Mountain Plants of the Western Cascades

Sierra cliffbrake (Pellaea brachyptera) at Pyramid Rock

I thought I might be done with reports for the season, but the weather is holding, so yesterday (September 11)  I went back through the Calapooyas on my way back from speaking to the Umpqua Valley chapter Thursday night. Someone once told me about the Lewisia columbiana on Pyramid Rock, so that’s been on my to do list for quite a while. I’ve been up to Reynolds Ridge many times, but I hadn’t been past Bullpup Lake on Road 300, so I was happy that the road was in such good shape. Hunters all over the place yesterday, and one guy right in front of me stopped to shoot out of the car @#&*^!! Luckily he turned around and left and I didn’t hear anyone else actively hunting in the middle of the day although I did chat with a few old timers.

Columbia lewisia (Lewisia columbiana) and cliff paintbrush (Castilleja rupicola) side by side at Pyramid Rock

It was an easy bushwhack out to Pyramid Rock, and the Lewisia was very easy to find. I gave up counting after 60 plants and probably saw twice that many. Many had bloomed, so it looks like it is still a very healthy population. I checked on the Atlas last night, and the specimens at OSU were from 1990, so it was good to see they were still doing well. When you click on that circle, you also get a specimen from Douglas County from 1991 at 1615 meters (5300′), so I guess there’s another nearby site just south over the county line. Since it is a rare plant, the location isn’t listed. There are two other hidden sites on the south side of the North Umpqua. All I can figure out is they are between Hemlock Lake and Red Butte. I haven’t seen it at Big Squaw Mountain, which is in that area, but there’s an amazing looking rock called Black Butte there that looks like great habitat for good rock plants.

I was also thrilled to find Pellaea brachyptera there. That is the third Lane County site I know of now. That did not make it onto the Atlas, so perhaps it wasn’t seen in 1990. It is right by the cluster of oaks near the top. I counted about 50 plants. It’s a more robust population than the one at Bearbones which I could see really well a mere 6 miles due north. The rock resembles Bearbones in many ways. Another special plant from Bearbones I hoped to see was Castilleja rupicola. Indeed I found about 15 on the north face lower down the front. No doubt there are more as they would be a lot easier to spot in bloom. The north face is darn steep, so most of it had to be explored with binoculars. A third plant also at Bearbones was Phacelia verna. They were dried up but quite identifiable. The streams of gravel going down the slope where they were growing also look like ideal habitat for Fritillaria glauca. I’m putting this site on high priority to get back to next year as early as the roads will allow. Even without the uncommon plants, there is so much Phlox diffusa, Penstemon rupicola, Erigeron cascadensis, and Gilia capitata that it must be gorgeous at peak bloom. And I’m dying to see what else is there that has totally dried up by now.

The wonderful craggy rocks on top of the bluff north of Loletta Lakes (this place deserves a name!)

I really needed a break from wetlands and rubber boots, so I skipped most of the wetlands near Reynolds shelter (back in Douglas County). I did check one with ponds quickly. Nothing in the ponds, but I did pass some Stellaria obtusa. I still have a lot of sites to recheck my old Stellaria crispa and Stellaria sp. observations. Stellaria obtusa is popping up all over the place.

Back on the north side of the Calapooyas, I decided to postpone checking out the cliffs north of Loletta Lakes once again. Instead, I drove north on spur road 110 just to the west of Loletta Lakes because Google Earth showed an open bluff out that way. The road is very drivable and deadends after 0.8 mile at a gravel pit. Just beyond the gravel pit is a wonderful hilltop covered with cool craggy rock formations and lots of nice plants. There are loads of Eriogonum compositum and E. umbellatum on the somewhat steep, gravelly slope. On the very first rocks I checked were Heuchera merriamii. It was nice to see it growing somewhere accessible. This is only my second Douglas County site. There are a few small plants on the cliffs at Watson Falls. I will continue to look for more connecting populations in between as I’m guessing there are more.

A couple of fritillaries appreciate that rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) blooms into September when there are few other nectar sources.

There was a very different suite of plants than at Pyramid Rock although still lots of Penstemon rupicola and Gilia capitata. Columbiadoria hallii and Ericameria nauseosa were still blooming and there was what I’m pretty sure is Crepis pleuricarpa but I’d feel better about my ID after I see it in bloom next year (or at least not drying out). There was a great view to the south of the cliffs in front of Loletta Lakes. I’d only seen the aerial view on Google Earth—enough to whet my interest—but in real life it looks even more impressive. Maybe I’ll finally get there next week if the weather holds.