Before diving into the botanical wonders enjoyed on our hike into Beaver Meadows let it be known that we also saw some birds and managed to record twenty-one species. Hopefully, you can visualize us having our ears engaged while our eyes were scanning the forest floor for yet another flower. Avian highlights included five species of woodpeckers and two species of kinglets, and we were, with some regularity, serenaded by the quintessential vocalist of the Rockies, the Hermit Thrush. Strikingly disappointing was the fact that we didn’t see or hear a single warbler either in the forest or up at Beaver Meadows.
As for the plants, we came up with close to eighty species. Interestingly, I had planned this outing for what I thought would be the peak of the wildflower season, but more plants than expected were already past their prime and going to seed. A week earlier might have netted us a few more beauties. Definitely on the way out were Baneberry, Rocky Mountain Pussytoes, Heartleaf Arnica, Lanceleaf Chiming Bells, Golden Banner, Pink Pyrola, Green Pyrola, One-sided Pyrola, and Blue Mist Penstemon. Otherwise, we saw a lot of beautiful montane flowers, and we had so many that we barely made it up to the meadows.
One of the joys of being a botanist is getting to dive into the world of nomenclature, that is to say that these names, both the Latin and English, have some interesting things to tell us. For example, the name “penstemon” comes from “pen,” meaning almost, and “stamon,” meaning thread, referring to the fact that one of a penstemon’s five stamen (the male part of the flower) is an infertile, showy structure without an anther, hence “almost a stamen.” This showy structure is fringed and protrudes out of the flower and is why another common name for penstemons is beardtongue.
Looking at larkspurs we note that the flowers have a claw-like inflorescence said to resemble the long, hind claw of a lark. Furthermore, the genus for larkspurs is Delphinium, which comes from the Latin “Delphinus,” meaning dolphin, in reference to the flower resembling the shape of a leaping dolphin.
Always, one of our favorite flowers is the Shooting Star, belonging to the family Primulaceae, the Primroses, and the genus Dodecatheon, coming from “dodeka,” meaning twelve, and “theoi” meaning gods – this refers to the twelve major Greek gods. Evidently, Pliny, a Greek naturalist, compared the clustered flowers of primroses to an assembly of Greek gods. Linnaeus, who developed our system of categorizing species using two Latin names (binomials) and who is known as the father of modern taxonomy, apparently was aware of Pliny’s observation and bestowed the name Dodecatheon on the Shooting Stars. It’s interesting to note that since Shooting Stars are native to North America Pliny would never have seen them, though he did see their closely related European primroses, and Linnaeus would have only encountered Shooting Stars because of plant collections brought back to Europe from the New World.
Plants seen on hike to Beaver Meadows
Acer glabrum, Rocky Mountain Maple
Achillea millefolium, Yarrow
Aconitum columbianum, Monkshood
Alnus tenuifolia, Alder
Anemone canadensis, (Anemonidium canadense), Meadow Anemone
Antennaria spp. (White Pussytoes)
Antennaria anaphaloides, Pearly Everlasting
Antennaria rosea, Rosy Pussytoes
Aquilegia coerulea, Colorado Columbine
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Kinnikinnick
Arnica cordifolia, Heartleaf Arnica
Artemisia spp., Wormwood
Astragalus spp., Vetch
Betula fontinalis, River Birch
Calochortus gunnisonii, Mariposa Lily (Sego Lily)
Campanula parryi, Parry’s Harebell
Campanula rotundifolia, Harebell
Cardamine cordifolia, Bittercress
Castilleja integra, Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush
Cerastium arvense ssp. strictum, Mouse-Ear Chickweed
Chamerion angustifolium (Epilobium angustifolium), Fireweed
Corallorhiza maculate, Spotted Coralroot
Cymopterus lemmonii, (Psuedocymopterus montanus), Whiskbroom Parsley
Delphinium barbeyi, Subalpine Larkspur
Dodecatheon pulchellum, Shooting Star
Equisetum arvense, Common Horsetail
Erythranthe guttata (Mimulus guttatus), Yellow Monkeyflower
Erigeron flagellaris, Whiplash Daisy
Erigeron spp.
Erysimum capitatum, Wallflower
Fragaria vesca, Strawberry
Gaillardia aristata, Blanketflower
Galium septentrionale (Galium boreale), Northern Bedstraw
Geranium caespitosum, Fremont Geranium
Geranium richardsonii, Richardson’s Geranium
Geranium viscississimum, Sticky Purple Geranium
Geum triflorum, Prairie Smoke
Heracleum maximum, Common Cowparsnip
Heuchera hallii (brateata), Front Range Alumroot
Ipomopsis aggregata, Fairy Trumpet, Scarlet Gilia
Jamesia americana, Waxflower
Juniperus communis, Common Juniper
Lonicera involucrata, Twinberry,
Mertensia ciliata, Tall Chiming Bells
Moneses uniflora, Wood Nymph (Star Pyrola)
Oenothera villosa, Common Evening-Primrose
Osmorhiza berteroi, Sweet Cicely
Pedicularis groenlandica, Elephant Head
Pedicularis procera, Giant Lousewort
Pentafiloides floribunda (Potentilla fruticosa), Shrubby Cinquefoil
Penstemon spp. (glaber?), Mountain Beardtongue?
Penstemon virens, Blue Mist Penstemon
Phacelia heterophylla, Scorpionweed
Picea engelmannii, Engelman Spruce
Pinus contorta, Lodgepole Pine
Pinus flexilis, Limber Pine
Pinus ponderosa, Ponderosa Pine
Platanthera aquilonis, Green Bog Orchid
Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen
Potentilla fissa (Drymocallis fissa), Bigflower Cinquefoil
Potentilla hippiana (?), Wooly Cinquefoil
Prunus virginiana, Chokecherry
Pyrola minor, Lesser Wintergreen
Pyrola spp.
Ribes inerme, Whitestem Gooseberry
Rosa woodsii, Woods’ Rose
Rudbeckia hirta, Black-eyed Susan
Sambucus racemosa, Red Elderberry
Salix spp., Willow
Sedum lanceolatum, Lanceleaf Stonecrop
Senecio canus (?), (Packera cana), Wooly Groundsel
Solidago multiradiata, Goldenrod
Solidago spp., Goldenrod
Streptopus amplexifolius, Twisted Stalk
Thalictrum fendleri, Fendler’s Meadow-rue
Thermopsis divaricarpa, Golden Banner
Tragopogon dubius, Western Salsify
Trifolium pretense, Red Clover
Valeriana edulis, Hairy Valerian
Valeriana occidentalis (?), Western Valerian
Viola canadensis ssp. scopulorum, Canada Violet