Idaho Mountain FlowersBy Brad Parkinson

1. Lewis Monkeyflower

Lewis Monkey Flower

• Found along streams or high mountain wetlands in very moist situations

• Named by Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition

• Named Monkey Flower because of the resemblance of the face of a monkey.

2. Wild Strawberry

Wild Strawberry

• Low, perennial herbs, spreading by means of runners

• Found in moist soil of woods, open meadows, and along streams.

• 5 petaled leaves with three coarsly toothed leaves

• Important food source for ruffed grouse, robins, bear, and other fruit eaters.

3. Blue Bell

Blue Bell

• Generally found in a sub alpine very moist environment. May entirely fill high mountain meadows.

• Leaves have a bluish hue

• Elk love to bed down in these rather tall flowers with newborn calves

• Picas and Marmots harvest the plants and store them for food during the long winters

4. Chokecherry

Chokecherry

• Although this is a small tree or a tall shrub, it has large racemes of many small white flowers during May and June with dark purple red berries following in late August.

• Found along streams and on moist hillside• Fruit is edible for birds but with humans

will cause a choking sensation• Fruit makes great syrup and jams when

plenty of sugar is added

5. Silky Phacelia

Silky Phacelia

• Characterized by long stamens that give the plant a hazy cottony appearance.

• Found in dry to moist soil of open areas along roads, on hillsides and mt. ridges from 6000 ft to treeline

• Elk, deer, mountain goat, and grizzly graze them

• Beautiful purple color

6. Blue Flax

Blue Flax

• Sky-blue saucer-shaped flax flowers on slender stems that continually sway in the breeze.

• Flax is used in some cultures to make rope. Flax fibers are found in these stems

• The covering around mummies are made of Blue Flax fibers

• Found in dry fields, ridges etc. from low valleys to about 8000 ft in altitude

7. Fireweed

Fireweed

• A serious invader plant that springs up after forest fires or other disturbances

• Bright pink to lilac-purple blossoms almost 1 inch across with a four petaled flower.

• Flowers on the bottom of the stem bloom first and them over several weeks they bloom going to the top.

8. Showy Phlox

Showy or Snow Phlox

• Found in dry to medium moist ridges and hill sides

• Found from mid to high altitude

• Many different types of Phlox are found

• Low growing mat like flowers

• Flower from May through July and later in high elevations (above 8000 ft)

9. Scarlet Gilia

Scarlet or Skyrocket Gilia

• Other name is skunk or polecat plant because of its skunk like odor

• Brilliant red coloring generally but may be pinkish, orange or even white according to soil.

• 1-3 feet high flowers are ¾-1 ½ inches long.

• Found on dry hillsides, valleys, and ridges

10. Springbeauty

Springbeauty

• One of the first flowers to appear in the spring. Each flower has 2 sepals, 5 petals, and a 2-cleft style

• The corms fleshy taproots, stem and leaves are edible. Radish like flavor.

• Grows in moist soil at both low and high elevation. Look for them at the edges of snowfields

11. Shooting Star

Shooting Star

• Flowers are terminal umbels that hang downward.

• Found in moist to wet soil in open places of plains, hills, and mt. sides.

• Is edible and was use somewhat by Indians in the pre-meal salads. Ha ha.

12. Monks Hood

Monks Hood

• Appears to look like a monk with the hood up• Slender plant that grows 2-5 feet tall in dark very

moist areas of a forest.• All parts of this plant are seriously poisonous

containing the alkaloids aconitine and aconine. Roots and seeds are especially poisonous. Do not even get them on you skin. Aconite is a drug used as a heart or nerve sedative

13. Buttercup

Buttercup

• Different varieties found at elevations of cold desert, sub alpine and alpine.

• Used by picas, and marmots for food at high elevations

• Very shiny five petaled flower.

• A ground hugging plant, small

14. Bane Berry

Baneberry

• A perennial herb with small white flowers forming dense racemes.

• Flowers are replaced by a very shiny red or white berry that resemble china ware

• Found in shaded very wet areas near water

• Mildly poisonous acting upon the heart. The rootstock is a violent purgative, irritant and emetic. They don’t hurt most birds

15. Columbine

Columbine

• Colorado state flower

• These showy flowers may vary from blue, yellow, white, to cream colored

• Leaves resemble the meadowrue

• Found in moist soils from 6-12000 ft of altitude. Generally on a hillside

• An important forage food for livestock and wild grazers.

16. Meadowrue

Meadowrue

• Very small inconspicuous plant

• Leaves are basal, leathery, pale green in color divided into leaflets with rounded lobes

• Found under trees in moist areas, give a very beautiful soft appearance to the under story of the forest.

• Learn them, you will like them.

17. Sugar Bowl

Sugarbowl (clematis)

• Also called vase bowl, or Old Mans Whiskers

• Nodding, dull purple, sugarbowl-shaped flower about 1 inch long

• 1-2 feet tall

• Found in moist open areas of plain hills or woods to about 8000 feet.

18. Clematis

Clematis (vine)

• Also called Virgin’s Bower• A slender, semi woody climbing vine that

may grow to 10-12 feet long• Found in dry to moist soil of woods and

thickets, from valleys to 8500 feet• Vines depend on trees for support and

climb to the sun. Indians and western settlers chewed the seed for colds and sore throats

19. Larkspur

Larkspur

• Actually there are several Larkspurs found. Some are found in desert or meadow situations low to 6000 ft, and in the mountains you will find a tall plant with pale to dark blue flowers. The key is the spur or spike on the back of the flower.

• Generally found in fairly dry conditions• Poisonous to cattle early in spring, with an

alkaloid and lose poison after blooming. Sheep are not affected and are used to eradicate the plant.

20. Wild Rose

Wild Rose

• A spiny multi stemmed plant, 2-4 ft tall

• Five petal flower

• Flower matures into red berries called rose hips. This fruit is consumed by birds and browsers. Also is full of Vitamin C and is used to make Vitamin C pills.

• Generally found in moist shaded and unshaded soils.

21. Prairie Smoke

Prairie Smoke

• A low growing nodding, vase-like shape, with 5 petals and recurved bracteoles. Found in moist meadows

• Another name is Old Man’s Whiskers

• Usually three flowers to a stem

• The fruiting seed bearing stage has a feathery appearance.

22. Serviceberry

Serviceberry

• Small tree or multi stemmed bush

• Early white-flowering bush, 5 petal flowers growing in small racemes.

• Found on moist to dry areas on hillsides and also on mountainsides, very common

• Berries are dark purple to blackish, very sweet, edible, seedy.

23. Shrubby Cinquefoil

Shrubby Cinquefoil

• A much-branched shrub 1-5 feet tall with bright yellow flowers with 5 petals

• Cinquefoil mean five petals

• Found extensively through the valley near Driggs, Tetonia, and Victor, Idaho in the pasture lands

• Browsed heavily by big game when other more preferred plants are in short supply

24. Indian Paintbrush

Indian Paintbrush

• Wyoming state flower, $25 fine for picking

• The red coloration are the bracts and upper leaves of the plant. Flowers are not attractive

• Found in dry to moist soils from valleys to 9000 ft elevation

• Semi-parasitic leaves photosynthesize but the roots touch other roots taking nutrients

25. Yellow Monkeyflower

Yellow Monkeyflower

• Also called wild lettuce and was consumed by Indians and early settlers alike

• Found along streams from low to alpine areas

• Look at the flower and imagine a monkey face. Small plants growing right in the streams

26. Forget Me Not

Forget me Not

• Two varieties, • 1. Many Stemmed Stickseed is found in

the forest and is very annoying because it has barbed stickers that get into your clothing. These may get three feet tall

• 2. Alpine Forget Me Not is a dwarf cushion plant bearing a mass of pretty blue or white flowers, Pika food, 9-12000 ft elevation

27. Buckwheat Types

Buckwheat

• Several species that are somewhat similar in appearance. Found in open areas of lower valley to 9000 ft.

• Soil differences seem to choose different buckwheat's.

• Preferred forage for sheep in mountains and low country.

28. Prickly Pear Cactus

Prickly Pear Cactus

• Large waxy blossoms, succulent, fleshy-stemmed perennials, without leaves.

• Very thorny. Generally found in alkaline desert soil. Especially cold deserts.

• Flowering in May, June, and early July

• Adapted to withstand drought conditions

• Very edible, not are found to be poisonous

29. Elderberry

Elderberry

• A large shrub confused with Mountain Ash because of compound pinnate leaves

• Has flat-topped flower cluster and blue berries.

• Found in moist we soil along streams, in woods and open areas from valleys to 9000 ft.

• Berries are used both by birds and man in syrups and Elderberry Wine.

30. Elk Thistle

Elk Thistle

• Evert’s Thistle named after Truman Evert who survived on thistle for a month in the 1800’s while lost in Yellowstone area

• Seen standing in mountain meadows with its thick, leafy, unbranched, succulent stems.

• Found in wet soil to about 8000 ft

• Inner stem is edible although not nutritious

31. Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Arrowleaf Balsamroot

• May be seen on dry hillsides such as the Juniper Hills by the sand hills north of Rexburg in the spring.

• Has large arrow shaped leaves, kind of hairy

• Indians ate the young tender sprout, large roots, and seeds either raw or cooked. They have a balsam flavor.

32. Heartleaf Arnica

Heartleaf Arnica

• A single stem plant with a head of yellow flowers about 2 in. across about 8-24 with lower leaves in a heart shape

• Found along trails in moist soils• An official drug plant; all parts of the plant

given orally or intravenously causes a rise in body temperature.

• Applied externally as a salve to cuts fights infection.

33. Mules Ear

Mules Ear

• Composite flower

• Resembles sunflowers and Arrowleaf Balsamroot

• The yellow version of White Wyethia

• Leaves are glossy whereas Arrowleaf Balsamroot are hairy and dull

• Moderately dry soils, is considered a pest plant to cattlemen, not palatable to cattle

34. White Wyethia (white mulesear)

White Wyethia

• Found in meadows of mountain valleys, many times in conjunction with blue camas

• These are the white version of Mules Ear.

• Flowers tend to follow the sun as the earth turns.

35. Salsify

Salsify

• Appear as ripened dandelion except that they are on long stems and have green bracts that are longer than the flower petals.

• Seed stocks look like gigantic dandelion seed with umbrella like heads

• Invaders found in roughed up areas like roadsides and trails sides

• Taproots are edible, this is an introduced species to America by European settlers.

36. Yarrow

Yarrow

• An umbel like plant with white flower on the end of a 1-three foot plant

• Fern like small leaves

• Found in moderately moist soil but not shade or wet meadows

• As a medicine it may serve as a stimulant, some people think that it may kill pains such as toothache by applying to the gums

37. Stonecrop

Stonecrop

• 4-8 inch multicolored flowers

• Flowers are found on rocky outcrops high in the mountains on windswept areas.

• Waxy covings on leaves allow them to withstand drought.

• Flowers are able to lay dormant during times of drought or stress.

38. Green Gentian or Monument Plant

Green Gentian

• First year growth is a cluster of long-stalked, strap like leaves.

• The flowering stage of the plant may happen during the second-fourth year of its life and then it will die

• The flowering stage is a very tall elongated plant with cluster of white to purple flowers

• May be confused with woolly mullein

39. Sticky Geranium

Sticky Geranium

• Probably the most common flower you will see along the trails in our mountains to about 8ooo ft.

• Leaves are geranium shaped• Plants are 1-2 ft tall• Flowers are pink• A related white species is the Richardson

geranium• Is a good browse food for bear and deer

40. Globemallow

Globemallow

• Five pedaled bright orange flowers

• Leaves resemble the gooseberry leaves

• Generally found at lower elevations and in cold deserts. Like dry conditions

• Leaves have a light green hue such as the color of sagebrush leaves

41. Elephanthead

Elephanthead

• A dense spike of reddish-purple to pink flowers shaped like an elephant head

• Found in wet soil of bogs, meadows, and along streams and lakeshores, may be growing right in the water.

• Flowers bloom early in the summer in low areas and may be found in alpine bogs late in the summer. They are beautiful

42. Penstemon

Penstemon

• The stems of this perennial plant are clumped together, are 4-20 in tall and topped with dense whorled clusters of small bluish-purple blossoms. Found in solid of meadows, open timbers slopes and mt. ridges from foothills to timberline.

• Several different species of Penstemon are common in the mountains. We use this as a representative species.

43. Cow Parsnip

Cow Parsnip

• A course, hairy, perennial herb, 3-8 ft tall with large compound leaves and numerous white flowers. Umbels

• Found in rich, damp soils especially along streams.

• Readily eaten by cows, sheep, and big game. Sweet succulent young stems can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked.

• Juice and hairs can cause blisters on man

44. Yellow Violet

Yellow Violet

• Basically the same as the purple violet but YELLOW.

45. Nodding Onion

Nodding Onion

• Also called Wild Onion, Leek, or Garlic

• Grows 6-18 inches tall from elongated bulbs

• Confused with Wild Hyacinth but Onions have pink not blue flowers

• Found in dry to moist areas, most areas where sunlight abounds. Many species

• Bulbs are eaten as flavor and filler. (good)

46. Sego Lilly

Sego Lilly

• White tulip like flower with a triangular cup-shaped appearance.

• Found in dry well-drained planis and hillsides and low elevations

• State flower of Utah• Bulbous root the size of a walnut is sweet

and nutritious. Used by Indians and early settlers. Utah Pioneers were saved by this bulb from starvation.

47. Camas

Camas

• Bright blue flowers that form a showy spike like racemes. 3 sepals, and 3 petals and 6 stamens. 1-2 ft tall and grass like leaves

• An edible ovate bulb found 8-12 inches underground. A major source of food for the Indians when boiled has a potato flavor

• Found in moist meadows and wetlands.

48. Twisted Stalk

Twisted Stalk

• The small whitish flowers are born in the leaf axils on very slender stalks that have a kink in them, 2-4 ft tall.

• Found in very moist shady soil.

• Berries were eaten by Indians and are utilized by ruffed grouse.

• Berries have an orange red color

49. Harebell

Harebell

• The flowers are violet-blue, bell-shaped, about ¾ in. broad, hang downward from slender, perennial stems 8-10 in. long

• Found from dry to moist open hillsides, prairies, and valleys.

• Also called the Scotch Bluebell as it is found in Scotland.

50. Wall Flower

Wall Flower

• Bright yellow flowers, sometimes tinged with orange, occur in a dense raceme. Narrow linear leaves. Plant is about 1-3ft tall.

• Found on open, dry flats and hillsides

• Belongs to the mustard family with and acrid odor.

51. Yampa

Yampa

• The root is about 6 inches deep and is edible, tastes like a carrot.

• The picture shown is of a very large Yampa, but must are just one or two umbels and is about 18-24 inches tall

• Generally found in meadows or openings in the forest in fairly dry areas.

• Important food source to early people

52. Engelmann Aster

Engelmann Aster

• A most common flower, 2-6 ft. tall, with large ragged heads composed of diskflowers surrounded by 9-15 white or slightly pinkish rayflowers up to 1 inch long

• Most to wet soil, usually in a wooded area with openings

• Leaves may be edible when boiled.

53.Woolly Mullein

Woolly Mullein

• A serious invader after a disturbance in a dry area. Found along most roadsides

• Called pioneer toilet paper as the soft hairy leaves were used for this purpose and actually reduce hemorrhoid pain

• 2-6 feet tall

• Seeds are used by many birds

54. Dogtooth Violet

Dogtooth Violet

• Also called the glacier lily

• Appears in early spring as snow banks melt

• Berries are edible and sweet, but be careful because this plant closely resembles other poisonous berries