First, the purples

This morning before the temperature climbed too far toward its eventual high in the 90’s I hiked a ways (about two and a half miles) up the Munson Creek trail (USFS trail # 372) toward Big Hole Peak. Almost at the start I noticed that the array of wildflower species there was remarkably different from the ones on the Spring Creek trail on which I hiked just two days ago and which is only about 9 miles to the east. Interesting, and not entirely explainable by a steeper trail and a slightly higher elevation.

Today’s post will feature the purples.

Western Mountain Aster ~ Symphyotrichum spathulatum

As the name “Nodding Onion ~ Allium cernuum” implies, these could be detected by smell before their appearance.

Wild Bergamot ~ Monarda fistulosa, well known for its pleasant smell.

It’s hard to resist a picture of the “Bluebell-of-Scotland, Harebell ~ Campanula rotundifolia” when they pose so nicely.

Pinkfairy, Deerhorn, Ragged Robin ~ Clarkia pulchella

Wildflowers of summer (8)

Viper’s Bugloss ~ Echium vulgare

Western Mountain Aster ~ Symphyotrichum spathulatum

Yellow Monkey-flower ~ Mimulus guttatus

Chickory ~ Cichorium intybus

White Clematis ~ Clematis ligusticifolia

St. John’s-wort ~ Hypericum perforatum

The last flowers of June

That I photographed, anyway. (Unless I missed some in the 386 photos I took during the month.)

There seems to be a disagreement between one of my favorite wildflower sites from British Columbia which calls the next flower “False Solomon’s Seal” and the USDA Plants site which calls it “Feathery False Wild Lily of the Valley”. (I’ll stay out of that dispute, but whatever they’re called, these were the prettiest of that species that I’ve seen!)

False Solomon’s Seal, or, False Wild Lily of the Valley, maianthemum racemosum

This group photo also includes a stalk of Western Groundsel,

whose seed head looks like this.

And the Western Mountain Aster, Symphyotrichum spathulatum.