All, it has been a busy wildflower season! So many places to go and flowers to see. Here are some observations of flowers around Jackson Hole during these last couple of weeks. While fading at lower elevations, many of the same species are blooming, often with different companions, at higher altitudes and in different habitats. Others are more specialized to their particular niche.
Sageflats: Dry well drained soils and lots of sun!
A drive along Antelope Flats Road or inner Park Road rewards one with clouds of Sulphur Wild Buckwheat – Eriogonum umbellatum. 
Flowers go from white to cream to pink as they age. The tiny, dried, winged fruits will be relished by rodents and birds.
Silky Lupine – Lupinus sericeus – has been blooming for a week or two. Note the many hairs that cover the leaves and even back of the flowers. The hairs help prevent water loss. Bacteria are thriving in root nodules, providing the plants with usable nitrogen while the lofty lupine gives shelter and carbohydrates to the simple, tiny, yet crucial organisms.
In some areas such as near Oxbow Bend or up Old Pass Road, Scarlet Gilia — Ipomopsis aggregata — appears particularly abundant this year. In other areas, it stands more or less among sagebrush. 
Look for hummingbirds or sphinx moths visiting the red tubular flowers. The long tubes are specialized to pollinators that can hover while drawing up the nectar deep inside the flower. Flowers have no fragrance—most birds don’t smell but they do see red. 
These tubular “regular” (petals are all the same shape) red flowers in the phlox family are not to be confused with a more complex “irregular” flowers of the Wyoming Paintbrush — Castilleja liniariifolia, our state flower. Formerly placed in the Snapdragon Family, now Paintbrushes are in the Broomrape Family because they are hemiparasites on other plants, such as sage and lupines. These plants derive sustenance, even chemical defenses, by attaching their weird roots to the roots of their hosts. 
The green Wyoming Paintbrush flowers lean out beyond the colorful red sepals. Bracts just below add more color. The leaves are also lean with narrow lobes.
Hawksbeards – mostly Tapertip – Crepis acuminata – are abundant. Look for the many (up to 100!) yellow flower heads, each with about 5-10 ray flowers, and 5-8 smooth “involucral bracts” below. 
Leaves have several deep, sharply toothed lobes and are a bit fuzzy or “tomentose”. 
Modoc Hawksbeard – C. modocensis – has fewer flower heads (up to 40/plant) but each has more than 10-60 ray flowers and the bracts are stippled with black stiff hairs. Leaves and stem are very hairy. See if you can find these two species and discern the differences. There are other look-alike species as well.
Another yellow composite with variations – Groundsels – rise about 12-18″ tall. The bracts are all one size, smooth, often black-tipped, and contain yellow “ray” and “disk” flowers. This one is Rocky Mountain Groundsel –– Packera. streptanthifolia. The leaves of three look-alike species are used for ID—leaves are variable in size and shape as they alternate up the stem.
Lance-leaved Stonecrops or Sedum – Sedum lanceolatum – prefers well-drained soils to rocks. The pudgy leaves, which store water, alternate up the sprawling 4-6” stems. 
Flowers are bright yellow. 
Members of the Stonecrop Family have a different type of metabolism – CAM – in order to do well in hot dry locations. They also are a host plant for the Rocky Mountain Parnassian butterfly Parnassius smintheus. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnassius_smintheus
Yellow Indian Paintbrush – Castilleja flava – was still blooming strong in the dry sage and grasslands along Gros Ventre Road near the Red and Gray Hills. 
Note the arrangement of its flowers:
Also abundant in spots were bright magenta Northern Sweetvetch — Hedysarum boreale — clearly a member of the pea family. 
Ballhead Sandwort – Eremogone congesta – has a cluster of white flowers on the top of very thin stems. Leaves are opposite and needle like. This is a common, if overlooked, wild relative to our store-bought pink carnations.
Various – and I mean various – fleabane daisies – Erigeron spp.—are common. They are hard to untangle botanically to this eye, in part because the roots are key to ID (and I don’t like to pull them up!), and then one examines hairs. Just knowing it is a native daisy is good enough for me. And I don’t think the insects bother with the difference either.
Mountain Meadows – cooler and moisterMeadows around String Lake and up the trail to Ski Lake feature lush arrangements of taller “forbs” or perennial flowers:
Sticky Geraniums – Geranium viscosissimum — are abundant. Here is a swallow-tail butterfly sucking up nectar. Anyone know which species?
Scarlet Paintbrush – Castilleja miniata – is emerging. 
Note these flowers don’t lean out the same way the Wyoming Paintbrush does (compare with above photos) and the leaves are wider. Colors of paintbrushes can be variable but the flower details are relatively consistent…if they don’t hybridize with a nearby population of a similar species. Paintbrushes can be very confusing to ID!
Silvery Lupine – Lupinus argenteus – is the common lupine of moist meadows and dappled light of aspen groves and evergreen forests. The back of the “banner” petal is hairless, unlike Silky lupine which is silky-hairy on the back. Hairs help reduce water loss, which is more of a concern in open drier sites. 
Tall Cinquefoil – Potentilla arguta – hold their flowers in tight erect fists. The yellow-to-white flowers are held up on glandular stalks 2 or more feet high. 
These are often confused with the more broadly spreading flower clusters of Gland or Sticky Cinquefoil — P. glandulosa . Both are common (and sticky with glandular hairs). 
These open, accessible flowers are important for a variety of pollinators. Scientists have found plants contain a chemical that prevents tooth decay.
Several blue penstemons – Penstemon spp. — stand up through the vegetation or loom over a trail. ID distinctions include the color, hairiness, length, and angle of the anthers. 
Botanists and gardeners thrive on these minute differences. Flower size affects bee pollinators which land on lower lip—they may or may not fit properly to reach the reward of nectar deep inside the flower while effectively carrying pollen to the next flower.
This species found along the Ski Lake Trail keyed out to Wasatch Beardstongue — P. cyananthus.
Flowers of our perennial Stickseed – Hackelia micrantha – mirror the summer blue sky above. Later tiny fruits will stick to socks and fur. 
While phlox has mostly faded, its relative Nuttall’s Gilia — Leptosiphon nuttalli – (no good common name) is beginning to bloom. The deeply dissected leaves form frilly whorls up the slightly woody stems that form a 12″ tall mound. 
Flowers are extremely fragrant. Bend over for a whiff. It is also related to Scarlet Gilia.
Western Sweetroot – Osmorhiza occidentalis – is common in meadows to open forest. 
The tiny yellow-green flowers arranged in umbels will hold up schizocarps (split fruits) that taste like licorice. It is related to cumin, coriander, dill, anise, and many other tangy herbs in the Parsley family.
Louseworts are going and coming. Fern-leaf Lousewort – Pedicularis bracteosa – is fading fast at lower elevations, but beginning to bloom over 8,500’. 
In lodgepole pine forests, Parrot’s Beaks — Pedicularis racemosa – are unfurling their flowers to attract specific pollinators. Usually a smart bee, channeled by nectar guides and the unique shape of the flower, lands on the lower petals, wriggles around, and vibrates its wings. Pollen grains bounce out of the beak-like tube of the upper petal and attach to the bee’s hairy back. Even with its long-comb-like legs, the bee can’t glean all the pollen: some remains out of reach in the crevice between the bee’s head and thorax. Visiting the next ready flower, the bee’s positioning will cause the stigma to curve around and tap the pollen out of the crack for successful fertilization! (see lower right flower)
High Elevations – late blooming!
Elevations above about 8,500’ are noticeably delayed in flower this year. South of Teton Pass and above Ski and Goodwin Lakes, one finds only early spring flowers. Carpets of Spring Beauties — Claytonia lanceolata — are sprouting where snow drifts are finally melting. 
Species particularly adapted to very short growing seasons are also blooming where snow has just melted. Patches of Rocky Mountain Snow Buttercups – Ranunculus adoneus – are frequent. Note their fine leaves.
There are many, many more flowers to see. This is just a preview and hopefully incentive for you to explore, identify, and understand the remarkable plant world around us.
Frances Clark, Wilson, WY
July 16, 2019
We appreciate comments, corrections, and additions. Please let us know what you think about this posting. We will do our best to incorporate your thougts.
Spring sun is warming south-facing slopes of buttes and hillsides. Snow along Grand Teton National Park roads is finally retreating. Wetlands are warming. Bugs and birds are flying about. The delight is in the details of small flowers; no big show yet.
The lowest leaf of Sagebrush Buttercup – Ranunculus glaberrimus – is unlobed, the upper leaves are 3-lobed. It is a denizen of sage flats.
Some individual Sagebrush Buttercups don’t have petals, only sepals. I dont’ know why the flashy petals aren’t there.
In Utah Buttercup – R. jovis – both the lower and upper leaves are lobed into three parts. Note buttercups have many separate anthers and stigmas—a common characteristic of this family. It is found in relatively moist locations, including woodland edges and openings.
Springbeauties – Claytonia lanceolata — grow in scattered in patches. Some blooms exhibit obvious pinkish veins that direct pollinators to yellow nectaries in the center. Pollinators bump against the anthers and get dusted with pollen.
It is easy to step on Turkey Peas – Orogenia lineariifolia. The plants look like bits of lichen or stone, nothing to think about.
However, Turkey Peas are more interesting if you take a close look at their tiny white flower with maroon centers that together form clusters barely an inch long. Think about what tiny insects must pollinate them–likey small flies and bees.
Sandhill cranes, bears, and rodents seek out the thumb-sized bulbs (“peas”) for food. (Turkeys would likely eat the bulbs if they lived in Jackson.)
The quintessential western plant Steer’s-head – Dicentra uniflora – requires some belly botany. Scan an area for divided leaves and then get down to stare at the steer-like flowers. This is the larval host plant for the Parnassian butterfly Parnassius clodius, which Dr. Debrinski from MSU is researching in Grant Teton National Park (more info on her research below).
Yellowbells – Fritillaria pudica – are always cheerful! The 6-8”-high plants sprout from miniature scaly bulbs. The base of the 6 yellow tepals is said to change from red to green depending on pollination, but I can’t see any consistent difference happening to the outside flower color or anthers and pistil on the inside. Maybe you can.
Goosefoot Violet – Viola purpurea var. venosa – has leaves shaped like goose feet with a few more toes. The back of the leaves and yellow petals are often purple, hence “purpurea” in its botanical name. Note the dark center of the flower and the convenient landing pad of petals for pollinators.
Several yellow violets intergrade in leaf features which confuse me and other botanists trying to sort out the names. This cheerful specimen is one of three look-alike species – V. vallicola, V. praemorsa, or V. nuttalii. Leaf ratios, shapes, and hairiness, as well as ultimately seed-capsule sizes, determine identification.
Hood’s Phlox – Phlox hoodii – is often the first out, with its white to bluish flowers. Bees and flies pick up on the sweet fragrance. They come in and land on the flared petal tips and dip their long tongues deep down the center tube for nectar. They then carry the orange pollen off to other flowers nearby. The leaves of Hood’s Phlox are opposite, very small and tight on very slow growing stems that collectively form a cushion shape. Plants inches wide can be decades old.
Nearby, Twinpods – Physaria didymocarpa – feature bright-yellow, 4-petalled flowers at the end of sprawling 3-4” stems. Spade-shaped, silvery leaves help identify this member of the Mustard Family. Mustards usually have 4 petals, 6 anthers (2 short, 4 long), and one 2-parted pistil.
The first pussytoes to bloom is Low Pussytoes – Antennaria dimorpha. The tiny gray, finely hairy leaves form mats on the ground. Look closely for the flowers.
Sprawling Cymopteris – Cymopteris longipes – is spreading its whorl of dissected silvery leaves low to the ground. As a member of the Carrot Family, plants have umbels, in this case with yellow flowers.
Pursh’s Milkvetch – Astragalus purshii – is also just beginning to flower on dry knolls. The pea-like flowers are slightly yellow to white with a blue bow to the keel (lower two petals). Some flowers open wide for pollinator business. Note the pinnately divided leaves are silvery hairy.
Our local Townsendias belong to a beautiful but often confusing genus. This plant has all the features of T. leptotes: narrow leaves, whitish petals, a whorl of 4-5 rows of pointed bracts tinged with color. Apparently this species and T. montana can hybridize or self-fertilize to the point that some experts say separating the two species appears “arbitrary.” I say, let’s just enjoy the flowers if you can find them. They are pretty rare.
Shrub swamps throughout the valley are warming up. Ducks, moose, and beaver are moving through the waters under dangling catkins of alders and amidst thickets of pussywillows.
Male catkins of mountain alders – Alnus incana var. occidentalis – elongate: their pollen is released upon the wind to meet up – purely by chance – with the stigmas of female flowers (above left in photo) in separate, stout “cones.”
Later in May, its relative Bog Birch – Betula glandulosa – will bloom after its leaves have filled out.
Wildflower seekers are hiking above 8,000’, even 9,000′, for colorful displays of flowers found earlier at lower elevations. It is also time to search for unusual subalpine to alpine flowers above 9,500′ to 10,500′
Leaves are 6-8” long, toothed to lobed, wavy, and spine-tipped. Notably, petioles run down the stem (decurrent). Tweedy’s thistle is deemed “unresolved” by the authoritative Flora of North America: it is not even considered a variety. However, the authors note that there is much post-glacial hybridization among formerly isolated populations of this complex genus.
Bright yellow Long-leaved Arnica – Arnica longifolia – grows in cheerful drifts.
The 1-1.5’ stems feature several pairs of elongate leaves, as well as many yellow heads surrounded by equal-length bracts. The plant is overall glandular hairy with a strong odor.
It is common as you continue down the mountain road and seen from the tram.
Alpine sweetvetch – Hedysarum alpinum var. americanum – has many deep violet- red, pea-like flowers (its in the pea family) dangling from one side of the inflorescence (photos above and below).
Bluish-green leaves are pinnately divided into oval leaflets. Careful measurements of flowers (9-15mm) distinguish it from the slightly larger flowered (17-22 mm) Western Sweetvetch (H. occidentale). (Not all taxonomists agree with this separation!)
The 1’ plants have divided, mostly basal leaves, which helps distinguish it from a similar, more lower-elevation species: Parrot’s Beak – P. racemosa – which has with toothed but not lobed leaves. White-coiled lousewort is shown below.
Undulating, slightly toothed, slightly succulent or waxy leaves clasp the 1-2’ stems (below).
The rocky talus of Cody Bowl has several speciality flowers that seem to be able to grow out of rock.
Fremont Groundsel – Senecio fremontii – has single flowers with the indicative row of waxy bracts. The small leaves are toothed and arranged along the stem: not clustered at the base (although some plants with short stems look like they have basal leaves). The flowers are single and appear large compared to the leafy body of the plant.
Small-flowered Anemone – Anemone parviflora – is only inches tall with tidy whorled leaves.
And nearby, the deep-pink Teton Anemone – Anemone tetonensis.
Some anemones are already setting seeds!
Similar in size is the Alpine Harebell – Campanula uniflora. Instead of many bell-like flowers per stem found in the more common harebell, this species has only one flower per stem, as the Latin name uni-flora aptly describes.
You may smell this plant before you see it’s blue flowers: Skypilot or Skunkflower – Polemonium viscosum. It ranges in size from 5-12” high.
Snow Buttercups – Ranunculus adoneus – are blooming brightly in recently melted snowpatches. The leaves are divided 1-2x into narrow lobes (photo below).
Another combination includes Sulphur paintbrush, Bog Gentian, and Coiled-beak Lousewort:
Forest fires can appear devastating at first, but for the most part nature has its systems for resilience. Depending on how hot the fire was and what plants were present both above and below ground and nearby, vegetation will return in its own due course. In some cases, plants sprout that have not been noticed in years, and indeed are triggered to flower after the heat of the moment. Others take advantage of the open ground and fly in with fresh seeds. Still others have stored seed until the magic moment. Wildlife also takes advantage of the changes.
Their cones have thick scales with spine tips which protect the seeds inside from mauraders and weather for years. When a fire comes through, the resin that has sealed the scales shut melts, and cone scales open wide, releasing winged seeds upon the wind. The delicate embryos fall onto newly exposed soil, which may be enhanced by ash, and quickly germinate. Ash often contains recycled nutrients and retains warmth which helps the seeds grow. Seeds germinate quickly, giving them a headstart among competing plants. Pines in fact need sun to grow well. A truly fire adapated species!
Due to a prescribed burn south of Hoback, the slopes along the trail up Palmer Creek are now covered with 4-5’ flowering Mountain Mallow plants (photo above taken 7.13.18). Soon fruits, which look like peeled hairy tangerines, will split to release seeds for the next generation decades in the future (photo below).
Note: In mountain mallow the seedbank is in the soil, in lodgepole pine, the seedbank is in the air.
This evergreen, resinous, sprawling shrub will shoot up new branches from old roots after a light fire. After heavy burns, it can also sprout from “Rip-van-Winkle” seeds.
Notably, in some areas it burned through lodgepole stands that were recolonizing from a fire only a few years before. Ecologists and foresters are concerned that this unusual short “return” interval will be the pattern of future fires in this era of climate disruption.
Deep fibrous roots of Pinegrass are important for holding soils, especially when soils are vulnerable to erosion after fires. Plants are blooming in profusion near the parkway.
Fireweed – Epilobium/Chamerion angustifolia – is well known for showing up after fires. In the insulating soil, rhizomatous (underground creeping) stems growing 4-6” deep may have survived the above-ground heat to sprout again. Even one surviving plant can shed 1000s of seeds that can catch upon the wind, land, and germinate quickly on exposed ground. (Photo above shows both Fireweed and Pinegrass.)
Cheerful patches of Broadleaf Arnica – Arnica latifolia – and a strange hybrid, likely Arnica X diversifolia – a cross between Heartleaf and Broadleaf arnica, are growing in charred soils (photo above).
Large clumps of yellow Missouri Goldenrod – Solidago missouriensis – was dense along Grassy Lake Road, brightening the dark scene (photo above).
A mix of Yarrow – Achillea millefolium – and Thickstem Aster – Eurybia integrifolia – are common in fields right now, but they are also flourishing in the sun under dead lodgepole pine trees along Grassy Lake Road (photo above).
Silvery Lupine – Lupinus argenteus – seeds are “scarified” by the heat of fire, enabling buried seeds to germinate relatively quickly. As a legume, lupines have a mutually beneficial relationship with bacteria in their root nodules that can “fix” nitrogen. This provides lupines an advantage in colonizing poor soils (photo above). Their heavy seeds pop out of their pea-pod like fruits.
A robust member of the Mint Family – Dragonhead – Dracocephalum parviflorum – (photo above) was a new species to this botanist. Apparently it thrives in disturbed soils.
Patches of other common meadow flowers have retained a niche as well, including Oregon Daisy – Erigeron speciosus – (photo above) with its many narrow, lavender ray flowers (ray flowers look like petals). Many perennials have deep storage roots that are often insulated by soils to heat of fire (or the cold of winter.)
Common Yampa – Perideridia montana – has created a tapestry of white. Upon a walk through the area, one can see that many late-summer flowers which are common elsewhere as here as well: a hidden layer of Sticky Geranium – Geranium viscossimum, blue spires of Tall Delphinium – Delphinium occidentale, yellow sprays of Cinquefoil – Potentilla spp., orange-yellow Rocky Mountain Golendrod – Solidago multiradiata, and spikes of blue Silvery Lupine mix in.
Mountain Brome – Bromus carinatus (photo below),
and elegant spikelets of Oniongrass – Melica spectabilis (photo below):
(Note all the grasses pictured above are in bloom)
Grasses have evolved to sprout from buds at the base of their leaves – an adaptation to both browsing and fire.
With summer strong, flowers are blooming everywhere in and around Jackson Hole. Here are a favorite dozen (plus!) wildflowers seen on hikes this past week: around Phelps Lake and up Munger Mountain (above); the start of the Ski Lake Trail; just south of Teton Pass; and the north end of Grand Teton National Park. Lower elevations fade first while upper elevations are just emerging.
The 1-2” red trumpet flowers attract hummingbirds, which are able to hover and extend their long tongues into the deep tube to lap up (not sip) nectar. A bird’s head may be doused in pollen on one visit. On the next stop, it is poked with a sticky stigma that will collect the pollen to make seeds. Pinkish flowers later in the season attract long-tongued sphinx moths, which provide a similar pollination service.
These laterally flattened, irregular flowers require bumblebees to pollinate them. Bumblebees are strong and smart enough to land on the lower lip of the flowers and push and prod their way into the throat to find nectar. In so doing, the bee gets a bunch of pollen on its body. At another flower, it distributes pollen to the stigma protruding from the top of the upper lip.
With light shade, greater moister, and more nutrients recycled from the deciduous aspen leaves, wildflowers are able to flourish at this time of year.
Spring is arriving at its own pace here in Jackson Hole. We are all eager to see flowers!
Wildflowers are blooming strong at elevations between 8,500-10,000,’ such as Mt. Ely, above Ski Lake, Rendezvous Mountain, and other subalpine habitats of the Grand Tetons. You can find lupines, little sunflowers, geraniums, stonecrops, milfoil, mountain dandelions, and mountain bluebells that we observed at lower elevations a few weeks ago, along with new flowers found only at these higher elevations.
North facing, bowl-shaped terrain—Cody Bowl and the bowl above Ski Lake–captures more snow and holds it longer. Lupines and Sulphur Paintbrush grow luxuriantly.
Areas of recently melted snow and streams coming down the north side of Rendezvous Mountain still have Mountain Bluebells and Fernleaf Lovage.
Jackson Hole receives little predictable rain in summer—typically from spotty, if often intense, thunderstorms–so snow in winter is the main source of moisture for the growing season.
Paintbrushes are intriguing and confusing members of the Orobanche or Broomrape Family (formerly placed the Figwort or Schropulariaceae Family). Species in the genus Castilleja have unique attachments to other plant species, depending more or less on their hosts for extra carbon, water, nutrients and even chemical defenses. As such, they are termed hemiparasites. They can survive on their own but grow larger, produce more flowers and seeds, and have less predation if they attach to their host’s roots using special haustorium. Plant hosts include grasses, sagebrush, lupines, and larkspurs.
Teton Plants 