Tall Silvercrown (Luina nardosmia)
Leavenworth Ski Hill, Leavenworth, WA, 5/2017.
Variously called Luina or Cacaliopsis, this waist-high plain-looking plant’s leaves resemble those of Coltsfoot, with flowers that look somewhat like a Rainiera. Upon close inspection, (more…)
Sidebells (Pyrola secunda)
Union Creek Trail, William O. Douglas Wilderness, WA, 7/2014.
Although perhaps the least showy of the pyrolas, the tell-tale curved stalk is endearing when repeated in a grouping, explaining it’s common name of sidebells or one-sided wintergreen. (more…)
Wood Nymph (Moneses uniflora)
Deer Mountain Trail, Ketchikan, AK, 7/2017.
Some books put this plant in the Pyrola (wintergreen) genus, while others give it it’s own: Moneses. (more…)
Oregon Anemone (Anemone oregana)
Crescent Mountain Trail, Willamette National Forest, OR, 6/2017.
Thanks to Ross & Chambers classic Wildflowers of the Western Cascades (a flora of Iron Mountain, which, coincidentally is just a few miles west on Oregon Highway 20 from where these pictures were taken), we now can differentiate Anemone oregana from the very similar lyallii. (more…)
Western Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)
Cone Peak Trail, Willamette National Forest, OR, 6/2017.
Spring Beauties are part of a group of plants sometimes called “spring ephemerals”, also including Blue-Eyed Grass, that harness the insulating properties of winter snowfall to send a shoot up from their underground bulb through the cold wet soil, during winter (more…)
Tweedy’s Lewisia (Lewisia tweedyi)
Chiwaukum Creek Trail, Wenatchee NF, WA, 5/2017.
The largest member of the Lewisia family grows at low and mid-elevations almost exclusively in the Wenatchee Mountains in central Washington. Frank Tweedy, a botanist with the US Geological Survey stumbled upon this beauty while working with the Northern Pacific Railway in 1882. (more…)
Fringed Pinesap (Pleuricospora fimbriolata)
Table Rock Trail, Table Rock Wilderness, OR 8/2016.
Easy to miss, and difficult to identify (more…)
Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor)
Hamilton Mountain Trail, Columbia Gorge, WA 6/2016.
This flowering shrub, a mainstay along roads and trailsides throughout the west, begins blooming in June at lower elevations (like our photos here) and peaks in July and August at higher elevations. (more…)
Mountain Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium montanum)
Badger Creek Trail, Badger Creek Wilderness, OR 5/2016.
This rare orchid is a special treat if you can find it. (more…)
Mertens’ Coral Root (Corallorrhiza mertensiana)
Iron Mountain, OR, 7/2014.
Much like Spotted Coral Root, only without the spots, this plant is sometime called “Western Coral Root”. (more…)
