drought tolerant

Showing 61–72 of 115 results

Juniperus scopulorum / Rocky Mountain juniper
- small, rounded evergreen tree (or shrub)
- fibrous, red to grey, shredded bark
- pollen and seed cones at branch tips on separate plants
- female cones blue berries with a waxy, whitish bloom
- leaves on mature plants scale-like
- leaves on young plants are prickly, needle-like
Koeleria macrantha / Prairie Junegrass
- short, tuft-forming bunchgrass
- leaves short and basal with raised veins
- grows in early spring; flowers in June/July
- spike-like cylindrical inflorescence, 2-5" long, tan or purple
- scattered distributions, esp. in rocky or sandy forests or plains
Lactuca serriola / prickly lettuce
- numerous dime-sized yellow flowers in an "airy" panicle
- buds droop or hang in a "shepherd's hook" before opening
- seed heads are dandelion-like, but more delicate
- highly divided, prickly leaves
- mostly in "waste" areas
Linaria vulgaris / yellow toadflax
- fine, threadlike leaves, plants up to 3 feet tall
- flowers similar to snapdragon, pale yellow with orange lower lip, long spur
- flowers in tight terminal clusters
- plants typically in patches
- "noxious" weed in Idaho
Lomatium triternatum / nineleaf biscuitroot
- flowers soon after snowmelt
- yellow compound umbel on leafless stem
- leaves are three-fold compound; leaflets grass-like
- may be tall with wide umbels on good soil
- may be very short with small umbels on rocky, sandy, low nutrient soil
Lupinus spp. / silvery and silky lupins
- palmately compound, usually silvery-green leaves
- 5-9 leaflets per leaf; long petioles
- flowers on long, spikey racemes, blooming from bottom upward
- numerous flowers, but all rather teeny; most purple or blue
- flowers are above the leaves
- seeds in short, hairy pods
Madia glomerata / mountain tarweed
- stems, leaves, flowers - strongly aromatic, like tar
- sticky glandular hairs cover foliage and floral bracts
- flowers in clusters with 1 to 3 yellow ray florets
- disk florets retain visible petals; black stamens
Mahonia repens / creeping Oregon grape
- pinnately compound with toothed, holly-like leaflets
- clusters of yellow flowers in spring; blue berries in late summer
- low, creeping shrub
- evergreen - but winter leaves are reddish
Medicago lupulina / black medic
- prostrate, long creeping stems
- compound leaves with 3 small, rounded leaflets
- teeny yellow flowers in very small button-like clusters
- disturbed areas with compacted soil - roadsides & wastelands
Medicago sativa / alfalfa
- escaped forage plant
- bright purple flowers in dense clusters
- pea-like flowers with broad upper petal, 2 small laterals, keel
- compound leaves with 3 leaflets, the central one extended on a short stalk
- disturbed sites - roadsides, full sun
Melilotus spp / sweetclover
- yellow or white, floppy, tubular flowers in long-ish clusters (racemes)
- 3 small, pointy leaflets with petioles
- rangy, unkempt branching
- roadsides, waste places and sometimes in fields, grasslands
Onobrychis viciifolia / sainfoin
- forage legume, taller than alfalfa
- pink pea-like flowers with striped banner petal and darker keel
- spiky inflorescence (a raceme) blooming from bottom up - up to 50 flowers
- pinnately compound leaves with single terminal leaflet
- naturalized with sagebrush and mountain shrubs, but also in the central Valley