Colorado Wild Flowers - free ebook by Harold DeWitt Roberts

COLORADO WILD FLOWERS

10 minute read

Read Chapter

Acknowledgments:

The original color films used for the plates on pages 15 and 26 , were heretofore reproduced in different form in “American Wild Flowers”—Moldenke, published in 1949 by D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, with whose permission they are again reproduced here. The pen and ink diagrams and sketches on pages 3 , 60 , 61 , 62 and inside back cover , were prepared by Mary Chilton Gray, of the staff of Denver Museum of Natural History....

24 minute read

Read Chapter

Lily Family Yucca or Spanish Bayonet, Yucca glauca, NUTT.

⇐FRONT COVER Flowers, closely arranged along a tall woody bloom stalk, are each formed by 6 petals and sepals (perianth segments) surrounding a large fleshy pistil. The 3 outer segments often have mahogany brown shading on the back, the 3 inner are creamy white, or greenish white. They look like drooping bells in the daytime, but spread to a total width of 3 to 4 inches when fully open in late evening. Pollination is accomplished only by the deliberate work of a Pronuba moth. Total height of pla

41 minute read

Read Chapter

FOREWORD

The generous acceptance of the first seven numbers of MUSEUM PICTORIAL convinced the Trustees of the Denver Museum of Natural History that the publication is filling a definite need in the field of natural history reports. The subjects are so varied that a wealth of material is available. The present issue is the first printed in color, and will, we hope, be followed by others. The authors, Harold and Rhoda Roberts, probably are the foremost photographers of wild flowers of Colorado and the Sout

3 minute read

Read Chapter

LIFE ZONES

Climate, which is a composite of prevailing temperature, length of season and average moisture, is the chief factor in deciding where plants of any given species can grow and propagate. Soil type also plays a part, and if extremely unfavorable may totally exclude some species of plants from a large and otherwise favorable area, but in general, soil is the minor factor. In Colorado, climate is largely determined by altitude, so here, as we pass from one elevation to another, we find plant life ar

1 minute read

Read Chapter

PLAINS

All of Colorado lying east of the base of the mountains, as well as large areas in western Colorado lying along the course of the Colorado River and its main tributaries, are within the life zone commonly known as the Plains, and referred to in technical books as Upper Sonoran. These areas are mainly below 5500 feet in elevation, and are relatively flat. Clay soils are the rule, with local sandy spots. The rainfall throughout this zone is scanty and irrigation essential to general farming. These

1 minute read

Read Chapter

FOOTHILLS

Long strips of land from 5500 to 8000 feet in elevation lying between the plains and the mountains, and filling in with rough hills and valleys the spaces between mountain ranges, comprise a life zone known as the Foothills, and named, by naturalists, the Transition zone. In this zone much of the soil is filled with gravel and weathered rock detritus washed down from higher land or left there by ancient glaciers. Total annual rainfall in this zone is higher than on the plains, and the broken cha

1 minute read

Read Chapter

MONTANE

The great mid-sections of our high mountains, lying between 8,000 and 10,000 feet in elevation, make up a life zone called Montane, also known as Canadian. Since most of our Colorado mountains are granite, the typical soils in this zone are granite gravel. Some mountains, however, are faulted blocks of sedimentary rock which have weathered into clay and sand soils. The annual rainfall in this zone is over double that of our plains. This has resulted in forests of lodgepole pine, aspens, and of s

1 minute read

Read Chapter

SUB-ALPINE

Above 10,000 feet the pattern of life changes. Until timberline is reached at about 11,500 feet, this band of mountain country is called the Sub-Alpine or Hudsonian life zone. Soil and moisture conditions are almost as favorable as in the lower montane zone, but here the snows of winter stay late, especially on north slopes, and frost may come even in mid-summer. The race to ripen seed, before winter comes, is intense, and the seeds, when produced and scattered, face special problems of germinat

1 minute read

Read Chapter

ALPINE

From timberline (about 11,500 feet) up to our highest Colorado mountain summit (Mt. Elbert 14,431 feet) climate is too severe for any trees. This condition marks these areas off as a separate life zone called Alpine or Arctic. Soil forms only slowly on these rocky summits, but mosses, lichens, sedges and grasses have been here for ages of time, all of them patiently building humus. Erosion carries less soil away from the tops than it does from the lower hillsides. So in the spaces between the ba

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Lily Family Sand Lily, Leucocrinum montanum, NUTT.

Flower is an inch in diameter, of 6 petals and sepals all alike (perianth segments) united at their base into a tube over an inch long. Several of these rise from the buried crown of the plant, as do also the leaves, ⅜ inch wide and over 6 inches long, resembling heavy curved blades of grass. The matted, cordlike roots store, through the long dormant period, the starches and sugars needed for rapid Spring growth. Grows in sandy soil in plains or low foothills. Blooms April-May. When sand lilies

55 minute read

Read Chapter

Lily Family Wood Lily, Lilium umbellatum, PURSH

The flower, of flaring trumpet shape 3 inches in diameter, is formed of 6 petals and sepals, all alike, (perianth segments) tapering at both ends. Color varies from rose-red to red-orange. Stem 15 to 30 inches high, bearing a single flower (occasionally 2 or more) and several whorls of leaves, comes from a round bulb. Picking the flower usually kills the bulb. Grows in rich soil in partial shade near streams, montane zone. Blooms July. This is one of the most sought-after and breathtaking of our

54 minute read

Read Chapter

Lily Family Mariposa, Calochortus gunnisonii, WATS.

Flower, more than 1 inch in diameter, is formed of 3 perianth segments, which are narrow, greenish and sepal-like, and 3 segments which are broad, showy and petal-like. On the inner surface of these latter, near the base, are large, hairy glands of dark color. Stem is slender, 8 to 20 inches tall, with few linear leaves, and comes from a deeply buried corm. Grows in fairly heavy clay soils on open grassy slopes in foothills and lower montane zones. Blooms June-July. The name mariposa recalls to

53 minute read

Read Chapter

Lily Family Glacier Lily, Erythronium grandiflorum, PURSH

Flowers, 1½ inches across of 6 bright gold perianth segments, all alike and strongly re-curved, nod, singly or in twos or even threes, at the top of a naked scape which rises from the deep-seated bulb. The 6 stamens, each tipped with a large yellow anther, surround a prominent green style and hang downward. Plant is about 10 inches high, with only two broad green leaves which sheath the base of the scape. Grows in sub-alpine zone extending through montane zone. Occurs only on the west side of th

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Orchid Family Yellow Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium calceolus, L.

Flower, usually solitary, is shaped like a Dutch shoe about 2 inches long. The sac-like toe part, formed by one of the 3 petals, is bright yellow with greenish sheen, the other 2 petals, much narrower, extend to the sides and are often twisted and streaked with brown. Plant is about 10 inches tall, with broad lance-shaped green leaves which enclose the lower part of the flower stem. Grows on moist but not wet slopes in montane zone. June. In not too open aspen glades in middle elevations, a priv

59 minute read

Read Chapter

Four o’Clock Family Prairie Snowball, Abronia fragrans, NUTT.

Individual flowers are formed of a slender calyx tube, 1 inch long, flaring at its mouth into 5 white, petal-like lobes to make a tiny salver ¼ inch across. They have no true petals. Numerous such flowers are clustered to form the surface of a ball about 2 inches in diameter. Plant has reddish stems, somewhat hairy, that creep on the ground, with fleshy (succulent) green leaves arranged in opposite pairs. Grows in plains on sandy soil. Blooms May-June. Every plains child knows the prairie snowba

52 minute read

Read Chapter

Buckwheat Family Sulphur Flower, Eriogonum umbellatum, TORR.

Numerous flowers, each formed of 6 minute yellow perianth segments, are grouped in round tight clusters at the ends of slender pedicels, several such clusters radiating to form a flat-topped head (umbel) 4 inches across. These heads are borne on erect hairy leafless stems (scapes), 8 to 15 inches tall. Oblong leaves about 1½ inches long, form a green mat on the ground. Grows on open dry slopes of foothills and lower mountains. Blooms June-September. Many Species of Eriogonum are found in Colorad

55 minute read

Read Chapter

Buckwheat Family Sand Begonia, Rumex venosus, PURSH

Flower parts are minute except the three inner sepals which rapidly develop into conspicuous red to rose-colored wings or vanes about ½ inch wide, attached to the seed. These vanes, with their seeds, develop into compact clusters 2 inches or more in diameter. Leaves are oval or oblong, fleshy and dark green, on short stout branches which are often prostrate. Grows in plains. Blooms May-July. This is just an ordinary dock closely related to the pest you dig from your lawn, but a good example of a

58 minute read

Read Chapter

Purslane Family Spring Beauty, Claytonia lanceolata, PURSH

Flower is ½ inch across of 5 pale rose-colored petals, notched at the end and with veins of darker shade. Sepals are only 2; plant is 6 inches or less in height, with succulent stems and rather broad lance-shaped leaves which rise almost as high as the loose raceme of 3 or more flowers. Grows in rich soil montane and foothill zones. Blooms immediately after snow melts which is late May to July, or much earlier on warm slopes. The plants of this species that grow in foothill locations often have

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Pink Family Moss Campion, Silene acaulis, L.

Flowers, ⅜ inch across, of 5 bright purplish-red petals, notched at the end, spread from the top of a tubular calyx so that the whole flower forms a tiny salver. Stems and leaves are so dwarfed and tightly grouped as to give the appearance of a cushion of green moss 3 to 8 inches across, studded with little reddish stars. Grows in alpine rocky areas extending to peak summits. Blooms late June-early July. This is one of the alpine flowers we share with all the alpine and arctic lands of the North

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Buttercup Family Pasque Flower, Pulsatilla ludoviciana, HELLER

Flowers, of 5 to 7 petal-like sepals, form a wide cup 1½ inches across, white or pale lavender within, and much darker lavender to purple, covered with silky hairs, on the outside. The numerous golden stamens are prominent. The flower buds, quite furry at this stage, spring directly from a buried root crown before the green leaves, divided into several lobes, appear. Grows in foothills, especially on gentle north slopes where extra snow has drifted. Blooms late March-April. It goes also by the n

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Buttercup Family Globe Anemone, Anemone globosa, NUTT.

Flower, ¾ inch in diameter, of 5 to 9 showy petal-like sepals, usually deep red, occasionally yellow, forms a shallow cup around the numerous stamens and a conspicuous group of pistils which, after the flower fades, become a round thimble-shaped seed cluster. The pedicels, bearing the solitary flowers at their tips, are several inches long and covered with silky hairs. Plant is about 1 foot tall, with subdivided leaves near the base and on the sparingly branched stems. Grows in partial shade in

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Buttercup Family Nelson’s Larkspur, Delphinium nelsonii, GREENE

Flowers, ½ inch or more wide, are formed of 5 showy, dark blue, irregularly shaped sepals, enclosing at their base 4 much smaller petals of lighter color. The uppermost sepal extends backward as a slender spur ½ inch or more in length. About a dozen flowers on slender pedicels group around a central erect stem to form a loose raceme which often nods slightly at the top. Plant is 10 to 15 inches tall and bears rather few leaves each sub-divided into linear segments. Grows in foothills zone. Bloom

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Buttercup Family Snow Buttercup, Ranunculus adoneus, GRAY

Flowers are an inch across, formed of several (3 to 15) broad, overlapping golden petals having the glossy sheen of butter. The sparse leaves are divided into linear lobes. These and the succulent stems grow a few inches tall, breaking out of frosty soil with flower bud ready to open. Grows on alpine and sub-alpine slopes near snow banks. Blooms when snow melts, usually June to early July. The hardiness of the snow buttercup is its outstanding characteristic. It comes up through the snow because

54 minute read

Read Chapter

Buttercup Family Globeflower, Trollius laxus, SALISB.

Flower is 1¼ inches across of 5 to 10 (or more) pale cream petal-like sepals, with numerous yellow stamens and several pistils in the center. Numerous petals, so dwarfed as hardly to be noticed, surround the base of the stamens. Plants, 8 to 15 inches tall, often grow in groups and bear several flowers, each on its own slender stem. Leaves are dark green and deeply cut into 5 or more spreading lobes (palmate). Grows in moist rich soil in sub-alpine and alpine zones. Blooms late May-July. When th

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Buttercup Family Columbine, Aquilegia coerulea, JAMES

The flower is formed of 5 sepals and 5 petals, alternately arranged and all of them showy. The sepals are deep blue or sometimes quite pale, forming a wide saucer-like star 3 inches across; the petals form a white inner cup 1¾ inches across, and stretch back between the sepals as hollow, slender 2-inch spurs. Plants are 2 feet or more high of several delicate stems, usually carrying at their tops numerous flowers. The deeply cut leaves are mainly concentrated at the plant base. Grows in rich soi

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Poppy Family Prickly Poppy, Argemone intermedia, SWEET

Flower, 3 inches or more across, is formed of 6 brilliant white, paper-like petals, surrounding numerous golden stamens with, at the very center, a dark or even black stigma. Blossoms, in loose clusters opening over a long period, crowd each other slightly at the tops of the branching stems. Plant is 2 to 5 feet tall, with gray-green leaves divided into lobes, and with yellowish spines along the stems and leaf ribs. Grows in plains, foothills and lower montane zones. Blooms May-September. These

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Mustard Family Wallflower, Erysimum asperum, DC.

Flowers, ½ inch in diameter, are formed of 4 petals arranged like a Maltese cross, yellow to orange in color. They are clustered into a round terminal head, the lower flowers of which open first so that usually tubular seed pods (siliques) have formed near the base by the time the top of the cluster is in bloom. Plants are 8 inches or more high, of several stems from one root crown. Grows in foothills, extending down to plains and up through montane zone. Blooms May-July. The mustards are legion

56 minute read

Read Chapter

Saxifrage Family Snowball Saxifrage, Saxifraga rhomboidea, GREENE

Individual flowers are ¼ inch or less across, each with 5 white petals, and are grouped in a compact, round-topped head about 1 inch in diameter which forms the top of a naked stem (scape). This scape rises to a height of 8 inches, or sometimes much less, from the center of a flat circle of oblong, leathery leaves. As the blossoms age, the flower cluster becomes loose and sprangly. Grows on moist slopes in sub-alpine and montane zones. Blooms May-July. Saxifrage is another large family of quite

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Orpine Family Queen’s Crown, Sedum rhodanthum, GRAY

Individual flowers, ¼ inch across, are formed of 4 or 5 bright rose petals; numerous flowers being congested in a round head an inch or more in diameter terminating a leafy shoot, several of which rise from a woody root crown. Plant is 6 to 10 inches high, with narrow, gray-green, fleshy leaves crowded along the succulent stems. Grows in wet places alpine and sub-alpine zones. Blooms June-August. Along the cold, mountain stream trickling out from Lake Isabelle, or near any similar alpine lake or

53 minute read

Read Chapter

Rose Family Bush Cinquefoil, Potentilla fruticosa, L.

Flowers are an inch in diameter, of 5 broad, golden petals surrounding 20 or more stamens. Groups of several flowers are borne at the ends of the numerous short branches. Plant is a dense shrub about 3 to 4 feet high with many dark, woody, freely-branching stems. Leaves are pinnate, with usually 5 or 7 narrow linear leaflets. Grows in moist parts of the montane zone, also in the upper foothills and the lower sub-alpine zones. Blooms continuously May to September. This thornless yellow rose is on

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Pea Family Prairie Pea, Lathyrus stipulaceus, B. AND ST. J.

Flowers, more than ½ inch across, are shaped like a cultivated sweet pea, with very showy red banner and paler lateral petals and keel. Plants, about 6 inches high, grow in irregular mats. The leaves are pinnate, formed by about 4 pairs of narrow linear leaflets. These and the stems are gray-green and, in most plains specimens, covered with rather silky down. Grows in sandy soil on plains. Blooms May-June. This, and the quite different looking plants shown on the next three pages, give but a sma

55 minute read

Read Chapter

Pea Family Deer Clover, Trifolium nanum, TORR.

Individual flowers, pink-lavender to purple, formed along a keel, like those of the cultivated clovers, about ½ inch long and rather slender, grow singly or in twos or threes on short pedicels rising directly from the root crown. The plant is a dense mat, often a foot or more across, covered with small 3-foliate leaves. Grows on rocky flats or slopes in alpine zone. Blooms June-July. For many, acquainted only with the cultivated clovers of lawn and meadow, it is a pleasure to know that the high

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Pea Family Lambert’s Loco, Oxytropis lambertii, PURSH

Individual flowers, about ½ inch wide, are formed of 5 dissimilar petals, usually magenta red, sometimes other shades from rose to purple. The banner bends back slightly and carries markings of lighter color near its base; the 2 lateral petals are plain and angle forward; the 2 lower petals form a narrow keel. Numerous flowers, attached at the calyx base along the upper third of a naked stem, form a showy spike 10 inches or more tall, several of which rise from one root crown. Leaves, pinnate, w

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Pea Family Golden Banner, Thermopsis divaricarpa, A. NELS.

The individual flowers are about ¾ inch across, each formed of 5 dissimilar golden petals. The top petal is an upright banner, with a wing petal on each side and in the center the 2 keel petals folded together. A dozen or more flowers are attached by short pedicels to the upper part of the stem, forming a loose raceme. Plants, of one or several erect leafy stems from a root crown, are 1-2 feet tall. Grows in foothills and montane zones. Blooms April-July. Several closely allied species share the

59 minute read

Read Chapter

Loasa Family Stickweed, Mentzelia nuda, T. AND G.

Flowers, about 2 inches wide, are formed of 10 narrow, creamy, petals which spread wide and surround a radiating cluster of 100 or more pale stamens as long as the petals. Plant is 2 to 4 feet high of white shiny stems branching freely from one main stem, and rather sparsely covered with deeply indented, light green leaves of a peculiar rough texture. Grows on plains and low foothills. Blooms July-August. The leaves of this plant are covered with minute barbed hairs which cling to cloth so firml

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Cactus Family Strawberry Cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus, ENGELM.

Flowers are brilliant scarlet, 2½ inches across, with a conspicuous group of green stigmas in the center. Plant is a single, erect, cylindrical, dark-green joint or stem about 5 inches high, several to many of which often group closely together forming a mound. The stems are strongly ridged and carry sharp spines in clusters. Grows in rocky or gravelly soil on plains and into foothills, southwestern Colorado. Blooms May. This is related to some larger cacti that grow in Arizona, and there get th

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Cactus Family Grizzly Bear Cactus, Opuntia trichophora, BRITTON AND ROSE

Flowers are 3 inches or more across, usually light-yellow with fine sheen, several of them erupting from the edge of a flat, oval joint. Plant spreads over a circular area, about 2 feet in diameter, and is made up of numerous connected flat joints, of light-green color, all heavily armored with pale, sharp spines, some of which, in old plants, may be flexible and hair-like. Grows on clay soil in foothills and plains of middle and western Colorado. Blooms June-early July. Several species of Opunt

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Evening Primrose Family Yellow Evening Primrose, Oenothera brachycarpa, GRAY

Flowers are cadmium-yellow, fading old-rose, 2½ inches across, of 4 wide petals. The 4 narrow sepals bend back and at their base merge into a hollow tubular stem. The style branches at its tip into 4 conspicuous slender stigmas. Plant has little or no main stem; leaves are dark-green, strap-shaped, 3 inches long. Grows in foothills, but only where soil is somewhat marly. Blooms May-June. Look for this one of our numerous evening-primroses about Memorial Day. Soil formed from the disintegration o

54 minute read

Read Chapter

Evening Primrose Family Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium, L.

Individual flowers, 1 inch across, are formed of 4 wide-spreading, magenta petals, and are attached by longish pedicels to a central stem, so that the whole flower cluster (inflorescence) is a loose raceme forming the top foot or more of a tall leafy shoot, several of which rise from a woody root crown. Leaves are narrow, 2 inches or more in length. The entire plant is often 4 feet or more tall. Grows in sunny openings in montane zone. Blooms June-August. Webster’s Dictionary describes fireweed

56 minute read

Read Chapter

Heath Family Pipsissewa, Chimaphila umbellata, NUTT.

Flower, ½ inch across, formed of 5 rose-pink petals that bend back and surround, at the center, a conspicuous bright green ovary which is tipped with a disc-like stigma. The 10 prominent stamens, spreading from near the base of the ovary, look like short claws. Plant is 8-12 inches tall, bearing a cluster of several flowers at its top. Leaves are shiny and evergreen with saw-toothed edges, arranged in whorls along the woody stems, but most numerous at the base of the plant. Grows in moist acid s

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Primrose Family Brook Primrose, Primula parryi, GRAY

Individual flowers, almost ½ inch across, are formed of 5 brilliant, crimson, spreading corolla lobes which join at their base into a narrow tube; dark shadings and yellow markings at the throat of the tube give the effect of a round eye. A dozen or more flowers, each on a nodding pedicel, are clustered at the top of a stout dark stem which rises from a whorl of deep-green, broad, lance-shaped leaves. Plant is about 10 to 20 inches tall. Grows in sub-alpine zone or slightly higher. Blooms June-e

58 minute read

Read Chapter

Primrose Family Shooting Star, Dodecatheon radicatum, GREENE

Individual flowers, ¾ inch across, are formed of 5 crimson, rather narrow, petals or corolla lobes which flare outward and backward, but unite at their base into a short tube. From this tube 5 conspicuous anthers, over ¼ inch long, grouped together like a sharp straight beak, protrude forward. Ten or more flowers, each on a slender pedicel, nod in a cluster at the top of a stout scape which rises 10 to 15 inches high from a basal mat of dark-green, oblong leaves. Grows along streams and in wet m

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Gentian Family Fringed Gentian, Gentiana elegans, A. NELS.

Flowers are 2 to 3 inches long, of 4 deep purple-blue petals, fitted together to form a square column for over half their length, then, in sunlight, flaring outward to exhibit fringed tops and upper edges. Each flower is at the end of a stem which bears several pairs of oblong, opposite leaves. Plants are about 12 inches high of several erect stems branching from near the base. Grows in sub-alpine wet meadows. Blooms August-September. The lush hay meadows of Colorado’s upland parks are bright th

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Milkweed Family Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, TORR.

Individual flower is a rosy, 5-point, star about ⅜ inch across, at the center of which is a group of 5 small appendages curving inward and forming a crown around the style and stamens. Numerous flowers cluster together into a ball about 3 inches in diameter. Plants are about 3 feet tall with thick broad leaves, the flower clusters borne at the top of the stem and in axils of upper leaves. Grows on plains, especially along ditch banks. Blooms June-July. The common weeds are too often taken for gr

58 minute read

Read Chapter

Morning-glory Family Bush Morning-glory, Ipomoea leptophylla, TORR.

The flowers, shaped like pink trumpets with maroon striations, 3 inches long and 2 inches across the mouth, are scattered freely along the outer third of the stout yellowish stems which form a thick bush 2 feet or more high. New buds coming out each day keep the plant in bloom for the morning hours of several weeks. Leaves are narrow and linear, 2 inches long; the root is large and spongy. Grows in sandy soil on plains. Blooms July. This morning-glory is no clinging vine, even though its flowers

58 minute read

Read Chapter

Waterleaf Family Purple Fringe, Phacelia sericea, GRAY

Numerous purple flowers, each ¼ inch in diameter, crowd at and near the top of an erect hairy stem, making a cylindrical flower spike 3 inches or more in length. The 5 stamens of each flower are tipped with bright golden anthers and stick out farther than the petals, giving the effect of gold-headed pins radiating from a purple cushion. Plant is 6 to 12 inches tall of several leafy stems from a woody crown, the leaves divided into numerous narrow lobes. Grows in rather dry soil, montane to sub-a

55 minute read

Read Chapter

Borage Family Alpine Forget-me-not, Eritrichium elongatum, JOHNSTON

Flowers, ⅜ inch in diameter, are formed of deep-blue (occasionally white) petals, spreading into a little flat disc and joining at their base into a short tube. Minute golden crests in the throat of this corolla tube, often bordered by white, give the effect of a central eye. Plant is formed of a tough woody root crown bearing several very short leafy shoots with flower clusters at the top. Entire plant is compact, covered with short silky hairs, and rarely 3 inches high. Grows on flat spots bet

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Phlox Family Sky Pilot, Polemonium viscosum, NUTT.

Numerous violet-blue flowers, each about ½ inch across, of 5 rounded corolla lobes joining in a funnel-like tube, are clustered into a head about 2½ inches in diameter, which nods slightly on its erect stem. Plants are about 8 inches high, with numerous bright-green, pinnate leaves cut into many narrow leaflets. The leaves may be erect or may interweave somewhat at the base of a close group of several plants. Grows in rocky places, alpine zone. Blooms late June-early July. The sky pilot, growing

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Phlox Family Scarlet Gilia, Gilia aggregata, SPRENG.

Individual flower, 1½ inches long, is formed of a slender trumpet-like, bright-scarlet (sometimes coral pink) corolla flaring at the mouth into 5 narrow lobes. Numerous flowers attached by short pedicels, are carried in small groups along one side of the green stem. Plant is about 18-24 inches tall, usually of one main stem, with sometimes a few branches. Leaves are deeply cut into thin linear subdivisions, usually curved. Grows in plains and foothills zones. Blooms June-August. In many otherwis

51 minute read

Read Chapter

Figwort Family Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja integra, GRAY

The true flowers are slender, two-lipped tubes of pale or greenish color about 1 inch long. They are surrounded and often completely hidden by the conspicuous, brick-red, modified leaves (bracts) which form a flower-like cluster at the upper ends of the stems. The bract colors in this species vary considerably through several shades of red. Plant is 8-15 inches tall composed of several leafy stems, very tough and woody at their lower ends, rising from a woody root crown. Grows in foothills and h

55 minute read

Read Chapter

Figwort Family Penstemon, Penstemon unilateralis, RYDB.

Individual flower is about ½ inch wide and somewhat longer, formed of a bell-shaped, lavender-blue corolla which flares at its mouth into 5 lobes separated into two groups. Numerous flowers, in groups of 3 or more, are closely arranged along one side of the top half of each stem, several stems rising from a root crown. Plant is 2 feet or more tall, with narrow tapering leaves, opposite each other in pairs. Grows in foothills and montane zones. Blooms late June-July. This is but one of twenty or

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Composite Family Gaillardia, Gaillardia aristata, PURSH

Flower head, 3 inches or more across, is formed of a central red disk made up of many minute tubular flowers (florets), surrounded by an outer circle of long flat golden rays cleft at tips into 3 teeth. Plants are 2 feet or more high of several rough stems usually erect, but sometimes contorted. The dark green leaves are lance-shaped and rough. Grows in foothills. Blooms June-July. Do you have one just like this in your garden? Cultivation has changed the gaillardia less than it has most native

51 minute read

Read Chapter

Composite Family Rabbit Brush, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, H. AND C.

Individual flower heads are about ¼ inch across and double that in length, each formed of a dozen or more tubular bright gold florets closely compressed at their bases into a green involucre. Numerous such heads are clustered loosely together into round-topped groups (cymes) at the ends of stems and branches. Plant is a wide-branching, woody shrub 2-4 feet high with small, green-gray, linear leaves. Grows on dry plains and lower foothills, especially common in western Colorado. Blooms September-

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Composite Family Easter Daisy, Townsendia sericea, HOOK.

Flower heads, 2 inches across, are formed of about 30 white rays, slightly striated and indented at the tips, surrounding a disc, about ¾ inch in diameter, of numerous tubular gold-colored florets. Plant is about 3 inches high and carries one or several flower heads right on the top of a spreading tough root crown from which also rise numerous, narrow, linear leaves about 2-3 inches long. Grows on grassy plains, and foothills. Blooms April-May. These are among the very earliest of the plains flo

58 minute read

Read Chapter

Composite Family Showy Fleabane, Erigeron speciosus, C. FONG

Flower head, 1½ inches across, is composed of about 200 narrow rays of brilliant lavender color, surrounding a button-like center ½ inch in diameter, of numerous, bright-gold, tubular florets packed closely together. Plant is 1½ to 3 feet high, freely branching, with numerous flower heads; leaves oblong or oval 2-3 inches long. Grows in shady places, rich moist soil, montane and sub-alpine zones. Blooms late July-September. As the season advances, these aster-like flowers become the most conspic

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Composite Family Alpine Sunflower, Hymenoxys grandiflora, PARKER

Flower head is 3 to 4 inches across, the central disk, an inch in diameter, made up of over a hundred tiny, tubular, golden florets, surrounded by about 30 bright yellow rays which are flat and notched at the outer end. Plant is 5 to 15 inches tall of one or several woolly stems, with leaves divided into several narrow lobes. Grows on alpine slopes. June-July. This woolly-stemmed, dwarf sunflower, sometimes called old-man-of-the-mountains, or sun-god, is a startling surprise for the newcomer to

56 minute read

Read Chapter

Composite Family Thistle, Circium undulatum, SPRENG.

Flower heads, 1½ to 2 inches broad, are solitary at the ends of stems and branches, and made up of numerous (100 or more) rose-colored, tubular florets fluffing out widely at their tops and grouped tightly together at their bases into an involucre made of many little, overlapping green bracts. Plant is about 3 feet tall with gray-green deeply cut leaves; stem and leaf ribs armed with prickles. Grows on plains, extending into foothills. Blooms May-September. Thistles of some sort are found in all

1 minute read

Read Chapter

CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS

All plants are related to each other in the sense that every one of them is descended from a common primitive uni-cellular life form which came into existence on this planet millions of years ago. As the remote progeny of that ancestral cell, or group of cells, became scattered over the earth and faced diverse conditions, which in turn changed with the ages, these millions of related organisms exhibited profound changes such that the differences in form, size and structure have become more notic

3 minute read

Read Chapter

HOW PLANT POPULATIONS MAINTAIN THEMSELVES AND SPREAD

Infant mortality is high and life expectancy short among the flowering plants. They not only struggle against extremes of climate, but they are the primary food of the animal kingdom, and so pursued by creatures that have the advantages of sight and locomotion. It is only by marvelous fecundity and by ingenious devices for seed dispersal that plants maintain their position on the earth. The first objective of every plant is to produce fertile seed in as large a quantity as the supplies of food a

4 minute read

Read Chapter

FLOWER FORMS

The four flowers sketched below with supplementary drawings of their separate parts, give only a small sample of the infinite structural variety found among flowering plants. A Yucca, illustrating features which are found in several other lilies. A Buttercup. This particular one has showy sepals but no petals. A Penstemon. Here a calyx is present formed of 5 sepals united at their base, the petal parts are fully united into a tubular corolla terminating at its throat in 5 unequal lobes. A Compos

34 minute read

Read Chapter

PLANT PARTS

This sort of inflorescence is known as a raceme. Larkspurs and many other plants arrange their flowers in this way. When the flowers are clustered at ends of radiating pedicels as shown here the inflorescence is an umbel. All the parsleys follow this general pattern. Onions and some other lilies grow in this pattern. Many plants, including penstemons, grow this way. Prickly Poppy has this sort of root and stem system. Shooting Star grows this way....

25 minute read

Read Chapter

LEAF FORMS

Simple Compound Leaf Arrangements Attachment Parts...

6 minute read

Read Chapter

OTHER MUSEUM PICTORIALS

1. Nature Photography with Miniature Cameras—Alfred M. Bailey 2. The Story of Pueblo Pottery—H. M. Wormington and Arminta Neal 3. Stepping Stones Across the Pacific—Alfred M. Bailey and Robert J. Niedrach 4. Fossil Mammals—Harvey C. Markman 5. Nature Photography with High-Speed Flash—Walker Van Riper, Robert J. Niedrach and Alfred M. Bailey 6. Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses—Alfred M. Bailey 7. The Hawaiian Monk Seal—Alfred M. Bailey A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z...

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Cattail Family Cattail, Typha latifolia, L.

BACK COVER⇒ The flower spike forms the top 6 to 10 inches of a stiff rush-like stem which rises from a sheath of long, narrow, flat leaves to a total height of about 4 feet, the leaves rising slightly higher than the stem. The top 3 or 4 inches of the flower spike is composed of numerous male flowers producing only pollen and early dropping off to leave a bare, rather sharp, stem tip; the lower 4 or 5 inches of the flower spike is composed of thousands of female flowers packed so tightly togethe

45 minute read

Read Chapter