Plants in the Valley

Showing 49–60 of 335 results

  • Calochortus nuttallii / sego lily

    • 3 large white petals
    • purple spots that border yellow glands
    • tangle of hairs (a "beard") at the base of the petals
    • but... very variable arrangement of spots, hairs etc.
    • rocky, exposed sites

  • Calypso bulbosa / eastern fairy-slipper

    • pink/magenta/mauve/purple orchid
    • lighter lower lip highlighted with purple veins; star-like petals and sepals
    • pointy bract behind flower
    • single oval, wrinkled leaf at ground level
    • about 6 inches tall

  • Camassia quamash / small camas

    • immediately visible for its star-shaped blue flowers and yellow anthers
    • flowers borne on a spike-like raceme, opening from the bottom up
    • multiple flowers open at one time
    • leaves are grass-like, growing from a bulb
    • large seed capsules with ca. 30 roundish black seeds, ripe in late summer

  • Campanula rotundifolia / American harebell

    • blue or blue-ish bell-shaped flower
    • fused petals with pointy ends make the bell
    • exudes white latex when wounded

  • Capsella bursa-pastoris / shepherd’s purse

    • small crucifer with terminal clusters of teeny white flowers
    • rosette of small, maybe toothed, leaves
    • very distinctive, notched, triangular fruits - like shepherd's "purses"
    • found pretty much anywhere that has/had bare soil

  • Cardamine hirsute / hairy bittercress

    • small brassica/crucifer with compound leaves
    • teeny white, 4 petal flowers with 4 stamens in racemic clumps
    • a widespread weed, including gardens and lawns

  • Carduus nutans / musk thistle

    • quite large, very purple flower heads
    • spiny everything... leaves, stems, bracts
    • biennial - large rosette of nasty leaves in first year
    • dandelion-like fruit that flies away like the down of a thistle
    • disturbed lands... pastures, wastelands, roadsides, construction sites

  • Carex spectabilis / showy sedge

    • roadsides or in wet and seasonally flooded meadows
    • showy inflorescences... yellow (stamens) above white (stigmas) on a purple background
    • grass/iris-like leaves up to 2 feet tall

  • Castilleja covilleana / Rocky Mountain paintbrush

    • clearly, one of the "Indian paintbrushes"
    • early bloomer in the spring, even when quite short
    • bright red, orange (sometimes yellow) bracts
    • bracts and leaves have 3-7 deep lobes with long, soft hairs
    • often grows in clusters

  • Castilleja linariifolia / Wyoming Indian paintbrush

    • generally taller than most paintbrushes (up to 3 feet)
    • very thin leaves, seldom lobed, seldom hairy
    • red inflorescence bracts, may be lobed
    • flowers extend well beyond bracts
    • calyx is red and shorter than the corolla which is greenish yellow
    • rocky areas with sagebrush and conifer forests

  • Castilleja miniata / scarlet paintbrush

    • bright red, or orange or sometimes yellow bracts that are mistaken for flowers
    • looks like a red feather duster, but only a few inches long
    • generally low, and along streams or roadsides on hills where there is moisture
    • leaves ovoid with prominent veins, no petioles

  • Castilleja spp. / paintbrushes

    • vibrant, red (or yellow) inflorescence (bracts)
    • widespread, but confusing... five or more species in the area

Showing 49–60 of 335 results