May 25, 2023

Many new flowers have emerged this past week with our warm (70s), sunny weather and now rain. Those mentioned in the last posting, such as Spring Beauty – Claytonia lanceolata, Utah Buttercups – Ranunculus jovis, and Yellowbells – Fritillaria pudica – are blooming strong in the north end of Teton National Park.

New flowers are emerging in sage flats and up slopes:

 Shooting Stars – Dodocatheon conjugens  – grow only a few inches high. 

Five pink petals fold back and five dark anthers ring the protruding single stigma. These plants are buzz pollinated. 

A bee comes in, clings to the tiny clefts at the base of the petals, vibrates its wings at a certain frequency, and thereby releases pollen onto its belly.  It flies to another flower where the stigma is sticking out, and the stigma dabs up the pollen—pollination!

Woodland Stars – Lithophragma spp.- are patchy along the northeast corner of the Antelope Flats loop, but likely elsewhere as well. Members of the Saxifrage Family, they have sticky hairs and 5-petaled, white flowers. We have three species to look for. 

The most frequent now is Fringe-cup Woodland Star – Lithophrama glabrum.  Note the white petals each have 3-5 lobes. Also, 8-12” plants have hairy, red bulbils in many of the axils of the divided leaves. The bulbils help the plant spread vegetatively, a bonus in hard spring times when pollinators are scarce.  

Two other species to look for:

Slender Woodland Star – Lithophragma tenellum also has 3-5 lobes to each petal, but no bulbils.  Also, the stem leaves tend to be pinnately (feather-like) divided.

Little-flowered Woodland Star – Lithophragma parviflorum – typically has only 3 divisions to its petals. The cup-like calyx tends to narrow gradually to its base. Stem leaves are palmately divided.

Ballhead Waterleafs – Hydrophyllum capitatum – are flowering beneath their overarching divided leaves.  You have to lift the leaf to see the hairy snowball-like cluster of many white flowers with elongated anthers.  A fun discovery!

Yellow Violets – Viola spp. – First, let’s just enjoy the yellow violets that are emerging! Amidst a bunch of leaves, yellow “irregular” flowers come forth.  “Irregular” means there are two similar sides like your face. 

Note the lines that draw the pollinator into the center of the flower. The insect perches and then pushes its head inside to seek nectar, which is held in the back of the flower; thus, the insect picks up or drops off pollen during its maneuver to reach a sugary reward or pollen itself.

Several yellow violets look similar and can be tricky to ID. Many identification keys use proportions and dimensions of the leaves but leaves are highly variable. Taxonomists separate different kinds/species based on highly technical features: fruit shape, seed details, and genetics. Experts acknowledge the complexity of the matter. 

Without getting into the botanical weeds, we place this species as a variety of Nuttall’s Violet, likely Viola nuttallii var. praemosa or just V. praemosa.

Goosefoot Violet – Viola purpurea var. venosa – has distinctively lobed leaves, like a webbed goosefoot. The flowers tend to come out a bit later than the Nuttall violet complex.

Wyeth Biscuitroot – Lomatium ambiguum – is emerging along the Park Road and and will become more prominent in the next week or two. Its umbels of sharp-yellow, tiny flowers have rays that are uneven in length.  Look for the swollen bases (petioles) of the leaves: they are the beginning of a single divided leaf. 

The linear leaflets are irregular in shape, length and arrangement—truly ambiguous in its growth pattern.

Also in the Parsley family (note the umbels!), Nine-leaf Biscuitroot – Lomatium simplex, formerly L. triternatum var. platycarpum – is growing taller. Compared to L. ambiguum, its umbels are more regular, the flowers a paler more lemon yellow, and the leaves are clearly pinnately divided into similarly sized segments.  This species has at least three common names.  Common names are like nick names – often very localized among friends vs. the botanical names which are like formal legal names. 

Up Josie’s Ridge – (many of these plants are found elsewhere)

Josie’s Ridge, which runs west of Snow King, rises 1000’ above Jackson. 

The dry, open lower elevation hosts a wonderful array of varied-blue shades of Hood’s Phlox – Phlox hoodii. Elsewhere flowers tend to be white. The difference may be some genetic variation or due to soils. Anyone know the answer?

Take a moment to catch a whiff of the sweet fragrance or get down and put your nose into the bouquet. It is often the fragrance of a flower that draws in the insects from a far, before they notice the color – just as you may first smell a bakery down a side street before you see the sign.  In other places they are beginning to fade in our weekend heat, but again are fresh at higher elevations.

Tucked in more shady areas grow Western Valerians – Valeriana occidentalis. Note the candle-arbor arrangement of the flower clusters.  White petals are in 5’s. 

Stem leaves are opposite and mostly pinnately divided, while the basal leaves are in more of a bunch and can be whole. Plants grow to up to 2.5′ tall. 

Valerian root of herbalists is from the European species Valeriana officinalis. It is known as a mild sedative to reduce anxiety and help sleep.  As a general rule, different species in the same genus can have significantly different chemical properties and can have different effects on individuals. Be very cautious when wild collecting for herbal treatments.

Mountain Bluebells – Mertensia oblongifolia – grow in occasional patches. 

The dangling tubes of flowers start off pink and then become blue and open up when ready to be pollinated. Pollinated flowers drop off.

As one climbs up the step switchback trail, one is rewarded by plentiful American Pasque Flowers – Anemone/Pulsatilla patens var. multifida.

Seasonal favorites, these members of the Buttercup Family, have 5-7 blue sepals (no petals) that surround many anthers and many separate pistils.  The hairy divided leaves are opposite on the 12” stems. These are all-time spring favorites!

And later they are known as Phyllis Diller or Dr. Seuss plants when the pistils develop into fruits.

Diamond-leaf Saxifrage – Saxifraga rhomboidea – are scattered in the grasses. 

Each white tight flower head stands 6-8” above a cluster of slightly toothed, triangular basal leaves. The stems have glandular hairs.

Typical of the Saxifrage Family, each flower has two divergent stigmas that look a bit like a dunce cap when the pistils ripen into two follicles.

Don’t overlook the few Kittentails – Besseya wyomingensis – that stand about 8-10” high. 

The blue color of the 2-3” inflorescence is created by many stiff violet blue filaments of the stamens tipped with darker stigmas. Each flower has two stamens and one pistil with two minor bracts at the base. The leaves are soft hairy—actually most of the plant is “furry”—perhaps the source of the common name. In some places Kittentails have already gone to fruit.

The Latin Besseya is likely honoring the Mid-western botanist of the mid- to late 1800s, Charles Edwin Bessey, as was Bessey’s Locoweed (see below). Plant names, both common and scientific, have lots of stories behind them.

At the top Josie’s Ridge and also other dry sites, Scarlet Paintbrushes – Castilleja chromosa – are beginning to emerge.  Hard to miss.  The bright red flower clusters almost glow as the hairs catch the sunlight. All paintbrush flowers are complicated: the bracts and sepals, not the petals, usually provide the color to lure in pollinators – red often attracts hummingbirds.

They are now plentiful at the north end of Flat Creek Road.

On other dry knolls, ridge lines, and slopes, often mixed in with creamy Pursh’s Milkvetch – Astragalus purshii,

is another member of the Pea Family, Bessey’s Locoweed – Oxytropis besseyi. The leaves of the two species are very similar—pubescent and pinnately divided, mostly basal.  This Locoweed species has tightly clustered pink flowers with the familiar shape of many members of the Pea Family: upward facing banner, 2 side wings, and keel that protects the stamens and pistil.

Look closely to see the outward protruding point of the keel (vs. the curved-up tip of the Milkvetch). To remember this pointy feature and the Latin name of this genus, I think of being gored by an ox.  Oxys-tropis is Greek for ‘sharp point‘).

Both Milkvetches and Locoweeds are highly toxic to humans and other mammals.  All parts contain an alkaloid swainsonine that affects the central nervous system, reproductive system, heart, and intestinal systems, and lycocytes. It also affects behavior e.g. makes one “loco”.  Here is a link to more info.

In the time of compiling this What’s in Bloom, more flowers are happening.

Arrowleaf Balsamroot – Balsamorhiza sagittata – are running up the south side of East Gros Ventre Butte.

Nuttall’s Larkspur – Delphinium nuttallii – are flourishing out Flat Creek Road. 

So many more flowers are opening each day!

Frances Clark, Wilson, WY

As always we appreciate your comments and corrections at Tetonplants@gmail.com

On recent forays around Moose, Kelly Warm Springs, and out Flat Creek Road, eager botanists have found an array of early spring favorites. Often you have to get down on your belly to see the cool identification features (belly botany).  With so few flowers to date, this “What’s in Bloom” focuses on how much you can see if you really look.

Among sage flats or under open cottonwood stands:

Very early, and requiring a keen eye to find, are Turkey Peas – Orogenia linarifolia. The “peas” are underground bulbs. These starchy features are relished by squirrels and likely burrowing small mammals, such as voles and pocket gophers. 

The leaves are indeed linear as the botanical name implies – actually long lobes of divided leaves. The white flower clusters are barely an inch across and likely pollinated by tiny flies or gnats.  Turkey Peas are very small members of the Carrot/Parsley Family – Apiaceae.  Several more members of this family will be emerging this spring.  They can be tricky to ID, especially as the fruits are often the definitive key feature. Patience required.

Sagebrush and Utah Buttercups – Ranunuculus glaberrimus and R. jovis – are adding sunny sparkles to flats and slopes. 

Sagebrush Buttercups have simple leaves

while Utah Buttercups have 3-lobed leaves. The flowers are typically 5 petaled, but some have none.

The glossy look of buttercup flowers is a result of morphology and physics of the petals. See: Glossiness of Buttercups

 Spring Beauties – Claytonia lanceolata – are just unfurling their opposite leaves and expanding their white flowers—5 petals with 5 delicate pink anthers. 

Also, a challenge to discover, but definitely worth the effort, are Steer’s Heads – Dicentra uniflora. Look for the bluish, roundish leaflets and then for the expanding flowers only an inch or so off the often-pebbly ground. Their flowers epitomize the West!

The plants go from flower to seed within 3 weeks and the leaves soon disappear – they are termed “spring ephemerals” for their brief spring appearance. Research indicates that it may take 10 years from seed to the first flower.  The plants are also host plants for the larvae caterpillars of the Clodius Parnassian Butterfly – Parnassius clodius. 

A lot of cool info for such tiny plants. Tread carefully!

Yellowbells – Fritillaria pudica – are still scant.  In the Lily Family, the yellow flowers bear 6 yellow “tepals” held about 6” above ground.

Flying low where the spring sun is warming the soil and the wind is reduced, pollinators such as flies and bees search for early nectar and pollen as seen inside this flower.

Once a flower is fertilized, researchers say it’s petal color will change from yellow to an orange, signaling pollinators not to waste time visiting it: go to nearby flowers instead. This adaptation helps other members of the local yellowbell population to be fruitful. See if you can observe this change: carefully look inside for withered anthers and growing ovaries. I haven’t quite seen it myself.

Here and there, such as in South Park Feed Ground and near the park rotary, Cous Biscuitroots – Lomatium cous – are sprouting. Look for the dissected, deep green, mostly smooth leaves with reddish petioles and fists (umbels) of tiny sharp-yellow flowers.

At the base of each flower cluster or “umbel” are broad, rounded involucral bracts – a key ID species for this member of Carrot/Parsley Family.

Biscuitroots have swollen tubers which have been eaten raw or dried and pounded into flour that was used to make biscuits.  Fruits will be flat and split.

Also, in the Carrot/Parsley Family – Turpentine Spring Parsley – Cymopteris terebinthus – has finely dissected leaves with a tangy fragrance when crushed. The flowers are also yellow and arranged in umbels (think of the spokes of umbrellas), but here the involucel bracts are elongated and pointed. 

These plants will form quite large mounds of fine leaves and many winged fruits. Fruits are usually needed for definitive ID of members of the Parsley Family (Apiaceae). They are termed “schizocarps”–split fruits. Turpentine Spring Parsley tends to grow in shaley soils.

Dry rocky slopes and knolls, such as found in the hills on the east side of the Jackson Hole, feature special species:

One of the earliest and most common flowering plants are Hood’s Phlox – Phlox hoodii.  Related to garden phlox, Hood’s Phlox have small white-to-bluish flowers on very compact plants. Leaves are tiny, sharp, opposite, with “cobwebby” hairs. 

The tubular, fragrant flowers are furled in bud.  When the flowers unfold, a bee or fly which  is attracted by scent then color lands on the flared petals and then inserts its proboscis down into the tube for nectar, picking up or dropping off pollen grains during its visit.

Overall, the plants are smaller than the later-blooming Multiflora Phlox.

One of the smallest blooming wildflowers are Low Pussytoes – Antennaria dimorpha. Indeed, the mat-forming plants are less than an inch or two tall. 

Get down to look for the flower heads: Individual flowers are termed “disc” flowers and are arranged in composite heads. Male flowers produce pollen. Most of the plants I have been seeing so far are male. (photo below)

Female flowers produce delicate white stigmas surrounded by pappus hairs to catch pollen picked up by wind from any male plants nearby.

Like other pussytoes, plants are dioecious: male and female flowers are on separate plants. More species of pussytoes will be blooming soon.

Members of the Mustard Family (Brassicaceae) are often the earliest to bloom.  Twinpods and Bladderpods (formerly Lesquerella) are now all in the genus Physaria. Generally, the genus sports silvery, stiff, often spade-shaped leaves. Precise ID features include hairs(!) and fruits; and with fruits in hand, you may still need to count the number of seeds to know the species for sure.

But for now, just enjoy the cheerful color of the 4 yellow petals and the plant’s ability to grow on rocky, dry, infertile ground. If you have a 10x handlens, you may enjoy the fancy star-shaped hairs.

Also emerging are members of the Pea Family, Woollypod Milkvetch – Astragalus purshii.  The fuzzy, pinnately compound leaves are unfurling on rocky south-facing slopes near Kelly Warm Springs.

The pea-like flowers have white to cream banners and wings and purple-tipped keels. Fruits will be very hairy, short tough pods with sharp tips—hence “woollypod” milkvetch. Many fruits from last year are still lying about. 

A special find is Common Townsendia – Townsendia leptotes – These perennials in the Aster Family are slow growing with 1” flower heads surrounded by many tiered, pointed bracts.  The pubescent leaves are elongate and a bit fleshy. Growing close to the ground, plants tend to tuck in among small rocks.

The photo of the tap root was taken of a plant that was uprooted for some reason—did an elk take a nibble and spit it out?  Note the root extends deeply to reach scarce water.

Don’t be fooled:

A common rockcress – Boechera or Arabis sp. – can fool you and insects by looking like they have bright yellow flowers. The leaves of rockcress can host a yellow fungus Puccinia monoica.

Fungal spores land on a young mustard and invade the host’s tissue. Spores begin to grow using the nutrients from the plant thereby, sterilizing it so the mustard does not bloom. Instead, the fungus stimulates the formation of “pseudo-flowers”: mutated leaves that look like and even smell like flowers. This  alliance of plant and fungus produces a sticky nectar-like substance and yellowish pigments that reflect UV light to further attract pollinators. These pseudo-flowers have hundreds of small cup-like “spermatagonia” which contain the sex cells of the fungus.

Insects alight on these appealing pseudo-flowers and collect fungal sperm instead of pollen, and they carry it on to the next plant with the fungus, thus facilitating sexual reproduction of the fungus, not the plant! There is another stage of the rust’s life cycle: hyphae develop producing “aecia”, which produce spores. The spores then fly on the wind to infect nearby grasses – the “alternate host”.  After two more lifecycle stages–“uredia” and “telia” — on grasses, the fungus produces spores that infect the mustards again. Truly a complicated process all starting with the bright yellow pseudo-flowers.   See: https://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/tag/Boechera

Uninfected  rockcress – Boechera sp. – may be blooming nearby, sporting bluish – not yellow – 4-petaled flowers. The 3-4” plants shown here were frequent up around Kelly Warm Springs. 

The one in the photo has been keyed out in Dorn to B. exilis; however, there is much dispute, and scant herbaria specimens to confirm this species’ identity…botanist’s dancing on the head of a pin and mustards are tough to ID.

Don’t overlook the flowering trees:

Aspens – Populus tremuloides – are blooming!

This wind pollinated species has male flowers on one plant, and females on another. Flowers are arranged in “catkins”: many Individual flowers with either anthers or stigmas are subtended by protective forked bracts edged with many hairs. The overall effect is trees festooned with fuzzy gray dangles. Male catkins tend to be longer and hang down, releasing their masses of pollen upon the wind from purple anthers.

Female catkins tend to be stiffer and slightly splayed outward, their bright red stigmas are ready to receive by pure chance any pollen grains. (two photos below)

The exhausted male catkins fall to the ground (and on your lawn) after they run out of pollen. Pick one up and take a closer look and see if you can find the old anthers held in little cups.

Amazing details!

Female catkins hold on. A month from now we will see who won the wind lottery. Leaves will emerge after the flowers have done their thing so as not to block the free flow of pollen. More on how aspens grow here

The new growth of Aspen’s larger relatives – Cottonwoods –  Populus spp. – is just popping. Cottonwoods also have male and female trees with a similar arrangement of flowers in catkins. Extraordinary what comes out of a simple brown bud.

Much more to come!  This is just a tease and a taste of wonderful botanical adventures before us.

Frances Clark

Teton Plants, Wilson, WY

P.S.  We always appreciate your corrections or queries.  Let us know at tetonplants@gmail.com – but note our response may be slow as we may be out in the field looking for flowers!