Natural History Wanderings

Mt. Rainier National Park reports currently blooming  on June 25, 2015:

Meadows throughout the park are lush with a variety of plants and wildflowers. One plant that stands out for its large, ribbed leaves is Corn Lily (Veratrum viride), also known as False Hellebore. These plants provide interesting texture to any meadow, growing to be 2.5-6.5 feet (0.7-2m) tall, with star-shaped, pale-green flowers clustered on drooping, branched stalks. They are also extremely poisonous. Deer, for example, will not eat this plant, except for in the fall when the leaves turn brown and loose their toxicity.

Wildflower Reports

• Owyhigh Lakes: (6/22) corn lilies, magenta paintbrush, arnica, alpine aster, tiger lilies, rosy spirea, thistle, cascade penstemon
• Berkeley Park: (6/21) avalanche lilies, glacier lilies, bird’s beak lousewort, paintbrush, menzie’s penstemon, sitka valerian, paintbrush, rosy spirea, American bistort
• Tipsoo: (6/17) sitka valerian, arnica, magenta paintbrush, lupine, pasqueflower seedheads, sitka mountain ash, bistort, subalpine daisy, cinquefoil, buttercup, alpine speedwell, cusick’s speedwell, avalanche lily, glacier lily, smooth stem willowherb
• Sunrise: (6/17) magenta paintbrush, phlox, cusick’s speedwell, cinquefoil, pasqueflower seedheads, slow jacob’s ladder, bluebell, pink mountain heather, lupine, harsh paintbrush, subalpine daisy, arnica
• Sunrise Road: (6/17) thimbleberry, lupine, penstemon, paintbrush, sitka valerian, arnica, sitka mountain ash, yarrow, pink mountain heather, phlox, cinquefoil, columbine
• White River: (6/17) vanilla leaf, bunchberry, columbine, asters, thimbleberry, thistle, sitka mountain ash, lupine
• SR410: (6/17) lupine, sitka valerian, paintbrush, arnica, bear grass, cow parsley, goat’s beard, columbine, thimbleberry, rosy spirea, sitka mountain ash, cow parsley, goat’s beard, penstemon, thistle
• SR123: (6/17) arnica, tiger lily, columbine!, thimbleberry, goat’s beard, paintbrush, sitka valerian, lupine, subalpine daisy
• Grove of the Patriarchs: (6/17) foam flower, pathfinder, starflower, thimbleberry, candyflower, self-heal, columbine, cow parsley, vanilla leaf, devil’s club, bunchberry
• Ohanapecosh: (6/17) devil’s club, goat’s beard, foam flower, thimbleberry, twin flower
• Stevens Canyon: (6/17) arnica, goat’s beard, paintbrush, tiger lily, columbine, fireweed, penstemon, thimbleberry, lupine, cow parsley, sitka valerian, rosy spirea, bear grass, subalpine daisy
• Paradise-Longmire Road: (6/17) jeffrey’s shooting star, sitka valerian, lupine, thistle, cow parsley, bog orchid!, arnica, paintbrush, penstemon, goat’s beard
• Paradise: (6/14) lupine, bistort, cusick’s speedwell, sitka valerian, sitka mountain ash, pink mountain heather, harsh paintbrush, subalpine daisy, cinquefoil, bear grass, jeffrey’s shooting star
• Comet Falls/Mildred Point/Van Trump: (6/9) colubine, bluebells, queen’s cup, arnica, candyflower, sitka valerian, sitka mountain ash, elderberry, false solomon’s seal, star-flowered false solomon’s seal, violets; peak: avalanche lilies – very dense!
• Reflection Lakes/High Lakes: (6/9) avalanche lily, shooting star, cinquefoil, lupine, columbine, bistort; early: pink mountain heather, sitka valerian, cliff penstemon, elephant head

See photos at Mt. Rainier National Park.