Enjoying the sunrise

It was 32° this morning when the sun came up and this little fellow seemed to think it felt good!

Pink Mountain Heather

Pink Mountain Heather ~ Phyllodoce empetriformis

“These cheerful bells ring an invitation to high places above the timber line, to those serene and lofty slopes where peace and quiet enter our souls.” – L.J. Clark, Wild Flowers of the Mountains in the Pacific Northwest.

Photographed on September 5, 2011 at about 7,400 feet on Mount Headley in the Cube Iron/Silcox Roadless area in western Montana

“horridus”?

Devil’s Club ~ Oplopanax horridus

Every time I see the species name of this plant it occurs to me that the person who named it probably came into contact with its spines. The stems and even the underside of the leaves are heavily armed with large spines which readily break off when one comes in contact with them and the resulting wound soon festers if the spine stays embedded in the skin.

Devil’s Club is a member of the ginseng family, growing up to ten feet tall with leaves over 14 inches across and various parts of it have been used by native peoples to treat a large array of ailments. It is found in Canada in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and in the Yukon, and in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon and Michigan (where it is listed as “threatened”).

These photos were taken in Spring Creek Canyon, where the plant is plentiful. This year I missed the blossoms which are small and white and grow in dense clusters at the ends of the stems. The bright red berries are not edible.

Just looking around

(From the top of Mount Headley)

Wildflowers at Blossom Lake

(These photos were taken during a hike to Blossom Lake in the Evans Gulch roadless area in western Montana on August 31, 2011. Though late in the year, there are still several species of wildflowers in full bloom there.)

Subalpine Spirea ~ Spiraea densiflora

Scouler’s St. Johnswort, Norton’s St. Johnswort ~ Hypericum scouleri

Pinedrops ~ Pterospora andromedea (Saprophytic perennial)

Pinedrops are saprophytic perennials with unbranched flowering stems, fleshy at flowering, then turning fibrous and persisting as dried stems for over a year. (Saprophytes do not have green leaves or contain chlorophyll and cannot manufacture their own food and therefore do not depend on the sun. Instead, they obtain their food from decaying material in the litter and humus and are usually found in the deep shade of mature coniferous forests.)

Even in the smoke

Even in the smoke that now fills our skies, wildflowers and other plants in the high places seem unaffected. Here are a few photos of them from the top of Mount Baldy.

A cone on a Subalpine Fir

Shrubby Penstemons

Prickly Sandwort

Pearly Everlasting

Pine White Butterfly on Goldenrod