Manzanita Creek Trail, Lassen National Park, CA, 7/2023
The forests of the pacific northwest are a mycotrophic plant lover’s dream! (more…)
August 13, 2023 | Categories: California, heath, June, May, Mid Elevation, orange/red, saprophytic/mycotrophic, Southern Oregon / Northern California | Tags: botanizing, flower, hiking, Lassen national park, mount shasta, wildflower | Leave a comment
Lookout Mountain Trail, Ochoco NF, OR 6/2023.
This darling flower has no common name, forcing you to remember (and remember how to pronounce) its latin genus, (more…)
July 9, 2023 | Categories: East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Oregon, sagebrush steppe, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, waterleaf, white | Tags: flower, hiking, ochoco, wildflower | 2 Comments
Lookout Mountain Trail, Ochoco NF, OR 6/2023.
At last, thanks to this summer’s late thaw, we finally spotted Brown’s peony in bloom, a bit later than usual, in central Oregon’s Ochoco mountains.
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July 2, 2023 | Categories: brown, East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, June, May, Mid Elevation, orange/red, Oregon, paeoniaceae, rocky slopes, sagebrush steppe, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest | Tags: big summit praire, Crook county, Flowers, Lookout mountain, ochoco, peony, prineville, sagebrush steppe, Wildflowers | 1 Comment
Weldon Wagon Wheel Trail, WA 5/2022.
We nearly passed up this rare orchid, well camouflaged within inches of the trail. This single plant with a pair of intricate nodding slipper flowers was the prize of a blustery May hike on a flower covered ridge just north of the Columbia Gorge. (more…)
May 15, 2022 | Categories: Alpine, brown, Columbia Gorge East, dry open woods, East of Cascades, green, July, June, Low Elevation, May, orchid, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington | Tags: BZ corner, Columbia Gorge, flower, hiking, Little Salmon River, orchid, wildflower | 2 Comments
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…)
July 5, 2021 | Categories: Cascades, Columbia Gorge West, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, May, Oregon, primrose, shaded forests, Unique to Northwest, white | Tags: botanizing, Columbia Gorge, flower, hiking, pacific northwest, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
North Trail, Cape Lookout State Park, OR, 7/2020.
One of two species of sand verbena native and unique to the Pacific coast (the other is Pink Sand Verbena, A. umbellata), which blooms all summer and into the fall. (more…)
July 21, 2020 | Categories: Coastal, Coastal, July, June, Low Elevation, May, Olympics, Oregon, verbena/four-o'clock, yellow | Tags: beach, flower, hiking, Oregon Coast, pacific northwest, wildflower | Leave a comment
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…)
July 14, 2020 | Categories: aquatic, Coastal, July, June, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, May, Mid Elevation, orange/red, orchid, Oregon, Willamette Valley, yellow | Tags: flower, hiking, Oregon Coast, pacific northwest, wildflower | 1 Comment
Badger Creek Wilderness, OR, 5/2016.
In the early 2000s, through DNA identification and global research advances, a few of the Cinquefoils, including this common lower elevation meadow flower, were moved from the Potentilla genus to the new Drymocallis genus. To date all three Drymocallis species’ share the trait of being ‘protocarnivorous.’ (more…)
June 15, 2020 | Categories: All Northwest, Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, July, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Olympics, Oregon, rose, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, white, Willamette Valley, yellow | Tags: botanizing, Flowers, hiking, pacific northwest, wilflowers | Leave a comment
Dalles Mountain Road, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2014.
Unlike the phlox we commonly see carpeting gravelly windswept mountain passes, the p. speciosa variety is a taller plant found in open woods and meadows at low elevation , often mixed with other grassland flowers. (more…)
June 8, 2020 | Categories: Columbia Gorge East, dry open woods, East of Cascades, grasslands, grasslands/prarie, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, phlox, pink, purple/blue, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington | Tags: botanizing, Columbia Gorge, flower, hiking, wildflower | Leave a comment
Three Corner Rock Trail, Skamania County, WA, 5/2020.
It’s nearly impossible to hike in the Cascades without recognizing large drifts of this common plant in the understory, but nearly as rare is seeing it in bloom. (more…)
June 1, 2020 | Categories: barberry, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge West, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, white, Willamette Valley | Tags: Columbia Gorge, Flowers, hiking, pacific northwest, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Weldon Wagon Road Trail, Klickitat County, WA .5/2020.
This native flowering plant is one we often see on spring hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, (more…)
May 25, 2020 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, grasslands/prarie, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, pink, sandalwood, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, white | Tags: botanizing, Flowers, hiking, klickitat, northwest, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Lyle Cherry Orchard Trailhead, Columbia Gorge, WA, 4/2016.
This early bloomer is only found in dry rocky sites at lower and middle elevations. In fact, most of the photos we’ve seen of this uncommon plant have it springing directly from a rock face. (more…)
January 3, 2020 | Categories: Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, mustard, pink, raceme, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Washington, white | Tags: cherry orchard, Columbia Gorge, dry steppe, flower, wildflower | Leave a comment
Pacific Crest Trail, Hobart Bluff, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, OR, 7/2019.
We found these large purple flowers in alluring sun-spotted drifts while hiking this summer in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument along the Pacific Crest Trail. (more…)
October 27, 2019 | Categories: California, Cascades, geranium, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Oregon, purple/blue, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Willamette Valley | Tags: cascade-siskiyou national monument, flower, hobart bluff, Non-native, pacific crest trail, wildflower | Leave a comment
Eight Dollar Mountain, Selma, OR, 4/2015.
A special two-colored violet found only in serpentine soils at the Oregon-California border, a unique botanical environment we return to again and again. (more…)
September 3, 2019 | Categories: April, California, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Oregon, purple/blue, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, violet, white | Tags: bigfoot, Flowers, hiking, klamath, serpentine, Wildflowers | 4 Comments
Viewpoint Mike Trail, Lost Creek Lake, OR, 4/2018.
We recently photographed this uncommon catchfly, and then realized we had also seen it on a previous trip visiting, Oregon’s southern Cascades. Although common in this limited area, we more often see Parry’s Catchfly, elsewhere in the northwest. (more…)
August 26, 2019 | Categories: California, July, June, Low Elevation, May, Mid Elevation, Oregon, pink, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, white | Tags: Flowers, hiking, lost creek lake, pacific northwest, Siskiyou Mountains, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
Pacific Crest Trail near Green Springs, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, OR, 7/2019.
We were excited to find this dramatically-colored flower in a recent trip to the Siskiyou Mountains in southern Oregon.
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August 6, 2019 | Categories: June, lily, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, Southern Oregon / Northern California, umbel, Unique to Northwest, yellow | Leave a comment
Cone Peak, Willamette National Forest, OR, 6/2017.
This small and humble flower is often one of the earliest we find on hikes in the eastern gorge, and could be around now in places like the Dalles Mountain Ranch and Seven-Mile Hill west of The Dalles, (more…)
March 3, 2019 | Categories: Cascades, Columbia Gorge East, East of Cascades, grasslands/prarie, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, parsley, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, white | Tags: flower, wildflower | Leave a comment
The Varied-leaf Collomia is a much smaller sibling to the previously-posted Grandiflora collomia. Although their tiny sweet pink flowers (more…)
February 10, 2019 | Categories: Cascades, Columbia Gorge West, June, Low Elevation, May, Olympics, Oregon, phlox, pink, roadsides/disturbed areas, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, Washington | Tags: coldwater lake, flower, mt st helens, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
We found this parasitic, purple-hued “flower” in a couple wooded locations in an early southern Oregon trip, (more…)
February 2, 2019 | Categories: broomrape, brown, California, dry open woods, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, saprophytic/mycotrophic, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest | Tags: horse rock ridge, wildflower | 2 Comments
Mary’s Peak, Siuslaw National Forest, 6/2016.
The common name “mistmaiden” is surely appropriate for these delightful flowers. (more…)
June 10, 2018 | Categories: borage, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge West, July, Low Elevation, marsh wetland/water's edge, May, Mid Elevation, Olympics, Oregon, SE Alaska, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Washington, white | Tags: Flowers, Mary's peak, Olympic National Park, royal basin, siuslaw, Wildflowers | 2 Comments
Silver Star Mountain, WA, 5/2015.
Although we’ve long enjoyed the “spring gold” dusting of these flowers across rocky landscapes in the early spring, (more…)
May 28, 2018 | Categories: Alpine, alpine/subalpine meadow, Cascades, Coastal, Columbia Gorge East, Columbia Gorge West, June, May, Mid Elevation, Olympics, parsley, rocky slopes, umbel, Unique to Northwest, Washington, yellow | Tags: hiking, pacific northwest, wildflower | 1 Comment
Viewpoint Mike Trail, Lost Creek Lake, OR, 4/2018.
What a treat to discover these tiny, and possibly somewhat rare, monkeyflowers on the dry grassy slopes among the blooming buckbrush and long-needled ponderosa pines on a recent hike in Southern Oregon! (more…)
May 6, 2018 | Categories: April, figwort / lousewort, grasslands, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, purple/blue, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest | Tags: flower, lost creek lake, Wildflowers | 2 Comments
Illinois River Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, OR, 3/2018.
This is one of two similar ceanothus ground covers whose rugged foliage set it apart from the larger more common trailside shrubs in the buckthorn family, (more…)
April 18, 2018 | Categories: buckthorn, California, dry open woods, Low Elevation, May, Oregon, purple/blue, rocky slopes, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest | Tags: Flowers, hiking, illinois river, serpentine, Wildflowers | Leave a comment
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…)
April 14, 2018 | Categories: April, Cascades, Coastal, Coastal, Columbia Gorge West, figwort / lousewort, marsh wetland/water's edge, May, Olympics, Oregon, shaded forests, Southern Oregon / Northern California, Unique to Northwest, yellow | Tags: Britt Gardens, Flowers, jacksonville, Jacksonville Woods, pacific northwest, Wildflowers | 1 Comment