Wildflower Walks

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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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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Arrowleaf balsamroot
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Description: Golden flower 2 to 4 inches wide stands atop a stem 8 to 24 inches tall with pointed leaves up to 1 foot long and 6 inches wide. Grows in dry soil of valleys and hills. Blooms late April to July. (“Peterson Field Guides – Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” by John J. Craighead, [...]

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Fairybells
Disporum trachycarpum
Description: White to yellow-green bell-shaped flowers one-half inch long hang from the ends of branched, leafy stems 1 to 3 feet tall. Leaves are oval shaped to oblong 1 to 3 inches long. (“Peterson Field Guides’ Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” by John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead and Ray J. Davis)
Recently seen: Pattee Canyon, Rattlesnake [...]

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A few wildflower-themed events are coming up later this month.
On Saturday, the Clark Fork Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society will hold its first plant sale of the season at the Missoula Farmers Market. More than 50 species of plants native to the state will be on sale. The sale is from 8:30 a.m. [...]

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After a recent prescribed burn at the Pattee Canyon National Recreation Area, the annual arrival of glacier lilies is under way.
While it looks to be a pretty good bloom, it’s hard to say if it’s better because of the fire.
Plenty of green glacier lily leaves are sprouting from scorched areas in Crazy Canyon, and some [...]

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The Missoula Ranger District is planning prescribed fires at Pattee Canyon and Blue Mountain, possibly starting today, to “reduce surface fuel concentrations, promote ponderosa pine regeneration and rejuvenate forest floor vegetation.”
I’ll be interested to see the effects of the burns on wildflower blooms this spring and summer, particularly in Pattee Canyon. The area being treated [...]

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Pinedrops
Pterospora andromedea
Description: Bell-shaped whitish flowers one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch wide hang downward from sticky, purplish brown stems 1 to 4 feet tall. Leaves are narrow scales on lower stem. Grows in medium-moist to dry soil with decaying plant material under coniferous stands. Blooms late June to August. (“Peterson Field Guides’ Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” [...]

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Wood’s rose
Rosa woodsii
Description: Pink flowers 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches wide are made up of five stamens, five petals and numerous yellow stamens and pistils. Grows on a shrub 3 to 10 feet tall with toothed compound leaves. Blooms late May to July. Grows in moist soil of draws, hills and open valleys. (“Peterson [...]

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Stalks of blue camas have arrived in the Missoula area.
Reader Marvin Soroos and I have seen it in the Pattee Canyon National Recreation Area. Soroos recommends looking along Trail 302.5, about a quarter-mile uphill from where it crosses Crazy Canyon Road. I’ve seen the flowers blooming in a variety of spots along the southside ski [...]

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