Bell Catchfly (Silene campanulata)
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…)
Toothed Owl’s Clover (Orthocarpus cuspidatus)
Pacific Crest Trail, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, OR, 7/2019.
At one point in the spectacular Hobart Bluff-Soda Mountain section of the Pacific Crest Trail in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, we found the trailside covered in these pretty Owl’s clovers we had never seen before. (more…)
Mountain Coyote Mint (Monardella odoratissima)
Hyatt Lake Recreation Area, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, OR, 7/2019.
Apparently David Douglas found this quite lovely member of the mint family while botanizing the upper reaches of the Columbia River in the 1820s (more…)
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…)
