Evening Primrose on the Mountain

If you have a chance to see Green Mountain through the rain, you'll see wildflowers at their peak this weekend.  As I write this the rain seems to be letting up and the weekend is supposed to be drier so I hope you can get out and enjoy it.

I was at the Florida trailhead on Wednesday morning, and there were so many flowers blooming in that area that it was tempting to just hang out there. The trail to the south from the parking lot is a great place to see lots of variety without much walking. About 100 yards around the trail is a rocky spot that harbors Stemless Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa). They seem to really like the cobbly rock on the hillside to the west and grow right out of the rock. If you're there after noon you may only find the fading flowers from the morning, as they change from bright white to pink. Another variety of Evening Primrose, Hooker's (Oenothera hookeri) blooms on the west side of the mountain. I've seen it near the Rooney trailhead and on Dinosaur Ridge, but never on the east side. As its flowers fade, they turn bright orange. Both of these flowers are easy to recognize by their four petals, and four anthers and prominent stamen in the center of the flower.

Stemless Evening Primrose

 Another variety of Evening Primrose, Hooker's (Oenothera hookeri) blooms on the west side of the mountain. I've seen it near the Rooney trailhead and on Dinosaur Ridge, but never on the east side. As its flowers fade, they turn bright orange. Both of these flowers are easy to recognize by their four petals, and the prominent anthers and four-parted stamen in the center of the flower.

Hooker's Evening Primrose

One last member of this family that is blooming now on Green Mountain is smaller and harder to notice. It's called Scarlet Gaura (Gaura coccinea).  It only stands about 6-8" tall and the scarlet color is muted--it looks mostly white. But it is an interesting little flower, sometimes called Beeplant, because of the pollinators it attracts. Look for it on the trailsides as you're hiking!

Scarlet Gaura