While out paddling our region’s lakes in summer, I often walk the shorelines, trails, or backroads to spot and photograph wildflowers and flowering shrubs. Three of these lakes were located in higher elevations.
McGillivray Lake lies at 1402 m (ft) in a mixed forest area. The eastern shore has a wet marshy shoreline and so there were many bog orchids, white rhododendrons, and cow parsnip.
Shared here in the first gallery are white bog-orchid (Planthera diletata sp.), white-flowered rhododendron (Rhododendron albiflorum), alpine paintbrush (Castilleja rhexifolia), Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis), queen’s cup (Clintonia uniflora), thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia), cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum sp.), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), willowherb (Epilobeum ciliatum), mountain ash (Sorbus sinchensis), and thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus).
Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption/ID.
Stake Lake lies at 1327 m (ft) and is surrounded by lodgepole pine and douglas fir forests, but there are also a number of larger marshes nearby. Shared here is red paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), raspberry (Rubra idaeus sp.), tiger lily (Lilium columbianum), and a ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus).
Lodgepole Lake lies at 1408 m and is surrounded by reforested hills, mostly pines, but there are aspens and douglas fir too. From my hike are photos of sickletop lousewort (Pedicularis racemosa), bog orchid (Planthera diletata sp.), and bog wintergreen (Pyrola asarifolia).
More Information:
- Bog wintergreen is also called pink wintergreen, or liverleaf wintergreen.
- The Latin name for twinflower is from Carl Linnaeus, the father of the taxonomy system for naming organisms. Twinflower was his favorite plants.
- Valerian root has long been used as a sedative.
- Five of these are shrubs. Do you know which ones?
