The Wildflower Post

Silver Creek Edition

July 21, 2023 - The wildflowers in Colorado are pretty spectacular. The peak bloom is in July which seems late but quite a few flowers bloom in June as well. We are in hardiness zone 4b, average minimum temperature -25 to -20F which means it stays cold late into other locations’ spring. I know some of the wildflowers’ name from gardening and my tendency to look up things I’m interested in. As part of learning their names, I have been taking photos of flowers that I see near home. Then I use an app as a first attempt to identify the plant. I then confirm it’s identification online by looking at other photos, checking out where the plant is native, etc. Most of the time the app is correct, sometimes it’s close, and other times it is just confused. (If it doesn’t have the plant in it’s database, the app seems to just pick a random plant. It’s always best to find, at least, a second source of info.)

I’m sure of the name of these first two plants and that they are poisonous. As in, you really shouldn’t touch them poisonous. The first is Mountain Death Camas (Zigadenus elegans). Great name! It’s mainly a problem for cows that eat too much of it and die. It’s a fairly small plant so I can see it would be easy to bite some off with grass. The second one is Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum). People, me included, have been known to grow this one in their flower garden. In Colorado it’s found in wet areas. Monkshood is taller than most of the surrounding wildflowers so very easy to spot.

Here is a foreign invasive that is very pretty when blooming, Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale). Also poisonous but why would you eat it? When it’s blooming it has two colors on the same flower. Even the leaves are interesting. The problem is after it goes to seed it makes burs that stick on all types of clothing. If you try to pull away, the plant breaks off from its base so the entire 2.5 feet of the plant is stuck to you. I have learned from experience! Rip it out while it is still pretty.

Here are two plants in the wintergreen family, Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata), and Sidebells Wintergreen (Orthilia secunda). Both of these are native to Colorado. These are related to one of my favorite woodland plants in Connecticut, Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata). I have included it below. I liked the variegated leaves and that the anthers, look like teeny grocery-store chickens. Weird I know, but I find it humorous. Sorry about the blurry anther/chicken photo it is an enlargement from the photo next to it.

Some of my favorites from Colorado include: Sego Lily (Calochortus nuttalii) which is big and showy. I haven’t looked into what that beetle might be.

Two early blooming flowers are Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla patens) and Glacier Lilies (Erythronium grandiflorum). I should clarify that by “early” I mean May, soon after the snow melts. Glacier Lilies are fairly small but their number and early bloom time makes them impressive.

Tiny trumpets, (Collomia linearis) are a weed we found in our driveway. They are small, cute, and form a fairly dense clump so they can live in the driveway, for now.

While not blooming at the time of this photo, I like the plant below, which a friend of mine back in Connecticut (Jocelyn) calls “George” because she can’t remember its name. By calling it George, from the “G” and apparently tires I can remember it’s scientific name Goodyera oblongifolia common name Rattlesnake Plantain. Yes, Goodyera is the correct spelling. I just like variegated native plants because their aren’t many of them. This one looks a little wilted but I took the photo on a hot day. If you look closely, you can see it is growing near an interesting lichen and some moss.

This rare orchid, is a Lady Slipper (Cypripedium fasciculatum). The flower was finished blooming when we found it in mid July, but now I know to look for them earlier in the season.

I ran across this wildflower hiding in a patch of mules ears (not included here). The flower is Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum). It starts with reddish pink buds that hang down, as shown below, then as the seeds mature they point up as in the second photo (from Savvy Gardner). I only found the one plant and was sad to see that the buds dried up and died before maturing. People grow it in their garden so it might have escaped. I’m hoping to see more next year.

There are so many wildflowers here I would have to write a book to get them all in one place. So, last one. Thistle! Let me start by saying thistles are hard to identify and not just because you don’t really want to touch them. There are around 16 species native to Colorado and 5 foreign invasive species. Some people would kill them all but there are pollinators that depend on native species. I’m learning what to look for but for now what I know is all the invasive forms of thistle are purple so if I see a thistle that is white or yellow it eliminates all the invasives but there are plenty of purple native species. Update: I have since learned that there is at least one yellow invasive thistle in our area, spiny sowthistle. Photo below. To make things more confusing some purple thistles can be red, pink or even white. The leaves can help with identification, mainly are they dark green or sage green, hairy or not. Other species have wide or narrow leaves and everything in between. The elevation where the plant was found can help too, if known.

Of the three plants above, the first one, I’m fairly sure is Musk or Nodding Thistle (Carduus nutans) a foreign invasive.

The middle plant is harder to identify. What I know is the corolla lobes are longer than the tubes (look at the bloom and you will see two lengths of ‘petals’). I know where the photo was taken and that the elevations was a little over 8,000 ft. This plant is past its prime and I don’t know all the plant parts to examine for identification. I’m learning. I’m currently think it is a Fringed Thistle (Cirsium centaureae) a native. It is in the correct part of the state and the right elevation. The bloom is the correct color and shape. And it has skinny leaves (not shown in this photo). But I could be completely wrong! Thistles are just hard to identify.

That last thistle, I just don’t know and the photo was not at a great angle. I see the corolla is white while the center is a pinkish purple. This might not even be a thistle it could be a look-alike. As I learn more about thistles I might write a post dedicated to the topic.

Spiny Sowthistle

This is just a sample of what blooms in a 2.5 mile radius over a period from early May to mid July. If you’re interested in seeing wildflowers and are headed to Colorado, plan to be here mid July.

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