Washington Twinpod (Physaria alpestris)
Burnt Mountain Trail, William O. Douglas Wilderness, WA 6/2018.
This uncommon, low-lying member of the mustard family, also known as bladderpod, is found in dry sandy soil. (more…)
Martindale’s Desert Parsley (Lomatium martindalei)
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…)
Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus)
Wahclella Falls Trail (Tanner Creek), Columbia Gorge, OR, 5/2015.
This flowering shrub is native to the northwest coast and Cascades (more…)
Chickweed Monkeyflower (Mimulus alsinoides)
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…)
Nuttall’s Linanthus (Linanthus nuttallii)
South Puyallup Trail, Mt. Rainier N.P. 7/2015.
This fragrant phlox relative, sporting distinctive needle-like leaves, appears to be relatively common in alpine and subalpine areas in much of the western U.S. (more…)
Cape Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
Ridgefield Wildlife Preserve, WA, 9/2015.
This rustic, but pretty, flower is common to much of North America. (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…)
Smooth Douglasia (Douglasia laevigata)
Royal Lake Campground, Olympic NP, 7/2016.
Last July we found a single specimen (above) of this uncommon primrose peeking out from among the rocks near Royal Lake Campground. One year later, and a few miles west, (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…)
Shrubby Penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus var. fruticosus)
Rainy Lake Road, OR, 6/2014.
Looking very similar to both davidsonii and rupicola (of which, only the latter is found in the gorge), (more…)
