spring

Basically, late May and June

Showing 1–12 of 141 results

  • Acer glabrum / Rocky Mountain maple

    • understory shrub, small tree, multiple stems
    • opposite leaves; red twigs
    • maple-like leaves
    • teeny flowers; double-helicopter fruits

  • Actaea rubra / red baneberry

    • large, coarsely toothed, deeply lobed compound leaves
    • clusters of teeny white flowers that look feathery or fluffy (due to stamens)
    • green berries in late summer, maturing to red or white
    • black dot at tip of each berry
    • moist understory or shade

  • 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

  • Allium schoenoprasum / chives

    • globe-shaped umbels of pink flowers with darker midveins (stripes)
    • hollow, tubular leaves and flower stalks
    • smells like onions
    • grows from bulbs in clumps or sometimes individually
    • wild in wetlands, fens, meadows; cultivated in gardens

  • Alyssum desertorum / desert madwort

    • short crucifer with teeny leaves, no basal rosettes
    • short inflorescence with numerous teeny yellow flowers... short-lived
    • seed capsules mature by mid-July, ca. 40/stalk
    • disturbed sites of any kind
    • often in dense populations

  • Amelanchier alnifolia / serviceberry

    • erect shrub (3-18 ft), common in the Valley
    • usually several trunks
    • compact, fragrant white flower clusters
    • star-like flowers
    • smallish, light-green, oval leaves
    • small, edible blue "berries" by July
    • red/orange fall leaf color

  • Antennaria spp. / pussytoes

    • small clusters of white flowers, often fringed with red
    • flowers look like a cat's toes, sort of
    • newest leaves silvery/hairy
    • exposed, in many different habitats

  • Aquilegia coerulea / Colorado blue columbine

    • blue to white to pink or yellow tinged
    • long spurs (tails) as long as the petals are large
    • blooms late spring and July (stragglers in August)

  • Argentina anserina / silverweed

    • silvery, compound leaves on low, creeping stems
    • yellow, 5+ petaled flowers; lots of stamens
    • fens, other wetlands, but also roadsides

  • Arnica cordifolia / heartleaf arnica

    • yellow, daisy-like flowers; 1-2 per shoot
    • opposite, heart shaped leaves; long petioles; 2-4 pair per stem
    • large clonal colonies with many flowering and non-flowering shoots
    • the dominant ground cover  in moderate shade in many forests

  • Artemisia absinthium / wormwood

    • deeply lobed leaves; grey-green (hairy); aromatic (like sage)
    • stems to 4' tall; up to 20 per plant
    • small clusters of teeny yellow flowers in drooping heads
    • disturbed areas and may be weedy

Showing 1–12 of 141 results