Compositae

Showing 13–24 of 56 results

  • Balsamorhiza macrophylla / cutleaf balsamroot

    • large, yellow, sunflower-like blossom
    • large, dissected/lobed/compound-looking leaves
    • up to 40" tall
    • roadsides or hillsides with arrowleaf balsamroot and Wyethia

  • Balsamorhiza sagittata / arrowleaf balsamroot

    • large, bright yellow, sunflower-like blossoms in early spring
    • very large, more or less triangular basal leaves
    • leaves appear silvery, or grey-green due to leaf hairs
    • on open, fairly dry hillsides and ridges, often with sagebrush

  • Carduus nutans / musk thistle

    • quite large, very purple flower heads
    • spiny everything... leaves, stems, bracts
    • biennial - large rosette of nasty leaves in first year
    • dandelion-like fruit that flies away like the down of a thistle
    • disturbed lands... pastures, wastelands, roadsides, construction sites

  • Centaurea maculosa / spotted knapweed

    • "vibrant" pink flowers
    • dark tips on the sepals ("bud scales") - the "spotted" in the name
    • biennial - rosette of leaves in first year
    • officially a noxious weed

  • Chaenactis douglasii / Douglas dusty maiden

    • leaves "woolly" or hairy; intricately divided
    • leaf and lobe tips curled or twisted
    • flowering stems coated with "cobwebby" hairs
    • flower heads of white/pinkish tubular disk florets in a glandular cup
    • forked styles protrude past tubes
    • often in rocky areas and crevices

  • Cirsium arvense / Canada thistle

    • purple or lavender clearly-thistle flower heads
    • multiple small flower heads per stem
    • deeply lobed, spiny leaves, but stems not spiny
    • clonal and perennial
    • in clumps or along roads, sometimes quite large/long

  • Cirsium hookerianum / Hooker’s thistle

    • clearly a thistle, but with white flowers
    • native but not plentiful
    • seen at Mahogany Creek in mid-August

  • Cirsium scariosum / elk thistle

    • usually tall, quite prickly thistle with deeply lobed, spiny leaves
    • large, lavender (pink to purple) flowers hidden by the long leaves
    • covered with white hairs giving it a silvery look overall
    • in moist areas, in full sun

  • Cirsium vulgare / bull thistle

    • very nasty spines all over, including stems
    • purple flower head over pear/egg-shaped narrow, spiny bracts
    • fruits are thistle-downy
    • disturbed areas, but also forest gaps, stream sides and seeps

  • Crepis acuminata / tapertip hawksbeard

    • leaves (diagnostic) - long; many deep triangular, pointed lobes; upright, grey-green; milky sap
    • flowers - 5-10 rays, no disc florets; yellow; up to 70 per plant
    • dry, open places in foothills; commonly with sagebrush

  • Doellingeria engelmannii / Engelmann’s aster

    • shade tolerant - in mountain woods and meadows
    • late summer/autumn blooming
    • each blossom/flower has only a few curly rays around a yellow disk
    • ray florets mostly white, but possibly pink or blue
    • ovate leaves, mostly hairless and sessile; prominent veins.

  • Ericameria nauseosa / rubber rabbitbrush

    • golden-yellow flower heads in profusion
    • small 5-petaled flowers
    • widespread shrub
    • very narrow, linear leaves
    • white sticky sap ("rubber")

Showing 13–24 of 56 results