Mountain Plants of the Western Cascades

Phlox diffusa and Lomatium hallii light up the rocks on the summit ridge.

Fawn lilies, fairy slippers, fritillaries, and phlox were the floral highlights of my trip to Heckletooth Mountain on Saturday (May 4). I’m sure there’s something clever to be written with that wonderful alliteration, but my brain isn’t at its best lately, and I’m a bit out of practice writing, so this entry may be rather dry. That sounds like a not so clever segue to the weather we’re having. It’s been like summer, and it’s only the first week of May. It even hit 90° at my house yesterday! After the last few years of cold, wet, springs (see Heckletooth Times Two for how miserable it was in 2010), I think we’ve forgotten how warm and dry it can be in May. For a comparison, I went to Heckletooth on May 11, 2007, and my photos from that trip look very similar to this one, with just a few of the perennials not as far along. So it may not be that abnormal. But while this weather has been great for hiking and other outdoor activities, it is really taking its toll on the mossy outcrops I love so much, and I’m about ready to do a rain dance. I fear it is going to be a long, hot, dry summer, with a very real threat of forest fires.

Fresh fawn lilies (Erythronium oregonum) blooming in the burned area. Their mottled leaves can be as showy as their flowers.

But as long as it is beautiful outside now, and the plants haven’t dried up yet, I’m determined to enjoy whatever the mountains have to offer. On Heckletooth, that was plenty, even though peak season won’t be for a while yet. The first pretty flowers to catch my eye were the small but regal fairy slippers (Calypso bulbosa). They were blooming all along the trail, many catching a ray of light, begging me to take their photo (How could I say no?). Fawn lilies (Erythronium oregonum) were also blooming well in places, but the fabulously thick spread by the small northerly opening were barely in bud. Up along the top ridge, there were many in bloom but still more in bud. No doubt the cool, protected, middle area was where the snow remained the longest. It was about the only place with any real moisture apparent in the soil. California mistmaiden (Romanzoffia californica) and rustyhair saxifrage (Micranthes rufidula) were coming into bloom there.

small-flowered prairie star blooming abundantly in the large meadow

In the largest meadow on the west side, the manroot or wild cucumber (Marah oreganus) were in flower. They are abundant on this steep slope. Gold stars (Crocidium multicaule) were still blooming well along the edges, and other sweet annuals, including Tonella tenella, were blooming well along the trail. Small-flowered prairie star (L. parviflorum) was sparkling out in the meadow, and I also found a few of the earlier blooming smooth prairie star (L. glabrum) in the cooler meadow where the saxifrages were blooming. That was a nice addition to my plant list. I saw my first mission bells (Fritillaria affinis) here, but there were even more along the ridge top.

The gorgeous spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa) is the most striking plant in bloom on the upper ridge. It has a beautiful manner of clothing the rocks with its lavender pink mats. Coincidently, this morning I discovered the Phlox diffusa plant in my rock garden that I grew from seed had its first ever blossom! It’s probably 3 years old now and has weathered low elevation winters well so far, so maybe someday it will look as beautiful as those in the wild—well almost. Lomatiums are the most abundant flowers on the ridge at this time. Three species, L. hallii, L. utriculatum, and L. macrocarpum were all blooming well. The latter is seldom seen in the Western Cascades. The frothy foliage of fern-leaved lomatium (L. dissectum) could be seen growing under the still leafless oaks that grow along the spine of the ridge. Also enjoying the partial shade the oaks will soon provide were many fawn lilies, fritillaries, and a healthy population of heart-leaved arnica (Arnica cordifolia). I could only find one bud, but there are always far more leaves than flowers on this rhizomatous species.

The anise swallowtail laid her single perfect little egg on the top of the Lomatium dissectum leaf.

The crab spider remains hidden, holding its prey.

While the flowers were pretty, and I got a lot of the photographs I was hoping to get, the most interesting sights turned out to be the insects. Several crab spiders had been fortunate enough to nab some prey. One had parked itself on a fairy slipper where it caught a fly. I rarely ever see any pollinators on fairy slippers, so this was of particular interest. I was disappointed there weren’t more butterflies to be seen, but this was more than compensated for by a lucky sighting of an anise swallowtail laying her eggs. I spotted her in the large meadow, fluttering about low to the ground, often disappearing behind a rock. Then suddenly she drifted right over my head and landed briefly on the leaf of a Lomatium dissectum. When I got to it, there it was, a tiny, spherical egg. How exciting! I wanted to see if she was choosing only the very large-leaved dissectum or also using the smaller Lomatium species, but unfortunately I lost track of her while I kept my eye focused on the leaf until I got close enough to spot the egg. Hopefully she was making sure there will be many more butterflies later in the season.

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