highly visible

Showing 49–60 of 67 results

  • Penstemon palmeri / Palmer’s penstemon

    • very tall, exposed
    • pink flowers with rose/grape scent
    • flowers clumped on one side of stem in groups of 4-5
    • red "guidelines" (bloody fangs) on lower petals
    • stem leaves opposite, clasping, like little boats

  • Penstemon whippleanus / dusky beardtongue

    • large-ish purple or creamy-white tubular flowers
    • from the side, flowers look like a gaping mouth; 2 lobes above, 3 below
    • flowers typically hang down in small clusters at the top of their stems
    • opposite, sessile leaves on flowering stems
    • subalpine on rocky areas, as at Darby wind cave

  • Picea engelmannii / Engelmann spruce

    • common, especially in mixed conifer forests
    • canopy a narrow spire in young trees, cylindrical in older trees
    • sharp, pointy needles, generally "swept" toward branch tips
    • needles attached to twigs with woody pegs (sterigmata)
    • pendant cones less than 2.5 inches long; thin scales, wavy margins

  • Picea pungens / Colorado blue spruce

    • conical, layered crown; whorled branches
    • frequent epicormic branches; "woolly" look
    • stout, yellow-brown twigs with sterigmata (woody pegs)
    • cones greater than 2.5" long
    • cone scales stiff at base, diamond shaped, not wavy at tips
    • in mixed conifer forests

  • Pinus contorta / lodgepole pine

    • evergreen conifer
    • needles in groups (fascicles) of 2
    • lopsided cones, (mostly) remain on tree when mature
    • rounded crown; orangey-brown scaly bark

  • Platanthera dilatata / white bog orchid

    • dense cluster of bright white, clove or cinnamon scented flowers
    • 2 wing-like sepals, a hood, and a lower lip with a spur
    • 3-6 principle leaves... alternate, lance-shaped
    • in boggy wet areas

  • 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

  • Potentilla fruticosa / shrubby cinquefoil

    • low, deciduous, shrub; wetlands and riparian zones
    • yellow buttercup-like flowers with 5 leaflets, often in clusters
    • blooms from June until frost
    • pinnately compound leaves, typically with 5 leaflets
    • fruit (achene) remains into winter

  • Primula parryi / Parry’s primrose

    • striking, bright magenta (or pink) flowers with yellow centers, 5 petals
    • 3 to 30 flowers per stalk
    • brilliant green foliage as a rosette
    • foliage releases horrible smell with the slightest touch
    • typically at higher altitudes in wet places

  • Pseudotsuga menziesii / Douglas fir

    • persistent cones with distinctive 3-pronged, "mouse tail", bracts
    • semi-pointy, but not stiff or sharp, single needles
    • needles attached to twigs by petioles (no pegs)
    • oval leaf scars
    • twig buds are pointy, "lustrous" brown

  • Rosa spp. / wild rose

    • deep red (to pink) flowers; wonderfully fragrant
    • understory shrub in wetter areas
    • flowers mid-summer

  • 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

Showing 49–60 of 67 results