Rocky Mountain Wild Flowers (full text)
Rocky Mountain wild flowers are fragile opportunists which flourish, then retreat for an eight month or so winter. In summer, some are not even noticeable, particularly if they are in shaded underbrush in the woods where a beam of light - through the trees at a particular slant - changes that with its small, warm spotlight. Meadows and ditches can also rip with breathtaking colour, all marking the final and brilliant conclusion to a long winter.
There are several vegetation zones, or ecoregions, in the Rockies: Foothills, Montane (Dry or Moist), Lower and Upper Subalpine, and Alpine (above the tree line). The Montane region is essentially low, major valleys and their slopes, below the heavily forested Subalpine region, which has thick canopies (less undergrowth), more snow and is colder.
The flowers shown here commonly live in the windy Dry Montane region of the Bow valley. The exceptions are the streamside bluebell (#17) in Waterton Lakes National Park and the Indian Pipe (#10), a plant incidentally with no chorophyll, in the Shuswap Highlands (part of the Monashee Mountains) of British Columbia. Both areas are Moist Montane.
Also, a field of buffalo flowers (#14) had me turn off the 1A Highway, west of Morley, an ill-timed turn-off maybe, as it was during the security preparations for the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis. A Stoney peacekeeper who was recruited to watch for terrorists came for me, but thought things were fine once I explained about the flowers. They are a beautifully common sight on the prairies and in the foothills around April and May.
Photos: Bow Lake and Bow Glacier, late spring; Bow River flowing toward the prairie, Stoney First Nation
Wild flowers should not be picked. Doing so is illegal in protected areas anyway and may kill the plant (e.g. Western Wood Lily #3) or at least lower its reproductive capacity. Also, eating some wild plants can be deadly (e.g. water hemlock). However, if you have an interest in living-off-the-land curios, reading about edible plants or finding an elder or expert is a good start.
Fireweed typically shows up and establishes itself first after forest fires. The patch, below, was at Bow Lake, on the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) to Jasper. The lake, which is fed by melt water from Bow Gacier, is the headwaters for the Bow River. It is the longest river in Banff National Park. (Please see additional note re this waterway on the last page.)
Common Fireweed. Great Willow Herb. ~ Fringed American-Aster ~ Western Wood Lily ~ Prairie Crocus. Common Pasqueflower. Wind Flower. Prairie Anemone ~ Yellow Glacier Lily. Dog-tooth Violet. ~ Tall Purple Fleabane. Aster Fleabane. Mountain Daisy. ~ Harebell. Bellflower. ~ Fairy Slipper. Calypso Orchid. Venus' Slipper. ~ Red Paintbrush. Indian Paintbrush. ~ Indian Pipe. Ghost Flower. Fairy Smoke. ~ Wild Vetch. American Vetch. Purple Vetch. ~ Ox-eye Daisy. ~ Yellow Lady's Slipper. ~ Golden Bean. Buffalo Flower. Buffalo Bean. ~ Common Wild Rose. Woods' Rose. ~ Shrubby Cinquefoil ~ Streamside Bluebell ~ Thin-leaved Groundsel or Ragwort. ~ Wild or Western Blue Flax. [Booklet includes Latin names and bloom times, omitted here.]
Bow River Note: From its headwaters at Bow Glacier and Bow Lake (on the Icefields Parkway, Hwy 93), miles and miles downstream, the Bow River meets the Oldman River in southern Alberta. They merge to form the South Saskatchewan River, which flows east. Another of its main tributaries is the Red Deer River, near the provincial border.The South Saskatchewan River flows into Lake Diefenbaker (in Saskatchewan). This 'lake' is really an impounded river, with dams on either side (the Gardiner and Qu-Appelle valley); the lake is named after John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada 1957-63. The river then flows north-easterly where there is a confluence of north and south Saskatchewan rivers, near Prince Albert. (The North Saskatchewan also originates from glaciers in the Rocky Mountains.) The south and north rivers become the Saskatchewan River. The entire Bow-South Sask- Saskatchewan system is 1,930 km long and drains into Lake Winnipeg (Manitoba), then the Hudson's Bay. The Saskatchewan River and its branches were once important thoroughfares for first nations peoples, explorers and trappers.
Front cover: Brown-eyed Susan. (also called Blanketflower, Wild Gaillardia. [Aster Family] Gaillardia aristata. Jul-Aug
Back cover: Castle Mountain, Banff National Park.
References:
Cormack, R.G.H. Wild Flowers of Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Hurtig Publishers, 1977.
Hallworth, Beryl and C.C. Chinappa. Plants of Kananaskis Country. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press, 1997.
Kershaw, Linda. Alberta Wayside Wildflowers. Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine Publishing, 2003.
Kershaw, Linda. Edible Medicinal Plants of the Rockies. Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine Publishing, 2000.
Pahl, M.D. and A. Smreciu. Growing Native Plants of Western Canada: Common Grasses and Wildflowers. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Agriculture Publishing Branch, 1999.
Phillips, H. Wayne. Northern Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, 2001.
Trelawny, John G. Wild Flowers of the Yukon, Alaska & Northwestern Canada. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2003.
Printed in 2005.
Rocky Mountain wild flowers are fragile opportunists which flourish, then retreat for an eight month or so winter. In summer, some are not even noticeable, particularly if they are in shaded underbrush in the woods where a beam of light - through the trees at a particular slant - changes that with its small, warm spotlight. Meadows and ditches can also rip with breathtaking colour, all marking the final and brilliant conclusion to a long winter.
There are several vegetation zones, or ecoregions, in the Rockies: Foothills, Montane (Dry or Moist), Lower and Upper Subalpine, and Alpine (above the tree line). The Montane region is essentially low, major valleys and their slopes, below the heavily forested Subalpine region, which has thick canopies (less undergrowth), more snow and is colder.
The flowers shown here commonly live in the windy Dry Montane region of the Bow valley. The exceptions are the streamside bluebell (#17) in Waterton Lakes National Park and the Indian Pipe (#10), a plant incidentally with no chorophyll, in the Shuswap Highlands (part of the Monashee Mountains) of British Columbia. Both areas are Moist Montane.
Also, a field of buffalo flowers (#14) had me turn off the 1A Highway, west of Morley, an ill-timed turn-off maybe, as it was during the security preparations for the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis. A Stoney peacekeeper who was recruited to watch for terrorists came for me, but thought things were fine once I explained about the flowers. They are a beautifully common sight on the prairies and in the foothills around April and May.
Photos: Bow Lake and Bow Glacier, late spring; Bow River flowing toward the prairie, Stoney First Nation
Wild flowers should not be picked. Doing so is illegal in protected areas anyway and may kill the plant (e.g. Western Wood Lily #3) or at least lower its reproductive capacity. Also, eating some wild plants can be deadly (e.g. water hemlock). However, if you have an interest in living-off-the-land curios, reading about edible plants or finding an elder or expert is a good start.
Fireweed typically shows up and establishes itself first after forest fires. The patch, below, was at Bow Lake, on the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) to Jasper. The lake, which is fed by melt water from Bow Gacier, is the headwaters for the Bow River. It is the longest river in Banff National Park. (Please see additional note re this waterway on the last page.)
Common Fireweed. Great Willow Herb. ~ Fringed American-Aster ~ Western Wood Lily ~ Prairie Crocus. Common Pasqueflower. Wind Flower. Prairie Anemone ~ Yellow Glacier Lily. Dog-tooth Violet. ~ Tall Purple Fleabane. Aster Fleabane. Mountain Daisy. ~ Harebell. Bellflower. ~ Fairy Slipper. Calypso Orchid. Venus' Slipper. ~ Red Paintbrush. Indian Paintbrush. ~ Indian Pipe. Ghost Flower. Fairy Smoke. ~ Wild Vetch. American Vetch. Purple Vetch. ~ Ox-eye Daisy. ~ Yellow Lady's Slipper. ~ Golden Bean. Buffalo Flower. Buffalo Bean. ~ Common Wild Rose. Woods' Rose. ~ Shrubby Cinquefoil ~ Streamside Bluebell ~ Thin-leaved Groundsel or Ragwort. ~ Wild or Western Blue Flax. [Booklet includes Latin names and bloom times, omitted here.]
Bow River Note: From its headwaters at Bow Glacier and Bow Lake (on the Icefields Parkway, Hwy 93), miles and miles downstream, the Bow River meets the Oldman River in southern Alberta. They merge to form the South Saskatchewan River, which flows east. Another of its main tributaries is the Red Deer River, near the provincial border.The South Saskatchewan River flows into Lake Diefenbaker (in Saskatchewan). This 'lake' is really an impounded river, with dams on either side (the Gardiner and Qu-Appelle valley); the lake is named after John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada 1957-63. The river then flows north-easterly where there is a confluence of north and south Saskatchewan rivers, near Prince Albert. (The North Saskatchewan also originates from glaciers in the Rocky Mountains.) The south and north rivers become the Saskatchewan River. The entire Bow-South Sask- Saskatchewan system is 1,930 km long and drains into Lake Winnipeg (Manitoba), then the Hudson's Bay. The Saskatchewan River and its branches were once important thoroughfares for first nations peoples, explorers and trappers.
Front cover: Brown-eyed Susan. (also called Blanketflower, Wild Gaillardia. [Aster Family] Gaillardia aristata. Jul-Aug
Back cover: Castle Mountain, Banff National Park.
References:
Cormack, R.G.H. Wild Flowers of Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Hurtig Publishers, 1977.
Hallworth, Beryl and C.C. Chinappa. Plants of Kananaskis Country. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press, 1997.
Kershaw, Linda. Alberta Wayside Wildflowers. Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine Publishing, 2003.
Kershaw, Linda. Edible Medicinal Plants of the Rockies. Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine Publishing, 2000.
Pahl, M.D. and A. Smreciu. Growing Native Plants of Western Canada: Common Grasses and Wildflowers. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Agriculture Publishing Branch, 1999.
Phillips, H. Wayne. Northern Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, 2001.
Trelawny, John G. Wild Flowers of the Yukon, Alaska & Northwestern Canada. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2003.
Printed in 2005.
