Wildflowers

NPS Photo

Common Wildflowers at Lake Roosevelt

 

NPS/J.Woerner

Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Balsamorhiza sagittata

• Perennial, 20-80 cm tall

• Aromatic, woody taproot and branched stem base, softly hairy throughout

• Large leaves up to 30 cm long, mostly basal, arrowhead-shaped; silvery colored with dense, felt-like hairs

• Flowers solitary composite heads, with bright yellow ray flowers and yellow disk flowers

• Blooms in early spring

• Widespread at low to mid elevations throughout hot, arid climates on dry, often stony slopes, in grasslands, and open forests

 

NPS Photo

Lupine

Lupinus spp.

• Green palmate leaves with 5-15 lance-shaped leaflets

• Bright showy flowers, typically purple but with a wide range of variations including pink, yellow, blue, and white

• Flowers are composed of five highly differentiated petals; upper 'banner' petal, two side petals called 'wings', two lower fused petals called a 'keel'

• Blooms in the spring and summer

• Serves as a nitrogen-fixer in the soil, keeping the ground rich and fertile

• Member of the pea family, and grows seeds in elongated legume pods

• Lupine species found in the park include broad-leaf lupine, rock lupine, prairie lupine, and spurred lupine

 

NPS/N.Olson

Common Camas

Camassia quamash

• Pale blue to deep blue flowers, star-shaped with 6 petals, about 1 inch across

• Blooms in late spring and early summer

• Long, grass-like leaves with parallel veins emerging from a bulb at the base

• Stems can grow 1 to 2 ft tall

• Native to northwestern United States and southern Canada

• Grows in lightly-shaded forest areas, rocky outcroppings, meadows, and prairies

• The bulbs of the flower have been an important food source for native people in the area

 

NPS Photo

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

• Aromatic perennial, 10-75 cm tall

• Composite heads of flowers, 5 white to pink ray flowers and 10-30 cream-colored disk flowers

• Fern-like leaves, pinnately dissected

• Widespread and common at low to subalpine elevations in moist to dry open forests; often weedy on disturbed sites

• Widely used in herbal remedies for ailments ranging from toothaches, rheumatism, or as tonic or astringent.

 

NPS Photo

Vetch

Astragalus spp.

• Varieties can range from low-growing to 1-4 ft tall depending on the species, with trailing or climbing stems

• Flowers range in color from magenta, purple, pink, or white, and grow either singly or in clusters depending on the species.

• Compound leaves have several pairs of leaflets, often with a terminal tendril

• In the pea family, and produces legume seed pods

• Vetch species found in the park include purple milkvetch, Canada milkvetch, dwarf milkvetch, basalt milkvetch, and Pursh's milk-vetch

 

NPS Photo

Phlox

Phlox spp.

• Herbaceous plants, can be annual or perennial

• Leaves may be simple or pinnately compound and often narrow and linear

• Showy flowers have five united petals and often grow in dense masses. The flowers of many species are fragrant and range in color from white to pale blue, purple, pink, and red

• Phlox species found in the park include tufted phlox, hood's phlox, long-leaf phlox, showy phlox, spreading phlox, scarlet gilia, and prickly phlox

 

NPS Photo

Aster

Aster spp.

• Composite flowers, made up of many individual flowers which is often mistaken for a single flower

• Heads have both ray and disk flowers; ray flower colors include white, pink, purple, red or blue

• In many species, the stems have only a few leaves

• Hairy leaves and stems, as well as the presence of sticky glands

• Generally flowers later in spring and summer

• Some common species in the park include smooth aster, western meadow aster, Douglas’s aster, and brown-eyed Susan

 

NPS/N.Olson

Showy Milkweed

Asclepias speciosa

• Velvety green-grey plant with long oval leaves.

• Often found in full sun near the lakeshore, grows up to 3 feet tall.

• Blooms a large globe of many soft pink star-shaped flowers.

• Milky latex sap leaks out of the leaves and stem when cut, which can cause skin irritation.

• Grows in colonial groups, making them quick to reproduce

• An important plant for pollinators, it is the main diet of monarch caterpillars, and many butterflies stop by their fragrant blooms for nectar.