Some Western Larch in full color or losing needles Biology of fall colors “A warm wet spring, favorable summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce the most brilliant autumn colors”...
Category - Flora
This category comprise mostly vascular plants of North America.
Finding Chocolate Lily in Western Montana
How many Chocolate Lily in typical habitat do you see in this photo? Finding Skills Did you find any Chocolate Lily in the photo above (answer at bottom of this post)? The intent of this post is to improve your skills in doing so...
Montana Images of Roundleaf Violet (Viola orbiculata)
This post is meant to supplement printed manuals, field guides, books and keys in which images of Roundleaf Violet are lacking. Images are important to augment text accounts targeting identification because “Viola species...
Images of Native Violet Wildflowers from Western Montana
Pictured below are images for six native species of Violet wildflowers (Viola sp.) photographed from western Montana (Bitterroot Valley). In general, these plants are small (2 – 6” tall) ergo somewhat hidden by neighboring...
Introductory Look at Montana Wildflowers of the Lily Family
Fifteen out of the twenty genera (table below) of the Lily family, documented in Montana, are represented in this post. This constitutes 24 species taxonomically ordered following the original work of Arthur Cronquist (1947) as...
Butterflies that nectar from Rubber Rabbitbrush
Rubber Rabbitbrush flowering in mid August Valuable nectar source Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) referenced both online and in print as important for butterflies: a) “numerous bees and butterflies are attracted to the...
Lousewort wildflowers – bad reputation, interesting biology, flower shapes and “botanical cloud watching”
Bad Reputation Both the common and generic names of this group of plants reflect a bad reputation that cattle grazing on these plants would become louse ridden. There is no such impact on cattle but, these plants are hemi...
How many flowers in photo?
Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) in flower on mountain foothill Yes, it is a loaded question Arrowleaf Balsamroot ( Balsamorhiza sagittata) is a large wildflower with many flowers, approaching 36 inches in height. It...
Wrinkles diagnostic to wildflower identity
Meadow in western Montana with blooming shootingstar, which species are they? Reference text, line drawings inadequate Wrinkles diagnostic to wildflower identity of two similar looking species of shootingstar: Bonneville...
Twelve different wildflowers to find on Waterworks Hill
Large-fruit Desert Parsley – plant in foreground with balls of white flowers at the apex of several stems Identify twelve different wildflowers on your next spring hike up Waterworks Hill with the help of the photos in this...