There are some very pretty areas of flowers. We saw 60 species of plants in bloom, thanks Paul for the list (below)! The flowers are 10 days or so ahead of average and most of the balsamroot is fading/faded. There is some on the upper 1.5 miles of the Sage Hills trail, along with thick showy phlox, lupine, and large-flower triteleia (photo 1), there are areas thick with lupine and white stickseed (photo 2). The best and freshest balsamroot is on the Apricot Crisp trail (photo 3). The flowers on the Burts trail were good (photo 4), from what I could see from a distance the flowers are better on the Burts than the Homestead trail. The Lightening trail is closed for reconstruction.
FLOWERING PLANTS IN BLOOM (60 species)
white (19)
western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)
panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum)
stickseed (Hackelia diffusa)
wax currant (Ribes cereum)
bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata)
chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
whitetop / pepperweed / peppergrass (Lepidium draba)
miner’s-lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)
cushion / red miner’s-lettuce (Claytonia rubra)
lance-leaf spring-beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)
bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata)
apricot tree (Prunus armeniaca)
field gromwell (Buglossoides arvensis)
prairie-star, probably small-flowered (Lithophragma, probably parviflorum)
common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
?slender popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys tenellus)
red-stem ceanothus (Ceanothus sanguineus)
annual Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium micranthum)
spring whitlow-grass (Draba verna)
yellow (19)
nineleaf desert-parsley / biscuit-root (Lomatium triternatum)
barestem desert-parsley / biscuit-root (Lomatium nudicale)
arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)
Carey’s balsamroot (Balsamorhiza careyana)
holly-leaf / tall Oregon-grape (Berberis / Mahonia aquifolium)
false agoseris / prairie dandelion (Nothocalais troximoides)
tall western groundsel (Senecio integerrimus)
Columbia(n) puccoon (Lithospermum ruderale)
bitterbrush / antelope brush (Purshia tridentata)
desert yellow daisy (Erigeron linearis)
clasping pepperweed (Lepidium perfoliatum)
tansymustard, species uncertain (Descurainia sp.)
hawkweed, species uncertain (Hieracium sp.)
yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius)
Balkan / Dalmation / broadleaf toadflax (Linaria dalmatica)
yellow bells (Fritillaria pudica)
Washington twinpod (Physaria alpestris)
sagebrush buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus)
arrow-leaf buckwheat (Eriogonum compositum)
orange (2)
fiddleneck, species uncertain (Amsinckia sp.)
large-flower collomia (Collomia grandflora)
reddish: pink to red to magenta (5)
red stem stork’s bill (Erodium cicutarium)
long-leaf phlox (Phlox longifolia)
showy phlox (Phlox speciosa)
slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis)
parsnip-flower buckwheat (Eriogonum heracleoides)
violet / purple (5)
dagger-pod (Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides)
blue mustard (Chorispora tenella)
American vetch (Vicia americana)
woolly / hairy vetch (Vicia villosa)
Chelan penstemon (Penstemon pruinosus)
bluish: pale blue to blue to indigo (8)
ball-head waterleaf (Hydrophyllum captitatum)
small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora)
silky lupine (Lupinus sericeus)
sulfur lupine (Lupinus sulphureus)
rock lupine (Lupinus saxosus)
large-flowered triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora)
larkspur, probably common / upland (Delphinium, probably nuttallianum)
thread-leaf phacelia (Phacelia linearis)
green (1)
Thompson’s paintbrush (Castilleja thompsonii)
brown (1)
chocolate tips / fern-leaved desert parsley (Lomatium dissectum)
BIRDS
Western Meadowlark
Chukar
Lewis’s Woodpecker — quite a few
Common Raven
Black-billed Magpie
American Robin
California Quail
Spotted Towhee
White-crowned Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Steller’s Jay
Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk
BUTTERFLIES
Boisduval’s Blue (Icaricia / Plebejus icarioides)
Julia’s / Pacific Orange-Tip (Anthocharis julia)
Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
MAMMALS
Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventer)
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