Lilies in the Fields

The plant world is divided into many parts, but the first main divisions between Gymnosperms (pines and the like) and Angiosperms, plants with fruits enclosing their seeds.  Of the Angiosperms we have monocots and dicots.  The monocots are mostly grasses but also include things like onions and lilies.  These are the plants I'll talk about today.  

The term monocot refers to the way the plant starts growing.  When you picture the beans or morning glories coming up in your garden, the first leaves (or cotyledons) that grow from the stem are in pairs.  That's a dicot--two cotyledons.  The monocots have only one leaf that comes out of the seed--like a grass.  Lilies, onions and grass all grow that way.  In addition, when their leaves are larger they are long and have veins that are parallel to the length of the stem.  Dicots can have really complicated leaf structures--picture an oak or maple leaf.

I've talked about Sand Lilies (Leucocrinum montanum), one of the harbingers of Spring (See April 13 entry).  Last week I saw a less common, but really cool little lily blooming--Meadow Death Camas (Toxicoscordion venous).  I've never seen these near a trail, always in the untrammeled meadows on the mountain.  As the name implies, they are poisonous, but pretty little flowers.

Death Camas (Toxicoscordion venous)

I haven't seen any onions yet this year, but they should be coming out soon.  They're a small, chive sized plant that grows all over the mountain, but you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for it.  This one is Allium textile, aka Wild Onion.  Later in the year you might see a Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum).  These have flower umbels that fall over, or nod, and the flowers are a light pink or lavender color.  

Wild Onion (Allium textile)

I haven't ventured out into the muddy Open Space since the storms of last Saturday night.  Hopefully they didn't beat up the wildflowers too much--we were off to a great start!

Some nasty, some nice

We had a great wildflower hike on Green Mountain Saturday morning.  Lots of good questions, and a great leader in Carol Dawson of the BLM.  The hike was sponsored by Lakewood Parks and they had lots of good information available.  We'll try to do it again.

Since we started at the Florida trailhead by the parking lot, the trails are well used and there are lots of invasives right near the parking (these are The Nasties)  We saw a couple flowers from the Mustard family (Brassicaceae) and everyone might have gotten a bad impression of mustards.  Although many of the mustards we have in Colorado are invasive there are lots of great ones that are native and don't look so scraggly!

Here's one of the nasties, Jim Hill (or Tumble) Mustard.  It gets about 3' tall and in the fall the stem breaks and it becomes a tumble weed.  If you check my post from April 6 you can see some Yellow Alyssum, but it's mostly done blooming now and has formed a bunch of short brown stalks with round, float seed pods, or silicles.

Jim Hill Mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum)

BUT, there are some really pretty members of the mustards.  Right now there are several blooming.  Wallflower is a typical mustard with its four petals, but they're larger than some of its weedy brothers.  It grows higher on the mountain so if you get close to the top, look for it.

Wallflower (Erysimum asperum)

Two others, the bladderpods, have come out in the last couple weeks.  They look pretty similar, but the Fiddle-leaf Bladderpod is a bigger, showier plant with leaves that resemble a cello.  The Mountain Bladderpod is a little smaller, a little more common, and has very thin (lanceolate) leaves). You can see both of these all over the mountain, but there's a big Fiddler (10" in diameter and about 6-8" tall) on the trail between the Florida and Utah trailheads.  They'll last a few weeks, so enjoy them. 

Wildflower Hike Saturday 5/17

The Bureau of Land Management and Jeffco Parks will be teaming up this Saturday, May 17, to lead a wildflower hike.  The hike will begin from the Florida trailhead parking lot at 10:00 am and will last about 2 hours. No dogs, please.  It should be warm so bring water, sun protection and comfortable hiking shoes.  For more information or to sign up, call 303 697-6259.

See you there!

Before the storm

With a storm coming tonight Green Mountain will probably be turning white.  The micro-climate we have up here always amazes me.  It may be raining at 6th and Union, but it'll be snowing a couple hundred feet up the mountain.  Since they're calling for 9" of snow I tried to beat the afternoon showers and am amazed at how many flowers have come out in the last week.  

The first of the Penstemons, Blue Mist Penstemon, is blooming in a few places and Lupine are blooming on the lower parts of the mountain.  There were even a few Hens-and-Chickens cactus (or choose your own favorite name) with their yellow blooms.  

Hens and Chickens Cactus (Echinocereus viridiflorus)

One flower that I always associate with higher altitudes is Pussytoes.  I'd seen some dead blossoms a couple times in one small area on the east-facing valley above the water tank at the end of Exposition Drive.  This year the Pussytoes cover big patches of the south side near the top of the valley.  Last week I saw another unusual bloom in the same area, Northern Rockjasmine.  It's pretty small and the iPhone photos don't do it justice!

Northern Rockjasmine (Androsace septrionalis)

Pussytoes (Antennaria rosea)

There are several spots on the mountain that have exposure that's just different enough to get a few unusual blooms.  I like see ing the hillsides covered with Golden Banner, but it's finding these unusual guys that really makes my day!

An early Spring

Last weekend was a busy one but the last 10 days have put us right into wildflower season. When I was out a week ago the scent of the chokecherries was already heavy in a few spots.  In the last week we've had all the flowering bushes come out--hawthorns, cherries, and plums are the showiest, but the currant bushes and sumac have blossoms all over them, too.  That'll make for some happy bees!

Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)

This week the wildflowers have really taken off, too, but that's what a warm week will do. We're a couple weeks ahead of last year--remember all the snows through April--so we may hit our peak before Memorial Day.

I have one spot where the Chiming Bells bloom early, and they were out a week ago.  This week they're all over the mountain, along with a few locoweed.  That adds a lot more color to the yellows of the alyssum and Golden Banner that have been dominating.  There are lots of others to watch for, too--Mouse-ear Chickweed, Easter Daisy, Sand Lilies and some Mountain Ball Cactus that are still blooming.  Lots to see!

Chiming Bells (Mertensia lanceolata)

Locoweed (Oxytropis lambertii)