stream banks

on the banks, but not necessarily in the water

Showing 1–12 of 45 results

  • Acer glabrum / Rocky Mountain maple

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

  • Allium brevistylum / short-styled onion

    • clusters of 7-15 urn-shaped flowers atop a single flowering stalk
    • pink with 6 tepals
    • leaves much shorter than the inflorescence
    • leaves grow from base and are "grass-like"
    • swampy meadows and along streams
    • smells like onions/garlic

  • Apocynum cannabinum / common dogbane

    • herbaceous perennial with red stems and long/narrow leaves
    • leaves have prominent veins
    • leaves and stems exude white latex if broken
    • white, bell-shaped flowers held erect in stalked clusters
    • seedpods long, thin and brownish; in pairs
    • often near streams or in moist places

  • Argentina anserina / silverweed

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

  • 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.

  • Bistorta bistortoides / American bistort

    • rocky areas, tundra/alpine
    • inflorescence a 2" dense cylinder with many teeny white flowers
    • notable protruding stamens
    • leaves basal, long/thin and leathery

  • 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

  • Cicuta douglasii / water hemlock

    • HIGHLY TOXIC
    • primarily on continuously wet soils, e.g. ditches, stream banks, pond margins, marshes.
    • white compound umbel inflorescence typical of the Apiaceae/Umbelliferae
    • multiply compound leaves with prominent veins ending in notches between lobes

  • Cirsium scariosum / elk thistle

    • usually tall, quite prickly thistle with deeply lobed, spiny leaves
    • large, lavender (pink to purple) flowers hidden by the long leaves
    • covered with white hairs giving it a silvery look overall
    • in moist areas, in full sun

  • Corallorhiza wisteriana / spring coralroot

    • small, easily missed in the forest duff
    • no leaves, no green parts
    • flowers have white lips, possible spots, no eared tabs
    • scape (flowering stalk) purple, or yellow, or brown
    • may stay dormant for years at a time

  • Cornus sericea / red osier dogwood

    • shrub with opposite branching and red bark, brightest in fall/winter
    • common along streams especially
    • small white flowers, 4 petals, in clusters
    • white or blue-ish white berries in fall
    • opposite leaves with parallel veins

  • Erythranthe guttata / seep monkeyflower

    • yellow flowers with red spots in clumps of 5 or more
    • flowers large for the plant, but otherwise "normal" size
    • two "lips" - lower lip larger than upper, each with 2 petals
    • found in wetlands of all kinds

Showing 1–12 of 45 results