interesting bits

Showing 73–84 of 106 results

  • 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

  • Poa bulbosa / bulbous meadow-grass

    • short, tuft-forming grass
    • funny-looking flower stalks... having bulblets instead of florets
    • doesn't produce pollen or seeds

  • Polygonum aviculare / prostrate knotweed

    • long, prostrate stems around a central point
    • copious red-edged white flowers
    • small green leaves
    • along roadsides, parking lots and wherever trampling occurs
    • an ugly weed you'll see on most of your walks around town

  • Potamogeton richardsonii / Richardson’s pondweed

    • submerged aquatic with emergent inflorescence
    • crinkly, broad-ish leaves which clasp the stem
    • variable length internodes
    • often tangled up with sago pondweed

  • Pteridium aquilinum / common bracken

    • a fern with large, triangular fronds, up to 4 ft tall
    • fronds subdivided into triangular leaflets
    • herbaceous perennial
    • deciduous with annual regrowth first appearing as fiddleheads in spring
    • wide range of habitats, including full sun

  • Pterospora andromedea / woodland pinedrops

    • sticky-haired, reddish brown plant; no chlorophyll
    • nodding, yellow and pink flowers like upside-down urns
    • unbranched stem with "invisible" scale-like leaves at base
    • old, woody stalks with pumpkin-shaped capsules persist at least one season
    • in pine or mixed conifer forests

  • Purshia tridentata / antelope bitterbrush

    • small yellow, 5-petal flowers in early spring
    • small shrub, often in large "clumps"
    • leaves look like sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata)

  • Ranunculus adoneus / alpine buttercup

    • short, high altitude plant
    • rocks or moist meadows
    • yellow "buttercuppy" flowers, 5-10 petals
    • huge numbers of stigmas
    • highly lobed, finely dissected leaves

  • Ranunculus glaberrimus / sagebrush buttercup

    • one of the earliest spring flowers
    • yellow flowers, ca. 1" across
    • usually 5 shiny/waxy petals, numerous stamens
    • short, mostly elliptical leaves
    • in small to field-sized clumps
    • very poisonous

Showing 73–84 of 106 results