interesting bits

Showing 61–72 of 100 results

  • Packera multilobata / lobeleaf groundsel

    • deeply lobed leaves, mostly at the base of the plant
    • bright yellow daisy-like flowers, 10-30 in a cluster per plant
    • orange-yellow disk florets
    • woodlands, foothills, and generally dry/ sandy/ rocky places.

  • Parnassia fimbriata / fringed grass of Parnassus

    • ca. 1" flower with obviously fringed, white petals
    • flowers look very "complicated"
    • thick, rounded basal leaves
    • usually in wet places, but also alpine on rocks

  • Penstemon rydbergii / Rydberg’s penstemon

    • small, blue/purple tubular flowers in leafy whorls
    • flowers lack glands or hairs
    • basal rosette of bright green, spoon-shaped leaves without glands or hairs
    • stem leaves are lanceolate, around flower clusters
    • wetter areas, but also along Victor/Driggs bike path

  • Phacelia sericea / silky phacelia

    • deep purple flowers with really long stamens and orange anthers
    • many flowers arranged in a tight coil up to 2 feet long
    • silky, divided (fern-like) leaves
    • exposed, higher altitude, rocky places; often with sagebrush

  • Phalaris arundinacea / reed canarygrass

    • large, coarse, erect grass
    • long, flat blades with pointy tips...  from base
    • distinct ligule—membranous and long
    • large but compact inflorescences (panicles)
    • often in dense monocultures, e.g. on river banks

  • Phleum pratense / timothy

    • tight, cylindrical flower head
    • probably the most recognizable grass in the Valley
    • pink stamens with prodigious pollen production in summer
    • bulb at base of stem; brown leaf sheath bases

  • 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

  • Pinus albicaulis / whitebark pine

    • high altitude - subalpine to alpine; cold, windy sites
    • five needles in tight fasicles
    • brown to purple cones at top of tree; cones don't open
    • scaly grayish bark

  • 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

  • Pinus flexilis / limber pine

    • high elevation, rocky or talus, dry, high-stress habitat
    • often - stunted and deformed by wind
    • highly flexible branches
    • needles in bundles (fascicles) of 5
    • often - semi-rotted cones on ground below

  • Plantanthera unalascensis / slender-spire orchid

    • teeny, green flowers, well-separated, not spiraled
    • a "tall, thin, green nothing"
    • basal leaves prostrate, but not appressed to the ground
    • leaves often wither before pollination occurs
    • found in many different habitats

  • Platanthera huronensis / green bog orchid

    • usually in bogs, fens, wetlands
    • up to two feet tall, but often shorter
    • thick, nearly vertical leaves with parallel veins (i.e. grass-like)
    • up to 75 very small flowers per stem (raceme)
    • flowers -light green to greenish-white; two petals, three sepals, a lip and club-like spur
    • lip is not pouch-like

Showing 61–72 of 100 results