
Teddy Rossevelt

Narrow-Leaved Mule's Ear
Hetch Hetchy ~ Yosemite, California USA May 2008
- Wyethia angustifolia (DC.) Nutt.
- California compassplant, California-compassplant, Narrowleaf mule ears
- Asteraceae (Aster Family)
- USDA Symbol: WYAN
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
Oceanspray
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA 2019
Grows in lava, pumice, and volcanic ash soils.
Bush Rockspirea, Cream Bush, Glandular Oceanspray, Rockspirea
Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Synonym(s): Holodiscus discolor var. dumosus, Holodiscus dumosus var. typicus
USDA Symbol: HODU
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HODU
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf: Dark Green
Flower:
Fruit:
Size Class: 6-12 ft.
Bloom Color: White , Pink
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Distribution
USA: AZ , CO , ID , NM , NV , TX , UT , WY
Native Distribution: W. TX & adjacent Mex. to AZ & s.e. CA, n. to n.w. WY, c. ID & n.c. OR
Native Habitat: Dry, rocky cliffs & hillsides

Parish's Yampah
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Prickly Sandwort
Thousand Island Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011
Arenaria aculeata S. Watson
Prickly Sandwort
Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family)
Synonym(s): Arenaria congesta var. aculeata, Arenaria fendleri var. aculeata, Arenaria pumicola var. californica, Arenaria salmonensis, Eremogone aculeata
USDA Symbol: ARAC2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ARAC2
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Root Type: Tap
Leaf Arrangement: Opposite
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Inflorescence: Cyme , Terminal
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Mat-forming plant to about 8 inches in height.
Leaf: Leaf needle-shaped to 3.5cm.
Flower: White, five petals, rotate.
Fruit: Capsule containing up to 15 yellowish to blackish seeds.
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep
Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Native Habitat: Volcanic soils on rocky slopes.
Primrose Monkey Flower
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019
Primrose Monkeyflower, Yellow Creeping Monkeyflower, Creeping Yellow Monkey-flower
Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: MIPR
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MIPR
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf: Green
Flower:
Fruit:
Size Class: 0-1 ft.
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA
Native Distribution: S.w. MT to AZ, w. to e. WA & CA
Native Habitat: Moist meadows & wet, grassy banks from 4000-8000 ft.
Pussy Paws
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019
It is native to western North America from Oregon to Baja California, where it grows in a number of habitat types, including forest and woodland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistanthe_monosperma
It is a perennial herb growing from a thick caudex and a taproot. It grows somewhat upright, the plant approaching half a meter in maximum length. There is a basal rosette of thick, generally spoon-shaped leaves up to about 6 centimeters long, with a few smaller leaves along the stems.
The inflorescence is an erect umbel up to 10 centimeters wide. The four petals on each flower are white to pink, and are surrounded closely by round, frilly sepals. The fruit is a small, round capsule a few millimeters wide.
It blooms from April to September.

Ranger Buttons
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
The plant is native to western North America from Idaho through Nevada, Oregon, and California into Baja California. It grows in moist habitat types, such as creeksides and meadows. It is included in Toxic Plants of North America (Burrows & Tyrl, 2001).
Ranger's buttons plants are quite similar to the other large Umbelliferae that share similar habitats: Sierra angelica and cow parsnip, but each has a very differently shaped leaf, and the other two have umbellets with quite distinct flowers, in contrast to the tight balls on ranger's buttons.
It is a stout perennial herb growing from a tuberous root and producing an erect stem often exceeding 1 meter (3.3 ft) tall and sometimes approaching 1.2 meters (3.9 ft). The stem and leaves are usually green but sometimes nearly white in color, smooth below but with rough hairs on the inflorescence. The leaves are divided into several segments which bear widely spaced leaflets. The leaflets may also be intricately divided into small segments.
The inflorescence is a whitish compound umbel with many branches each up to 10 centimeters long. The nearly spherical, headlike terminal umbellets contain many tiny white or purple-tinged flowers, whose protruding stamens make them appear very fuzzy in full bloom.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Rapeseed
Dorney, Buckinghamshire UK May 2010
Rapeseed oil is used in the manufacture of biodiesel for powering motor vehicles. Biodiesel may be used in pure form in newer engines without engine damage, and is frequently combined with fossil-fuel diesel in ratios varying from 2% to 20% biodiesel. Formerly, owing to the costs of growing, crushing, and refining rapeseed biodiesel, rapeseed derived biodiesel cost more to produce than standard diesel fuel. Rapeseed oil is the preferred oil stock for biodiesel production in most of Europe, partly because rapeseed produces more oil per unit of land area compared to other oil sources, such as soy beans.
There is however concern over the use of rapeseed for use as biodiesel because rapeseed is currently grown with a high level of nitrogen-containing fertilisers, and the manufacture of these generates N2O, a potent greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of CO2. It has been estimated that 3-5% of nitrogen provided as fertilizer for rapeseed is converted to N2O.[9]
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ --and-- Wikipedia
Red Elderberry
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
This often treelike shrub grows 2 to 6 meters tall. The stems are soft with a pithy center. Each individual leaf is composed of 5 to 7 leaflike leaflets, each of which is up to 16 centimeters long, lance-shaped to narrowly oval, and irregularly serrated along the edges. The leaflets have a strong disagreeable odor when crushed. The inflorescence is a vaguely cone-shaped panicle of several cymes of flowers blooming from the ends of stem branches. The flower buds are pink when closed, and the open flowers are white, cream, or yellowish. Each flower has small, recurved petals and a star-shaped axis of five white stamens tipped in yellow anthers. The flowers are fragrant and visited by hummingbirds and butterflies. The fruit is a bright red or sometimes purple drupe containing 3 to 5 seeds.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Rock Fringe
Twenty Lakes Basin ~ Hoover Wilderness, California USA July 2016
Most Epilobium species are tall, but this, like many other alpine plants, is low and compact, which protects it from the drying mountain winds and freezing temperatures.
- Epilobium obcordatum A. Gray
- Rockfringe
- Onagraceae (Evening-Primrose Family)
- Synonym(s):
- USDA Symbol: EPOB
- USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
Rubber Rabbitbrush
Lundy Canyon ~ Eastern Sierra, California USA Sep 2023
Ericameria nauseosa (Pall. ex Pursh) G.L. Nesom & Baird
Rubber Rabbitbrush, Gray Rabbitbrush
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: ERNA10
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERNA10
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Size Notes: Up to about 8 feet tall, often much shorter.
Fruit: Fruit is a cypsela (pl. cypselae). Though technically incorrect, the fruit is often referred to as an achene.
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov
Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , CO , ID , KS , MT , ND , NE , NM , NV , NY , OK , OR , SD , TX , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , SK
Native Distribution: From western Canada to California, Texas, and northern Mexico.
Native Habitat: Dry open places with sagebrush, or grassland or open woodland.
Sedge
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019
Northwest Territory Sedge
Cyperaceae (Sedge Family)
Synonym(s): Carex inflata var. utriculata, Carex rhynchophysa, Carex rostrata var. utriculata
USDA Symbol: CAUT
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carex_utriculata
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CAUT
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Grass/Grass-like
Root Type: Fibrous
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Linear
Leaf Venation: Parallel
Leaf Pubescence: Glabrous
Breeding System: Flowers Unisexual , Monoecious
Inflorescence: Spike
Leaf: Pale to mid-green
Fruit:
Size Class: 1-3 ft
Bloom Color: Not Applicable
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Bloom Notes: Perianth absent. Bloom time refers to fruiting period for Carex spp.
Distribution
USA: AK , CA , CO , CT , DC , DE , IA , IL , IN , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MT , NE , NH , NJ , NM , NY , OH , OR , PA , RI , SD , TN , UT , VA , VT , WA , WI , WV , WY
Canada: AB , BC , MB , NB , NL , NS , ON , PE , QC , SK , YT
Native Habitat: Riparian,Swamp/Marsh,Bog/Fen,Fresh Water Aquatic
Seep Spring Monkey Flower
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010
In this large genus of several look-alikes with yellow corollas, Common Monkeyflower is distinguished by the longer upper tooth on the angular calyx.
- Mimulus guttatus DC.
- Seep monkeyflower, Seep monkey-flower, Golden monkey-flower, Common monkeyflower
- Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
- Synonyms: Mimulus nasutus
- USDA Symbol: MIGU
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
Shrubby Groundsel
Lundy Canyon Eastern Sierra, California USA 2023
Senecio flaccidus Less. var. douglasii (DC.) B.L. Turner & T.M. Barkley
Douglas's Ragwort, Douglas Ragwort, Shrubby Senecio
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Senecio douglasii, Senecio douglasii var. tolerances
USDA Symbol: SEFLD
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SEFLD
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 4 feet tall.
Fruit: Fruit is a cypsela (pl. cypselae). Though technically incorrect, the fruit is often referred to as an achene.
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov
Bloom Notes: May flower year-round in optimal conditions.
USA: CA
Native Distribution: Throughout most of CA
Native Habitat: Washes; wooded or shrubby slopes; valley grasslands
Growing Conditions
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Description: Sandy or rocky soils.

Sierra Arnica
Twenty Lakes Basin ~ Hoover Wilderness, California USA July 2016
Habit: herb
Duration: perennial
Origin: Native
Conservation Status: Watch List ()
General: Perennial from long, naked, branched rhizomes, 1-3 dm. tall, glandular throughout, the stems often solitary.
Leaves: Cauline leaves 2-3 pairs, the lower larger and petiolate, the blade broadly ovate with rounded to sub-cordate base, 3-7 cm. long and 2-4 cm. wide; the long-petiolate basal leaves, similar to the lower leaves, often on separate short shoots.
Flowers: Heads 1-3; involucre 10-15 mm. high, densely covered with short-stalked glands; pappus white to straw-colored, strongly barbellate.
Fruits: Achenes uniformly glandular or short hairy or both.
Distinguishing Characteristics: The similar Arnica cordifolia has copius long, white hairs on the involucre, while A. nevadensis is only glandular; also, A. nevadensis has entire leaves, while A. cordifolia usually has toothed leaves.
http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Arnica&Species=nevadensis
Sierra Butterweed (Ragwort)
Mt Dana Yosemite National Park, California USA July 2014
Senecio scorzonella Greene
Sierra Ragwort
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Senecio covillei, Senecio covillei var. scorzonella
USDA Symbol: SESC
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SESC
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 20 inches tall.
Fruit: Fruit is a cypsela (pl. cypselae). Though technically incorrect, the fruit is often referred to as an achene.
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Bloom Notes: Sometimes no ray florets present.
USA: CA
Growing Conditions
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Description: Sandy or rocky soils.

Sierra Fireweed
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
The reddish stems of this herbaceous perennial are usually simple, erect, smooth, 0.5–2.5 m (1½–8 feet) high with scattered alternate leaves. The leaves are entire, lanceolate, and pinnately veined. A related species, dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolium), grows to 0.3–0.6 m tall.
This herb is often abundant in wet calcareous to slightly acidic soils in open fields, pastures, and particularly burned-over lands; the name Fireweed derives from the species' abundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires. Its tendency to quickly colonize open areas with little competition, such as sites of forest fires and forest clearings, makes it a clear example of a pioneer species. Plants grow and flower as long as there is open space and plenty of light. As trees and brush grow larger the plants die out, but the seeds remain viable in the soil seed bank for many years; when a new fire or other disturbance occurs that opens up the ground to light again, the seeds germinate. Some areas with heavy seed counts in the soil can, after burning, be covered with pure dense stands of this species and when in flower the landscape is turned into fields of color.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia
Sierra Lily
River trail near Olaine Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011
Found in central and southern Sierra above 6000'
- Lilium kelleyanum Lemmon
- Kelley's lily
- Liliaceae (Lily Family)
- Synonym(s): Lilium fresnense, Lilium nevadense, Lilium nevadense var. shastense
- USDA Symbol: LIKE
- USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Sierra Pentsomen (Sierra Beardtongue)
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Penstemon heterodoxus is a perennial herb growing stems upright 65 centimeters in maximum height or in a low, spreading mat. The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong, the upper pairs sometimes clasping the stem.
The glandular inflorescence is made up of 1 to 6 separate clusters of dark purple-blue tubular flowers each just over a centimeter long. The outer surface of the flower generally has glandular hairs, and on the inside there are hairs on the floor of the flower mouth and on the staminode.
- Wetlands: Occurs usually in non wetlands, occasionally in wetlands
- Habitat: meadows, slopes
- Communities: Lodgepole Forest, Subalpine Forest, Alpine Fell-fields, Bristle-cone Pine Forest
https://www.calflora.org//cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Penstemon+heterodoxus

Sierra Pincushion
Mt Conness ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA July 2016
Perennials, 2–10(–12) cm (cespitose or ± matted); proximal indument ± thinning with age, whitish, lanuginose. Stems mostly 10–20+, decumbent to ± erect. Leaves ± basal, 2.5–5 cm; largest blades ovate to deltate, ± plane, (1–)2-pinnately lobed; primary lobes mostly 2–4 pairs, ± congested, ultimate lobes ± plane. Heads 1(–2) per stem. Peduncles mostly ascending to erect, (0.5–)3–11 cm. Involucres obconic to ± cylindric. Phyllaries: longest 9–12(–14) mm; outer stipitate-glandular, apices erect, ± rigid. Corollas 5.5–8 mm. Cypselae 5.5–7.5 mm; pappi: longest scales 3–5 mm. 2n = 12.
Flowering Jul–mid Sep. Loose sandy or gravelly, mainly volcanic soils or scree (rarely on serpentine), openings in or above subalpine conifer forests; 1900–3200 m; Calif., Nev.
Chaenactis nevadensis is known mainly from the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range (Shasta to Placer counties, California; Washoe County, Nevada). It was recently discovered disjunct on ultramafic rocks of Bully Choop Mountain west of Redding, California, where it approaches small forms of C. suffrutescens in habit (see discussion there). It is sometimes cultivated in rock-gardens and may be found beyond its native range. Chaenactis nevadensis and C. suffrutescens appear to be sister or ancestor-derivative species. I have seen no evidence to support reports that C. nevadensis intergrades with C. alpigena (P. Stockwell 1940, as C. nevadensis var. mainsiana), with C. douglasii var. alpina (M. Graf 1999), or with any other taxon.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066313
Sierra Stonecrop
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Sedum, from the Latin sedere (to sit), here refers to the tendency of many species to grow low to the ground. In all plants, open pores in the leaves let in carbon dioxide, to be used in photosynthesis. However, this allows stored water to escape, a critical problem in arid environments. In many succulents, including members of Sedum, water loss is reduced because their pores are open only at night; the carbon dioxide that enters is stored for use in daylight, when the pores are closed.
Sierra Sedum, Sierra Stonecrop
Crassulaceae (Stonecrop Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: SEOB
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SEOB
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Fruit:
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul
Distribution
USA: CA , NV , OR
Native Distribution: Southern Oregon south to southern Sierra Nevada.
Native Habitat: Rocky slopes at moderate to high elevations.

Sierra Sun Cup
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA 2010
This is representative of several low, yellow-flowered evening primroses without stems. The root of this plant branches beneath the ground, and the plants form patches on the surface. It was previously placed in the big genus Oenothera, but the knob at the end of the style indicates it belongs in Camissonia.
- Symbol: CASI9
- Group: Dicot
- Family: Onagraceae
- Duration: Annual
- Growth Habit: Forb/herb
- Native Status: L48 N

Silverleaf Lupine
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Toxicity: MAJOR
Habitat: ridges
Communities: Red Fir Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Subalpine Forest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_obtusilobus

Single-stemmed Groundsel (Tall Western)
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Columbia Mountain Butterweed, Columbia Ragwort, Groundsel
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Senecio columbianus, Senecio exaltatus, Senecio hookeri, Senecio integerrimus var. vaseyi, Senecio lugens var. exaltatus, Senecio vaseyi
USDA Symbol: SEINE
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senecio_integerrimus
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SEINE
Duration: Perennial , Biennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 28 inches tall.
Fruit: Fruit is a cypsela (pl. cypselae). Though technically incorrect, the fruit is often referred to as an achene.
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr , May
Bloom Notes: Sometimes no ray florets present.
Distribution
USA: CA , CO , ID , MT , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , SK
Skunky Monkeyflower
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Mimulus nanus var. mephiticus is a diminutive summer annual growing to a height of 15 cm (usually much smaller, especially at high elevation). The oppositely arranged leaves are linear or lance-shaped and up to 3 centimeters in length. The leaves emit an unpleasant scent when crushed, the characteristic that earned the plant its name.[7] The trumpet-shaped flower may be up to 2 centimeters long and has an upper lip with two lobes and a lower lip with three. The flower is magenta or yellow, and populations occasionally have plants with both colors. The lower lip of the flower is marked with purplish lines and spots
Distribution
The species is native to the Sierra Nevada and western Great Basin of California and Nevada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplacus_mephiticus

Slender Cinquefoil
Vogelsang Ridge ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010
- Potentilla gracilis Dougl. ex Hook.
- Slender cinquefoil
- Rosaceae (Rose Family)
- USDA Symbol: POGR9
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
- Potentilla gracilis, known as Slender Cinquefoil, or Graceful Cinquefoil[1] is a species of cinquefoil.
- Named varieties are:
- Potentilla gracilis var. elmeri (Rydb.) Jeps. Combleaf Cinquefoil
- Potentilla gracilis var. flabelliformis (Lehm.) Nutt.
Small-Flowered Penstemon
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011
- Penstemon procerus Douglas ex Graham var. tolmiei (Hook.) Cronquist
- Tolmie's penstemon, Tolmie's beardtongue, Small-flowered penstemon, Small-flowered beardtongue
- Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
- Synonym(s): Penstemon procerus ssp. tolmiei, Penstemon tolmiei
- USDA Symbol: PEPRT
- USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Small (Slim) Larkspur
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Slim Larkspur, Dwarf Larkspur, Blue Mountain Larkspur, Mountain Larkspur
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
Synonym(s): Delphinium cyanoreios, Delphinium diversifolium, Delphinium diversifolium ssp. harneyense, Delphinium diversifolium var. harneyense
USDA Symbol: DEDE2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphinium_depauperatum
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DEDE2
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Bloom Color: Blue , Purple
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep
Distribution
USA: CA , ID , MT , NV , OR , WA
Canada: AB

Small (Rocky Mountain) Fringed Gentian
Gardner Hole ~ Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming USA September 2012
General: hairless annual 10-35 cm tall, stems usually several from the base, simple or branched.
Leaves: numerous in a basal tuft, oblanceolate to spatulate, 1.5-4 cm long, stem leaves opposite, 2-4 pairs, narrowly lanceolate to oblong or oblanceolate.
Flowers: terminal on long, naked stalks and usually also from leaf axils with a pair of scarcely reduced, leaflike bracts at or below midlength. Calyx 15-25 mm long, the 4 lobes pointed, about equaling the tube. Corolla 3.5-5.5 cm long, deep blue or purplish, glandular at the base between the bses of the filaments, the 4 lobes about equal to the tube, oblong-obovate, ragged at the tip and the sides. Stamens slightly shorter than, and inserted midlength of the corolla tube, the joined portion wing-edged, the free portion thin and flat. Anthers oblong, 3-4 mm long. Style comparatively slender, 4-6 mm long, the stigma lobed, broad and flattened, comb-like fringed.
Flowering time: July-August.
Fruits: capsules, the seeds prism-shaped, about 0.5 mm long, finely honey-combed, dark-brown.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- http://montana.plant-life.org/
Smooth Scouring Rush
Yosemite National Park, California USA 2006
Equisetum hyemale L.
Scouring-rush Horsetail, Horsetail, Scouring Rush, Canuela
Equisetaceae (Horsetail Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: EQHY
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), GL (N)
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Retention: Evergreen
Leaf Arrangement: Whorled
Fruit Type: Cone
Size Notes: Up to about 6 feet tall.
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=EQHY
Bloom Color: Not Applicable
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov , Dec
Bloom Notes: Not a flowering plant. Reproduces by spores contained within sporangia borne on peltate sporophylls.
Distribution
USA: AK , AL , AR , AZ , CA , CO , CT , DC , DE , FL , GA , IA , ID , IL , IN , KS , KY , LA , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MO , MS , MT , NC , ND , NE , NH , NJ , NM , NV , NY , OH , OK , OR , PA , RI , SC , SD , TN , TX , UT , VA , VT , WA , WI , WV , WY
Canada: AB , BC , MB , NB , NL , NS , ON , PE , QC , SK
Native Habitat: In open or wooded areas along streams, on alluvial flats, and on wet ledges; throughout Texas, most common in Blackland Prairies and on the Edwards Plateau. Sand, loam, clay, or limestone; poor drainage okay or in shallow water.
Water Use: Medium
Light Requirement: Sun , Part Shade , Shade
Soil Moisture: Moist , Wet
Soil Description: Occurs in wet places, including pond margins, swamps, floodplains and ditches.
Conditions Comments: Horsetail's smooth, segmented, upright foliage appears striking in a container, pond or landscape setting. It is one of the best dragonfly perches. The plant does not have true fruit, it has interesting cones instead. It is best to contain it in a pot with no holes and be watchful that it doesn't creep over the edge. It is very aggressive.
Sneezeweed
Sonora Pass ~ Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, California USA August 2007
- Helenium bigelovii Gray
- Bigelow's sneezeweed
- Asteraceae (Aster Family)
- USDA Symbol: HEBI
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
Spreading Phlox
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
There are four subspecies of this phlox occupying different parts of its range.
Mat Phlox, Spreading Phlox
Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: PHDI3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PHDI3
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Root Type: Tap
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Venation: Pinnate
Leaf: Green
Flower:
Fruit:
Size Class: 0-1 ft
Bloom Color: White , Pink , Purple
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul , Aug
Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , CO , ID , MT , NE , NM , NV , OR , SD , UT , WA , WY
Native Distribution: CA & w. NV mts., n. to s. B.C. & n.w. MT
Native Habitat: Dry, rocky mt. sites
Sticky Cinquefoil
Mt Hoffman ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010
This attractive wildflower is common in the West and generally recognizable as a cinquefoil, a name ultimately deriving from Latin through French, meaning five leaves; some species have leaves with five leaflets. The genus differs from very similar-appearing species of buttercups (Ranunculus) in having a hypanthium. Some species hybridize; others reproduce asexually. Hybrids may reproduce asexually, and populations of intermediate plants are frequent. Identification of cinquefoil species is therefore difficult.
- Potentilla glandulosa Lindl.
- Sticky cinquefoil
- Rosaceae (Rose Family)
- USDA Symbol: POGL9
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
Subalpine (Lemmon's) Paintbrush
Harvey Monroe Hall Research Natural Area ~ Inyo Forest, California USA July 2016
Leaf: 20--40 mm, linear to lanceolate; lobes 0--3
Inflorescence: 3--12 cm; bracts 10--15 mm, lobes 3--5, +- acute, purple-red.
Flower: calyx 16--18 mm, divided 1/2--2/3 abaxially and adaxially, +- 1/8 on sides, lobes generally acute to rounded; corolla 16--20 mm, beak 7--9 mm, pale yellow, lower lip 5--7 mm, yellow-green, pouches shallow, short, teeth +- triangular, +- white or +- purple, erect; stigma +- 2--lobed. Fruit: 7--9 mm.
Seed: 1--1.5 mm; coat shallowly netted, loose-fitting. Chromosomes: 2n=24.
Ecology: Moist meadows; Elevation: 1550--3700 m. Bioregional Distribution: CaRH, SNH. Flowering Time: Jul--Aug
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=18229
Sunflower
Black Mesa State Park, Oklahoma USA September 2008
The state flower of Kansas. The heads follow the sun each day, facing eastward in the morning, westward at sunset; the name in Spanish means looks at the sun. The plant has been cultivated in Central North America since pre-Columbian times; yellow dye obtained from the flowers, and a black or dull blue dye from the seeds, were once important in Native American basketry and weaving. Native Americans also ground the seeds for flour and used its oil for cooking and dressing hair. In the 19th century it was believed that plants growing near a home would protect from malaria. In the United States and Eurasia seeds from cultivated strains are now used for cooking oil and livestock feed. Many variants have been developed, some with one huge head topping a stalk 9-16 (3-5 m) tall, others with maroon rays. Prairie Sunflower (H. petiolaris), found throughout the Great Plains and similar to the wild forms of Common Sunflower, has scales on the disk in the center of the head tipped by white hairs, easily visible when the central flowers are spread apart. Developed in a single large head variety by Russians.
- Helianthus annuus L.
- Common sunflower
- Asteraceae (Aster Family)
- USDA Symbol: HEAN3
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Swamp Onion
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010
The Allium validum bulb is three to five centimeters long, ovoid and clustered on the short end. The outer coat of the stout rhizome is brown or gray in color, fibrous, and vertically lined. The stem is 50 to 100 centimeters long and angled. There are three to six leaves more or less equal to the stem and the leaves are flat or more or less keeled. There are 15 to 40 flowers with pedicels being seven to twelve millimeters in length. The flower itself is six to ten millimeters, its perianth parts are more or less erect, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, and entire with a rose to white color. The stamens are exerted and there is no ovary crest.
The bulb A. validum can be used as a flavoring for soups and stews although it is somewhat fibrous. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and the flowers can be used as garnish on salads. There are no noted medicinal uses, but it is believed to have the same beneficial effects on health as other members of the genus. The sulphur compounds help reduce blood cholesterol levels, act as a tonic to the digestive system and help get the circulatory system moving.
- Allium validum S. Wats.
- Pacific onion, Swamp onion, Tall swamp onion
- Liliaceae (Lily Family)
- USDA Symbol: ALVA
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Torrey's Lupine
Upper Emigrant Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2012
Habitat and range: It can be found in meadows and areas that are moist during the spring growing season in the Sierra Nevada maintain range, from 4,900 to 9,800 feet (1,500 to 3,000 m).
Description: L. lepidus is a small hairy perennial that reaches 4 to 24 inches (10 to 61 cm). Leaves extend up the stem, but most are basal. Leaves are palmately compound with 5-8 green-gray leaflets less than 1 1⁄2 inches (3.8 cm). The inflorescense is a dense spikelike raceme, with pink, purple, and blue flowers having a yellowish spot. The plant blooms between June and August.[2] Fruit is a pod up to 3⁄4 inch (1.9 cm).
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia
Twin Arnica
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing one or more hairy, glandular stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall. There are several pairs of broadly lance-shaped leaves along the stem, the lower ones borne on petioles. Leaves may reach up to 14 centimeters long.
The inflorescence holds one to five daisy-like flower heads lined with phyllaries coated in glandular hairs. The flower head has a center of glandular yellow disc florets and a fringe of yellow ray florets. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long with a white pappus.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Velvety Stickseed
Lukens Lake Trail ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA June 2012
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Wandering Daisy
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Erigeron peregrinus is native to northwestern North America from Alaska to Oregon.[3][4][5][6] Some populations from farther south (California, Colorado, etc.) were formerly considered as belonging to this species, but they have now either been moved to other taxa or recognized as distinct species.
Subalpine Fleabane, Glacier Fleabane, Wandering Fleabane
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Erigeron glacialis
USDA Symbol: ERPEC
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERPEC
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 2 feet tall.
Bloom Color: Pink , Yellow , Blue , Purple
Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep
Distribution
USA: AK , CA , CO , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , YT
Waterfall Buttercup
Hetch Hetchy ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA May 2008
- Ranunculus aquatilis L.
- Water buttercup, White water crowfoot, White water-crowfoot
- Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
- Synonyms: Ranunculus aquatilis var. hispidulus
- USDA Symbol: RAAQ
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Water Plantain Buttercup
Upper Kennedy Meadow ~ Stanislaus National Forest, California USA April 2022
Warning: POISONOUS PARTS: All parts. Low toxicity if eaten. Minor skin irritation lasting minutes if touched. Symptoms include burning of the mouth, abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Skin redness, burning sensation, and blisters following contact with cell sap. Toxic Principle: Protoanemonin, released from the glycoside ranunculin.(Poisonous Plants of N.C.)
Ranunculus alismifolius Geyer ex Benth.
Plantainleaf Buttercup, Water-plantain Buttercup, Meadow Buttercup
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: RAAL
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RAAL
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf: Green
Size Class: 1-3 ft.
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: May , Jun
Distribution
USA: CA , CO , ID , MT , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Native Distribution: B.C. to w. MT, s. to n. CA & CO
Native Habitat: Muddy banks; moist mt. meadows

Western Bistort
Hetch Hetchy ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA May 2008
It is distributed throughout the Mountain West in North America from Alaska and British Columbia south into California and east into the Rocky Mountains. The plant grows from montane foothills to above the timberline, although plants growing above 7,500 feet are smaller and seldom reach more than 12 inches in height. Plants in other areas may reach over half a meter-1.5 feet tall. The leaves are leathery and up to 40 centimeters long, and are mostly basal on the stem. The dense cylindrical to oblong inflorescence is packed with small white to pinkish flowers, each a few millimeters wide and with protruding stamens.
American bistort was an important food plant used by American Indians living in the Mountain West, and the roots are edible either raw or fire-roasted with a flavor resembling chestnuts. The seeds can be dried and ground into flour and used to make bread. They were also roasted and eaten as a cracked grain.
- Polygonum bistortoides Pursh
- American bistort, Western Bistort
- Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)
- USDA Symbol: POBI6
- USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
Western Labrador Tea
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Labrador Tea (L. groenlandicum) is found across Canada and occurs in the West from Alaska south to the coast of Oregon; it has a rusty hue to the woolly underside of the leaf.
Western Labrador Tea, Trapper's Tea
Ericaceae (Heath Family)
Synonym(s): Ledum glandulosum var. californicum, Ledum groenlandicum ssp. glandulosum
USDA Symbol: LEGL
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 2 feet tall.
Bloom Color: Pink , Yellow , Blue , Purple
Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep
Distribution
USA: AK , CA , CO , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , YT

Western Mountain Aster
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Labrador Tea (L. groenlandicum) is found across Canada and occurs in the West from Alaska south to the coast of Oregon; it has a rusty hue to the woolly underside of the leaf.
Western Labrador Tea, Trapper's Tea
Ericaceae (Heath Family)
Synonym(s): Ledum glandulosum var. californicum, Ledum groenlandicum ssp. glandulosum
USDA Symbol: LEGL
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 2 feet tall.
Bloom Color: Pink , Yellow , Blue , Purple
Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep
Distribution
USA: AK , CA , CO , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , YT

Western Wallflower
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2020
Sand-dune Wallflower, Western Wallflower, Prairie Rocket
Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: ERCA14
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERCA14
Duration: Biennial
Habit: Herb
Fruit:
Size Class: 1-3 ft.
Bloom Color: Red , Orange , Yellow
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul
Distribution
USA: AK , AR , AZ , CA , CO , IA , ID , IL , IN , KS , MI , MN , MO , MT , ND , NE , NM , NV , NY , OH , OK , OR , SD , TN , TX , UT , VA , WA , WI , WV , WY
Native Distribution: VA & OH to s.w. Canada, s. to TN, TX & CA; much more common westward
Native Habitat: Plains; foothills; high elevation coniferous forests

White Mountain Heather
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011
The somewhat star-like white flowers may have inspired the genus name of this plant, for in Greek mythology Cassiopeia was set among the stars as a constellation. Firemoss Cassiope (C. tetragona), near the Canadian border, has a prominent groove on the lower side of each leaf. Starry Cassiope (C. stellariana), which grows in bogs from Mount Rainier northward, has alternate, spreading leaves.
- Cassiope mertensiana (Bong.) G. Don
- Western moss heather, Western moss-heather
- Ericaceae (Heath Family)
- Synonym(s):
- USDA Symbol: CAME7
- USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)
Willow Stem Gall Sawfly
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
Gall-inducing insects include gall wasps, gall midges, gall flies, Agromyzidae aphids (such as Melaphis chinensis, Pemphigus spyrothecae, and Pemphigus betae), scale insects, and psyllids.
Willow Shoot Galls: These swellings on shoots, twigs, or leaf petioles, may be caused by small flies (midges) or small wasps (sawflies).The gall increases in size as long as the immature stages are active. They cause no significant injury.The infestation may be reduced by pruning and destroying the galled areas before the adult insect emerges, usually in late summer.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia
Wolf Lichen
Kennedy Meadows ~ Stanislaus National Forest, California USA April 2015
This was the most widely used dye lichen for indigenous peoples in western North America, used from the Rockies to the Pacific coast, from California to Alaska. Some groups also made paint from it.
This lichen is sufficiently poisonous that the Achomawi in Northern California used it to make poison arrowheads, but the Okanagan-Colville made a weak tea of it to treat internal problems, and it was a Blackfoot remedy for stomach disorders.
The thallus, or vegetative body, has a fructicose shape — that is, shrubby and densely branched — and a bright yellow to yellow-green, or chartreuse color, although the color will fade in drier specimens. Its dimensions are typically 2 to 7 cm (0.79 to 2.76 in) in diameter. The vegetative reproductive structures soredia and isidia are present on the surface of the thalli, often abundantly.
Sourced from: http://www.lichen.com/bigpix/Lvulpina.html -- and -- Wikipedia
Woolly Sunflower
Pingree Lake~Emigrant Wilderness, California USA 2019
Eriophyllum lanatum (Pursh) Forbes var. integrifolium (Hook.) Smiley
Common Woolly Sunflower
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Eriophyllum integrifolium, Eriophyllum lanatum var. monoense
USDA Symbol: ERLAI
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERLAI
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb , Subshrub
Size Notes: Up to about 40 inches tall.
Fruit: Fruit is a cypsela (pl. cypselae). Though technically incorrect, the fruit is often referred to as an achene.
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Distribution
USA: CA , ID , MT , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Yarrow
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014
Achillea millefolium is highly variable and has been treated both as a single species with varieties and as multiple distinct species. A. millefolium is cosmopolitan throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, A. millefolium is a complex of both native and introduced plants and their hybrids.
- Achillea millefolium L.
- Common yarrow, Yarrow, Milfoil, Western yarrow
- Asteraceae (Aster Family)
- Synonym(s):
- USDA Symbol: ACMI2
- USDA Native Status: L48 (NI), AK (N), HI (I), CAN (NI), GL (N), SPM (NI)

Yellowstone Fireweed
Gardner Hole ~ Yellowstone National Park, California USA September 2012
The reddish stems of this herbaceous perennial are usually simple, erect, smooth, 0.5–2.5 m (1½–8 feet) high with scattered alternate leaves. The leaves are entire, lanceolate, and pinnately veined. A related species, dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolium), grows to 0.3–0.6 m tall.
This herb is often abundant in wet calcareous to slightly acidic soils in open fields, pastures, and particularly burned-over lands; the name Fireweed derives from the species' abundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires. Its tendency to quickly colonize open areas with little competition, such as sites of forest fires and forest clearings, makes it a clear example of a pioneer species. Plants grow and flower as long as there is open space and plenty of light. As trees and brush grow larger the plants die out, but the seeds remain viable in the soil seed bank for many years; when a new fire or other disturbance occurs that opens up the ground to light again, the seeds germinate. Some areas with heavy seed counts in the soil can, after burning, be covered with pure dense stands of this species and when in flower the landscape is turned into fields of color.
Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia
Yellow Willow
20 Lake Basin ~ Hoover Wilderness, California USA September 2022
Salix lutea Nutt.
Yellow Willow
Salicaceae (Willow Family)
USDA Symbol: SALU2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SALU2
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Tree
Leaf: Yellow-Green
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr , May
USA: AZ , CA , CO , IA , ID , KS , MN , MO , MT , ND , NE , NV , OR , SD , UT , WY
Canada: AB
Native Habitat: Prairie/Meadow/Field,Riparian
Growing Conditions
Water Use: High
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist
CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium