Part 1

Flowers of Mountain and Plain

_Edith S. Clements, Ph. D._

THIRD EDITION

The H. W. Wilson Company New York 1926

Copyright 1926 by Edith S. Clements Reprinted June 1945 Reprinted November 1949 Reprinted March 1955

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE

“Flowers of Mountain and Plain” is intended primarily for travelers and flower lovers who wish a short cut to recognizing flowers seen on excursions or from car windows. It may also serve as a souvenir of pleasant summer days or vacation trips. The book consists of the twenty-five color plates to be found in “Rocky Mountain Flowers” (Clements and Clements, 1914), representing one hundred and seventy-five of the most beautiful and striking flowers of the mountains and plains of the West. If it succeeds in opening the eyes of the passer-by to an appreciation of the flowers by the way, or in further stimulating an already awakened interest, it will have served its purpose. Edith S. Clements.

_University of Minnesota_ _March 30, 1915_

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Opportunity has been taken of the demand for a second edition of “Flowers of Mountain and Plain” to add a simple text to the plates. It is hoped that this will increase the interest in the flowers of the region and help create a sentiment in favor of their preservation. Edith S. Clements.

_Alpine Laboratory,_ _Manitou, Colorado,_ _July 9, 1920._

Flowers of Mountain and Plain

BUTTERCUP FAMILY

Monkshood, Aconite Aconitum columbianum

Plate 1, fig. 1

The flowers of the Monkshood are usually deep purple-blue, but yellowish white ones are often found. The tall plants, 4-8 ft. high, grow in mountain meadows and along streams at 6000-12000 ft., and bloom from early July to late August. The Aconite disguises its relation to the buttercups by having irregular sepals, developed by insect visitors in search of nectar. The two nectaries are underneath and at the base of the cowl-shaped upper sepal which gives the plant its name. In seeking nectar, the bees crawl over the group of stamens and stigmas and in so doing either collect or deposit the pollen which clings to their legs and abdomens. The Monkshood is frequently cultivated in gardens and some of the species furnish a powerful drug, aconite, used in medicine. All are poisonous and often produce fatal results among stock when feed is scarce.

Blue Columbine Aquilegia coerulea

Plate 1, fig. 2

This Columbine varies in color through several shades of blue and may rarely be white. It is the state flower of Colorado, growing in spruce and aspen woods, or in mountain meadows at 6500-12000 ft. It is usually 2-3 ft. high and blossoms from early summer to midsummer. Like the Monkshood and Larkspur, the columbines also belong to the group of irregular buttercups. The nectar is contained in the swollen tips of the petals. Pollination is effected by long-nosed bees which cling to the petals while inserting the proboscis up the spur and at the same time touch the group of pendant stamens with the underside of the body. Short-nosed bees are unable to get at the nectar in this way and steal the honey by biting holes in the tips of the spurs. The columbines make beautiful garden plants and the Blue Columbine as well as one or two other native species is cultivated. The ordinary columbine of the garden, however, belongs to the European _Aquilegia vulgaris_. The name “Aquilegia” is derived from the Latin “aquila,” eagle, and probably refers to the resemblance of the spurred petals to eagles’ talons.

Red Columbine Aquilegia canadensis

Plate 1, fig. 3

The blossoms of this plant are bright red, usually more or less tinged with yellow. It is 1-2 ft. tall, grows on wooded mountain-sides at 7500-11000 ft. and blooms in July and August. The mountain form has smaller, more brightly colored flowers than the eastern plant.

Blue Larkspur Delphinium scopulorum

Plate 1, fig. 4

The Larkspur, like the Monkshood, has developed oddly shaped sepals, but the upper one, instead of resembling a cowl, is more like the spur of a bird. The common name refers to this resemblance. The plants grow as tall as 6-8 ft. and are found on foothills and mountain-sides at 5000-10000 ft. They bloom in midsummer and the flowers vary from pale blue to deep purple-blue. The Blue Larkspur, like many other species of larkspur, is poisonous to stock.

Anemone, Wind Flower Anemone multifida

Plate 3, fig. 1

This Anemone is usually white, but it varies through pink to deep rose-red. It is 1-2 ft. tall, grows in meadows and on hillsides at 7000-12000 ft. and blooms throughout the summer. Most anemones have an acrid juice which irritates the skin and is poisonous if taken internally. They make very attractive garden plants, though the native species are little cultivated as yet.

Alpine Clematis Clematis alpina

Plate 3, fig. 2

The Alpine Clematis differs from the cultivated species in climbing but rarely. The plants are usually but a few inches high and bear very ornamental lavender or purple-blue flowers. Under favorable conditions they may clamber over shrubs for a few feet. They are found in open forest and woodland at 7000-10000 ft. The flowers open in spring and early summer and are visited by insects for the plentiful pollen, though they contain no honey. Like the cultivated species, the seed-like fruits have long feathery styles which form silvery clusters.

Alpine Buttercup Ranunculus Macauleyi

Plate 3, fig. 6

The Alpine Buttercup has bright yellow, cup-like flowers that fit our ideas of a buttercup much better than do those of the Trailing Buttercup described below. It is more rarely found, since it grows only on alpine peaks at 10000-14000 ft. It prefers wet places among the rocks and near snow-banks and blooms in midsummer. Many species of buttercup possess a more or less acrid juice. For this reason, they are little eaten by cattle and hence the notion that the deep color of butter in early spring is due to the buttercup is, of course, without foundation.

Trailing Buttercup Ranunculus cymbalaria

Plate 3, fig. 3

The flowers of this little trailing plant are lemon-yellow, and rather inconspicuous, blooming from June throughout the summer. The plants are only a few inches tall and grow in wet or alkaline soil at 3000-10000 ft.

Pasque Flower Pulsatilla hirsutissima

Plate 3, fig. 5

The Pasque Flower is one of the earliest spring blossoms, as is indicated by the name which is from the French for Easter. The word “Pulsatilla” means wind flower and indicates its relationship to the anemones. The color of the flower ranges from whitish through pale blue or pink to purple. By the end of spring, the flowers have all developed into beautiful feathery clusters of fruits, very like those of the Clematis. The plants are 6-15 in. high and densely covered with fuzzy white hairs. They occur abundantly on plains and foothills and in mountain meadows at 4000-10000 ft. The Pasque Flower is the state flower of South Dakota and is sometimes cultivated in gardens.

WATER LILY FAMILY

Yellow Water Lily Nymphaea polysepala

Plate 3, fig. 4

Water lilies are not lilies at all but are very like buttercups in the structure of the flower. The famous Lotus Flower of the Nile is a water lily. The flowers of the Rocky Mountain species are yellow, tinged with red. They may be found from May to August, floating on the surface of lakes and slow streams up to 11000 ft. The seeds from the large mucilaginous pods are used as food by the Indians of the Northwest. They are dried and roasted, after which they taste very much like popcorn, or they may be ground into meal and made into porridge or bread. Nymphaea means “water nymph” and refers to the home of the plant.

VIOLET FAMILY

Yellow Violet Viola biflora

Plate 5, fig. 1

The plants of the Yellow Violet are low and the deep-green leaves often form carpet-like masses along the moist edges of brook-banks at 7000-11000 ft. The flowers are small and yellow with red-brown stripes, the lower petal hanging down in the form of a lip. They bloom from spring to early summer.

Prairie Violet Viola pedatifida

Plate 5, fig. 2

The flowers of the Prairie Violet are large and deep blue, though albino forms are sometimes found. The plants are stemless and only a few inches high, blooming on prairies at 3000-6000 ft. from April to June. The Prairie Violet may easily be mistaken for the Bird’s-foot Violet of the East on account of its deeply cut leaves, which serve also to distinguish it from the Blue Violet so common in woodlands.

CAPER FAMILY

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant Cleome serrulata

Plate 5, fig. 3

This plant is a conspicuous feature of disturbed or waste places on the plains and in the foothills at 3000-7000 ft. It usually forms dense clumps or thickets in which the plants may be 6-10 ft. high. The flowers occur in large rose-purple, pink or rarely white clusters which are found throughout the summer. They contain much nectar and consequently are great favorites among the bees. This plant is a relative of the capers which are cultivated for their pungent flower-buds used in salads.

MUSTARD FAMILY

Wall Flower Erysimum asperum

Plate 5, fig. 4

The Wall Flower has a wide range of coloring, varying from pure yellow to burnt-orange and even rose-purple. It is 1-2 ft. high and occurs on prairies, plains and mountain-sides at 3000-12000 ft. The flowers are fragrant and occur in dense clusters which are found from spring to midsummer. The Wall Flower is a close relative of the Stocks of old-fashioned gardens.

Golden Whitlow Draba aurea

Plate 5, fig. 5

This little plant bears small golden-yellow blossoms in spring and summer. It is found in sunny spots and in open woodland and forest throughout the mountains from 7000-13000 ft.

Bladder Pod Physaria didymocarpa

Plate 5, fig. 7

The flowers of the Bladder Pod are pale yellow and the stems prostrate, growing on dry hills and gravel-slides at 5000-10000 ft. and blooming in spring and early summer. The Bladder Pod receives its name from its inflated fruits which roll around on the gravel-slide.

BLEEDING HEART FAMILY

Golden Smoke Capnoides aureum

Plate 5, fig. 6

This plant belongs to the same family as the familiar Bleeding Heart and Dutchman’s Breeches, but the flower is yellow in color and has only one spur. It is especially fond of open, sandy or gravelly soils and is found widely distributed in woodlands and on hillsides at 4000-10000 ft. The plants begin flowering in June and continue throughout the summer. They vary greatly in size from tiny individuals an inch or two high, to great masses, 2 ft. or more across. Some of the species possess an odor like smoke, to which both the scientific and the common names refer.

FLAX FAMILY

Blue Flax Linum perenne

Plate 7, fig. 1

The delicate blue flowers of the Flax open soon after sunrise, and the petals drop late in the morning, so that the plant is hardly noticeable for the rest of the day. The plants are found on the plains and in the foothills at 5000-10000 ft. and bloom all summer. The Blue Flax is grown in gardens for ornamental purposes and is cultivated by the Indians for the sake of its remarkably strong fibres. The Klamath Indians make these into string and cords which are then used in baskets and mats, fish nets, the meshes of snow-shoes, etc. General cultivation of this native species has not proven profitable, however, since the common flax excels it both in fibre and in seeds, and is commercially one of our most useful plants.

OXALIS FAMILY

Wood Sorrel Oxalis stricta

Plate 7, fig. 2

Children call this Wood Sorrel with yellow blossoms “Snake Sorrel” and think it poisonous, though without reason. It blooms all summer in woods, fallow fields and along roadsides at 4000-8000 ft. The leaflets fold together and “sleep” at night, as the clovers do. Both the common and the botanical names refer to the sour juice of the stems and leaves, and it is this quality that causes the Violet Wood Sorrel to be used in salads and pies.

MALLOW FAMILY

Rose Mallow Sidalcea neo-mexicana

Plate 7, fig. 3

The Rose Mallow bears rose-colored or rose-purple flowers from early summer to midsummer. The plants are 1-2 ft. tall and usually grow scattered. They are found in foothills and mountain valleys at 6000-10000 ft.

Red Mallow Malvastrum coccineum

Plate 7, fig. 7

The Red Mallow is one of the most striking flowers of the plains and foothills. The vermilion blossoms grow in clusters which often give a vivid color to extensive areas. The plants occur at 3000-9000 ft. and bloom throughout the summer.

Poppy Mallow Callirhoe involucrata

Plate 7, fig. 8

The crimson blossoms of the Poppy Mallow are abundant on prairies and plains at 3000-6000 ft. They bloom in early summer and midsummer and usually make deep masses of color among the grasses. Their beauty amply warrants introduction into home gardens.

SPURGE FAMILY

Snow-on-the-Mountain Euphorbia marginata

Plate 7, fig. 4

The beauty of the Snow-on-the-Mountain is due to the white border of the leaves and bracts, and not at all to the flowers, which are reduced to tiny stamens and pistils. A field of these plants with their snowy foliage makes clear the reason for the common name. They may be found all summer in abundance in the clay soil of pastures and roadsides at 4000-7000 ft., but should be handled with care since the milky juice is poisonous. Where it touches the skin, it often causes itching and inflammation, accompanied with pimples and blisters very like those caused by poison ivy. This blistering action is so decided that the juice is said to be used to brand cattle in some parts of the West, as the scar heals more rapidly than one made by the branding iron. Honey made from the flowers is also poisonous, but since it is hot and disagreeable to the taste, it is not apt to be eaten.

Snow-on-the-Mountain has considerable value as an ornamental plant for the garden, and it furnishes some rubber, though not in sufficient quantity to be commercially important. Other species of _Euphorbia_, or spurge, were formerly used as cathartics and stimulants, but they are all too acrid for safe application, either externally or internally. The small species are sometimes used to cauterize warts, but other means are more certain in their effect and less likely to cause injury to the surrounding skin.

GERANIUM FAMILY

Storksbill, Alfilaria Erodium cicutarium

Plate 7, fig. 5

The fruit of the Storksbill bears a fancied resemblance to the long beak of a crane or stork, and both the common and scientific names refer to this resemblance. The flowers are rose-purple and look like those of a small geranium. The twisted fruits have been carried everywhere by sheep, and the plants are especially common in roadsides and pastures at 4000-7000 ft. The Storksbill has been somewhat used in medicine as a mild astringent and tonic, and under the name of “Filaree” it is greatly prized by stockmen as forage, especially for sheep.

Geranium, Cranesbill Geranium caespitosum

Plate 7, fig. 6

The Geranium, like the Alfilaria, has a fruit resembling the long beak of the crane or stork. The flowers are bright pink, red or purple, while the plants closely resemble those of the White Geranium. The latter, however, grows usually along brook-banks and in wet meadows, while the Red Geranium occurs on dry foothills, gravel-slides and in pine woods at 5000-10000 ft. Both Geraniums bloom from late spring to midsummer.

FOUR O’CLOCK FAMILY

Fringe Cup Allionia linearis

Plate 8, fig. 1

The purple flowers of the Fringe Cup open late in the afternoon and wither as they close in the heat of the sun the next morning. As with most red and blue flowers, albino forms are sometimes found. The plants are 2-5 ft. in height and may be found in bloom all summer on prairies, foothills and gravel-slides at 4000-9000 ft.

Four O’Clock Mirabilis multiflora

Plate 8, fig. 2

This plant resembles the Four O’Clock of the garden, but the flowers are much larger. It also opens late in the afternoon and withers the next morning. The large rose-red blossoms grow on plants 1-2 ft. high and usually densely clustered. They are found on the plains and foothills at 4000-7000 ft.

GOOSEFOOT FAMILY

Strawberry Blite Chenopodium capitatum

Plate 8, fig. 3

The flowers of the Strawberry Blite are very tiny, but are clustered together into conspicuous spikes, usually a brilliant red in color, though they may vary from greenish to purple. The plants generally grow along brook-banks in fir and spruce forests at 6000-10000 ft. and bloom from late spring to midsummer.

BUCKWHEAT FAMILY

Lady’s Thumb, Heart’s Ease Polygonum pennsilvanicum

Plate 8, fig. 4

The flowers of this plant are small, but they are grouped to form brilliant rose-colored spikes an inch or two long. The plants are 2-5 ft. high and are found in wet ground and dried-up ponds and hence are often pests in grain fields during wet years. They are found at 3000-5000 ft. and bloom all summer. The Heart’s Ease is valuable as a honey plant and its seeds occur as a common impurity in clover seed.

Golden Buckwheat Eriogonum Jamesii

Plate 8, fig. 5

The tiny whitish to yellow flowers of the Golden Buckwheat are clustered in round heads at the tips of stiff gray-green stems. The latter have a bunch of leaves at the base and hence form dense mats in gravelly soil on plains and in the foothills at 4000-9000 ft. The flower clusters are conspicuous throughout the summer.

Crimson Wings Rumex venosus

Plate 8, fig. 8

The name Crimson Wings is applied to this dock on account of the brilliant rose-colored calyx. The latter becomes enormously enlarged as the flower goes to seed and thus forms a device for the carriage of the seed by the wind. The low plants grow in sandy soil at 4000-8000 ft. and bloom in spring and early summer. This species has no value except possibly as an ornamental, but other species of the genus are cultivated for salad, and several of the wild species furnish excellent “greens.”

PINK FAMILY

Alpine Pink, Moss Campion Silene acaulis

Plate 8, fig. 6

The pink or purplish flowers of the Alpine Pink grow densely clustered in mats on exposed mountain tops, often near the snow. They are polar as well as alpine plants and are found in these regions throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the mountains they occur at 9000-14000 ft. and bloom throughout the summer.

Cow Pink Saponaria vaccaria

Plate 8, fig. 7

The botanical name of the Cow Pink refers to the soap-like sap of some species, which sometimes leads to their use as a substitute for soap. The flowers are white, pink or pale red and bloom all summer. The plant is a troublesome weed in grain fields and grows in waste places at 5000-8000 ft. The seeds are poisonous.

PRIMROSE FAMILY

Bird’s-eye Primrose Primula farinosa

Plate 16, fig. 1

The lilac flowers of the Bird’s-eye Primrose grow in clusters at the tips of unbranched stems. The plants are 4-8 in. high and bloom in the spring. They are found along brook-banks and in wet meadows at 7000-9000 ft. Both the botanical and common names of the Primrose refer to the almost universal habit of blooming in early spring.

Yellow Primrose Steironema ciliatum

Plate 16, fig. 2

The blossoms of the Yellow Primrose grow in pairs in the axils of the leaves and bloom in summer. The plants are 2-5 ft. high and grow in grassy meadows and along streams at 3000-8000 ft.

Primrose Primula Parryi

Plate 16, fig. 3

The red-purple blossoms of this Primrose grow in large, loose clusters on stems 6 in.-2 ft. tall. The plants are strong-scented and are found hidden away in alpine rock-clefts or along subalpine torrents at 9000-14000 ft. They bloom in early and midsummer and have a fragrance very like musk. The flowers are large and resemble those of the cultivated primroses.

Shooting Star Dodecatheon meadia

Plate 16, fig. 4

The Shooting Stars vary in color from pale pink to deep bright reddish-purple, and occasionally white ones are found. They hang downward in loose clusters from the tips of leafless reddish stems, 6-20 in. tall, and bloom in early and midsummer. They occur along brook-banks and in wet meadows at 5000-12000 ft.

Rock Jasmine Androsace chamaejasme

Plate 16, fig. 5

The tiny Rock Jasmine carpets alpine gravel-slides with its moss-like leaves or hides shyly away in alpine rock-clefts at 10000-14000 ft. The flowers are white and primrose-like, with pink or yellow centers, and they often turn pink as they wither. They grow in tiny clusters at the tips of dwarf stems 1-3 in. high. The flowers are fragrant and bloom from early to midsummer.

Fairy Primrose Primula angustifolia

Plate 16, fig. 6

The Fairy Primrose is another alpine dwarf, growing but a few inches high in meadows at 10000-14000 ft. The reddish-purple flower with yellow center is usually solitary at the tip of the stem and blossoms in early summer, which is of course spring at these altitudes.

Seawort Glaux maritima

Plate 16, fig. 8