Wildflowers for Dummies

Transcription

1 Wildflowers for Dummies by Andy Dappen Late spring is peak wildflower season in the Central Washington foothills. Following is a baker s dozen of the May bloomers commonly seen painting the hillsides above the Columbia River. Yes, we re mixing metaphors but this is Wildflowers for Dummies--we can get away with a little witlessness. What else can we get away with? How about an absence of botanical jargon about how many pistils a flower has, or whether it has inferior or superior ovaries, or whether the sepals are fused or non-fused. Mainly this is what we of the post-literate society crave, a pictorial guide to peg our most common bloomers. We recommend that you copy our guidebook description of the hike to Ponderosa Ridge (in the Sage Hills above Wenatchee). Copy this story, as well, and use it on the hike. You ll find all these flowers along the way. The hike to Ponderosa Ridge climbs 1800 vertical feet. Even in late May or early June when the flowers at the trailhead have long gone to seed, most of the flowers identified in this article will be blooming near the top of the hike. Five Trail Saddle Use our guidebook information to reach Five Trail Saddle. At the saddle, poke around and identify Arrow-leaf Balsamroot, Lupines, Larkspur, Brodiaea, and Whitetop. Several hundred yards farther along the trail from the saddle you ll find lots of Desert Parsley, Fiddleneck, and Phlox bordering the trail. This is the view looking north at Burch Mountain from Five Trail Saddle. Balsamroot dominates the picture but you can also see Lupines (blue) and Whitetop (yup, that would be the white flower).

2 This picture, taken at Five Trail Saddle, shows Balsamroot (yellow) and Lupines (blue). Balsamroots are part of the Sunflower Family or, if you want to put on academic airs, the Compositae Family. The roots are like a woody carrot. Though tough and bitter, they are edible and were eaten by Native Americans. The Arrow-leaf Balsamroot, which grows like a massive crop over our hills, prefers deeper soils while the Hooker s Balsamroot grows in rocky soil. Next to Balsamroot, Lupine (the blue flower pictured) is the second-most-common flower in our foothills. Part of the Pea Family (Leguminosae), Lupines are important nitrogen fixers for the soil. The flowers form pea-like, but poisonous, seed pods. Several species of Lupines inhabit the sagebrush steppe but dummies have a hard time distinguishing them and lump the Prairie Lupine, Dry-ground Lupine, Foothills Lupine and more together with an authoritative catchall phrase like, Now this flower here is a Lupine. Pretty but poisonous, the Larkspur (left) is a powerful alkaloid that has killed plenty of livestock in its day. Part of the Buttercup Family, you may want to keep a little around for house guests who outwear their welcome. Brodiaea (middle picture) is, regionally, one of the most common members of the Lily Family (Liliaceae). It has an edible bulb that was commonly dug by early settlers and Indians. Whitetop (right) is an invasive weed that is part of the Mustard Family and is spreading rapidly throughout the region. It grows well in salty and disturbed soils. Each plant can produce up to 5,000 seeds which are then spread easily by hikers, dogs, livestock, vehicles, and wind. The seeds can remain viable in the soil for three years.

3 Various species of Desert Parsley (or Lomatium) inhabit our hills. These members of the Parsley Family (Umbelliferae Family) have distinctive, umbrella-shaped flowers. Some of the Desert Parleys have fleshy, tuberous roots that the Native Americans ground into flour and used to bake a bread-like biscuits. The flowers above are Bare-stem Desert Parsley. We ve given you the bird s eye and ant s eye view of the flower. Fiddle-necks (above), with their small yellow flowers and their hairy stems, are not our most attractive flower. This member of the Borage Family grows best in disturbed soil beside trails, roads, and over-grazed pastures.

4 Phlox is another common flower found in the same habitat as Lupine and Balsamroot. Various species grow in a tight cluster to form a flame of color (Phlox means fire in Greek). That color can vary from pink to purple to lilac to white. Several species of Phlox, like this one, named Cushion Phlox, make good wildflowers for home rock gardens. The palmshaped leaf in the upper portion of this picture is a Lupine. Coyote Canyon About a third of a mile north of Five Trail Saddle, the trail rounds a little ridge and traverses the north-facing slopes of a steep-sided raw. The draw (a stone s throw below) is choked with shrubs (e.g., Oregon Grape and Serviceberry). Locals refer to this area as Coyote Canyon. Look for bitterbrush along the trail. Many of the flowers already mentioned will be found and, because the slopes here are north-facing, many of these flowers will be found blooming later in the month. The Bitterbrush in bloom on the right side of the middle picture has thousands of small, yellow flowers. These flowers exude a lovely, sweet smell so it must be the acrid taste of the small, three-lobed leaves from which this plant derives its name. The plant, part of the Rose Family, is a very important wintertime food source for deer. Bitterbrush and Balsamroot are usually found together, like salt and pepper or Starbucks and WiFi.

5 The Jeep Trail Switchbacks About 1.25 miles from Five Trails Saddle, the trail intersects and old Jeep road. A new trail has been built that climbs more gradually using switchbacks. The switchbacks intersect the Jeep road numerous times. Follow the trail and within several hundred yards you ll see False Dandelions. About.6 miles up these switchbacks (elevation 2050 feet) you enter a lithosol zone. That s a smart way of saying rocky soil. Look for Linear-Leaf Daisies here in the rocky soil. The False Dandelion (Sunflower Family) on the left has thin, grass-like leaves. Unlike the weed that grow in people s backyards, this flower belongs here and is not an aggressive weed. The Linear-leaf Daisy (Sunflower Family) grows in a tight, attractive cluster, often in rocky soil. Farther along (elevation 2450 ), the trail traverses southwest-facing slopes that are thick with Death Camas (below, left), a showy member of the Lily Family. Soon afterwards (elevation 2575 ), you pass the first tree (a Ponderosa Pine), and then you start passing a mixture of Douglas Firs and Ponderosa Pines. Amid the trees, look for Dwarf Waterleaf (below, right), an unusual purple flower with water-rich leaves belonging to the Hydrophyllaceae Family.

6 Book Recommendation Nonscientific types who want a wildflower book that isn t too technical and relies on good photos to identify our local flowers might consider Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary by Ronald J. Taylor (Mountain Press Publishing Company).