nutrient poor soils

Showing 1–12 of 66 results

  • Abies lasiocarpa / subalpine fir

    • narrow, tall, sharply tipped trees
    • cones purple and erect; disintegrate in the fall
    • needles flattened, soft and blunt tipped, brushed upward
    • needles sessile - no petioles or pegs
    • leaf (needle) scars round

  • Agoseris glauca / yellow false dandelion

    • yellow, dandelion-like flower - same size and color
    • long-ish, thin leaves growing at ground level (a rosette); no lobes or pointy bits
    • blooms in spring and summer
    • shade intolerant but on sites ranging from moderately dry to wet

  • Allium acuminatum – tapertip onion

    • umbels with 10-40 flowers atop a tall scape
    • 6 magenta (or white) tepals per flower
    • few leaves and all withered prior to flowering
    • dry hillsides, sun-exposed rocky meadows and slope, volcanic areas

  • Anemone multifida / cutleaf windflower

    • usually 5 bi-colored "petals" - esp. pink or white; many stamens
    • leaves deeply cut and re-cut in 3s with rounded or pointed tips
    • stems and lower leaf surfaces usually hairy
    • gone to seed, fruits have a troll-doll look
    • on calcareous ledges, in shallow crevices or rocky outcrops; dry mountain tops or near water

  • Artemisia cana / silver sagebrush

    • Low perennial, silvery shrub
    • Highly aromatic, like sagebrush
    • Entire leaves - no lobes
    • Nondescript, inconspicuous flowers in small clusters with leaf-like bracts
    • Grows in more moist habitat than other Artemisia spp.

  • Artemisia rigida / stiff sagebrush

    • low growing deciduous shrub
    • short, 3-5 lobed, grey leaves (hairy)
    • mild to pungently aromatic leaves
    • brittle branches up to 16 inches long

  • Artemisia tridentata / mountain big sagebrush

    • medium-sized grey-green shrub
    • highly aromatic
    • tall, spikey inflorescences with many clusters of invisible flowers
    • limited to drier habitats (not the Valley basin)

  • Artemisia tripartita / threetip sagebrush

    • evergreen shrub; branches in broom-like clusters
    • all parts covered with silvery/grey-green glandular hairs
    • leaves long and very deeply, very distinctly 3-lobed
    • flowers in spikes/racemes - all bits teeny, overall yellow-ish/reddish
    • often with mountain big sagebrush on nutrient poor soils

  • Astragalus purshii / woollypod milkvetch

    • low growing, silvery, compound leaves; no tendrils
    • magenta (or white) "pea-like" flowers with darker keel petal
    • "congested" inflorescence
    • found in very dry areas, not in shade

  • Balsamorhiza macrophylla / cutleaf balsamroot

    • large, yellow, sunflower-like blossom
    • large, dissected/lobed/compound-looking leaves
    • up to 40" tall
    • roadsides or hillsides with arrowleaf balsamroot and Wyethia

  • Bassia scoparia / burningbush

    • large, annual herb (forb)
    • leaves long-ish and narrow
    • inflorescence a highly branched spike with teeny green/yellow flowers
    • may form huge, invasive colonies
    • whole plant turns red in fall
    • a tumbleweed
    • especially in disturbed areas and wastelands in the Valley

  • Boechera pauciflora / elegant rockcress

    • small, insignificant brassica on rocky soils, with sagebrush
    • rosette of small, hairy, spatulate leaves
    • single flowering stalk, 6" or more tall, covered with clasping, hairy leaves
    • flowers 4-petals, purple (usually) flowers with yellow centers
    • may be seen after snowmelt parasitized with yellow pseudoflowers

Showing 1–12 of 66 results