interesting bits

Showing 97–106 of 106 results

  • Stuckenia pectinata / sago pondweed

    • submerged aquatic - dominant in its habitat
    • grass-like (but not a grass); waves in the current
    • branched with ~5" pointed leaves

  • Tetradymia canescens / spineless horsebrush

    • shrub - up to 3 feet tall and across; round
    • small, yellow composite flowers in clusters of 4 to 8
    • dandelion-like seeds often present with flowers
    • primary leaves short and linear; long-lived
    • secondary leaves in axils of primaries are short-lived
    • primary leaves are not spines

  • Triglochin maritima / seaside arrowgrass

    • in bogs, fens, and roadsides through them
    • "grass-like" leaves - semicircular cross section with a groove down the middle
    • tall flowering spikes with many crowded, green/yellow-ish, teeny flowers
    • clonal, so often in widely spaced clumps

  • Utricularia macrorhiza / common bladderwort

    • free-floating aquatic perennial; only the flowers are above water
    • yellow, snap-dragon-like flowers; up to 20 per stalk; ca. 1" across
    • very fine "leaves" underwater, supported by small (1/8") bladders
    • carnivorous and/or symbiotic - bladders capture/digest v. small animals, harbor symbionts

  • Vaccinium membranaceum / thinleaf huckleberry

    • understory shrub, locally dominant
    • oval, alternate leaves
    • very small white/pink urn-shaped flowers
    • flowers in axils on red/yellow new growth
    • fruit - a bluish/purple to black, ¼" berry
    Also known as: tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, black huckleberry

  • Valeriana edulis / hairy valerian

    • long-lived, herbaceous, dioecious perennial - limited to marshes and fens
    • grass-like basal leaves; pin-like lobed, stem leaves
    • teeny male flowers, white with five fused petals
    • sub-millimeter female flowers
    • male and female flowers usually on different plants
    • overall plant stands out above wetland grasses, rushes etc.

  • Veronica officinalis / heath speedwell

    • prostrate, herbaceous perennial
    • hairy green stems and leaves (obvious)
    • short, erect, spike-like shoots
    • ¼" blue/violet flowers
    • 4 petals with purple stripes
    • gaps and exposed soils

  • Viola praemorsa / upland yellow violet

    • yellow, 5-petals with purple "pencilling" on lower petals
    • back sides up upper petals brown-ish
    • leaves relatively thick, likely with many short hairs
    • on dry, rocky soils, often with sagebrush or steep slopes
    • soon after snowmelt; follows the snow up the mountains

  • Viola vallicola / sagebrush violet

    • early, bright yellow violet, usually in sagebrush
    • lanceolate leaves with long petioles
    • moderate purplish "pencilling" on lower petal; 1-2 lines on side petals
    • back sides of petals usually yellow (not brown)

  • Wyethia helianthoides / white mule’s ears

    • large, white-rayed flowers - like daisies
    • large leaves, reminiscent of mule's ears
    • uncommon but in huge profusion when it is found
    • in wetlands or wetter meadows and especially in the spring.

Showing 97–106 of 106 results