Okanogan Fameflower
When we are hiking the open ridges, Okanogan Fameflower is easy to miss. The plants are small and usually grow on rocky, barren ground, inconspicuous, except when they are in flower. We have a few go-to spots on the Red Plateau Escarpment to witness the blooms in May and June.
- Talinum Sediforme is a fleshy perennial in the purslane family
- It grows from a thick branched taproot and forms a woody base, spreading out along the ground into small cushions.
- There are no basal leaves but many green (with some red) succulent cylindrical/round leaves grow along the short stems.
- The 5-petalled white (sometimes cream-colored or pinkish) flowers are showy.
- Each flower lasts only a day but the herb will continue to flower irregularly from April to July.
- Flowers are about 5 cm across and only extend about 3 cm above the leaves.
- Fameflower typically grows on rocky, exposed sites on a south exposure
- All photos taken by the author. Click an image for information on the date and location and for a larger (lightbox) view. We will be adding more images to this gallery after we hike to similar sites in May and June of 2019.
- Another name in references may be Talinum okanoganense.
- After flowering, capsules form and small black seeds develop.
- Okanogan fameflower can be found in the Kamloops area, the southern Okanagan, and in the central, northern counties of Washington State. The spelling of “Okanogan” refers to Okanogan County, the largest by area in the State of Washington
- We have transplanted small plants from the rocky ridges to sunny rockeries in the home garden successfully.
We hope to encounter more sites that have Okanogan fameflower in bloom, but we know some sites near the top of the Red Plateau Escarpment best accessed via the Dewdrop Trail and some short hikes out to the slope break near the Ragged Red Ridge and Castle Butte which we hike in May and June each year.