd looking plants.  (more…)


Cape Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

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Ridgefield Wildlife Preserve, WA, 9/2015.

This rustic, but pretty, flower is common to much of North America. (more…)


Hooded Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes romanzoffiana)

Eden Park Trail, Mt. Hood Wilderness, OR, 8/2016.

Eden Park Trail, Mt. Hood Wilderness, OR, 8/2016.

We stumbled across this fen of Ladies Tress orchids in the moist alpine meadows of Mt. Hood’s north side in late August. (more…)


Common Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris)

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Bagley Lake Trail, Mt. Baker Wilderness, WA. 7/2016.

Our second carnivorous plant post!!   (more…)


Western Azalea (Rhododendron occidentale)

Near Eight-Dollar Mountain, Selma, OR, 4/2015.

Near Eight-Dollar Mountain, Selma, OR, 4/2015.

In the same southern Oregon fen where we found the unusual pitcher plant, these amazing flowering shrubs were just beginning to bloom.   (more…)