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.)