stream banks

Showing 25–36 of 45 results

  • Parnassia fimbriata / fringed grass of Parnassus

    • ca. 1" flower with obviously fringed, white petals
    • flowers look very "complicated"
    • thick, rounded basal leaves
    • usually in wet places, but also alpine on rocks

  • Picea engelmannii / Engelmann spruce

    • common, especially in mixed conifer forests
    • canopy a narrow spire in young trees, cylindrical in older trees
    • sharp, pointy needles, generally "swept" toward branch tips
    • needles attached to twigs with woody pegs (sterigmata)
    • pendant cones less than 2.5 inches long; thin scales, wavy margins

  • Picea pungens / Colorado blue spruce

    • conical, layered crown; whorled branches
    • frequent epicormic branches; "woolly" look
    • stout, yellow-brown twigs with sterigmata (woody pegs)
    • cones greater than 2.5" long
    • cone scales stiff at base, diamond shaped, not wavy at tips
    • in mixed conifer forests

  • Potentilla fruticosa / shrubby cinquefoil

    • low, deciduous, shrub; wetlands and riparian zones
    • yellow buttercup-like flowers with 5 leaflets, often in clusters
    • blooms from June until frost
    • pinnately compound leaves, typically with 5 leaflets
    • fruit (achene) remains into winter

  • Primula parryi / Parry’s primrose

    • striking, bright magenta (or pink) flowers with yellow centers, 5 petals
    • 3 to 30 flowers per stalk
    • brilliant green foliage as a rosette
    • foliage releases horrible smell with the slightest touch
    • typically at higher altitudes in wet places

  • Ranunculus orthorhynchus / straightbeak buttercup

    • 5 (to 8) bright, shiny yellow petals with long pedicels
    • many stamens and pistils
    • large, compound leaves with 3-5 pointy-lobed leaflets
    • found in wet areas including irrigation ditches

  • Ribes hudsonianum / northern black currant

    • moist wooded areas, streambanks
    • erect, spike-like inflorescences with up to 50 white flowers
    • bitter berries, ripening to black
    • leaves and stems covered with resinous glands
    • leaves 3-5 lobed, glandular below
    • smells bad

  • Ribes viscosissimum / sticky currant

    • shrub to 7 feet tall
    • stem and leaves covered with sticky, glandular hairs
    • white, bell-like flowers in drooping or erect clusters (up to 15)
    • rough leaves, 3-5 equal lobes, toothed margins
    • fragrant flowers and leaves

  • Rudbeckia occidentals / western coneflower

    • dark cone-shaped flower head - like a sunflower without petals
    • ring of yellow "bumps" visible during pollination time
    • "cones" about 1" but double that when in seed.
    • usually a tall plant with sunflower-like leaves
    • alternate (not opposite) leaves

  • 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

  • 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

Showing 25–36 of 45 results