Mountain Plants of the Western Cascades

Lola’s property had a beautiful array of flowers

Among the thousands of skyrockets was this unusual orange one.

One of our NPSO chapter members, Nola Nelson, owns a piece of property up near the summit of Fairview Peak. She hadn’t seen it in many years, so Dave Predeek organized a trip for Nola and some of us to see the property. I hadn’t been there in years either, so I jumped at the chance to join in. July 20th was a beautiful day. It was great to be away from most of the smoke and fun to spend the day with a bunch of other plant enthusiasts. The flowers were fantastic, and there were lots and lots of butterflies. Here are some photographic highlights.

The star of the day had to be skyrocket (or scarlet gilia) (Ipomopsis aggregata).

A brightly colored elderberry long-horned beetle (Desmocerus aureipennis)

Sheep moths are beautiful, large day-flying moths. Their coloration is quite variable, and this pair was especially lovely. We saw a great many flying around and at least two pairs mating.

Siskiyou false hellebore (Veratrum insolitum) was abundant in the meadows on Fairview.

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