Natural History Wanderings

Oregon Wildflowers just posted new wildflower reports for

The Dales Mountain Ranch 4/11/14

the famous DMR balsamroot display is starting, and should improve within the next 2-3 weeks. Several photos can be found at http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18582

Eagle Creek 4/12/14

Chocolate lily, trillium on way to Punchbowl Falls, larkspur, shooting star just starting, many others making nice hillside displays in moist areas.

Latourell Falls 4/12/14 in Oregon

Western corydalis was running riot! One delphinium spotted.

Angle’s Rest 4/9/14 in Oregon

Trillium at full bloom and phasing out, delphinium just beginning to bloom, bleeding heart

Coyote Wall in Columbia Gorge 4/6/14 in Eastern Washington

The predominate flowers are currently Western saxifrage , (Saxifraga occidentalis) Pungent Desert Parsley (Lomatium grayii), Rusty Popcorn Flower (Plagiobothrys nothofulvus), and Slender Popcorn Flower (Plagiobothrys tenellus).

Also blooming: Smooth Prairie Star (Lithophragma glabrum), Gold star (Crocidium multicaule), Upland Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum var. nuttallianum), Naked Broomrape (Orobanche uniflora var. purpurea), Big Root (Marah oreganus), Rigid Fiddleneck (Amsinckia retrorsa), Baby Stars (Linanthus bicolor), Chickweed Monkey Flower (Mimulus alsinoides) in some moist areas, Northwest Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea), Western Buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidentalis), Bighead Clover (Trifolium macrocephalum), and assorted Desert Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon conjugens).

At higher elevations, there were still a few Grass Widows (Olsynium douglasii) hanging on.