Natural History Wanderings

Mount Rainier National Park  reports

Currently Blooming – Updated August 5, 2016
Wildflowers are at or close to peak bloom in the subalpine meadows. Berkeley Park, Shadow Lake near Sunrise, Mowich and Tipsso Lake are all reported to have nice displays. Near the Carbon Glacier vista along the Carbon Glacier Trail, Cascade Stonecrop is blooming profusely. Cascade Stonecrop, or Spreading Stonecrop (Sedum divergens) forms mats of dark green bulbous leaves with bright yellow flowers. They prefer exposed rocky cliffs and slopes in subalpine areas. Another area to commonly find this flower is Burroughs Mountains.

Wildflower Reports

• Carbon Glacier Trail (8/4) – lower: candyflower, foam flower, bunchberry; upper: stonecrop, fireweed, oregon sunshine, harebell, pearly everlasting, yarrow, columbine
• Tipsoo Lake (8/4) – lupine, magenta paintbrush, sitka valerian, beargrass
• Mowich Lake (7/27) – lupine, rosy spirea, subalpine daisy, bear grass, pink mountain heather, white heather, grays lovage, birds beak lousewort, sitka valerian, jeffrey’s shooting star, partridgefoot, wild strawberry, slender bog orchid, fringecup, arrowleaf groundsel, white rhododendron
• Silver Forest Trail (Sunrise) (7/23) – fan leaf cinquefoil, cusick’s speedwell, magenta paintbrush, tiger lily, alpine aster, gray’s lovage
• Paradise (7/22) – glacier lily, cusick’s speedwell, avalanche lily, scarlet paintbrush, magenta paintbrush, buttercup, cinquefoil, sitka valerian, bracted lousewort, cascade blueberry, bear grass, arnica, pink heather, white heather, pasqueflower, marsh marigold, sitka mountain ash, jeffreys shooting star, alaska and leatherleaf saxifrage, partridgefoot, willowherb, elephanthead lousewort, agoseris, jacob’s ladder, lovage, rosy spirea, Lewis and mountain monkeyflower, bistort, bluebells, goat’s beard, edible thistle, subalpine daisy, groundsel, cow parsnip.

See photos and more information on Mt. Rainier Wildflowers at Discover Wildflowers – Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)