well, at least on the lower part of the Spring Creek trail.
American twinflower ~ Linnaea borealis
White spirea ~ Spiraea lucida
Three-spot Mariposa Lily ~ Calochortus apiculatus
Orange Honeysuckle ~ Lonicera ciliosa
Spotted Coralroot ~ Corallorhiza maculata (an orchid)
This was really “funny.” As I scrolled down I was thinking I would ask if there was any honeysuckle near the spirea, and in seconds I had my answer. Your next pictures were of honeysuckle. They always seem to grow near each other around here. Wonderful photos of those tiny flowers up close.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — June 20, 2015 @ 9:19 pm
The white spirea seems to like the lower elevations, but there is a beautiful pink one that likes it up around 5000 feet. The honeysuckle shares the low elevations too.
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Comment by montucky — June 20, 2015 @ 10:05 pm
And another comment – I just had another close look at the last flower and thought, “Gee, that face in the middle almost looks like an orchid,” and then I saw the fine print – an orchid.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — June 20, 2015 @ 9:20 pm
Since I haven’t been out much so far this summer, I might have missed the bloom of the orchids, in particular the spotted coralroot and the striped coralroot. The one in the photo was rather scrawny and might be pretty late in its life. There should be some higher up though that will bloom later.
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Comment by montucky — June 20, 2015 @ 10:08 pm
I’ve never seen orange honeysuckle here, only the white variety. I’m assuming they still smell as nice though? 🙂 I love the delicate American twinflower shapes. They look like little decorative lampshades. I see a nice white spider in that shot too. Thanks for sharing more Montana beauty.
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Comment by Jane — June 20, 2015 @ 11:41 pm
Yes, the honeysuckle is fragrant. I’ve read that it can be grown from clippings, but I haven’t had any luck with that yet.
The little crab spider is quite plentiful around here. It can change color from yellow to white and loves to make its home on wildflowers, so there must be a relationship there.
The twinflowers are very small and hug the ground, but there are areas along that trail that are just covered with them.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 7:15 am
Another nice selection.
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Comment by Malcolm R. Campbell — June 20, 2015 @ 11:46 pm
Those were the prevalent flowers along about a mile of trail where I took my friend The Pointer for a walk yesterday. I really should hike there about once a week because I know I’ve missed some of the blooms this year.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 7:17 am
Beautiful! The spiraea is just gorgeous. I’m guessing it smells lovely too?
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Comment by Jo Woolf — June 21, 2015 @ 3:39 am
It does, and it is large enough to be easily seen. The pink variety grows in big areas along a higher altitude (5000 feet) lake not too far from here and because of that the lake is called “Blossom Lake”.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 7:19 am
Beautiful! I didn’t know that there was an orange honeysuckle. That one looks like it might be a vine rather than a shrub though, and we don’t see many vining honeysuckles unless they’ve been planted.
The mariposa lily reminds me of tradescantia, or spider wort.
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — June 21, 2015 @ 4:28 am
These honeysuckles are vines and very long ones at that. It’s interesting to see the large orange blossoms in the lower branches of the fir trees sometimes. I’ve tried to transplant them from clippings, which I’ve read is pretty easy to do, but haven’t had any luck yet.
I see that tradescantia does grow in Montana, but I have never seen it. It doesn’t appear in the states further west, so it may grow only in eastern Montana. There are many species and sub species of Calochortus here and they seem to be separated by altitude. I think the ones the grow around 6000 feet are the prettiest.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 7:28 am
Wow, these are beautiful … what a treat to see them so close up … I have always loved that orange honeysuckle … one of your earlier images of it still graces one of my poems … and it’s still the perfect complement.
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Comment by Teresa Evangeline — June 21, 2015 @ 6:03 am
Wildflowers are the highlights of my summers. I can’t imagine what a summer would be like without them.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 7:35 am
such lovely flowers
a joy to see
i am thrilled to be amongst flower season
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Comment by Tammie — June 21, 2015 @ 8:48 am
The wild flowers make this the best part of the year for me without doubt!
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 9:57 pm
My favorite’s the white spirea, purely because of pesonal association. I grew up surrounded by a cultivated variety, Spiraea prunifolia: the traditional bridal wreath spirea. It’s one of the few childhood flowers whose fragrance still lingers in my mind. We have honeysuckle, of course (native, as well as the ubiquitous import), but it’s a poor substitute for spirea. I do like the twinflower. I don’t remember seeing that before, but I could have missed it. The variety in the wildflower world always amazes me.
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Comment by shoreacres — June 21, 2015 @ 8:49 am
The variety amazes me too. I have documented over 200 species in just this little area, and it’s impossible to pick a favorite… there are so many. they all fit into nature’s balance, but I wish I knew how and where. We really know so little about this world in which we live!
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 10:11 pm
Just beautiful, Terry.
Must be a real treat to see the wild flowers now that the snow has gone.
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Comment by Vicki — June 21, 2015 @ 5:04 pm
Yes, wild flowers are a real treat. Now for the rest of summer and well into fall I will follow the blooms up into the higher elevations. Up around 7000 feet now it is early spring, and of course there are some species or subspecies that live only up there.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 10:13 pm
Hi Montucky, Delicate, lovely blooms. Outstanding photography! Happy Father’s Day to you! Have a wonderful coming week!
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — June 21, 2015 @ 5:28 pm
Thank you! I hope you also have a great new week!
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2015 @ 10:14 pm
You know I never get tired of looking at your photos. So beautiful.
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Comment by Mama's Empty Nest — June 22, 2015 @ 8:46 am
Thank you! I just can’t stop taking pictures of flowers in the wild country.
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Comment by montucky — June 22, 2015 @ 9:23 pm
How nice it is every time to visit Your blog and find beautiful wildflowers. Thank You again.
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Comment by Sartenada — June 24, 2015 @ 3:46 am
The wild flowers are probably the best part of wilderness hikes, they are so pretty and diverse.
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Comment by montucky — June 24, 2015 @ 7:24 am
That’s a pleasant variety of flowers, not one of which grows in Austin. It’s clear that you’re having a good time.
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — June 24, 2015 @ 9:14 pm
Always a good time when there are wild flowers present!
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Comment by montucky — June 24, 2015 @ 10:37 pm
Nice! Especially like the spirea and lily.
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Comment by Candace — June 26, 2015 @ 7:35 am
I’m a little sad about the flowers along that trail that I missed this year! They have had a short blooming season, and now we are getting into your kind of temperatures!.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2015 @ 6:16 pm
I know! I was shocked to see how the temperatures are up there now!
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Comment by Candace — June 27, 2015 @ 1:03 pm
Yes, forecast for 103 today and 104 tomorrow. Lots of folks don’t have AC here, but the salvation is that it gets down into the 50’s at night.
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Comment by montucky — June 27, 2015 @ 1:19 pm
Beautiful flowers, that last one is really unique!
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Comment by wholelottarosie — July 5, 2016 @ 1:09 pm
That’s one of our wild orchids and I usually get to see only a few dozen each year. the flowers are very tiny, but grow all along a tall stalk and only in shady old-growth forest.
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Comment by montucky — July 5, 2016 @ 6:50 pm