Views from the Top

My next Lone Pine report won't be until the end of June when we return from a trip to New Mexico.  Be sure to check "Wildflower Wanderings" to see my other flower adventures there.

Here is what you can see from the top of Lone Pine on a sunny day:

The view towards Whitefish and Big Mountain...

...towards Columbia Falls and the peaks in Glacier Park...

...towards the Swan Mountains and Flathead River...

...and towards Bigfork and Flathead Lake.

Wow!  That's pretty much the whole Flathead Valley!  Get out and enjoy our beautiful place!!!

False Solomon's Seal

I thought I would just post something interesting that I've been observing.  There are two varieties of False Solomon's Seal.  (I hate it when they do that in naming flowers--if it's "false," what is it really?)
The primary one still blooming at Lone Pine looks like this:

Smilacina racemosa

I want to revisit this one again later this summer, when it forms a cluster of berries.  There is another form called Starry False Solomon's Seal that you may come across elsewhere; Lynn and I saw a lot of it in West Glacier.

Smilacina stellata

I guess there is a "true" Solomon's Seal Lily that grows in the eastern US.  Just a little FYI.

June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

So many lovely things at Lone Pine right now!  I hiked on Thursday, but with school coming to a close, I haven't had a chance to blog until this morning.  It was my last chance to check out the yellow coralroots before we head off to New Mexico, so I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would be open. Yup, I was in luck!

Corallorhiza Trifida

At the end of my walk I came back to the Striped Coralroots that I had seen on a rainy day.  I'm putting them here so you can compare.  Still lovely in the sunshine. 

Corallorhiza Striata

Going on up the trail to the top, I started seeing some sweet wild roses starting to open.  When I got home and looked at the photo, I noticed there was an observer that I hadn't noticed when I took the picture:

Can you find my little spider friend?

I know I have already posted a lot of paintbrush photos, but this one was a whopper!  Its size probably won't show up in the photo, but the red-tipped bracts were huge.  I guess I should have put my hand in this one as well.

Alberta Penstemon is open all over the top of Lone Pine:

This is a new yellow flower and probably a type of Arnica, but not the Heart-Leaf Arnica that has already bloomed down in the forest.  I've included a leaf photo for anyone who wants to try and identify it for me! :-)
                         

The Blue Flax was stunning, but may have faded by now with the warmth and no rain this week.

This is what Prairiesmoke does after the bloom is gone--where it gets the "smoke" in its name.

More June blooms:

some variety of Daisy Fleabane

Stonecrop

Groundsel

Salsify

Salsify

there was a big field of Death Camas--watch out!

Lupine as I came on down the trail.

The bright yellow Oregon Grape is now forming the berry.

more Rosy-Pussytoes

This is where the Spotted Coralroot lives; hopefully you can see it behind the Lupine.
See how tall the Groundsel stem is!

Rainy Day Rewards

today at 4 p.m.it was raining buckets!  I thought, oh well, not today, and came home.  At 5 p.m., it had quit and looked promising, so I pulled on my rain-pants, raincoat, and waterproof boots, and headed up the trail.  Oh yeah, I had my camera too.

I mainly wanted to check on the yellow coralroots that were coming on.  Not opened yet, but getting there.  They were almost as bright a yellow as the arnica.

As much as I enjoy taking close-ups, I thought I would try to capture what the coralroots look like in the forest setting.  Today was perfect because of the soft lighting after the rain.

Spotted Coralroot

The raindrops made this little coralroot look especially lovely.

This is the one with a bigger stem that I thought would be different.  Nope, just a little behind the others.

One of these girls has not been eating her Wheaties!
The ones with no spots on their petals are considered albino, not a different variety.

I thought the bird's-eye view looked interesting.

I did a short loop today (since Warren was waiting for me to get home and have dinner with him!), so I didn't go up to the top.  Just thought I'd see what other surprises the wet woods had in store for me today.  

Perfect day for a mushroom.

This color definitely caught my eye, despite its small size.  This is Rosy Pussytoes;
or as I like to say "Rosy-toes."

This variety of Pussytoes is a more common sight along the trail.

Lupine in the rain

In classic flower-nerd style, I was looking for a particular plant as I walked along.  A leaf pattern caught my eye and I stopped.  Flower-Karma was at work today, because I happened to look down, and right at my feet (size 10 1/2!), right next to the trail, were these little beauties.  My sub-conscious must have been hearing, "Watch out!  Look down here!  Pay attention!"   I might have just as easily stepped on them or not seen them at all!

On closer inspection I realized that they were very small STRIPED Coralroot!  I hope to find more of these soon, but by now it's raining again, and I must go.

I looked up the pink honeysuckle and sure enough found a photo that matched exactly (hurray for Google!).  It is Lonicera Tatarica and is native to Siberia.  But it was introduced to North America as an exotic ornamental plant back in the 1750's.  Probably more information than you'd EVER want to know.  It was really pretty in the rain...

You can see how it is right along the trail, and a shrub not a vine.