Plants in the Valley

Showing 277–288 of 335 results

  • Salix glauca / grayleaf willow

    • very low-growing shrub at high altitude (alpine/subalpine)
    • rounded to lance-shaped leaves; smooth below
    • large-ish catkin inflorescences

  • Sambucus nigra / common elderberry

    • shrub or small tree blooming in late spring
    • leaves opposite
    • pinnately compound with up to 9 leaflets with serrated edges
    • flowers are white, 5-petaled, in flat-topped clusters of clusters
    • "berries" are red or dark blue/black in August; often drooping when mature

  • Scrophularia lanceolate / lanceleaf figwort

    • teeny, snapdragon-like flowers
    • flowers urn-shaped with yellow with red or green on the outside
    • flowers look like they aren't yet opened
    • flowers on elongated panicle at the top of a tall-ish plant
    • opposite leaves like stinging nettle without the stingers
    • up to 5 feet tall in full sun/partial shade

  • Scutellaria galericulata / marsh skullcap

    • riparian zones and wetlands
    • blue, trumpet shaped (legume) flowers; usually in pairs on same side of a stem
    • flowers not at the top of the stems
    • square stems, widely spaced opposite leaves; adjacent pairs at right angles

  • Sedum lanceolatum / lanceleaf stonecrop

    • bright yellow, star-shaped flowers (possible red tinge)
    • fleshy/succulent, small leaves (green, yellow or red)
    • open rocky outcrops, gravelly sites
    • drought tolerant

  • 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

  • Senecio triangularis / arrowleaf ragwort

    • leafy stems with arrow-shaped, coarse-toothed leaves
    • often in large patches on moist soil
    • clusters of yellow flower heads, each with 8-ish untidy ray florets
    • numerous green involucral bracts, sometimes with black tips
    • largest leaves occur mid-stem

  • Shepherdia canadensis / Canadian buffaloberry

    • deciduous shrub, opposite branches and leaves; understory
    • trichomes (hairs) on lower, often upper surfaces.
    • lower surface has rust-colored scales
    • teeny yellowish flowers before leaves appear; male and female on separate plants
    • red or orange, oval fruits with one stony seed; soapy when crushed

  • Silene latifolia / white campion

    • white, 5-petaled flowers with distinctive inflated calyx (bladder)
    • flowers in clusters atop stems
    • whole plant densely hairy
    • widespread on alkaline soils (e.g. the Valley)

  • Sisymbrium altissimum / tumble mustard

    • inflorescence a raceme with yellow, teeny flowers
    • long, thin seed pods (siliques)
    • blooms throughout the spring and summer
    • shoots look like a bunch of sticks glued together
    • dries and breaks off, then tumbles

  • Sisyrinchium idahoense / Idaho blue-eyed grass

    • six blue, notched "petals" with yellow center
    • single flower; naked stem
    • narrow, grass-like, basal leaves
    • fens and wet meadows

  • Solanum physalifolium / ground cherry nightshade

    • flowers look like potato or tomato flowers
    • small white, 5 recurved petals
    • clump of yellow stamens protrude from flower
    • triangular leaves with wedge-shaped bases
    • usually sprawling on ground

Showing 277–288 of 335 results