early spring

Showing 25–33 of 33 results

  • Populus tremuloides / quaking aspen

    • white barked, often growing in large clones
    • leaves flat with long, flat petiole at 90˚
    • leaves quake in even light breezes
    • twigs and buds reddish, long and pointed
    • catkin flowers in very early spring
    • leaves turn yellow or reddish or orange-ish in fall

  • Prunus virginiana / western chokecherry

    • oval leaves with serrated margins and abrupt taper at tip
    • reddish twigs with prominent lenticels
    • drooping clumps of white flowers w/ yellow centers in spring
    • red to black cherries in fall, up to ½ inch diameter
    • leaves turn orange or yellow in fall

  • Rumex acetosella / sheep sorrel

    • long, vertical inflorescences... not compact or well "organized"
    • female plants with red/maroon flowers; males with green/white flowers
    • especially visible when seeds are ripe... red
    • basal rosette of arrowhead shaped leaves
    • disturbed areas, wastelands, poor sites

  • Senecio integerrimus / tall western groundsel

    • early spring to early summer, often with larkspur
    • bright yellow flower head with several, disheveled looking blossoms
    • only 5-13 ray florets (petals)
    • cobwebby hairy basal leaves, especially when young
    • seasonally moist areas, from sagebrush to higher parts of the fen

  • Sorbus scopulina / western mountain ash

    • moderate sized shrub with pinnately compound leaves
    • 9-13 leaflets per leaf (usually)
    • teeny white flowers in large rounded clusters
    • yellow berries in August become bright red in September
    • rocky hillsides, creek sides, open woods

  • Thalictrum occidentale / western meadow-rue

    • delicate compound leaves, each segment with 3 lobes
    • leaves "look like" columbine
    • male and female flowers on separate plants
    • all flowers teeny, in clumps, somewhat to really purple
    • in moist habitats, esp. stream banks in forests

  • Triteleia grandiflora / wild hyacinth

    • terminal cluster of several, blue (to white) funnel-shaped flowers
    • 6 tepals, 3 of which look wrinkled; deep blue lines on each tepal
    • only 2-3 very long thin basal leaves
    • onion-like but not smelly
    • mostly in grasslands - late June, early July

  • Valeriana dioica / wood valerian

    • perennial herb, up to 18"
    • stem leaves lobed with egg-shaped "leaflets"
    • inflorescence - compact, round-topped umbel-like cluster; white flowers
    • flowers are teeny! ca. 1/8" with protruding stamens
    • mostly in dry to moist forests

  • Veratrum californicum / California false hellebore

    • huge inflorescence covered with one-inch-plus flowers
    • six white tepals with green centers
    • moist areas, possibly very dense stands
    • foot-long, heavily veined, pleated bright green leaves

Showing 25–33 of 33 results