Wildflower Walks

As summer comes to a close and students return to school, we are reminded of the time-honored tradition of the “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” paper.
This year, the Missoulian is putting a modern twist on the assignment by bringing it to the popular social networking site Twitter.
We want you, western Montanans, to send a [...]

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Wild bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Description: Many pink to purplish 1-inch-long flowers consisting of a narrow upper lip and a lobed lower lip with two stamens and one style. Flowers grow from a 1- to 3-inch-wide head that stands atop a stem 1 to 3 feet tall with opposite, lance-shaped leaves. Grows in moist or semi-dry ground in [...]

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Yellow columbine
Aquilegia flavescens
Description: Flowers are made up of five cream to yellow petals that are open in the front and taper to yellow spurs and five yellow sepals. They stand atop stems 8 to 30 inches tall with basal leaves that are divided into three thin leaflets each. Found in moist meadows, along streams and [...]

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Pink mountain heather
Phyllodoce empetriformis
Description: Bright pink bell-shaped flowers growing in clusters from evergreen shrubs 8 to 20 inches tall. Found in most soil of higher mountains. Blooms late June to August. (”Peterson Field Guides: Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” by John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead Jr. and Ray J. Davis.)
Recently seen: Stateline Trail to Illinois Peak, [...]

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It’s nearly time for my annual summer trip to Glacier National Park. While finding wildflowers there is never difficult, deciding on which trails to hike is more of a chore – albeit one with a great reward. My wife and I are always looking for something new, with lakes, streams, views and some altitude.
This year, [...]

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Nodding onion
Allium cernuum
Description: Cluster of 25 to 40 small white or pink flowers, with stamens longer than petals or sepals, that hangs from a bent stalk 6 to 18 inches tall with grasslike leaves growing from the base. Found in dry to moist valleys, open hills and ridges. Blooms mid-June to early August. (“Peterson Field [...]

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The Glacier Institute has a couple of courses coming this month up related to wildflowers:
“Photography in Glacier Country” will be held July 21 to 23. Learn to photograph subjects big and small, from panoramic vistas to closeups of flowers. Cost is $400.
“Wildflower Wanderings at Logan Pass” will be July 24. Check out the wildflowers along [...]

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Queen’s cup
Clintonia uniflora
Description: Three slender white petals and three similar sepals spread outward from a 3- to 8-inch stem with three green, lance-shaped leaves growing from the base. Grows in shaded forests or forest clearings. Blooms late May to July. (“Wildflowers of Montana,” by Donald Anthony Schiemann.)
Recently seen: Bass Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains.
The hike: [...]

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Bunchberry
Cornus canadensis
Description: A 1-inch-wide bloom made up of four white bracts surrounding a cluster of small whitish-purplish flowers stands atop a stem 4 to 12 inches tall with a whorl of broad leaves. Found in most woods, meadows and bogs. Blooms May to July. (“Peterson Field Guides: Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” by John J. Craighead, Frank [...]

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Wild hyacinth
Brodiaea douglasii
Description: One-inch-long tubular blue flowers in clusters of five to 15 sit atop a slender stem 1 to 3 feet tall. Grasslike leaves grow from the base. Blooms late April to early July. Found in dry to moist soil in rocky areas, meadows and open woods. (“Peterson Field Guides – Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” [...]

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