Catching up ~ 1

I have been trying to post photos of the various wildflower species found in this region this spring but I’ve gotten behind. This will be the first of three posts of the species I didn’t mean to ignore. Each is unique and pretty in its own right.

Feathery false lily-of-the-valley, Plumed solomon’s seal ~ maianthemum racemosum

Tall Western Groundsell ~ senecio integerrimus

Starry false lily-of-the-valley, Star-flowered solomon’s-seal ~ maianthemum stellatum

Lemon Weed, Western Gromwell ~ lithospermum ruderale

Prickly Currant ~ ribes lacustre

Field Chickweed ~ cerastium arvense

Alaska Saxifrage ~ saxifraga ferruginea

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“On moist outcroppings…”

A few days ago on a short bike trip on a lightly traveled road along the river, some small specks of white caught my eye. They decorated an area of sharp cliffs that had a seep of water trickling down over them. I stopped and a closer look disclosed these pretty little blossoms of a species of saxifrage that I had never before encountered. (Just when you think you’ve seen them all.) My favorite plant book notes under Ecology: “Scattered at low to subalpine elevations mostly in wet Columbia Mountains on moist rock outcrops, damp soil and streambanks”.

Alaska saxifrage, Russethair saxifrage, Rusty saxifrage, Saxifraga ferruginea

(Found in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Alberta, British Columbia and Northwest Territory)