Flowers (the first) - Gibson Jack

There were more wildflowers up there than I can remember ever seeing in one place before. So the first set will be ones that I already know the names of.

This is a Shootingstar. There are several varieties, and the differences are too technical for me to follow (and also would have required I try to disassemble a flower). So I'll just pick the most common one: Pretty Shootingstar, Dodecatheon pulchellum. I see these a lot up at Stanley Lake.








Blue Penstemon, Penstemon cyaneus. Lots and lots of this up there right now.









Clearly a fleabane. Based on the size (and color) of the flowers, I'd say it's most likely Cut-Leaved Fleabane, Erigeron copositus.

















Ah, the wild geranium. Much prettier than the cultivated version, imo. Looks like this is white geranium, Geranium richardsonii. Some cool trivia from Plants of the R.M.: "Herbalists ahve used geranium roots to stop bleeding and to treat sores and chapped lips. However the leaves of this plant are easily confused with those of monkshood, which is poisonous, so thses plants should be collected only when they can be positively identified by their flowers or fruits."






And a beautiful larkspur. Probably Nelson's larkspur, Delphinium nuttallianum. Trivia: "Teas and alcohol extracts made from the seeds have been used for many years to kill lice and to cure scabies." [Plants of the R.M.].








A wild onion! (I know, it's not quite in focus, but you couldn't see much in the one that was). These I saw growing in the median of the trail, mostly. They probably grew other places, too, but the grass was too high to see them. Hmmm... Looks like this is Fool's Onion aka White Hyacinth, Tritelia grandiflora. The bulb is edible, but is easily confused with Death Camas (very poisonous). However, death camas bulbs won't smell like onion. Fool's onion bulbs will. So if it doesn't smell like an onion, DON'T EAT IT.




Indian paintbrush, or scarlet paintbrush, Castilleja miniata. These were pretty awesome to see up there. In a field of greens, browns and yellows, there'd be these pops of bright red. Hmmm... and they're in the figwort family, just like the penstemons.




And that's it for the ones I immediately recognized. The ones I have to work harder to find will wait a bit. :^D