Mountain Plants of the Western Cascades

Archive for the ‘Linn County’ Category

I was planning to go back to the Calapooyas yesterday, but the smoke is way too bad down there (it’s just reaching our house this afternoon!), so I decided to head to Tidbits. It had been 2 years, and I missed the place. Since most everything is done blooming, I figured I’d do some more exploring, so after watching pikas on the talus and taking in the great view at the top, I went north along the Gold Hill trail from the old cabin intersection. Once before, I went a short ways down to the first outcrop but didn’t have time for more. I only made it a mile down yesterday when, after exploring another outcrop area, I had to turn around. But just .4 mile from the intersection I was shocked to find 2 plants of Leptosiphon (Linanthus) nuttallii. It turns out James Hickman found it on Rebel Rock, but the nearest site I knew of was at Fairview and Bohemia. The Atlas shows nothing else in Linn County. The rest of my few sites are all in Douglas County.

On my way back, I went the 20 or 30 feet to the top of the ridge to see if there was more—I couldn’t believe there’d be only 2 plants. I found at least another 50 of them on the north side of the ridge. The top is partly shaded and has what looks like a 10′-high sloping wall of sorts. I followed it to the east and discovered another population of Eucephalus gormanii! The two were growing together in places. The aster was still blooming a bit (as it was at the top of the main talus slope). It is hard to count numbers of plants, but it covered about 10′ x 30′, a good-sized population in my experience.

I’ve always wanted to know what is in the rocky areas above the east end of the trail, and since the Gold Hill trail parallels it on this stretch, I figured it was a perfect time to bushwhack straight down and see if there was any more Leptosiphon. After a short stretch of woods, it opened up a bit and got rocky. There were tons of Leptosiphon here! They follow a low draw much of the way down to the trail. Perhaps the first seed landed at the top, and they have been washing down the slope ever since. Just over a rise, the next low spot had nothing but Phlox diffusa. How strange, as it didn’t seem different. I definitely have to go back to see it all in bloom next year. I love the plant and have one I bought in my rock garden. There was also some Trifolium productum in there, another addition to my Tidbits list. Although the flowers were dried out, you could still see the cute little top knot.

If any of you are going to hike the Three Pyramids trail or just driving along Hwy 22 and want to do some roadside botanizing, be sure to check out the Park Creek area (also known as The Parks). I stopped by there for a quick look this weekend on my way back from visiting some wet meadows in Clackamas County. I wish I’d had more time as it was really colorful. To get there, head north of Santiam Junction on Hwy 22 for 4.6 miles. Turn left onto Lava Lake Meadow Road 2067. There will be a sign for “Old Cacades trails”.

Gorgeous flowers blooming along Park Creek

At about .9 mile, there’s a long stretch of blooming Horkelia fusca along the righthand side of the road. At an intersection on the right about .2 mile farther, a large patch of Heuchera chlorantha is all budded up. These are 2 plants I rarely see. There are Platanthera stricta and fading Dodecatheon jeffreyi and many other things in the wet ditches on the sides of the road from here to the bridge, another .7 mile away. From the bridge you can get down to the creek and some wet areas on either side of the road. There are willows and Viburnum edule (both finished blooming) and lots of Trautvetteria caroliniensis in bloom. Take a right after the bridge and in about .2 mile you’ll see a side road going off to the left. Park around here and walk down to the creek on your right. On 4th of July, I was greeted by a patriotic display of red Castilleja miniata (a few Castilleja suksdorfii are also starting), loads of white cow parsnip on the far side of the creek and gorgeous blue-purple Lupinus polyphyllus. There is also a lot of fresh Senecio (Packera) pseudaurea, Platanthera dilatata, Sisyrinchium angustifolium, and lots more to see there. A month ago, I was in this area, and it was filled with blooming willows, Lonicera caerulea, and L. involucrata, Caltha leptosepala, and Viola adunca. Later in the year there is white Ranunculus aquatilis in the creek and goldenrod on the banks. It has a long season of great bloom, good butterflies, and the winding creek is really beautiful. The far bank has lots of dwarf birch and there are many other interesting shrubs in the area.

I didn’t have time to go farther this time, but usually I go to the next bridge 1.75 miles after the first bridge. Lots of lupines, Viburnum edule, and other pretty things there as well. There are places you can explore much farther into the creek basin if you have all day. If you are continuing on to the Three Pyramids trailhead, check out the meadow at an intersection 1.2 miles farther up the road. Lots of flowers including more Horkelia fusca. I used to always stop briefly on my way to and from the trailhead, but now I realize the roadside and creekside plants are worth a whole day on their own.

John Koenig, Sabine Dutoit, and I spent Tuesday (June 16) at Gordon Meadows. We found 2 unfamiliar aquatics there in the creek in several places. Might the first be Callitriche heterophylla? The second one looks kind of like some photos of Limosella aquatica, but I’d never heard of it, and it is obviously not blooming which would be helpful. Are these plants elsewhere on the Sweet Home district? They are not on the Carex WG report from 2003.

unknown aquatic in woodland creek

We had some other additions to the list: Montia fontana, Cardamine breweri, and Barbarea (1 small plant, not sure of the species, might not be the native one). We spent a lot of time looking at the willows. There are quite a few of an unfamiliar one with glaucous-backed toothed leaves, much larger than Salix geyeriana. Tall plants of it are growing near the creek in the west section of the main meadow and at the far east end of the main meadow and shorter plants in among the commutata thickets on the north edge of the main meadow. With Nick Otting’s help, we concluded it was what John suspected, Salix lasiolepis. Unusual but not precedented for the Western Cascades around there. All together we saw 4 willow species (S. geyeriana, lasiolepis, sitchensis and commutata) in the meadow complex.

It was really pretty with loads of Ranunculus populago, Dodecatheon jeffreyi, and Caltha leptosepala. Some snowbanks remained near the trail. The many species of violets were outstanding as well, especially in the east meadow. The camas was starting in a couple of places and some of the Kalmia was hanging on as well. We saw the very first Montia chamissoi in bloom in the east meadow. They are numerous in the east meadow and east end of the main meadow. They should be blooming well within a couple of weeks I’m guessing, along with all the regulars like Bistort and Pedicularis groenlandica.

Dodecatheon pulchellum

I thought you might be interested in what Sabine Dutoit and I found at Cone Peak yesterday. Not surprisingly, things are way behind. There’s quite a bit more snow than when I was there on either 6/3/06 and 5/24/04. I’d say it’s 4 weeks or more behind the last few years. Almost everywhere I’ve been able to get to so far is 3-4 weeks behind. There was a lot of snow right at the beginning of the trail but we could see the top was open so we figured we’d give it a try. The trail cleared off shortly but then, before the series of switchbacks, we ran into lots of snow again and lost the trail. We just headed for the top across the snow and eventually got right up to the main meadow and the trail which were half open and covered with Claytonia lanceolata. Then we crossed a bit more snow right at the base of the trail and were all clear from then on.

green hairstreak on top of Cone Peak

From the many Erythronium grandiflorum and Orogenia fusiformis blooming near the snow, it got better and better. The seep area is outstanding right now. Solid Romanzoffia thompsonii, Saxifraga rufidula, and Dodecatheon pulchellum. By the time we got to the top there were lots of Lomatium martindalei, Cerastium arvense, Delphinium menziesii, Phlox diffusa, and Ivesia gordonii in perfect bloom. The Castilleja rupicola was starting, but the Douglasia laevigata was actually fading. Boy, do you have to get out early to catch that one! One addition to my list was Valeriana scouleri coming into bloom. It was growing in the west-facing rocks right next to Castilleja rupicola. I’ve seen that combination many times. Also there was quite a bit of the Arabis I sent Sweet Home District botanist Alice Smith pictures of several years ago from the top of Iron Mountain. I was also really excited to see 2 green hairstreaks right on top and a cute ground squirrel. The air was pretty clear and the view was outstanding. Even Mt. Hood looked really close. It was really interesting to see blooming Senecio integerrimus when they were all still in bud at Tire Mountain (<4000′) on Friday. Cone Peak really blooms from the top down!

Ivesia gordonii and nice view of Iron Mountain from top of Cone Peak

On the way back down, we were able to follow the trail down most of the switchbacks with minimal snow crossing. There were loads of fresh trilliums and the Viola sheltonii had already finished. We felt rather foolish having done so much bushwhacking on the way up… until we lost the trail again in the snow. We simply couldn’t find the blue markers, so we just headed down and picked up the trail, lost it again, headed down and found it again near the beginning. Luckily, you can’t really get lost there. And on a weekend, the traffic is steady enough that you can hear the road all the time. For someone unfamiliar with the trail, however, I’d suggest waiting a week for it to melt out more near the bottom.

As you can see from the photo of the Ivesia, there’s lots of snow on Iron Mountain. We walked over plenty of 5 foot drifts, so it is probably even worse over there. Tombstone Prairie is mostly snowed in, but the open areas have blooming skunk cabbage. Also, the road to Echo Basin was clear (we moved some small trees) until just before the trailhead where you hit lots of snow.

As of yesterday, the Dodecatheon pulchellum, Castilleja hispida, and Erythronium oregonum are coming into bloom at Horse Rock Ridge (maybe 2 weeks later than the last few years). The Delphinium menziesii and Fritillaria affinis are still in bud but will open soon. The onions and balsamroot have a ways to go before blooming. The special giant form of Erigeron compositus is near its peak and there are still lots of Calypso bulbosa in the woods. The Mimulus guttatus is really beautiful right now coloring the slopes with yellow, but this hot stretch may dry out those and other seep plants pretty quickly.

The unusual Mimulus growing with Saxifraga rufidula

I’ve been studying a strange Mimulus there for several years and took a lot of pictures yesterday (see left growing with Saxifraga rufidula and S. nuttallii). It has small flowers, just a bit larger than Mimulus alsinoides. Its leaves are often quite large. It is only found in the seepy rocks, often under an overhang. Surprisingly, I saw a couple of plants of the same thing under an overhang in Jasper on my way home yesterday. I’ve also seen it in the same habitat in Douglas County near Twin Lakes. Its upper calyx tooth is the largest, as in M. guttatus, and maybe it is yet another strange form of M. guttatus, but the flower shape is different and there are enough other differences that I have doubts. The calyx of the nearby Mimulus guttatus is angled and basically glabrous while those of this one are deeply pleated, longer and definitely pubescent (photo 2). Of course I find it hard to believe the 3 foot tall ones in wet meadows like Patterson are the same as the tiny-leaved short seep loving ones like those at Horse Rock Ridge and Tire Mountain, and it doesn’t fit anything else too well either. It would be an interesting experiment to grow it and see if looks the same in different conditions. If anyone has seen plants like this or can shed any light on this, please let me know.

Note the difference in the calyx size and lobe shape

Sabine and I also went to Heckletooth Mountain in Oakridge on Monday. It is still very early and the thousands of Erythronium oregonum have barely started. There are lots of beautiful Lomatium hallii in bloom everywhere, lots of Calypso bulbosa, Viola sheltonii, Crocidium multicaule on some of the rocks and fragrant Phlox diffusa at the top. The Romanzoffia californica should be coming out soon. No sign yet of the stunning Madia elegans. Lots of other good stuff to come as well.

Yesterday (June 27), John Koenig and I went to Gordon Meadows. We had a terrific day and made some additions to the plant list (John took home a bunch of graminoids and may have more additions to the already extensive list from the Carex Project Report).

Note the greenish color and droopy tepals of Corallorhiza trifida

Our first discovery of the day came even before we got into the meadows. In the woods just before the trail intersection we found 2 stalks of a very funny looking coralroot. Of course I hoped it might be Corallorhiza trifida, but I’ve seen many odd coralroots over the years and without a good reference we couldn’t be sure and soon forgot about it. Looking at my (not very good) photos and ones on the web this morning, however, I would say it is a dead ringer. Especially the drooping lateral petals. What do you think?

We explored a little of the bit of meadow west of the trail first. The Menziesia was blooming nicely there. The ones in the woods were barely in bud. The Microseris borealis is still blooming beautifully there. Next we went into the main meadow.

It is gorgeous right now. Things are definitely farther along than when I first visited with Loren Russell on the same date in 2003. The camas is just finishing, but the Pedicularis groenlandica, Platanthera dilatata, and Polygonum bistortoides were outstanding. John showed me some of the many lovely graminoids and hopefully I’ll remember a couple. We went toward the northeast end of the meadow and relocated the Montia chamissoi. We found lots of it scattered through the area under the Carex aquatilis, mainly along the edges of small channels and where there was some open mud. Only a small amount was in bloom. On the way to the east meadow, we passed a little patch of Sisyrinchium, an addition to the list. Nearby, right where the trail and the meadow meet, we saw 2 stalks of a very pink Castilleja, one in bud, the other with green galeas just peaking out. Don’t know if that’s because it was fresh or if they’re really that short. It wasn’t slimy (villous) like I normally think of Castilleja miniata, but all the leaves were simple so it isn’t parviflora like I thought. The lobes are wider than miniata also. I’m looking at photos of some light pink Castilleja rhexifolia from my trip to Utah last year and, wow, they look REALLY similar. We looked around but couldn’t find any more. Perhaps in a few weeks they will be more evident. Read the rest of this entry »