snowmelt

Showing 13–24 of 38 results

  • Erigeron compositus / cutleaf fleabane

    • "obviously" a daisy - white "petals" (ray florets), yellow center (disk florets)
    • flowers ca. 1" diameter
    • flowers grow above hairy leaf mat
    • early spring - soon after snowmelt
    • rocky areas amongst sagebrush

  • Erythronium grandiflorum / glacier lily

    • striking, yellow, six tepals - recurved and nodding
    • large, yellow or red anthers, a single pistil
    • two large green basal leaves
    • early spring

  • Fritillaria pudica / yellow fritillary

    • small, lovely, unprepossessing lily
    • a few, long, narrow leaves
    • a single (or two) yellow, bell-shaped flower
    • flowers turn brick red as they age
    • blooms just after snowmelt and disappears quickly

  • Geum triflorum / prairie smoke

    • among the earliest bloomers in the spring
    • clusters of nodding reddish, pink, maroon or purple flowers
    • flowers in groups of 3
    • distinctive fruit - like silvery-pink or mauve "troll dolls"
    • in large populations, fruiting plants look (sort of)  like smoke

  • Juniperus scopulorum / Rocky Mountain juniper

    • small, rounded evergreen tree (or shrub)
    • fibrous, red to grey, shredded bark
    • pollen and seed cones at branch tips on separate plants
    • female cones blue berries with a waxy, whitish bloom
    • leaves on mature plants scale-like
    • leaves on young plants are prickly, needle-like

  • Lomatium dissectum / fernleaf biscuitroot

    • blooms soon after snowmelt
    • yellow or purple-ish flowers in compound umbels
    • highly divided, fern-like leaves
    • rocks, rocky soils, sagebrush communities

  • Lomatium triternatum / nineleaf biscuitroot

    • flowers soon after snowmelt
    • yellow compound umbel on leafless stem
    • leaves are three-fold compound; leaflets grass-like
    • may be tall with wide umbels on good soil
    • may be very short with small umbels on rocky, sandy, low nutrient soil

  • Mertensia oblongifolia / sagebrush bluebell

    • bright blue-to-purplish flowers, hanging and downward facing
    • narrow tube that flares abruptly to bell
    • blooms in very early spring, soon after snow-melt
    • usually associated with sagebrush

  • Microsteris gracilis / slender phlox

    • everything about it is teeny
    • white or pink, 5-petal flowers ca. 2 mm diameter
    • exposed, in early spring (ephemeral)

  • Orogenia linearifolia / Indian potato

    • spring ephemeral, found only at snowmelt
    • very small plant, teeny flowers and teeny umbels
    • white flowers with purple dots (stamens)
    • grass-like leaves

  • Paxistima myrsinites / Oregon boxwood

    • low shrub
    • small, opposite leaves; lightly toothed, leathery, oval
    • very early spring flowering
    • teeny flowers with 4 red petals, 4 yellow stamens; in clusters
    • usually on open, dry, sunny sites or open forests

  • Phlox diffusa / spreading phlox

    • low, spreading, moss-like (before blooming)
    • flowers 5-petaled, a variety of colors, and with a tube below the petals
    • many habitat types incl. mountain slopes, rocky terrain, dry forests or with sagebrush
    • blooms in early spring to early summer
    • confusable with P. hoodii

Showing 13–24 of 38 results