Botanizing at Green Mountain

I received a text from a friend the other day. There was a photo of a wildflower with the question: "What flower is this? On the Carpenter Peak Trail..." I jokingly referred to myself as the wildflower hotline before explaining that the plant she was looking at was Claytonia rosea or Rocky Mountain spring beauty. I often offer unsolicited information about wildflowers so being solicited was nice for a change. I smiled as I imagined my friend taking a break from her hike to enjoy a delicate pink wildflower poking through last year's Gambel oak litter. Afterwards, I got busy and wrote this blog post, which describes some of the wildflowers (including Rocky Mountain spring beauty) that are blooming their heads off in early spring in the foothills of Colorado's Front Range. Apologies to the wildflowers I was unable to photograph and include!

Claytonia rosea - Rocky Mountain spring beauty: Blooming as early as February, spring beauty is one of the first flowers to make its appearance in the hills above Denver and Boulder, signaling that spring is around the corner. This species has somewhat fleshy herbage, a reddish-green stem, and both basal and stem leaves at flowering. The leaves are typically lance-shaped to linear. The delicate pale pink flowers have five petals that are lined with rose-colored veins, and if you look closely you may notice that the petals blush yellow near their bases. Attached to the petals are five stamens topped with pink anthers. Rocky Mountain spring beauty grows in Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) woodlands, underneath mountain mahogany shrubs, in ponderosa pine forests, and along trails on up through the montane life zones of the Southern Rockies. A great place to see this wildflower is in the Gambel oak grove at the beginning of the Carpenter Peak Trail at Roxborough S.P.

Collinsia parviflora - maiden blue-eyed Mary: A wee wildflower (parviflora means small-flowered) from Plantaginaceae, the same family that Penstemons belong to. The bilaterally symmetric flowers are bicolored blue and white, which contrasts with reddish purple stems and green leaves. Look closely for this easy-to-overlook, but surprisingly colorful plant at Roxborough S.P., Deer Creek Canyon, and Golden Gate Canyon S.P. in moist, shady habitats, often right next to the trail.

Viola nuttallii - Nuttall's violet: Hardly a shrinking violet, this species is common, widespread, and easy to spot from the prairie to the montane in grassy and rocky sites. Bright yellow flowers, lined with violet-colored nectar guides, sit atop short stems that emerge from a cluster of lance-shaped leaves. An interesting trivia about this species and many other members of Viola is that two types of flowers are produced: 1) the showy flowers with nectar guides that attract pollinators and 2) cleistogamous flowers, which often go unnoticed, self fertilize and produce seed without ever opening.

Another common spring wildflower of the foothills is cutleaf daisy (Erigeron compositus). This tufted plant consists of wooly leaves, dissected so that they appear feathery, and attractive daisy flowers. Cutleaf daisy grows on rocky slopes, in meadows, and forest openings. If you miss seeing this lovely native blooming in the foothills, you may see it in the alpine after spring fades to summer. Or, you can head to the Rock Alpine Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens where the species and several cultivars are growing.

Townsendia hookeri (Hooker's Easter daisy): A low plant with large, showy flowers perched atop of a cushion of linear leaves. The flowers have white to pink rays and golden disks. Look for this species in open, dry, grassy areas -- I've seen it on the mesa of Matthews Winters Park and on Green Mountain. This wildflower would make a lovely addition to a rock garden or the border of a native plant garden.

Leucocrinum montanum, commonly known as sand lily or star lily, is another early spring bloomer that is common in the foothills and grasslands of Colorado. Despite the common name lily, this wildflower is no longer included in the Lily Family, but has been reassigned to the Agave Family. The flowers are white and star-shaped with 6 tepals (tepals are when petals and sepals appear identical) and they sit, or sometimes flop, amongst a rosette of grass-like leaves. A true spring ephemeral, this plant grows foliage, produces flowers, is pollinated, and then dies back to its underground parts before the heat of the summer.

One of the most charismatic early spring wildflowers and a member of the Buttercup Family is Anemone patens var. multifida - pasqueflower. The stems and leaves of this species are soft-silky-hairy. Showy bell-shaped flowers with pale-lavender to blue-purple petal-like sepals surround numerous golden stamens. This wildflower is common on hillsides and in open forests and meadows from the foothills through the subalpine life zone and even occurs in the alpine. Also known as prairie crocus, this spring ephemeral is an excellent native landscaping alternative to crocuses and a favorite among wildflower enthusiasts.

Ranunculus glaberrimus or sagebrush buttercup is a far less attractive member of the Buttercup Family than the above species. This plant and other buttercups often have shiny yellow petals, a quality that attracts pollinators. Furthermore, their satellite-shaped flowers trap solar heat, which not only keeps the plant's reproductive organs warm, but also creates an attractive microclimate that lures pollinators on cool spring days. Look for the sagebrush buttercup when hiking on rocky slopes and shrubby hillsides in the foothills through the montane life zones beginning in April.

Astragalus spp. (milk-vetch): According to Flora of Colorado, there are 117 species of Astragalus in Colorado, which makes this genus the second most well-represented after Carex, with its 119 taxa (Ackerfield). Here are two milk-vetch you are likely to see in early spring in Colorado: Astragalus crassicarpus (ground plum) and Astragalus cf. shortianus (Short's milk-vetch). Sometimes challenging to identify, I hope to some day become well-acquainted with members of this genus, many of which are of conservation concern.

Thermopsis rhombifolia - goldenbanner: Many sources consider there to be 3 distinct species of Thermopsis in Colorado. However, Ackerfield, in Flora of Colorado, lumps the three species into T. rhombifolia and lists 3 varieties: T. rhombifolia var. rhombifolia (prairie goldenbanner), T. r. var. divaricarpa (spreadfruit golden banner), and T. r. var. montana (mountain goldenbanner). Look for clumps of these species or varieties (depending on what side you fall on the taxonomical debate) from the plains to the montane. This common wildflower could be mistaken for a lupine -- in fact, one of the common names for goldenbanner is false lupine -- but, it belongs to an entirely different genus.

Noccaea fendleri - alpine penny cress is a little white mustard flower that grows in forest openings and on disturbed hillsides. Last weekend I saw clumps of this wildflower on landslides above the South Platte River and it is also common along foothills trails and in rocky places on up through the alpine.

Comandra umbellata -- bastard toadflax -- is a hemiparasitic plant that is commonly found throughout the plains, sagebrush-steppe, and foothills. Its pallid green leaves photosynthesize, producing some of its nutrition; however, the plant derives additional nutrition by attaching to the roots of other plants. The flowers, which consist of petal-like sepals (petals absent) range in color from greenish to pinkish-white to purplish-white. This species is very common in disturbed soils and in grasslands and can almost guaranteed to be seen along trails in Deer Creek Canyon open space.

Castilleja integra - whole-leaf Indian paintbrush : Look for this fiery-orange paintbrush in the foothills on the Matthews-Winters hike and on North Table mountain. What appear to be petals are actually bracts, modified leaves that attract pollinators. The inconspicuous flowers are mostly hidden by these showy bracts. This plant is also hemiparasitic and its hosts are Artemisia and grasses.

Pediocactus simpsonii - mountain ball cactus: This perfectly round ball cactus with its neat patterns of spines and glochids protruding from the areoles is a delight to see. The flowers have many hot pink, papery-looking petals that surround myriad golden stamens. I took this photo last year at Golden Gate Canyon S.P. in a ponderosa pine forest when I was searching the forest for wildflowers to photograph for a wildflower guide we were working on at the Botanic Gardens. I've also seen it growing out of gravel-sized chunks of Pike's Peak granite adjacent to the South Platte River.