Flowers of Rocky Mountain National Park and Indian Peaks

Welcome! Within, you will find pictures and descriptions of flowers in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and the Indian Peaks to the south. We do not cover the subject thoroughly. The pictures are of whatever happened to strike our fancy while carrying a camera.

We grouped the flowers by color, an easy and natural approach but not very scientific. Consider some examples. The flower monkshood appears in two places on this page as both a blue and a white flower. We classify the colorado columbine as a blue flower although it has almost as much white as blue color. A flower we call pink, others may call purple.

Disclaimer

Warning! Enjoy the pictures if you will, but be cautious about the words you read. We have taken care in the identification of the flowers and plants. Nevertheless, it is easy to error for those, such as us, lacking proper training and study in the complex technical subject of botany.

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White Flowers

Alpine Phlox

The alpine phlox ^_1_ flower color varies from white to light blue. When in bloom, the plants can be covered in almost solid carpets of flowers. The alpine phlox grows primarily in rocky areas in the alpine zone above tree line but sometimes grows below the alpine zone. The alpine phlox is a cushion plant that conserves moisture and avoids high winds by growing as dense compact mats low to the ground.

Alpine phlox grow in the harsh and bleak environments of fellfields in the alpine tundra. Zwinger and Willard in their book about alpine tundra ^_2_ (p75-80) describe fellfields as wind swept areas in the tundra with little top soil and covered in rocks and gravel. Because of high winds, little snow accumulates in fellfields, which makes them rather dry in the spring and summer.

Nelson ^_1_ (p218) gives Phlox pulvinata as the scientific name for the alpine phlox. Weber ^_3_ (p290) provides the scientific name Phlox sibirica subsp pulvinata for plants near the Continental Divide in the northern counties of Colorado.

Alpine Sandwort

The alpine sandwort, Minuartia obtusiloba, is an alpine plant that grows in the Arctic. It forms large very low mats that are somewhat open with very small leaves and scattered flowers - Nelson ^_1_ (p93).

Alpine Springbeauty

The alpine springbeauty, Claytonia megarhiza, has thick wide succulent leaves attached at the base, ^_1_. White to pink or rose flowers with five petals protrude from between the closely packed leaves. This plant often grows in rocky areas such as the top of high mountains. Because of its thick taproot, another common name is Big-rooted Spring Beauty ^_4_.

Alplily

The Alplily, Lloydia serotina, is a dainty plant 6 inches or less tall, with one or occasionally two white flowers with veins that have a purple or green tinge ^_4_ . The leaves are thin and thread like. It is an alpine plant found in cold exposed locations up to high elevations ^_1_ .

Arctic Gentian

In late summer in the mountains it is sad to see many of the tundra flowers finishing for the season. But the sadness is alleviated by the late summer blooming of the arctic gentian, Gentiana algida ^_4_ . The flowers of this gentian are striking and stand out on the tundra. Each flower is relatively long and white with blue markings on both the outside and inside.

Dotted Saxifrage

One distintive feature of the dotted saxifrage, Ciliaria austromontana (synonym: Saxifraga bronchialis ssp. austromontana) ^_5_, is the five white petals of the flower have red dots and orange dots. The red dots are on the outside half and the orange dots are on the inner half or base of the petal.

According to science.halleyhosting.com the color of the dots (or spots) near the base of each petal are yellow or yellow-orange. This website also reports three other common names for this species: matted saxifrage, spotted saxifrage, and yellow-dot saxifrage.

Fairybells

Fairybells, Prosartes trachycarpa (synonym: Disporum trachcarpum), grow in dense montane forests and have white, with sometimes a tinge of yellow, flowers at the end of the branches ^_5_. The flower will produce red berries.

The three pictures of this flower below were taken in late May 2013 in the then recent burn scar of the 2012 Fern Lake Fire. The backgrounds of these photographs are bleak. We saw no other living plant in the immediate area of this blooming fairybells plant.

Field Mouse-ear Chickweed

The field mouse-ear chickweed, Cerastium strictum, is common in the montane zone but is found all the way to the lower alpine zone ^_5_. The petals of the white flowers have two lobes.

Lanceleaf Springbeauty

Beidleman ^_5_ gives the common name lanceleaf spring beauty for the species with scientific name Claytonia lanceolata. Another common name is western springbeauty. USDA shows a wide range for Claytonia lanceolata throughout Western North America with 7 variations of the species.

The lanceleaf spring beauty has two opposite wide leaves on its stem ^_5_. It grows in moist ground near melting snowbanks.The flower of the lanceleaf spring beauty (Claytonia lanceolata) is very similar in appearance to the flower of the pink spring beauty (Claytonia rosea). See the pink spring beauty section below for a comparison of the two species.

The ecology of the lanceleaf springbeauty in snowbanks is very interesting . Studies reported by Halleck ^_6_ show the lanceleaf springbeauty likely begins active growth and reproductive development in January while buried under deep snow banks. In the Colorado Front Range, as the deep snowbanks in spruce-fir forests slowly melt, lanceleaf springbeauties bloom as they become uncovered. The flowering of lanceleaf springbeauties continues into the summer as late as July.

Monkshood

The unusual white monkshood is a variety of the more common blue or purple monkshood. This small stand of while monkshood flowers was next to the Thunder Lake Trail between the trailhead and the bridge across St Vrain Creek. The white monkshood is the ochroleucum variety of the blue/purple species Aconitum columbianum (Weber p206 ^_3_). Weber reports that the ochroleucum variety is "greenish white".

Mountain Candytuft

The mountain candytuft , Noccaea montana, ^_5_ is found from the montane zone to the alpine zone and has striking small bouquets of white flowers. This species has an impressive number of synonyms for its scientific name: Thlaspi coloradense, T. montanum, T. alpestre, and T. fendleri ^_4_. There are at least two additional common names: mountain pennycress and wild candytuft .

Mountain Deathcamas

The Mountain Deathcamas, Anticlea elegans, has white flowers with conspicuous green/yellow glands ^_5_. It is found from the subalpine to lower alpine zones. As the scientific name suggests, this species is very elegant. But, as the common name suggests, this species is also very poisonous. The scientific name used to be Zygadenus elegans.

Northern Bedstraw

Northern bedstraw, Galium septentrionale, grows in montane and subalpine forest openings ^_5_. It has a tall stem with numerous clusters of white flowers. Some references use the scientific name Galium boreale ^_1_. See swcoloradowildflowers.com for a discussion of the two scientific names.

Paintbrush That Appears White

To a non technical person interested in flowers, it is easy to learn to identify a paintbrush (Castilleja genus) plant. A non technical person can often just glance at a paintbrush plant and and correctly identify it as a paintbrush. However it is much more difficult to correctly identify the species of a paintbrush.

The paintbrush in the pictures in the gallery below appears to be a white color with a yellowish tint. The primary reason for taking these pictures was the unusual color. This plant was growing in the subalpine zone by the side of the trail between Mills Lake and Black Lake. There was a very small waterfall nearby and the soil was somewhat moist.

This plant below could be a northern paintbrush, Castilleja sulphurea (synonym: C. septentrionalis) ^_5_ which is yellow. However the northern paintbrush often hybridizes with the rosy paintbrush, C. rhexifolia. The resulting hybrid can be white or various shades of yellow. So perhaps this plant is a hybrid? Then again, perhaps it is some other species?

Pasque Flower

The pasque flower, Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida, blooms early in the spring ^_1_. It grows primarily in the foothills and the montane zone but is found up to tree line. The flower color usually ranges from blue to lavender but is sometimes white or whitish. It only grows east of the Continental Divide.

Pearly Everlasting

The white flowers of the pearly everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea, are common in the subalpine zone ^_5_.

Pink Springbeauty

The pink springbeauty with scientific name Claytonia rosea ^_5_ is similar to the lanceleaf springbeauty. It usually has leaves around the base of the plant when flowering and a pair of opposite leaves on the stem. The pink springbeauty grows in the montane zone of Rocky National Park in the early spring.

A map in the USDA website shows the C. rosea species ranging from Arizona and New Mexico to Montana. However sometimes flower references lump this species in with the very similar C. lanceolata (lanceleaf springbeauty) ^_5_.

Comparison Between Claytonia rosea (Pink Springbeauty) and C. lanceolata (Lanceleaf Springbeauty)

The following two lists are criteria from Halleck's paper ^_6_ that distinguish the two very similar species Claytonia rosea and C. lanceolata. Bear in mind that C. lanceolata is a wide spread and highly variable species and the observations below for it are primarily for the Colorado Front Range.

C. rosea (Pink Springbeauty):

• basal leaves (leaves at the very bottom of the plant): typically two, varies from 0-10
• cauline leaves (leaves part way up the stem): two opposite leaves that are linear to linear-lancelot (the leaves are relatively narrow)
• petal apices: usually acute (petal tips have a sharp or well defined point)
• ecology: grows in montane zone. Flowers bloom after (usually several weeks after) the snow cover has melted.

C. lanceolata (Lanceleaf Springbeauty):

• basal leaves (leaves at the very bottom of the plant): none
• cauline leaves (leaves part way up the stem): two opposite leaves that are ellipitcal-lancelot to ovate (the leaves are relatively wide)
• petal apices: emarginate (a shallow notch at the tip of the petals)
• ecology: grows in conjunction with melting snowbanks around spruce-fir forests in the subalpine zone.

Snowball Saxifrage

The snowball saxifrage, Micranthes rhomboidea (synonym: Saxifraga rhomboidea), grows at all elevations ^_5_ in Rocky Mountain National Park. The snowball refers to a spherical display of white flowers at the top of the single stem. This plant is also called the diamond leafed saxifrage because of the shape of its toothed leaves that grow at the bottom of the plant ^_4_.

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Yellow Flowers

Alpine Avens

The alpine avens, Acomastylis rossii ssp turbinata, is very common in the alpine zone and also grows in the subalpine ^_5_. The foliage turns red in the fall, often dominating the color of the fall tundra.

Bush Sunflower

The bush sunflower, Helianthus pumilus, grows in the montane ^_5_ and foothills ^_3_. The leaves are usually opposite, the stem is hairy and the plants are rather short for a sunflower. Sometimes it is called dwarf sunflower. The bush sunflower is said to be endemic, meaning the plant is only found in a particular area or place. The blog A Wandering Botanist describes the remarkably specific area in which the bush sunflower will only be found.

Creeping Hollygrape

The creeping hollygrape is a creeping evergreen with bundles of yellow flowers that grows in montane forests. The scientific name is Mahonia repens (synonym: Berberis repens) ^_5_. The blog A Wandering Botanist provides a lengthly discussion of this plant, and pictures that include shots of the berries and winter foliage.

Golden Banner

The golden banner, scientific name: Thermopsis divaricarpa, grows mostly in the montane zone West of the Continental Divide, but is found at other elevations as well. The golden banner blossoms in late spring and early summer. A different but similar related species grows only on the Eastern slopes of the Continental Divide and the two species can only be distinguished by location and seed pods ^_1_.

Goldenrod

Goldenrod is a genus (scientific name: Solidago) with nine different species found in Rocky Mountain National Park ^_5_. Due to the large number of species it is challenging for an amateur to make a reliable identification. Goldenrods are in the sunflower or Asteraceae family and the flowers have small heads with small rays.

Old Man of the Mountain

The old-man-of-the-mountain, also called the alpine sunflower, grows on the tundra. The plant has a large yellow flower, which usually faces East ^_5_ and is very prominent on the tundra. This is one of our favorite tundra plants. The scientific name is Rydbergia grandiflora (synonym: Hymenoxys grandiflora).

Western Wallflower

The Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatun, is a member of the brassicaceae (mustard) family and is found at all elevations in Rocky Mountain National Park. The flowers color of its four petals ranges from yellow to orange ^_5_. This a very diverse species that lives in different ecological zones and some botanists (but not all) ^_7_ divide the species into varieties.

The alpine variation used to be identified as a different species, Alpine Wallflower, E Nivale, that grew predominantly in the alpine zone ^_1_. The plants in the alpine zone tend to be very short with flowers grouped in a tuft at the top.

Woolly Actinella

The wooly actinella or woolly sunflower, has scientific name Tetraneuris brevifolia with synonym Hymenoxys acaulis var. caespitosa and grows in the tundra ^_5_. Each petal of these distinctive sunflowers has three teeth on the outer edge.

Yellow Stonecrop

The yellow stonecrop is a succulent that grows from the foot hills to the alpine zones ^_5_, often found on dry, rocky ground. The scientific name is Amerosedum lanceolatum (synonym: Sedum lanceolatum). The yellow star shaped stonecrop flowers in June at lower elevations and later at higher elevations.

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Blue and Purple Flowers

Alpine Kittentails

The alpine kittentails, Besseya alpina, have blueish-purple flowers that look like spikes and grows amongst rocks in the alpine zone ^_5_. The foliage is woolly.

" ...an alpine kittentail is in flower, fuzzed with a fringe of protruding stamens; a newly emerging plant looks like a lavender pinecone." - Zwinger ^_2_ p 131.

Colorado Columbine

The Colorado state flower, colorado columbine, grows in the foothills on up to the alpine zone ^_3_. It is commonly found in aspen groves at lower elevations and in rocky areas at higher elevations. The scientific name is Aquilegia coerulea ^_3_; although the very similar name Aquilegia caerulea is sometimes used.

Larkspur

Larkspur is a common name for the Delphinium genus. According to Beidleman ^_5_, there are four species of larkspurs in Rocky Mountain National Park, ranging in color from whitish to blue or purple. One characteristic of larkspurs is they have five sepals which are very prominent, not green, and look like beautiful flower petals. In many other types of flowers in other genera, the sepals are green, inconspicuous, and outside or below the real petals.

Mertensia

Beidleman ^_5_ lists two species of the genus Mertensia in Rocky Mountain National Park, the lanceleaf chiming-bells (Mertensia lanceolata) and the tall chiming-bells (Mertensia ciliata). Both species have clumps of blue flowers; the individual flowers are shaped like bells.

The lanceleaf chiming-bells (Mertensia lanceolata) is found at all elevations but tends to be shorter in the alpine zone. According to Weber ^_3_ it is :

"A variable and complex species, separable into alpine and lowland, pubescent and glabrous, broad- and narrow-leaved races, all evidently merging and recombining in puzzling ways."

The tall chiming-bells (Mertensia ciliata) grows along streams in the subalpine and lower alpine zones.

Parry Gentian

The blue and purple parry gentians grow in the forest and meadows of the montane and subalpine zones. They are members of the gentian family and have scientific name Pneumonanthe parryi ^_3_. The flowers appear at first glance to be cylindrical but are actually barrel shaped, bulging in the middle.

Purple Fringe

The numerous purple flowers of the purple fringe, Phacelia sericea, form spike shaped clusters centered around vertical stems of the plant ^_1_. From this spike of purple flowers, long thin purple stamens with yellow tips stick out well beyond the flower petals and surround the flower cluster with yellow dots which appear to float in the air. This species occurs in the subalpine often in disturbed areas such as road sides ^_5_.

Sky Pilot

When walking on the tundra, it is a pleasure to see sky pilots, Polemonium viscosum, with their tight clusters of beautiful purplish flowers ^_1_. Inside each flower are distinct and visible orange anthers.

Sky pilots tend to grow in disturbed areas of the tundra. Zwinger and Willard in their book about the tundra ^_2_ (p198-202) describe how pocket gophers dig shallow tunnels that cause wind and water erosion on the tundra. Sky pilots and other short-lived plants invade into and thrive in this newly altered landscape called "gopher gardens" by the authors .

Star Gentian

The flower color of the star gentian, Swertia perennis, varies from dark blue to purple ^_5_. The flowers are star shaped with five, sometimes four, petals. The star gentian grows from the montane to the alpine zones, but is most commonly found in moist areas of the subalpine.

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Pink Flowers

Alpine Primrose

The alpine primrose, Primula angustifolia, blooms early in snow free areas of the tundra^_5_. Another common name for this beautiful plant is fairy primrose^_1_.

Clover

Clover is a genus with scientific name Trifolium. They typically have spherical flowers with three leaflets each. The genus is fairly easy to identify, but the individual species are much harder. There are eight species^_5_ of clovers in Rocky Mountain National Park

Elephantella

Elephantella (Pedicurlaris groenlandica) are very abundant in subalpine wet areas. Their range extends lower into the montane and higher into the alpine. The species often grows in marshes, and along the edges of streams and ponds ^_1_. Another common name is elephanthead which accurately describes the remarkable shape of the flowers. Numerous flowers, looking like miniature pink elephant heads, attach to the upper portion of the main vertical plant stem. These mock elephants look outward in all different directions from the stem. We call the flower color, "pink", without hesitation. However, Nelson ^_1_ refers to the flower color as purple or rose.

Fairy Slipper

The orchid fairy slipper, Calypso bulbosa variety americana, grows mostly in cool, moist, pine and aspen, forests in the montane and lower subalpine ^{_5_ _8_}. This orchid has a pleasing fragrance and provides stunning beauty with vivid colors. An oddity of fairy slippers is the flowers have no nectar. That means fairy slippers attract and are pollinated by bees, but the bees receive no benefit for their service and are cheated.

Fireweed

The genus fireweed, scientific name: Chamerion, has two species that grow in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP)^_5_. The two species look somewhat similar to each other, at least to the untrained eye.

The species: common fireweed, C. danielsii, grows in the montane and subalpine of RMNP. This species has multiple scientific names which causes confusion.

The common fireweed aggressively moves into disturbed areas, most notably forested areas that have been burned. The USDA Fire Effects Information System web page describes how fireweed invades burned areas. Just after a fire, wind-dispersed fireweed seeds enter the burned area and start growing. The fireweed plants can then rapidly spread through underground rhizomes and form large colonies.

The broadleaf fireweed, C. subdentatum, grows in the subalpine and alpine. This species is, in general, common through the mountainous Northwest, but not very common in RMNP.

Kansas Gayfeather

The kansas gayfeather or Liatris punctata grows from the plains to the lower montane ^_1_ East of the continental divide mostly in dry areas.

Mountain Ball Cactus

The mountain ball cactus, Pediocactus simpsonii var. minor, ranges from foothill canyons ^_3_ to the montane up to 10000 ft elevation^_1_. It blooms mid-April to late May. As it is a cactus, it is unsurprising that the mountain ball cactus grows in sunny, rocky, and dry areas.

Pink Pyrola

In the wet areas of subalpine spruce-fir forests ^_5_ grows the pink pyrola, Pyrola rotundifolia ssp. asarifolia, also called bog pyrola.

Pipsissewa

Pipsissewa, Chimaphila umbellata ssp. occidentalis, grows in forests of the upper montane zone,

Rose Crown

The rose crown grows in wet areas of the subalpine and alpine^_5_. We have always used the name "queens crown" for this flowering sedum but the guide books we have prefer the name "rose crown" . The scientific name is Clementsia rhodantha with synonyms Sedum rhodanthum and Rhodiola rhodantha. The rounded, cone shaped flowers have a pink color.

Twinflower

The twinflower, Linnaea borealis, grows in shady, slightly wet ground in the upper montane and subalpine^_1_. In agreement with the name, two light pink flowers attach to the top of thin stems rising from leaves near the ground.

Wax Currant

The wax currant, Ribes cereum, is a flowering bush that grows in the montane^_5_. In this region the wax currant grows to 3 feet high and its flowers tend to be pink. Later in the summer the wax currant bushes are covered with reddish berries. Weber^_3_, who takes great care to be precise, reports of the wax currant: "The berries make a very fine, resinous, homemade wine".

Western Shooting Star

Along streams and in wet meadows of the montane and subalpine ^_1_ are found the pink and very distinctive flowered western shooting stars, Dodecatheon pulchellum. The flower petals are turned back and the flower shape appears aerodynamic as though made to zoom through the air — like a shooting star.

Wild Rose

The wild rose, rosa woodsii, is found in montane and subalpine forests.

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Red and Orange Flowers

Kings Crown

In wet and rocky areas of the subalpine and alpine grows the kings crown, Rhodiola integrifolia ^{_4_ _5_}.

Mountain Woodlily

The rare and showy mountain woodlily, Lilium philadelphicum, grows in montane meadows and wet areas near willows ^_5_. These beautiful flowers should not be picked.

Paintbrush

The genus paintbrush, Castilleja, has nine species that grow in Rocky Mountain National Park^_5_. They can be difficult to identify. Paintbrushes are in part parasitic and will feed off of roots of other plants.

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Brown Flowers

In Rocky Mountain National Park, the species pinedrops appears in the late summer to have brown flowers.

Pinedrops

Pinedrops, Pterospora andromedea, is a very unusual flowering plant^_1_ found growing in dry forests often under lodgepole pine trees. A pinedrop plant feeds on the roots of conifers and its leaves lack chlorophyll^_3_. The flowers, when they appear are whitish. The flowers turn into brown seedpods that stay on the plant for a long time, even into winter.