Waterton Penstemons
Rick Tucker provided some photos from a trip to Waterton National Park in June. All of the photos and captions are Rick’s, shared here for us to enjoy. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption. … Continue reading →
Sack Starwort (Asterella saccata)
Sack Starwort (Asterella saccata) Fragrant Macewort (Mannia fragrans) This post was originally published in April 2019. At the time, I identified the specimen as Mannia fragrans based on the information I had available at the time. Recently, an Italian bryoplogist, Guido … Continue reading →
Wildflowers of the Columbia River Valley in Early May
We hiked the lower slopes and paddled the lakes for a week, and even did a downriver paddle on the river in the Radium – Invermere Valley. We spotted a number of wildflowers and stopped to take photos, enjoying spring … Continue reading →
Yellow Agoseris
Yellow agoseris is one of my favorites. We have run into patches of these blooms in dry forests, in established, gravelly glades, on south-facing slopes, in burned forests, and on the fringes of open uplands meadows. Agoseris glauca is also … Continue reading →
Field Chickweed
It is easy to miss the flowering of field chickweed in spring. The low-growing herbs have small flowers and the blooms appear among many of the more noticeable wildflowers, but we stop to admire the semi-transparent petals, arranged around a … Continue reading →
Mountain Forget-Me-Not
We usually run into mountain forget-me-nots while hiking through alpine meadows. Our first encounter is at lower elevations (Neskonlith Meadows in April), then later in subalpine locations like the alpine meadows on Tod Mountain, in the Marble Range, and in … Continue reading →
The First Arrivals in Spring
A new video now available on YouTube: In 2019, the first arrivals appeared on the first day of spring.
Continue reading →Pink Monkeyflower
We usually encounter pink monkeyflower in seep zones, seasonal stream channels, and wet meadows in subalpine areas in the mountains in summer. The first time I ran into mimulus lewisii in flower was in 1969 when I hiked around Helm … Continue reading →
Paintbrush
We look forward to spotting paintbrush as we hike the trails in late spring and summer. The showy bright red bracts symbolize the arrival of warm weather and the beauty of summer flower meadows. Castilleja miniata or common paintbrush is … Continue reading →
Steppe Mouse-moss
Steppe mouse-moss or coscinodon moss (Coscinodon calyptratus) is a widespread and common moss on rocks in dry open grasslands in the Kamloops area as well as dry hot habitats in the Southern Interior. It is absent on the coast and … Continue reading →
Showy Milkweed
Milkweed emerges in disturbed areas, on the rivershore above the high water mark, and along the sides of paths looking weedy and primitive. When the flowerheads start to emerge we are then reminded of the showy exotic-looking flowers and … Continue reading →
Tufted Thread Moss
Tufted thread moss (Bryum caespiticeum) is one of the most common mosses in BC. It is very common on disturbed soil where it produces small to large colonies of small shoots less than a centimeter tall surrounded by a clump … Continue reading →