A strange spring for western Montana wildflowers

After a winter with large amounts of snowfall (the high country around here still has 140% of normal snowpack) and lots of cloudy/rainy days this spring, the forests are very dry. The rain we’ve had has been mostly light showers with not much water volume, and the flowers which depend on April rain are doing poorly, at least in this specific area. These were taken on a couple of short hikes recently and the selection was not very good.

Round-leaved Violet ~ Viola orbiculata

In an area that usually abounds with violets, this and the following one were found only on a small hillside where water from snow melting at a higher elevation was trickling out of the ground.

Canadian White violet ~ Viola canadensis

Woodland Strawberry ~ Fragaria vesca

Mule Deer ~ Odocoileus hemionus: (A fellow wild plant aficionado)

Heart-leaf Arnica ~ Arnica cordifolia

Pacific Trillium ~ Trillium ovatum

These are Pacific or Western White trilliums that are in the final stages of their boom, when they turn pink. It took me awhile initially to realize that the pink ones are not from a different species.

Western Blue Clematis ~ Clematis occidentalis

Early Blue Violet ~ Viola adunca

Arrowleaf Balsamroot ~ Balsamorhiza sagittata

Grand Fir ~ Abies grandis

Pioneer Violet ~ Viola glabella