Wildflowers A-M | zScapes Adventures

Alaska Fireweed
Vogel Lake ~ Kenai Peninsula, Alaska USA 2009

Pink spires of flowers bloom at tops of tall, erect, leafy stems with narrow willow-like leaves.

Often grows in spectacular dense patches, and though attractive, it is aggressive in a moist garden, spreading from persistent underground stems. The seeds are dispersed far and wide by long, white, silky hairs. Bees value it as a source of nectar, and the very young shoots and leaves can be eaten as cooked greens. Recent work at the genetic level has shown that Chamerion, recognized by its alternate leaves, is distinct from Epilobium (with leaves opposite, at least near base), the genus in which Fireweed was formerly placed.

Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub
Fireweed, Willow herb, Great willow herb
Onagraceae (Evening-Primrose Family)
USDA Symbol: CHAN9
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), GL (N), SPM (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Alpine Aster
Cascade Lake ~ 20 Lake Basin, California USA September 2022

Aster alpinus, the alpine aster or blue alpine daisy,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the mountains of Europe (including the Alps), with a subspecies native to Canada and the United States.[3] This herbaceous perennial has purple, pink, or blue flowers in summer.

Aster alpinus

Aster alpinus L.
Alpine Aster
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: ASAL3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ASAL3

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Shape: Lanceolate , Spatulate
Size Notes: Up to about 16 inches tall.
Leaf: Green

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Pink , Purple
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul

Distribution
USA: AK , CO
Canada: AB , BC , NT , ON , YT

Alpine Columbine
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Similar to other columbines but with larger, erect (not nodding) all yellow flowers, sometimes with a hint of red or pink. A tufted plant with highly divided leaves and large cream flowers tinted with pastel blue, pink, or yellow and tipped upward. Resembles a delicate version of a garden hybrid columbine. Stems are 8-20 in. tall and the three-parted, lobed leaves are pale green.

The pale flowers and long, straight, nectar-filled spurs attract moths as pollinators. Where this species and Crimson Columbine (A. formosa) grow in the same region, cross-pollination between the two may result in hybrid plants.

The genus name Aquilegia comes from the Latin aquila which means eagle and refers to the spurred petals that many believe resemble an eagles talons.

Aquilegia pubescens Coville
Sierra columbine, Sierran columbine
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
USDA Symbol: AQPU
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Alpine Gentian
Cascade Lake ~ 20 Lake Basin, California USA September 2022

Gentiana newberryi is a perennial herb that is native to California, and also found elsewhere in western North America.

Gentiana newberryi

Gentiana newberryi A. Gray
Alpine Gentian
Gentianaceae (Gentian family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: GENE
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GENE

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Stems usually decumbent, up to about 14 inches long.
Flower: Up to about 2 inches long.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Blue
Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution

USA: CA , NV , OR
Native Habitat: Wet mountain meadows.

Alpine Gold
Boundary Peak ~ White Mountains, Nevada USA August 2007

A low, tufted, densely glandular-hairy plant with sparsely leafy stems, each topped by a flower head with 25-50 short, narrow yellow rays surrounding a yellow disk.

The similar Dwarf Hulsea (H. nana), from the mountains of Washington, Oregon, and northern California, is more compact, rarely more than 4 (10 cm) high, with a flower stalk that is usually leafless, and a head with only about 21 rays.

Hulsea algida Gray
Alpinegold, Pacific hulsea
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
USDA Symbol: HUAL
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Alpine Lily
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Creeping by rhizomatous bulbs, this 2-6 ft. lily bears narrow, light-green, scattered leaves and vivid-orange, maroon-spotted flowers. The flowers are smaller than other lilies, are held horizontally, and have a flaring bell shade.

Lilium parvum

Lilium parvum Kellogg
Alpine Lily, Fairy Lily, Sierra Tiger Lily, Sierran Tiger Lily
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: LIPA3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LIPA3

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Flower:
Fruit:
Size Class: 3-6 ft.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Orange
Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution
USA: CA , NV , OR
Native Distribution: CA Sierra Nevadas
Native Habitat: Boggy swamp or stream edges; often among alders & willows; from 6500-9000 ft.
Growing Conditions

Alpine Shooting Star
Vogel Lake ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

A smooth stalk growing from a basal rosette of leaves and topped by an umbel of 1-9 pinkish-purple flowers, each resembling a small rocket.

There are about 10 western species of Dodecatheon with reddish-lavender corollas, two also with a large knob at the end of the style. Tall Mountain Shootingstar (D. jefferyi), found from the Alaskan mountains south to the southern Sierra Nevada and east to Idaho and Montana, has 4-5 corolla lobes and minute, glandular hairs on the leaves and flower cluster. Sticky Shootingstar (D. redolens), found from the mountains of Southern California east to Nevada and Utah, is densely covered with glandular hairs, and its corolla has five lobes; the tubular portion covers the base of the anthers.

Dodecatheon alpinum (Gray) Greene
Alpine shootingstar
Primulaceae (Primrose Family)
USDA Symbol: DOAL
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Applegate's Paintbrush
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011

Applegate's Indian Paintbrush is a green root-parasite that taps into the water and nutrient supply of neighboring shrubs. It is actually called a hemiparasite because it can grow independently. Many hemiparasites take up a contact relationship with their hosts immediately after seed germination. Although they are green and capable of fixing appreciable amounts of carbon via photosynthesis, they grow poorly under these circumstances. Studies have shown that as soon as a hemiparasite makes contact with a host, growth rate improves greatly and the plant becomes much more vigorous.

DISTRIBUTION: Meadows and dry open forest or scrub throughout Calif.; 300-3600 m.

Castilleja applegatei Fernald
Wavyleaf Indian paintbrush
Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: CAAP4
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Calif Academy of Sciences

Arrowleaf Groundsel
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Broadly or narrowly triangular or arrowhead-shaped leaves, with many sharp teeth on edges, grow on several leafy stems that bear yellow flower heads in a branched, flattish cluster at top. As indicated by the common and technical names, the triangular leaves are distinctive.

Senecio triangularis

Senecio triangularis Hook.
Arrowleaf Ragwort, Arrowleaf Groundsel
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Senecio gibbsonsii, Senecio triangularis var. angustifolius
USDA Symbol: SETR
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SETR

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Subshrub
Leaf: Green
Fruit:

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution
USA: AK , CA , CO , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , NT
Native Distribution: Alaska and western Canada; south to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Native Habitat: Stream banks and other moist places in the mountains.

Artic Willow
Cascade Lake ~ 20 Lake Basin, California USA September 2022

Broadly or narrowly triangular or arrowhead-shaped leaves, with many sharp teeth on edges, grow on several leafy stems that bear yellow flower heads in a branched, flattish cluster at top. As indicated by the common and technical names, the triangular leaves are distinctive.

Salix arctica

Salix arctica Pall.
Arctic Willow
Salicaceae (Willow Family)
USDA Symbol: SAAR27
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), GL (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SAAR27

Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Size Class: 1-3 ft.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Red , Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug

Distribution
USA: AK , ID , MT , OR , VT , WA
Canada: AB , BC , ON
Native Distribution: Circumboreal, s. in N. America to Que. & scattered in w. mts.
Native Habitat: Meadows & open slopes; near & above timberline in mts.

Growing Conditions
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist
Soil Description: Moist to drier, gravelly soil.
Conditions Comments: Not Available

Blue Bells
Hever Castle ~ Hever, Kent UK May 2010

Family: Lilly Lillaceae
Familiar bulbous perennial, often carpeting wholewoodland floors if management regime suits its requirements
Foundon coastal cliffs
Common throughout
Leaves narrow and all basal
Bell-shapedflowers in 1-sided spikes
Appear April to June
Height up to 50cm

Sourced from: http://www.judywoods.dial.pipex.com/British%20Wild%20Flowers.htmlww.wildflower.org/plants/

Bog Laurel
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011

Bog Laurel or Swamp Laurel is a low, prostrate, broadleaf-evergreen mat, less than 3 ft. high. Trailing stems send up erect branches with glossy, leathery, dark blue-green foliage. Small, bell-like, pink flowers cluster together in groups of two to five. The fruit is a woody capsule.

Kalmia polifolia Wangenh.
Bog laurel, Pale laurel, Swamp laurel
Ericaceae (Heath Family)
Synonym(s): Chamaedaphne glauca, Kalmia polifolia ssp. polifolia, Kalmia polifolia var. rosmarinifolia
USDA Symbol: KAPO
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Bolander's Dandelion
Upper Kennedy Meadow ~ Stanislaus National Forest, California USA April 2022

Perennial shrub or small tree with deciduous imparipinnate leaves each bearing three ovate leaflets. The plant bears white flowers with stamens extending beyond the petals in the spring. Flowering is soon followed by the development of papery, inflated, bladder-like three-lobed capsules, each lobe containing one or two glossy, nut-like seed.

Phalacroseris blonder

Phalacroseris bolanderi A. Gray
Bolander Dandelion, Bolander's Mock Dandelion
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: PHBO2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PHBO2

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb , Subshrub
Size Notes: Up to about 18 inches tall.
Flower: Ligulate (strap-shaped) florets.
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

Distribution
USA: CA

Bolander's Yampah
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Perennial shrub or small tree with deciduous imparipinnate leaves each bearing three ovate leaflets. The plant bears white flowers with stamens extending beyond the petals in the spring. Flowering is soon followed by the development of papery, inflated, bladder-like three-lobed capsules, each lobe containing one or two glossy, nut-like seed.

Staphylea bolanderi

Sierra Bladdernut, Bolander's Yampah, Bolander's Bladdernut
Staphyleaceae (Bladdernut family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: STBO
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=STBO

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub , Tree
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Leaf Arrangement: Opposite
Leaf Complexity: Pinnate
Leaf Shape: Oval
Leaf Margin: Serrate , Serrulate
Breeding System: Flowers Bisexual
Inflorescence: Terminal , Thyrse
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: To about 20 feet in height.
Fruit: Fruit borne summer and fall, persisting into winter.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr , May

Distribution
USA: CA
Native Distribution: Endemic to Central and Northern California. … occurs in the foothills and at the lower elevations of the Cascades and Klamath ranges, the Sierra Nevada, and the Tehachapi Mountains. (Webref 3).
Native Habitat: Chaparral, foothill woodlands, yellow pine forests, slopes, canyon sides; (200–)300–1400 m. (Webref: 3)

Brewer's Lupine
Sonora Peak ~ Sonora Pass, California USA August 2007

A low-growing, mat-forming perennial with long, silky hairs on the crowded, palmate leaves and dense clusters of blue-purple flowers with yellow and white centers.

Like other members of the pea family, this plant requires the presence of microorganisms that inhabit nodules on the plants root system and produce nitrogen compounds necessary for the plants survival.

Lupinus breweri Gray
Brewer's lupine, Matted lupine
Fabaceae (Pea Family)
USDA Symbol: LUBR3
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

California Rose
Lundy Canyon ~ Eastern Sierra, California USA 2023

A mounded, 3-6 ft., or taller, semi-deciduous shrub with prickly branches; bright-green, pinnate leaves; fragrant, pink flowers and red hips.

The California Rose is a member of the rose family (family Rosaceae), which includes herbs, shrubs, and trees with mostly prickly stems. Besides garden roses and wild roses like this one, the family includes many fruit species, including apples, pears, quinces, cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, loquats, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries.

Rosa californica

Rosa californica Cham. & Schltdl.
California Wildrose, California Rose
Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Synonym(s): Rosa aldersonii
USDA Symbol: ROCA2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ROCA2

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Leaf Complexity: Pinnate
Fruit Type: Achene
Size Notes: Up to about 10 feet tall, often shorter.
Leaf: Green
Fruit: Hip (mature floral tube) surrounding achenes.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Pink
Bloom Time: Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov

Distribution
USA: CA , OR
Native Distribution: S. OR to Baja through cismontane CA
Native Habitat: A variety of moist sites below 6000 ft.

Canchalagua
Mirror Lake ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2006

Zeltnera venusta is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common names California centaury, charming centaury and canchalagua. This centaury is native to much of California, southern Oregon, and northwest Baja California.

Centaurium venustum ssp. venustum
Centaurium venustum (A. Gray) B.L. Rob. ssp. venustum
Charming Centaury, California Centaury
Gentianaceae (Gentian family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: CEVEV
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeltnera_venusta
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CEVEV

Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual
Habit: Herb
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Up to about 20 inches tall.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct

Distribution
USA: CA , NV
Native Habitat: Dry grasslands, scrub, chaparral, openings in woodlands.

Club-Moss Ivesia
Mt Conness ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA July 2016

Stems decumbent to ascending, 0.3–1(–1.5) dm. Basal leaves 1–7 cm; leaflets tightly overlapping, glabrous or sparsely short-hirsute, lobes ± orbiculate, ± 1 mm, apical setae 0(–0.5) mm. Cauline leaves 0–1. Inflorescences usually ± capitate, 3–15(–20)-flowered, 0.5–1.5(–2) cm diam. Flowers 6–9 mm diam.; petals obovate, 2–3 × 1 mm; filaments 0.8–1.2 mm; styles 1–2 mm. 2n = 28.

Flowering summer. Dry rocky flats or slopes, fellfields, in high-elevation sagebrush communities, subalpine to alpine conifer woodlands, alpine tundra; 3000–4000 m; Calif., Nev.

Variety lycopodioides occurs in the Sierra Nevada from El Dorado and Alpine to Fresno counties, and on the Sweetwater Mountains of Mono County, California. The voucher reported by D. D. Keck (1938) from the Carson Range of Washoe County, Nevada, has not been located for confirmation. Of the three varieties, var. lycopodioides tends to have plants with the smallest leaflet lobes (ca. 1 mm) which lack apical setae. Plants also have more consistently simple caudices bearing a single rosette of glabrous or sparsely hairy leaves atop an enlarged, fleshy taproot.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100677

Corn Lily
Mt. Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

California false hellebore or corn lily’s stiffly erect, leafy stalks rise 6 ft. and bear large, conspicuously pleated, oval leaves.

The stalks are topped by showy clusters of white to greenish flowers. The flowers are star-like in design and numerous.

A long, branched, dense cluster of relatively small, whitish or greenish flowers top the stout, leafy stem of this tall plant.

Veratrum californicum Dur.
California false hellebore, Corn lily
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
USDA Symbol: VECA2
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Cow Parsnip
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011

This very tall plant has huge leaves and flat umbels of numerous tiny white flowers; stem is grooved, woolly, hollow, and stout.

This is the largest species of the carrot family in North America. The genus is named for Hercules, who is reputed to have used these plants for medicine. Early in each year, Native Americans peeled and ate the young sweet, aromatic leaf and flower stalks.

Heracleum maximum W. Bartram
Common cowparsnip, Cow Parsnip
Apiaceae (Carrot Family)
Synonym(s): Heracleum lanatum, Heracleum sphondylium ssp. montanum, Heracleum sphondylium var. lanatum
USDA Symbol: HEMA80
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Cut Leaved Daisy
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

California false hellebore or Corn lily’s stiffly erect, leafy stalks rise 6 ft. and bear large, conspicuously pleated, oval leaves. The stalks are topped by showy clusters of white to greenish flowers. The flowers are star-like in design and numerous. A long, branched, dense cluster of relatively small, whitish or greenish flowers top the stout, leafy stem of this tall plant.

Veratrum californicum

California False Hellebore, Corn Lily, Cebadilla
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: VECA2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=VECA2

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf: Green
Fruit:
Size Class: 3-6 ft.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug

Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , UT , WA , WY
Native Distribution: W. WA to s. CA, e. to MT, CO, NM & Mex. as far south as Durango
Native Habitat: Swamps; creek bottoms; moist meadows & woodlands

Cymopertus
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Cymopterus terebinthinus, a dicot, is a perennial herb that is native to California in the carrot family Apiaceae with leaves that look like parsley and grows in the Great Basin of the American West. Common names include Aromatic spring-parsley, northern Indian parsnip, and turpentine cymopterus.

Habitat and range
It grows on dry, sandy or rocky slopes, typically around rocks, from 5,000 to 9,000 feet (1,500 to 2,700 m) in sagebrush steppe and montane plant communities of the Great Basin.[1]:108 It can be found in the Toiyabe Range and Deep Creek Mountains.

Growth pattern
It is a low growing perennial plant from 1⁄2 to 2 feet (0.15 to 0.61 m) tall, spreading out from a woody base.

Leaves and stems
Leaves are 1⁄2 to 8 inches (1.3 to 20.3 cm) long. Leaves are ovate overall, but finely pinnately dissected into segments like parsley leaves. Leaves are strongly aromatic when crushed. "Terebinthus" means "like-turpentine", referring to the scented oils in the plant.

Inflorescence and fruit
The inflorescence is a peduncle with 3-24 rays, each 1⁄2 to 3 inches (1.3 to 7.6 cm) long, bearing miniascule 5-petaled yellow flowers.

"Cymopterus" means "wavy ring", referring to the fruit.[1]:108

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymopterus_terebinthinus
https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Cymopterus+terebinthinus

Devils Club
Thunderbird Falls Trail ~ Chugach State Park, Alaska USA July 2009

A sparsely branched, somewhat rangy shrub with giant maplelike leaves and crooked, pithy, canelike stems with long, stiff, yellow thorns.

Devil’s Club is a conspicuous understory shrub in boggy places within the Northwest coastal forest, where it makes off-trail travel difficult or impossible.

The barbed thorns inflict unpleasant wounds and were long thought to be tipped with poison. Nevertheless, the plant is a beautiful, or at least unusual, component of the forest understory. Its giant leaves are adaptations to the dim light of its environment.

Oplopanax horridus Miq.
Devilsclub
Araliaceae (Ginseng Family)
USDA Symbol: OPHO
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Dusty Maidens
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Dusty Maiden is a member of the aster family (family Asteraceae) which includes herbs, sometimes shrubs or vines, rarely trees, with simple or compound, alternate or opposite leaves. Flowers small, but organized into larger heads resembling a single, radially symmetrical flower cupped by a ring of green bracts. Flower-like heads: tiny, radially symmetrical central flowers form the disk; larger flowers around the edge, the rays, strap-shaped and resembling petals; however, all flowers in one had may be disk flowers or rays.

Chaenactis douglasii

Douglas' Dustymaiden, Dusty Maiden
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: CHDO
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CHDO

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Biennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf: Green
Flower:
Fruit:

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul

Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , CO , ID , MT , ND , NM , NV , OR , SD , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , SK

Elk (Meadow) Thistle
20 Lake Basin ~ Hoover Wilderness, California USA September 2022

Meadow Thistle is a member of the aster family (family Asteraceae) which includes herbs, sometimes shrubs or vines, rarely trees, with simple or compound, alternate or opposite leaves. Flowers small, but organized into larger heads resembling a single, radially symmetrical flower cupped by a ring of green bracts. Flower-like heads: tiny, radially symmetrical central flowers form the disc; larger flowers around the edge, the rays, strap-shaped and resembling petals; however, all flowers in one head may be disc flowers or rays.

Cirsium scariosum

Cirsium scariosum Nutt.
Meadow Thistle
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
USDA Symbol: CISC2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CISC2

Plant Characteristics
Duration: Biennial
Habit: Herb

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Pink , Purple
Bloom Time: Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov

Distribution
USA: ID , MT , OR , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC , QC

Value to Beneficial Insects
Special Value to Native Bees
Special Value to Bumble Bees
Provides Nesting Materials/Structure for Native Bees

Fan Leaved Cinquefoil
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Potentilla flabellifolia, a dicot, is a perennial herb that is native to California, is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America.

Potentilla flabellifolia

High Mountain Cinquefoil, Fan-foil
Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: POFL3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=6838
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=POFL3

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Orange , Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution
USA: CA , ID , MT , NV , OR , WA , WY
Canada: BC
Native Habitat: Moist meadows.

Felwort
North Dome ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA July 2007

Several erect stems, with most leaves at base, and star-like, pale bluish-purple flowers with greenish or white spots in an open, branched, but narrow cluster at the top.

The genus is named for E. Sweert, a 16th-century Dutch gardener and author.

Swertia perennis L.
Felwort, Star Gentian
Gentianaceae (Gentian Family)
USDA Symbol: SWPE
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Fleabane Daisey
Cascade Lake ~ 20 Lake Basin, California USA September 2022

A variable species, differing in hairiness, leaf shape and size of spread. A well-branched plant covered with short, grayish hairs, those on stems standing straight out; at the tip of each of the many branches blooms a flower head with many narrow white, pink, or lavender rays surrounding a yellow disc. All types are slender stemmed and have flower heads of light blue to lavender-pink ray flowers and golden-yellow discs. This branched, short-lived perennial or biennial, usually has velvety foliage (wider basal leaves/narrower stem leaves) and varies from 1/2-2 ft. in height.

Erigeron divergens

Erigeron divergens Torr. & A. Gray
Spreading Fleabane, Branching Fleabane, Fleabane Daisy
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s): Erigeron divergens var. typicus
USDA Symbol: ERDI4
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERDI4

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Biennial
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 2 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: White , Pink , Yellow , Purple
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov

Distribution
USA: AZ , CA , CO , ID , KS , MT , ND , NE , NM , NV , OK , OR , SD , TX , UT , WA , WY
Canada: AB , BC
Native Distribution: W. SD to s. B.C., s. to TX, AZ & n. CA; also n. Mex.
Native Habitat: Moist or dry valleys, ridges or meadow borders

Growing Conditions
Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Moist
Soil Description: Moist or dry, sandy soils.
Conditions Comments: Not Available

Giant Red Indian Paintbrush
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA May 2008

An erect perennial, from 1 1/2-3 ft. tall, with stems either unbranched or somewhat branched above. The flower cluster of this leafy plant resembles a ragged, crimson or scarlet paintbrush, calyx and bracts beneath each flower brightly colored. Leaves are lance-shaped and the torch-like flower spike is made up of vibrant orange, red or pink bracts and sepals hiding the small, green flowers.

Most Indian paintbrushes are partial parasites on other plants, their roots establishing connections with roots of other species. For this reason, they usually cannot be transplanted, and are difficult to grow from seed.

Castilleja miniata Douglas ex Hook.
Giant red Indian paintbrush, Meadow paintbrush
Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: CAMI12
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ --and-- Wikipedia

Gold Cobblestone Lichen
Mt Hoffman ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

A symbiotic relationship of two living entities: photosynthetic green algae (cyanobacteria) and sheltering fungus. The fungus lives off of sunglight energy that is harvested by the algae and this combination allows for the two to survive in environments that neither could alone.

Lichen colonize bare rock faces and produce chemicals that slowly erode the surface. Over centuries, this process breaks rocks down into soil that can be used by plants. By measuring lichen size, scientists can determine the relative age of glacial moraines.

Lichen get nutrients by absorbing dust that falls on their surface and they have no way of excreting this material. This makes them very sensitive to air pollution and when exposed to high concentration of sulfer dioxide, they will die. Lichen diversity and abundance are being monitored to assess the impact of smog on Sierra ecosystems

Pleopsidium flavum
Bright yellow with pale brownish pits in the center of segments

Golden Brodiaea
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Triteleia ixioides, known as prettyface[1] or golden star,[2] is a monocotyledon flowering plant in the genus Triteleia. It is native to northern and central California and southwestern Oregon, where it can be found in coastal and inland coniferous forests and other habitat. It is a perennial wildflower growing from a corm. It produces one to two basal leaves up to 50 centimeters long by 1.5 wide. The inflorescence arises on an erect stem up to 80 centimeters tall. It is an umbel-like cluster of several flowers each borne on a pedicel up to 7 centimeters long. The flowers are variable in size, measuring one to nearly three centimeters in length. They are pale to bright yellow, or sometimes purple-tinged white. There are six tepals with darker midveins in shades of green, brown, or purple. The lobes are funnel-shaped and may open flat or somewhat reflexed. The six stamens form a fused tube that protrudes from the corolla; they have broad, flat filaments and whitish, yellowish, or blue anthers.

Triteleia ixioides ssp. ixioides

Golden Brodiaea
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Synonym(s): Brodiaea lutea, Calliprora ixioides, Ornithogalum ixioides
USDA Symbol: TRIXI2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triteleia_ixioides
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=TRIXI2

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Fruit:

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White

Distribution
USA: CA

Granite Gilia
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Open-branched shrub; stems woody at base

Leaves: alternate above, opposite below; palmately parted or divided, minutely spine-tipped; rigid, flat against stems; in clusters.

Linanthus pungens (Torr.) J.M. Porter & L.A. Johnson
Granite Gilia, Granite prickly phlox
Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)
USDA Symbol: LIPU11
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Green Raillardella
Yellowhammer Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Raillardella scaposa is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name stem raillardella.[1] It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California and western Nevada and parts of the southern Cascade Range in Oregon, where it grows in varying habitat types, from wet to dry and exposed to shaded. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing in a clump of rosetted basal leaves. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped, up to 16 centimeters long, and glandular. The plant produces an inflorescence just a few centimeters to half a meter tall consisting of flower heads which are cylindrical to hemispheric in shape. Each head contains many yellow to orange disc florets and sometimes a few ray florets. The fruit is a long, narrow achene 1 to 2 centimeters in length including its pappus of plumelike bristles.

Raillardella scaposa

Green Leaved Raillardella, Stem Raillardella
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: RASC2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raillardella_scaposa
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RASC2

Plant Characteristics

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: Orange , Yellow
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution
USA: CA , NV , OR

Hairy Paintbrush
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Castilleja pilosa is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name parrothead Indian paintbrush. It is native to the western United States from California to Wyoming, where it grows in mountain and plateau habitat across the Great Basin and surrounding regions. It is known from sagebrush scrub to high mountains in alpine climates.

This wildflower is a perennial herb growing upright or along the ground with hairy stems up to about 35 centimeters long. It is quite variable in appearance. The inflorescence is made up of layers of greenish, purplish, or pink bracts sometimes edged in white. Between the bracts bloom the pouched yellow-green flowers with protruding stigmas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja_pilosa
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CATE26

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual
Habit: Herb
Size Notes: Up to about 18 inches tall.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Yellow
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul , Aug

Distribution
USA: CA , ID , NV , OR , WA
Canada: BC

Harvest Brodiaea
Hetch Hetchy ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA May 2008

An umbel of several violet or blue-violet, funnel-shaped flowers at top of a leafless stalk with a few long, very narrow basal leaves that are usually withered by flowering time. Mounds of narrow leaves, 4-16 in. in height, arise in late winter to early spring and brown when the flower buds have swollen. The flowering stem is about the same height as the leaves, bearing a terminal umble of small, tubular, violet-pink flowers. The intensity of color and number of flowers varies within the species.

This plant begins to flower as fields dry out in the early summer. Several species of Brodiaea (pronounced bro-dee-ah), are similar. In Harvest Brodiaea (B. coronaria), from British Columbia to southern California, the scales between the stamens are concave on their inner side, longer than the stamens and lean toward them. One of the most handsome is Wally Basket, Grass Nut, or Ithuriels Spear (Triteleia laxa), which grows on heavy soils in grassland or brush from southern Oregon to southern California; it reaches a height of up to 28 (70 cm) and has many flowers in a large umbel, with 6 stamens and beneath the ovary a stalk 2-3 times its length.

Brodiaea elegans Hoover
Harvest brodiaea, Elegant cluster-lily
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: BREL
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ --and-- Wikipedia

Hawthorn
Dorney, Buckinghamshire UK May 2010

Crataegus monogyna

Deciduous tree dense leaved and thorny with short trunk. Commonly used for stock proof hedging. New shoots and leaves are reddish. Distinctive white blossom with strong scent and red berries (haws) later. Height 10 - 15m. Age long lived - 250 years

Found on all soil types. Protects seedlings of other broadleaved trees particularly oak from predation and hence aids natural regeneration. Natural distribution throughout British Isles and Europe to 500m.

Flowers Leaves Fruit Ripen Fall

May-June Mar-April Jul-Aug Oct-Nov Nov

Seed is deeply dormant - treat as for Acer campestre. Approx 8000 germinable seeds per Kg. lso grown from cuttings. Grows rapidly for first 15 years or so. For hedges grow in seed beds for 2 years and then transplant into rows. Ready to plant into hedges at 4 years. Weeding improves growth significantly. Laying hedges to make them stockproof is an old country skill

Sourced from: http://www.judywoods.dial.pipex.com/British%20Wild%20Flowers.html/

Hoary (Frosted) Buckwheat
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011

Eriogonum incanum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name frosted buckwheat. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California and extreme western Nevada. It is also known from Oregon

This is a dioecious perennial herb which forms mats up to 20 centimeters tall and 30 wide, sometimes quite a bit smaller. It has clusters of woolly, petioled leaves one to two centimeters long which form a gray-green or yellowish layer on the sandy soil or among rocks.

The plant bears dense, rounded clusters of flowers, sometimes on erect stalks, which are yellow, red, or both. Male plants produce staminate flowers 2 or 3 millimeters wide and female plants produce slightly larger pistillate flowers.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Horsemint
Emigrant Wilderness ~ Huckleberry Lake, California USA July 2014

Numerous leafy, 4-sided stems with opposite leaves and, near top, pale pink to lavender, bilaterally symmetrical flowers in dense circles crowded into tight spikes.

Agastache, from the Greek agan (much) and stachys (ear of grain), refers to the flower clusters. The spikes, short corolla lobes, and protruding stamens are distinctive.

Agastache urticifolia (Benth.) Kuntze
Nettleleaf giant hyssop, Nettle-leaf Horsemint
Lamiaceae (Mint Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: AGUR
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Jeffrey Shooting Star
Lukens Lake Trail ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA June 2012

Dodecatheon jeffreyi is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family known by the common names Sierra shooting star, Jeffrey's shooting star, and tall mountain shooting star.

This wildflower is native to western North America from California to Alaska to Montana, where it grows in mountain meadows and streambanks. This is a thick-rooted perennial with long, slightly wrinkled leaves around the base. It erects slim, tall, hairy stems which are dark in color and are topped with inflorescences of 3 to 18 showy flowers. Each flower nods, with its pointed center aimed at the ground when fresh, and becomes more erect with age. It has four or five reflexed sepals in shades of pink, lavender, or white which lie back against the body of the flower. Each sepal base has a blotch of bright yellow. From the corolla mouth protrude large dark anthers surrounding a threadlike stigma. The flowers of this species were considered good luck by the Nlaka'pamux people, who used them as amulets and love charms.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Jointleaf Rush
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Juncus articulatus is a flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae. It is known by the common name jointleaf rush[1] or jointed rush,[2] which can also refer to J. kraussii from Australia. It is native to Eurasia, Canada, Greenland, and much of the United States.[1] It grows in moist areas, such as wet sand, and thrives in calcareous soils. J. articulatus was found to be more sensitive to drought and salt stress than its congeners J. acutus and J. maritimus.[3] It is a perennial herb producing mainly erect stems from a short rhizome. The stem may root at nodes, and it generally has one or more flattened hollow cylindrical leaves up to 10 centimeters long. Transverse internal partitions or joints may be seen or felt in the leaf of the plant.

The inflorescence atop the stem has several branches with up to 25 clusters of up to 12 flowers each. Each individual flower has greenish to dark brown, pointed tepals 2 to 3 millimeters long, six stamens bearing anthers, and a protruding, feathery pistil. The fruit is a dark brown capsule with a pointed tip.

Juncus articulatus

Jointleaf Rush, Jointed Rush
Juncaceae (Rush Family)
Synonym(s): Juncus articulatus var. obtusatus
USDA Symbol: JUAR4
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juncus_articulatus
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=JUAR4

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb , Grass/Grass-like
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: To about 2 feet in height.
Size Class: 1-3 ft.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Red , Green , Brown
Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep
Bloom Notes: Tepals green turning to reddish-brown with age.

Distribution
USA: AK , AZ , CA , CO , CT , ID , IL , IN , KY , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MT , NC , NE , NH , NJ , NM , NV , NY , OH , OR , PA , RI , SD , UT , VA , VT , WA , WI , WV , WY

Large-Leaved Lupine
Mt. Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Blue-pod lupine or meadow lupine is a 3-5 ft., robust perennial with bold, rich-green, palmate leaves and stately spires of large, deep-blue, purple or reddish flowers. 1 or several mostly unbranched, stout, hollow stems with violet or blue-violet pea flowers in long dense racemes.

This somewhat succulent lupine is one of the tallest and lushest western species. It has been crossed with other lupines, particularly Tree Lupine (L. arboreus), for beautiful horticultural hybrids.

Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.
Bigleaf lupine, Blue-pod lupine, Meadow lupine, Bog lupine
Fabaceae (Pea Family)
USDA Symbol: UP
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily
Mt. Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Calochortus leichtlinii is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Leichtlin's mariposa, smokey mariposa, and mariposa lily. The plant is native to the Sierra Nevada and Modoc Plateau of California and adjacent parts of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon and western Nevada. It grows in coniferous forest and chaparral habitats, including the lowest grassy hills—such as along the Sierra Nevada boundary with the Central Valley and agriculture.[5][6]

The small underground bulbs were eaten by the Native Americans.

Calochortus leichtlinii

Smoky Mariposa
Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: CALE3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calochortus_leichtlinii
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CALE3

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Linear
Fruit:

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Pink , Blue
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul , Aug

Distribution
USA: CA , NV

Lemmon's (Granite) Draba
Lukens Lake Trail ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA June 2012

Draba lemmonii is a perennial plant in the Mustard Family (Brassicaceae) found in the high elevation United States Sierra Nevada range, commonly known as Lemmon's Draba.

Growth pattern: It is a hairy mat forming perennial growing to 6 inches (15 cm)
Habitat and range: It grows in crevices, talus, and rocky meadows of the subalpine forest and alpine zone of the United States Sierra Nevada range
Leaves and stems: Basal leaves are obovate, up to 1 inch (2.5 cm), and hairy on both sides
Inflorescence and fruit: The flower stalk has up to 30 small, yellow, 4 petalled flowers on top in July of August.[1]

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Live Forever
Hetch Hetchy ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA May 2008

An evergreen leaf succulent, closely related to the Mexican hens-and-chicks. One or few reddish stalks bearing red to yellow flowers in a flat-topped, branched, dense cluster and growing from a basal rosette of thick, succulent, grayish-green leaves. Rootstocks penetrate rock crevices and bear small, dense rosettes of broad, drab-green leaves. Borne from leaf axils, the 4-8 in. flower stalks bear crowded, candelabra-like clusters of bright-red to yellow flowers.

Many species of Dudleya in California, and a few in Arizona, may hybridize, adding to the difficulty of identification. They resemble Sedum, but the latter generally have flower stalks growing from the center of the rosette or the stem tip rather than from leaf axils, and their petals are not joined near the base.

Dudleya cymosa (Lem.) Britt. & Rose
Canyon live-forever, Canyon liveforever, Dudleya
Crassulaceae (Stonecrop Family)
USDA Symbol: DUCY
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Map Lichen
Upper Emigrant Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2012

Rhizocarpon geographicum (the map lichen) is a species of lichen, which grows on rocks in mountainous areas of low air pollution. Each lichen is a flat patch bordered by a black line of spores. These patches grow adjacent to each other, leading to the appearance of a map or a patchwork field.

Map lichen is a lichen widely used by climatologists in determining the relative age of deposits, e.g. moraine systems, thus revealing evidence of glacial advances. The process is termed lichenometry. Lichenometry is based on the assumption that the largest lichen growing on a rock is the oldest individual. If the growth rate is known, the maximum lichen size will give a minimum age for when this rock was deposited. Growth rates for different areas and species can be obtained by measuring maximum lichen sizes on substrates of known age, such as gravestones, historic or prehistoric rock buildings, or moraines of known age (e.g. those deposited during the Little Ice Age).

This lichen species is broadly distributed and may be found in most cold areas with exposed rock surfaces. The North American range includes the Sierra Nevada and northern Boreal forests of Canada, Greenland, Iceland Fennoscandia and Siberia. In the tropics it only occurs at high altitudes such as the Andes of Peru and Colombia. Further south the Map lichen is found broadly across Patagonia, in the Falkland Islands, the sub Antarctic islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.

In Britain it can be found commonly growing on hard siliceous rocks, especially in upland regions. Its range covers virtually all of Scotland, much of North West England, and other upland areas in much of the rest of England, Wales and Ireland too.

Outer space

In an experiment, this lichen species was placed in a capsule and launched into space. The capsule was opened, exposing the lichen to space conditions for 10 days before being brought back down to Earth, where it showed minimal changes or damage.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

White Marsh Marigold
Lukens Lake Trail ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA June 2012

Caltha leptosepala (White Marsh Marigold, Twinflowered Marsh Marigold, or Broadleaved Marsh Marigold) is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family. It is native to western North America from Alaska to New Mexico, where it grows in wet mountain habitats in alpine and subalpine regions. There are two general wild types of this species, one native to the interior and one that grows along the Pacific coast and coastal mountains, but these are not always treated separately.

This is a perennial herb growing a mostly naked stem with leaves located basally. The leaves are up to 13 or 15 centimeters long and may have smooth, wrinkled, or toothed edges. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers. Each flower is 1 to 4 centimeters wide and lacks petals, having instead petallike sepals which are usually white or sometimes yellow. In the center are many long, flat stamens and fewer pistils.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Meadow Larkspur
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Delphinium nuttallianum is a species of larkspur known by the common names twolobe larkspur and Nuttall's larkspur. It is widely distributed across western North America from California to Alberta. This wildflower has a white to pink erect stem usually not exceeding half a meter in height which may branch several times. Deeply lobed leaves are located mostly about the base of the plant. The inflorescence occupying the top end of the stem has few widely-spaced flowers on long pedicels. The sepals are long and curl backwards or fold upon themselves. They may be dark purple to light blue. The lower petals are the same color, while the upper are often white. The spur is one or two centimeters long.

Delphinium nuttallianum Pritz. ex Walp.
Delphinium, Two-lobe larkspur, Twolobe larkspur
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
USDA Symbol: DENU2
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphinium_nuttallianum

Meadow Penstemon
Mt Hoffman ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Penstemon (pronounced /ˈpɛnstɨmən/),[1] Beard-tongue, is a large genus of North American and East Asian plants traditionally placed in the Scrophulariaceae family. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae. Classical taxonomy[who?] maintains the traditional placement in Scrophulariaceae.

They have opposite leaves, partly tube-shaped, and two-lipped flowers and seed capsules. The most distinctive feature of the genus is the prominent staminode, an infertile stamen. The staminode takes a variety of forms in the different species; while typically a long straight filament extending to the mouth of the corolla, some are longer and extremely hairy, giving the general appearance of an open mouth with a fuzzy tongue protruding and inspiring the common name beardtongue.

Most penstemons are herbaceous perennials, the remainder being shrubs or subshrubs. Heights can range from 10 cm to as much as 3 meters.

The one Asiatic species previously treated in Penstemon is now placed in a separate genus Pennellianthus. This leaves Penstemon a mostly nearctic genus, with a few neotropical species. Although widespread across North America, and found in habitats ranging from open desert to moist forests, and up to the alpine zone, they are not typically common within their range.

Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis (Greene) N. Holmgren
Herbaceous penstemon
Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
USDA Symbol: PERYO
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon

Mountain Dandelion
Garnet Lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011

Agoseris retrorsa is a perennial herb forming a base of leaves about a number of erect, thick, wool-coated inflorescences up to half a meter in height. The narrow leaves are linear to lance-shaped, and spearlike with curving toothlike lobes along the edges.

The inflorescence bears a single flower head which is several centimeters wide when fully open. It is lined with woolly, pointed phyllaries which are green, often with reddish purple longitudinal streaks or stripes. The flower head contains many golden yellow ray florets, the outer ones usually darker in color.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Mountain Dogwood
Big Oak Flat Road ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA May 2009

Tree with dense, conical or rounded crown of often horizontal branches and with beautiful white flower clusters. This is the west coast edition of C. florida. It is a 15-40 ft., single- or multi-trunked tree or shrub with a spreading crown and large, showy, creamy white blossoms sometimes flushed with pink. Graceful, horizontal-tiered branching; orange to red fruits; and yellow-orange, fall foliage are other landscape attributes. Pacific flowering dogwood is deciduous.

Pacific Dogwood is one of the most handsome native ornamental trees on the Pacific Coast, with very showy flowers and fruit. The head of flowers with surrounding, petal-like bracts resembles a huge flower and is commonly so called. The flower is larger than that of the eastern Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida L.), usually having 6 bracts instead of 4. John James Audubon (1780-1851), the American ornithologist and artist, who painted this tree in his famous work Birds of America, named it for its collector, Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859), the British-American botanist and ornithologist.

The genus cornus is Latin for a horn.

Cornus nuttallii Audubon ex Torr. & Gray
Pacific dogwood, Pacific flowering dogwood, Mountain dogwood
Cornaceae (Dogwood Family)
USDA Symbol: CONU4
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

Mountain Gooseberry
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014

Ribes montigenum is a species of currant known by the common names mountain gooseberry, alpine prickly currant, and gooseberry currant. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to New Mexico where it grows in high mountain habitat types in subalpine and alpine climates, such as forests and talus. It is a spreading shrub growing up to 1.5 meters tall, the branching stems covered in prickles and hairs and bearing 1 to 5 sharp spines at intervals.

The lightly hairy, glandular leaves are up to 4 centimeters long and are divided into about five deeply cut or toothed lobes. Each is borne on a petiole several centimeters in length. The inflorescence is a raceme of several flowers. Each flower has five sepals in shades of yellow-green or pale pink, orange, or yellow which spread into a corolla-like star. At the center are five smaller club-shaped red petals and purple-red stamens tipped with yellowish or cream anthers. The fruit is an acidic but tasty bright red to orange-red berry up to a centimeter long which is usually covered in soft bristles. It has only a small dried flower remnant at the end, compared with the long remnant found on wax currants (Ribes cereum).

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Mountain Heather
Garnet lake ~ Ansel Adams Wilderness, California USA August 2011

Phyllodoce breweri is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names purple mountain heath and Brewer's mountain heather. It is native to California, where it can be found in mountain ranges including the southern Cascade Range, the San Bernardino Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada, its distribution extending into Nevada. It grows in rocky subalpine mountain habitat, such as slopes and meadows. It is a matlike shrub with many short stems lined densely with leathery evergreen needlelike leaves. The inflorescence is a cluster of several flowers toward the ends of the stems, with some flowers occurring below in leaf axils. The bright purple-pink flowers are cup-shaped as the petals are fused except for the very tips, which roll under. At the center of the flower is a yellow ovary and ten long, protruding stamens tipped with large anthers.

Phyllodoce breweri (Gray) Heller
Purple mountainheath, Purple mountain heath, Purple mountain heather, Brewer's mountain heath, Brewer's mountain heather
Ericaceae (Heath Family)
USDA Symbol: PHBR4
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon

Mountain Jewel-flower
Huckleberry Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA July 2014

A branched plant with heart-shaped or round leaves and racemes of flask-shaped, pale yellow or cream to dark brownish-purple flowers.

Mountain Jewelflower is one of the most widespread and variable species in this western genus. Heartleaf Jewelflower (S. cordatus) is very similar but grows east of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range.

Streptanthus tortuosus Kellogg
Shieldplant, Mountain Jewelflower
Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: STTO3
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ -- and -- Wikipedia

Mountain Larkspur
Mt Dana ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Delphinium glaucum is a species of larkspur known by the common names Sierra larkspur, mountain larkspur, and glaucous larkspur. This wildflower is native to western North America from Arizona to Alaska. It grows in moist mountainous environments, such as riverbanks and meadows. This plant sprouts one to several tall, stout, pale green erect stems which may approach three meters in height. The lobed leaves are generally found only at the base of the plant. The top of the stem is a large inflorescence which may itself be over a meter long. It usually contains over fifty widely spaced flowers, with each flower on a pedicel a few centimeters long. The sepals are flat and extend to the sides or point forward. The sepals and petals are dark blue to deep purple, although the top two petals may be lighter in color to almost white. They may be somewhat wrinkly. The spur is about two centimeters long.

Delphinium ramosum Rydb.
Mountain larkspur
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
USDA Symbol: DERA
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S

Sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penstemon

Mountain Monkey Flower
Stanislaus Peak Trail, Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, California USA August 2007

Mimulus (pronounced /ˈmɪmjuːləs/)[1] is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers aka chimp-pansy and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first published in the mid-1990s[citation needed]. Multiple studies of chloroplast DNA and two regions of nuclear rDNA[2] suggest that the genera Phryma, Berendtiella, Hemichaena, Leucocarpus, Microcarpeae, Peplidium, Glossostigma, and Elacholoma are all derived from within Mimulus and would need to be rearranged.

It is recognized that there are two large groups of Mimulus species, with the largest group of species in western North America, and a second group with center of diversity in Australia. A few species also extend into eastern North America, eastern Asia and southern Africa. This enlarged group is a part of the newly redefined Phrymaceae.

Mimulus tilingii Regel
Tiling's monkeyflower
Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
USDA Symbol: MITI
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_flower

Mountain Pennyroyal
Twenty Lakes Basin ~ Hoover Wilderness, California USA July 2016

Alpine mountain balm or coyote mint is a variable species with many subspecies across its range. A grayish, aromatic plant with erect, bunched, leafy stems bearing opposite leaves and topped by small, whitish to pale purple or pink flowers in a dense head. In general, its stems form large mats about 1 ft. high. In bloom, these are covered with flower heads, ranging in color from near white to bright blue-purple. The paired leaves are highly fragrant.

Coyote Mint has many races in the West, varying in density of foliage hairs, breadth of heads, and relative length of bracts and calyx.

Monardella odoratissima Benth.
Alpine mountainbalm, Coyote mint, Mountain monardella, Mountain pennyroyal
Lamiaceae (Mint Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: MOOD
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MOOD

Mountain Pride
Mt Hoffman ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Penstemon newberryi is a species of penstemon known by the common name mountain pride. It is native to the mountains of northern California, Oregon, and Nevada, where it grows in rocky habitat, often at high elevation, such as talus. It is a bushy, mat-forming subshrub growing up to 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are mostly basal on the plant, oblong or oval and toothed, measuring 1 to 4 centimeters in length, with a few smaller pairs along the stem. The glandular inflorescence bears showy magenta flowers 2 to over 3 centimeters in length. The flower is generally tubular or funnel-shaped and has a coating of short to long and curly hairs in the mouth and on the staminode.

Penstemon newberryi Gray
Mountain pride
Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family)
USDA Symbol: PENE3
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ --and-- Wikipedia

Mountain Spiraea
Mt Hoffman ~ Yosemite National Park, California USA August 2010

Subalpine Spiraea is a low-statured, deciduous shrub, 2-3 ft. tall, with shiny, bright green leaves; reddish-purple bark; and flat-topped clusters of tiny, dark-pink to purple flowers that bloom June - August.

The Subalpine Spiraea is a member of the rose family (family Rosaceae) which includes about 2000 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs worldwide.

Spiraea splendens Baumann ex K. Koch
Rose Meadowsweet, Subalpine Spiraea
Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: SPSP2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

Sourced from: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ --and-- Wikipedia

Mousetail Ivesia
Pingree Lake ~ Emigrant Wilderness, California USA August 2019

Ivesia santolinoides is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names silver mousetail,[1] stellariopsis,[1] Sierra mousetail[citation needed] and mousetail ivesia.[2] It is endemic to California where it grows in several mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges.

This is a perennial herb which can be somewhat different in appearance from many other mousetails. Each leaf is made up of many leaflets but they are tiny and overlap tightly to form a woolly, taillike, cylindrical leaf up to 10 centimeters long. The erect, naked stem reaches up to 40 centimeters in height and bears an inflorescence of flowers. Each flower is up to 8 millimeters wide and has large, round white petals above the much smaller, pointed sepals. There are 15 stamens and a single pistil.

Ivesia santolinoides

Sierra Ivesia, Sierra Mousetail, Silver Mousetail
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: IVSA2
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivesia_santolinoides
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=IVSA2

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Inflorescence: Terminal
Size Notes: Up to about 16 inches tall.
Fruit: Aggregated achenes.

Bloom Information
Bloom Color: White , Yellow , Purple
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution
USA: CA