#flora hikes

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Tombstone Ridge, Rocky Mountain NP - July 25th 2025

Continuing with our walk along the Alpine tundra and further from the road life started popping out from every corner. Stingless bee flies zipping by, ants speeding around to flowers, crickets making their signature noises, butterflies gliding sideways in the wind; all with a backdrop of stunning peaks.

1. Western Harebells (Campanula petiolata) dot the trail between two ridgelines while 2. Alpine Sunflowers (Hymenoxys grandiflora) show off in a sedge-rich snowbank community. 3. Unshocking to see yarrow (Y. millefolium), something which grows literally everywhere in the northern hemisphere, can thrive among the alpine community. 4. A showy featherleaf Fleabane (Erigeron pinnatisectus) is protected from wind beneath a rock while 5. a large Ross' Aven (Geum rossii) is sprawled along a trail out in the open. 6. Showy yellow displays of possibly a Sedum species dominate a rocky slope. 7. Alpine Butterflies are a speedy bunch flying fast in the highwinds, the black and white weidemeyer's admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii) and 8. the green inner winged-bright orange outer winged Mead's Sulfur (Colias meadii) darted by faster than I could whip out my phone. 9. The snowbank species Grayleaf willow (Salix glauca) collects where snow tends to accumulate the longest, interestingly enough this species is also found throughout the arctic. 10. Finally the largest alpine herbacious plant i noticed was the Mountain Thistle (Cirsium scopulorum), restricted to essentially only the southern Rockies almost exclusively in Colorado.

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The Great Swamp Refuge, New Jersey

In the former bottom of prehistoric glacial lake passiac lays one of New Jersey's largest intact freshwater ecosystem (we hate phragmites on this blog). July isn't usually known for flowers but the swamp still put on a show.

1. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) fills the low marsh areas. 2. Along the flooded banks of the Great Brook is a massive expanse of Cattail (Typha) and Rushes. 3. An increasingly rare Turk's Cap Lily (Lilium superbum) growing along the trail edge in a rich forest while 4. Swamp Rose (Rosa Palustris) grows directly low water...but is only slightly fragrant. 5. Swamp Azaela (Rhododendron viscosum) grows in brighter conditions in the same area and always seems to bloom at different weeks than previous years. 6. Finally a large expanse of pasture land reclaimed by the Swamp is taken over by red maple, sweetgum, and random herbacious species. Upon 7. Closer inspection amoung the cattails are numerous pink spires of steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa) throughout the meadow

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Alpine Tundra, Ute Trail, Rocky Mountain NP - July 25th 2025

To the uninformed, the Tundra appears bleak and yellow, a near-desolate place filled with instant weather changes that can easily kill you; for the flora of this area it's no different. Tundra is delicate, extremely slow growing, a simple step directly on plant life can set individuals back years. Damage (like tire tracks or rock movement) that occurred decades or centuries prior leaves it's destructive legacy. STAY ON THE TRAIL AND OFF THE TUNDRA.

Along the Ute trail at 11,500 ft, Yellow-Bellied Marmots (Marmota flaviventris) keep watch on high points above grazing grounds. Alpine Tundra has limited growing season, the flowers you see can take between 4-20 years to bloom. Most are specialists but some lower elevation species like Western Harebells (Campanula petiolata) dot the roadsides. Old man of the mountain, aka Alpine Sunflower (Hymenoxys grandiflora) is one of those 10-20 year lifecycle species. Whiproot clover (Trifolium dasyphyllum), Ross Avens (Geum rossi), Lanceleaf Stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum), featherleaf Fleabane (Erigeron pinnatisectus), and the hemi-parasite Western Paintbrush (Castilleja occidentalis) cling to life along the rocky slopes. Occasionally, Krummholz or wind-stunted trees, break the treeline like this Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa), here they serve as excellent nesting habitat for Tundra birds.

I got my start learning real plant identification from the Alpine Tundras of Rocky Mountain National Park from an old book I keep everywhere I move. I have a deep admiration for what grows above the tree-line, I hope you will too.

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The Flatirons Vista Trail - July 26th 2025

Colorado is a neat little nexus between ecotypes, Prairie meets Southern Rockies, I was happy to find myself in some grasslands again.

1.) Amoung cattle pasture, some species eek out a living, an odd mix of introduced grasses with some charismatic native blazing stars (Liatris punctata). 2.) In the protected Western Slopes in a Ponderosa Pine forest Little Sunflower (Helianthus pumilus) makes itself known. 3.) A favored Eastern species Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistula) eeks out a living above a Riparian cove. 4.) On the dry upper hills, a ruderal species like Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris) is the tallest plant around. 5.) Back in a depression verdant green grasses intermingle with Missouri Goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis). 6-7.) Around them some late blooming Silvery Lupines (Lupinus argenteus) grow between Big Bluestems (Andropogon gerardii). 8-9.) A Prairie wouldn't feel quite as alive without the warning sirens of social Prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). 10.) More Little Sunflowers grow in pasture underneath the Flatiron mountains

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Mesa Trailhead, Boulder Colorado - July 27th 2025

Behind the Center for atmospheric research or NCAR is access directly into the Flatiron formations, I was quite surprised at the diversity of species present here.

1.) Looking out from our trailhead multiple people warned us of a rattlesnake on trail, rather than that we saw 2). Wild Turkeys roaming the Grassy hills. 3.) In an intersection between the trails laid an unusual mix of Thistle Poppy (Argemone polyanthemos) 4.) Pinewoods Geranium (G. caespitosum), the Western variant of an Eastern favorite; and 5.) our favorite mint Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistula).

6). At the base of Bear canyon growing adjacent to a stream was Rocky Mountain Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata var. ampla), a variant on a gardening favorite...I had to run through yellow jackets to see get close to this one. 7.) In the shaded moist coves under the flatirons Silvery Lupine (Lupinus argenteus) grows alongside a beautiful 8.) Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana). 9.) Finally a raunchy Aphrodite Fritillary (Argynnis aphrodite) *cough* Orgy taking place on a patch of Wild Bergamot

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Flora of Terrace Pond - June 19th 2025

My aunt who lives nearby always warned me about Terrace pond, the trail itself is tough but has elements that locals tend to avoid: located off the haunted highway, owned by the Newark City Watershed, lot is patrolled by an illegally operated tow truck, Bog mosquitos, Venomous snakes, and most recently a tourist trap where urbanites who can't swim keep drowning. Nonetheless I used my day off to hike with my friend and nearly passed out myself due to the high humidity

1. Starting the trail off Clinton Road the mossy cove forest between hills is covered in Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) 2. The trail breaks into a gas-line cut where sun-loving Whorled Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) was boardering the edges 3. Up the hill, Bristly Sarsaparilla (Aralia hispida) was the only thing flowering on the harsh rocky balds which the trail cuts through. 4. Terrace Pond has a known local fat snapping turtle that likes to rest on the "shoreline" 5. Interestingly adjacent to Terrace pond in the cliff faces were the largest specimens of Cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana) I've ever seen. 6. Near the (elevation) limit of it's range Striped Maple (Acer pennsylvanicum) seeds in the mountains around West Milford where 7. Pink Lady's Slipper Orchids (Cypripedium acaule) are seeding as well. 8. Bristly Sarsaparilla flowering while growing in our region's famous Purple Puddingstone, a conglomerate of sandstone, shale, with quartz embedded. 9. Finally an odd boggy mountaintop wetland called beaconhill lake marks the southernmost point of the loop trail

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Hiking on the Ridgeline today I found two charasmatic uncommon species, a Eastern Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) and Rock Harlequin (Capnoides sempervirens)

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Blue Mountain Lake in the Watergap is part of New Jersey's small area of Appalachian Ridge and Valley, This area is far from pristine wilderness, surviving Mining, Failed Suburban Development, and Violent Eminent Domain. However with all this it still contains a highly diverse healthy ecosystem.

1. All along Blue Mountain Lake (former quarry) is Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) with bright pink buds. 2. Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum) blooms over sundews and mosses while 3. Azure Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) coat all the pathways and 4. Blueflag Iris (Iris versicolor) pops out along the shorelines. 5. Deeper in the forest around a grove of Hemlock, Yellow Star Grass (Hypoxis hirsuta) dots the trail. 6. An unusual cherry scented Millipede (Apheloria virginiensis) appears along the AT 7. Finally along the roadside of the failed development, White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) hangs above a culvert while 8. Dwarf dandelions (Krigia biflora) and 9. Pussytoes (Antennaria species) cling to broken asphalt edges