In late spring, we frequently hike through the upper grasslands of Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area.   We follow old tracks and trails, but we also make our own route, winding through open spaces and open forest in an eclectic way, usually climbing to viewpoints, but we also look for wetlands and natural features.    We take lots of photos along the way, a few of which are shared here.

Thompson’s paintbrush has a subtle beauty, less showy than its cousins.    Yellow-greenish bracts hide the small flowers.   Linear leaves line the stems, arising from woody bases.   We most often see castilleja thompsonii in dry grasslands.

Thompson’s paintbrush

Whole hillsides are blanketed with flowering arrow-leaved balsam root (balsamorhiza sagittata) in May- June.   The arrow-shaped, large leaves have a silvery-green color, offsetting the bright yellow flowerheads.

balsam root

For a short period of time small-flowered woodland stars (lithophragma unifoliata),  a member of the saxifrage family, are abundant on the wet slopes of the grasslands.    it can be spotted in the lower grasslands amid the sagebrush, in the middle grasslands among the ponderosa pines, and in the upper grasslands in open areas near aspens and the edge of the douglas fir forest.

woodland star

Chocolate lilies (fritillaria lanceolata) are abundant in some areas of the upper grasslands.   With their brownish-purple-yellow coloring they are easy to miss from a distance.   We spot them most often in glades below the tree line near aspens and clumps of douglas firs.   The bell-shaped pendulant flowers have a mottled appearance and coloration is variable from flower to flower.

chocolate lily

Lemonweed (lithospermum ruderale) has a weedy growth pattern, but the small yellow flowers which grow at the base of the upper leaves are very attractive in a close-up view.     Later in the season, small white hard nutlets form, the source of lithospermum (stone seed).

lemonweed

For a short period of time, sticky geranium (geranium viscosissimum) in abundant on wet meadow and in open areas on upper slopes.

sticky geranium

A few morels (morchella) appear at about the same time as the wildflower surge.  There are 70 varieties of morels worldwide and there is a lot of variation in each specimen.

morel

At the edge of the aspen and douglas fir forests in glades and meadows, early blue violets (viola adunca) produce many flowers on low-growing stems.   The leaves are generally oval with rounded toothed edges.

early blue violet

In the forest blue clematis (clematis occidentalis sp.) vines drape over shrubs, with blue downward facing sepals at the end of short stems.

clematis

There are waves of wildflowers that emerge every two weeks in the upper grasslands from early May through the end of July, in succession, timed/tuned by altitude and aspect,  and the nuances of changing daylight, moisture, competition, grazing, and other environmental factors.   We will continue to hike the grasslands and record what we find, sharing a few online when we can.