All Clovers Are Not Created Equal

Here in Indiana, clovers (Trifolium spp.) don't get people very excited. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that a clover of any kind is one of their favorite plants. In fact, these legumes with three leaflets are often shunned as evil lawn weeds, and many a suburban homeowner spend hundreds of dollars per year applying herbicides to remove the clover and cultivate a bluegrass monoculture. Recently, however, there has been a movement to replace or at least enhance turf grass lawns with clovers, which take nitrogen from the atmosphere and make this natural fertilizer available to other plants.


Around here, our most common clovers are Red Clover (Trifolium pratense, above), White Clover (Trifolium repens, below), and Alsike Clover (Trifolium hybridum). While the individual flowers are humbly attractive when viewed up close, most people do not give them a second glance when in their heavily degraded and anthropogenically altered habitats of old field, pasture, roadside, and lawn.


Enter the clovers of Colorado. Never before had I really been "wowed" by a clover, nor did I think I could be, but these fantastic Fabaceae seemed like they were from another world. All three of the following species are native to Colorado and endemic to the Rocky Mountains.


Parry's Clover (Trifolium parryi, above) is a plant found only in a fairly narrow band through the Rocky Mountain states (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010) that can be found growing commonly in the subalpine and alpine life zones (Guennel 2004). This species often grows in dense clumps or cushions with leafless flowering stalks (Beidleman et al. 2000). While the "plainest" looking of the three clovers that we saw on our July 2009 trip, this clover puts all of the Midwestern clovers that I've seen to shame.


The next most impressive clover species that we saw was Alpine Clover (Trifolium dasyphyllum), shown immediately above and below. Like the previous species, Alpine Clover is common in a fairly narrow band through the Rocky Mountain states (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010), found growing in tundra and on rocky or gravelly slopes in the subalpine and alpine life zones (Guennel 2004).


The flowers of Alpine Clover can sometimes be all rose or violet-purple (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010), but the more common bicolored form shown in the photos above is quite stunning, especially for a clover.


Finally, Dwarf Clover (Trifolium nanum), which puts all other clovers to shame in terms of appearance, in my opinion, is shown above. Another species of restricted range similar to the previous two species (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010), this clover has only 1-3 flowers per cluster; each flower is approximately 2 cm long, but the entire plant lives up to its common name and grows in a cushion up to only 6 cm tall (Beidleman et al. 2000). Dwarf Clover is found in meadows, on gravelly slopes, and on rocky ridges in the subalpine and alpine life zones (Guennel 2004).

Beidleman, L.H., R.G. Beidleman, & B.E. Willard. (2000). Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Nature Association; Helena, Montana: Falcoln Publishing, Inc.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved February 12, 2010. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

Colorado Castilleja

Last May on Get Your Botany On!, I posted about Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) that I had seen recently in Lake County, Indiana. Although I had witnessed this species with bracts of three different color morphs (red, orange, and yellow) over the years, until July I had only seen one of the approximately 200 worldwide species (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010) from this showy genus. That quickly changed when we went to Colorado in July, as I multiplied my life list of Castilleja species by five.

In the photographs below, you will see that Castilleja possesses showy "flowers." I put "flowers" in quotes because the showy structures are actually bracts, which are modified leaves. The corolla (petals) are actually inconspicuous and mostly greenish yellow, and are hidden beneath the large bracts. If you look closely, you'll be able to see the true flowers in some of the photographs below.


The first new paintbrush that we saw was in a prairie at Jewel Mountain near Boulder. The photograph above shows Orange Paintbrush (Castilleja integra). This species is known in the United States only from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado (USDA, NRCS 2010). Known also as Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush, the leaves of this species are unlobed; in fact, the specific epithet integra means "whole" (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). Orange Paintbrush can be found growing in the plains, foothills, and montane life zones of Colorado, and is said to be the most common paintbrush in the plains of Colorado (Guennel 2004; Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). The densely tomentose stem is a key feature used to identify this species (Weber 1976).


Along the road near Independence Pass, we stopped the car to photograph Scarlet Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata), also known as Giant Red Indian Painbrush. This species is known from the western United States, and from Canada east to Ontario (USDA, NRCS 2010). In Colorado, it grows in the foothills, montane, and subalpine life zones (Guennel 2004). This species is said to be the most common and variable member of the genus Castilleja in Colorado (Weber 1976).


My favorite paintbrush of our trip was Rosy Paintbrush (Castilleja rhexiifolia), shown above. This photograph was taken at Independence Pass. Also known as Splitleaf Indian Paintbrush, this species is known from states west of the Rocky Mountains (except California and Arizona), as well as from Brittish Columbia and Alberta (USDA, NRCS 2010). You can find this beautiful paintbrush with bracts of indescribable colors in the subalpine and alpine life zones of Colorado (Guennel 2004). This species, as well as others in the genus Castilleja, is well known for its propensity to hybridize with other members of the genus (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010).


Also at Independence Pass, we saw one of the two whitish-bracted species of paintbrush that we saw on our trip, Western Paintbrush (Castilleja occidentalis). Western Paintbrush has a similar range to the preceding species, but is more confined to areas along the Rocky Mountains (USDA, NRCS 2010). This species grows in the subalpine and alpine life zones of Colorado (Guennel 2004), and is distinguished from the next species in part by its shorter height (up to 20 cm tall) (Weber 1976). Like other paintbrushes, this species is hemiparasitic, meaning that it sometimes obtains nutrients from the roots of nearby plants (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010).


The other species of paintbrush that we saw with whitish bracts was Yellow Paintbrush (Castilleja sulphurea). This photograph was taken at Holy Cross Wilderness Area. Sulphur Indian Paintbrush, as it is also known, has a similar range to the two preceding species (USDA, NRCS 2010). It can be found in the plains, montane, and subalpine life zones of Colorado, and is distinguished from the previous species in part by its taller height (20 cm to 40 cm) (Weber 1976).

Now that I've seen approximatetly 3% of the known species of Castilleja, I can't wait to see the diversity and colorful bracts of the other 97%!

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 1: Plains and Foothills. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved January 16, 2010. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

USDA, NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/, 10 January 2010). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Weber, W.A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado

The Search for Coeloglossum

For several years while botanizing in Indiana, I had hoped to run across Frog Orchid (Coeloglossum viride). Vegetatively, this species can be confused with Palegreen Orchid (Platanthera flava var. herbiola) or even Broadleaf Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine). There have been a couple of times in the past when I thought I might have finally found this elusive, intriguing orchid, but it was not in flower so I could never be sure. Who knew that my search would be satisfied by freak chance in Colorado? In July 2009, at Holy Cross Wilderness Area when our vehicle was broken down, I was botanizing the area while waiting for Eric to return when I happened upon my long-time target.


Called Frog Orchid because the Gene Simmons tongue-like lip apparently resembles a frog hopping into cover (you'll need a little imagination to see this), Long-bracted Green Orchid, as it is also known, grows in the forests, meadows, and bogs in the montane and subalpine life zones in Colorado (Beidleman et al. 2000; Weber 1976). It is found worldwide with a circumpolar distribution (Sheviak & Catling 2002). In North America, Frog Orchid is known from most of Canada, Alaska, and the northern half of the continental United States east of the Rocky Mountains; it is also known less commonly from a few western states (NatureServe 2010). Its habitat includes moist to wet forests, thickets, bogs, prairies, and tundra (Sheviak & Catling 2002).


The photograph above shows a Frog Orchid plant in bloom. As you can see, the plant can be easily overlooked, as the green flowers blend in well with the surroundings.


Coeloglossum means "hollow tongue;" the genus was named for the hollow pouch-like nectary below the base of the flower lip (Homoya 1993). Some authors have now moved this only member of the genus Coeloglossum to the genus Dactylorhiza (in which case it is called Dactylorhiza viridis). Dactylorhiza literally means "finger root;" the roots of this species consist of several palmate tubers (Case 1987) that as a result look something like fingers. The long bracts subtending greenish flowers (seen above) are the source of the common name Long-bracted Green Orchid.


Frog Orchid is rare in these parts and can be difficult to see in shady forests. Be sure to watch for it in mature woods in late spring and summer.

Beidleman, L.H., R.G. Beidleman, & B.E. Willard. (2000). Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Nature Association; Helena, Montana: Falcoln Publishing, Inc.

Case, F.W. Jr. (1987). Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Homoya, M.A. (1993). Orchids of Indiana. Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana: Indaian Academy of Science.

NatureServe. (2010). NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: January 21, 2010 ).

Sheviak, C.J. & P.M. Catling. (2002). Coeloglossum. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 15+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol. 26.

Weber, W.A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado.

Beautiful, Yes... Grass, No

Translations of Latin names of plants can sometimes be a bit misleading. Take, for example, Calochortus gunnisonii var. gunnisonii. Calochortus comes from the Greek "kalos," meaning "beautiful," and "chortos," meaning "grass" (Fiedler & Zebell 2002). I doubt that many people would argue that the flowers of this species are not beautiful, but I would be pretty hard-pressed to find any botanists who would say that this plant is a grass.


This species (and variety) of Calochortus, which is actually in the family Liliaceae, was named in honor of Captain John Williams Gunnison, who was murdered at the age of 41 while on a surveying trip in Utah (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). The first known collection of Gunnison's Mariposa Lily, as it is commonly known, was made in central Colorado in 1853 by Frederick Creutzfeldt (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010); the species now is known from Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming (Fiedler & Zebell 2002), where it is found in prairies and open forests (Strickler 1996). "Mariposa" is Spanish for "butterfly," a reference to the large white to purple or bluish-tinged petals that are said to look like butterfly wings (Beidleman et al. 2000).


In Colorado, Gunnison's Mariposa Lily grows from the foothills to the subalpine (6,000 to 11,500' above sea level) (Guennel 2004). We saw Sego Lily, as it is also known for its edible bulb, at two locations while we were in Colorado in July 2009. One of those locations was in a meadow near the most photographed mountain peaks in North America (USDA Forest Service 2010), Maroon Bells, near Aspen.


The lake in the foreground of the photos directly above and below certainly lives up to its name of Mirror Lake!


The other place that we saw Gunnison's Mariposa Lily was at Jewel Mountain, near Boulder.


Interestingly, at both locations, we saw insects inside the campanulate flowers.


The photograph above shows the Xeric Tallgrass Prairie habitat in which we found Gunnison's Mariposa Lily at Jewel Mountain. Xeric Tallgrass Prairie is unique for Boulder, as the nearest similar habitat is over 500 miles away (Fairlee pers. comm. 2009).

Beidleman, L.H., R.G. Beidleman, & B.E. Willard. (2000). Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Nature Association; Helena, Montana: Falcoln Publishing, Inc.

Fairlee, E. (2009). Personal Communication.

Fiedler, P.L. & R.K. Zebell. (2002). Calochortus. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 15+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol. 26.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved January 16, 2010. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

Strickler, D. (1998). Prairie Wildflowers: Showy Wildflowers of the Plains, Valleys, and Foothills in the Northern Rocky Mountain States. Columbia Falls, Montana: The Flower Press.

USDA Forest Service. Retrieved January 16, 2010. http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver/rangerdistricts/aspen_sopris/mb_scenic_site/index.shtml.

Twinflower

In my recent post about Fairy Slipper, I mentioned that I saw several interesting plants characteristic of montane forest before finding a flowering Fairy Slipper. One of those plants was Twinflower (Linnaea borealis); in fact, this was the plant that I saw first, along the edge of the woods, that convinced me to push further into the woods to see what else was there. If not for this population of Twinflower, I might have missed out on Fairy Slipper.


A member of the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae), Twinflower is an evergreen, trailing shrub with erect flower-bearing branches to six inches tall (Guennel 2004; Southwest Colorado Wildflowers 2010). The photos on this page show pretty clearly where it gets the common name of Twinflower. The genus Linnaea was named for 18th century naturalist Carl Linnaeus; the specific epithet borealis means "of northern regions," and refers to the circumboreal distribution of the species. Twinflower is known from the northern two-thirds of North America, as well as from higher elevations in the southwestern states (NatureServe 2010); however, it is considered a species of conservation concern in nine states (USDA, NRCS 2010).


Twinflower grows in habitats including conifer forest, cedar swamp, bog, and spring, sometimes along streams and pondshores (Guennel 2004; Wells et al. 1999). In Colorado, it is found in the montane and subalpine life zones (8,000-11,500 feet above sea level) (Guennel 2004).


It is no coincidence that I decided to post about Twinflower today. To see why I picked 10 January to share information about this species, see my recent post at Get Your Botany On!.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

NatureServe. (2010). NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: January 10, 2010 ).

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved January 10, 2010. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

USDA, NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/, 10 January 2010). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wells, J.R., F.W. Case Jr., & T.L. Mellichamp. (1999). Wildflowers of the Western Great Lakes Region. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.

A Slipper Fit For A Goddess

One of the plants that I had hoped to see while in Colorado was Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa). Unfortunately, this orchid typically flowers from April to July (Guennel 2004), and we were within its geographical range in mid-July. On one occasion on our trip, we saw a plant that had finished flowering and fruiting; on another couple of occasions, we saw sterile plants. I was beginning to think that we were out of luck, until near the end of our trip, on 18 July 2009, at Rocky Mountain National Park.

After a picnic near a quiet stream for lunch, Eric, Lisa, Julia, Lindsay and I headed back to the car. If you know me at all, you know that I can't simply walk back to the vehicle along the same trail I walked in without at least checking out a bit more of the surroundings; this is especially true in a place I've never been. True to character, I swung through a montane woods while the rest of our group stayed along the trail back to the car. After seeing several exciting plants characteristic of dark, montane forest (that I will post about at a later date), I found my target, a late flowering (but past its prime) Fairy Slipper (be sure to check out the photos at Southwest Colorado Wildflowers to see what the plant looks like when the flowers are fresh).


Eric joined me just about the time that I found this plant, and the two of us proceeded to take numerous photos. I had no idea how difficult it was to keep a 2-year old happy while her dad and his friend were off botanizing. Shortly after I found the plant, I began hearing a car horn, which continued on and off until we got back to the car and found out that Julia was apparently ready to go. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take photos, though.

As seen in two of these photographs, Fairy Slipper has a solitary leaf at the base of the plant. This leaf emerges in the fall, overwinters under the snow (Strickler 1988), and withers soon after the plant flowers (Wells et al. 1999).


Calypso, as it is also known, is found at a range of elevations in Colorado, from the Foothills to the Subalpine (6,000' to 11,500' above sea level), in bogs and mossy forests and near springs and seeps (Guennel 2004). Closer to home around the Great Lakes, this orchid can be found in dry sand on dunes, in northern coniferous forests, in swamps and bogs, and on alvars (Wells et al. 1999; Case 1987). Its North American distribution includes much of Canada and the northern Unites States, as well as a band along the Rocky Mountains south to Arizona and New Mexico (NatureServe 2009). Globally, this species is circumboreal in distribution, meaning that it is found in northern climates around the world (Fernald 1950).


Calypso was named after the beautiful sea nymph in Homer's Odyssey (Wells et al. 1999). Many references attest to the beauty of the flowers of this plant. Upon seeing it, Hilde Guennel apparently exclaimed "Oh my God! That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" (Guennel 2004). Unfortunately, its beauty and intrigue has led to its demise and the degradation of its habitat in some places, as habitat has been trampled and plants have been unnecessarily collected (Case 1987).

Case, F.W. Jr. (1987). Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Fernald, M.L. (1950). Gray's Manual of Botany, Eighth (Centennial) Edition. American Book Company.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

NatureServe. (2009). NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: January 6, 2010 ).

Strickler, D. (1988). Forest Wildflowers: Showy Wildflowers of the Woods, Mountains and Forests of the Northern Rocky Mountain States. Columbia Falls, Montana: The Flower Press.

Wells, J.R., F.W. Case Jr., & T.L. Mellichamp. (1999). Wildflowers of the Western Great Lakes Region. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Elephant Head

Were you able to figure out the plant that I was looking at in the photograph in my previous post? Here's a closer look...


... and here is a look at the inflorescence...


If you're still not sure what this is, the title of this post says it all. This is Elephant Head (Pedicularis groenlandica). The common name for this species comes from the spitting image resemblance of the individual flowers to the head of a particular pachyderm. The "trunk" is actually the upper lip of the corolla that is declined and curved upward; the "ears" are two lobes of the lower lip of the corolla (Guennel 2004). Be sure that you're looking at the mature flowers and not the buds at the top of the inflorescence in the photo above, or instead you may be tempted to call this plant Gonzo Flower.


Little Red Elephant, as this species is also known, is a member of the family Scrophulariaceae (for now). In the photograph above, notice the fern-like leaves that are characteristic of most members of the genus Pedicularis. This species is circumboreal in distribution (Beidleman et al. 2000), meaning that it is found in northern regions around the world. In North America, it is found in the western United States, Alaska, and in most Canadian provinces (USDA, NRCS 2009).


A photograph of the habitat in which we saw Elephant Head is shown above. Look at all the color in this subalpine meadow! Elephantella (another common name for this species) grows from the montane into the alpine, where it is found in wet meadows, bogs, and swamps, as well as near streams, ponds, and springs (Guennel 2004).


This is one of my favorite photographs from our Colorado trip, but it pales in comparison to the photograph of an albino Elephant Head on Southwest Colorado Wildflowers at the bottom of the page at this link. Elephant Head has been used medicinally in several ways, most commonly to loosen chest congestion; like other members of the genus, it has also been used as a tranquilizer, muscle relaxant, sedative, and aphrodesiac (Psychoactive Herbs 2009). I'm not sure how this last use fits in with the previous three... I'll leave this to your imagination.

Beidleman, L.H., R.G. Beidleman, & B.E. Willard. (2000). Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Nature Association; Helena, Montana: Falcoln Publishing, Inc.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Psychoactive Herbs. 20 December 2009. Retrieved from http://psychoactiveherbs.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=123.

USDA, NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/, 20 December 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Redemption

Alright... I've had enough of seeing that "tacky sweater" photograph everytime I look at our blog, so I needed to post a more dignified photo of myself.


We have our Christmas Bird Count tomorrow, so I don't have any time now... but I will post about the plant that I'm looking at in this photo in my next post later this weekend.

Parry's Primrose

As you will see as I continue to post photos from our trip to Colorado in July, the subalpine and alpine meadows were painted with a pallette of pigments and hues of every shade imaginable. The plant featured in this post added a unique splash of magenta to the alluring organic canvas.


This is Parry's Primrose (Primula parryi), a plant of the subalpine and alpine life zones in the Rocky Mountains south of Canada (Strickler 1990). We only saw this member of the family Primulaceae in the subalpine, where it can reach heights of up to nearly 50cm (Kelso 2009); it doesn't get as tall in the vertically challenged alpine, but it still towers over most of the surrounding plants. Parry's Primrose grows in wet and often rocky areas, including bogs, seeps, and wet meadows, as well as along streams and waterfalls; a common place to find Alpine Primrose, as it is also known, is in snowmelt seeps (Guennel 2004; Kelso 2009).


Most of the Parry's Primrose that we saw was along streams through wet meadows, but Lindsay snapped the shot below of this species growing on rocky substrate in mixed forest on the other side of a fast-moving snowmelt stream. The flowers are said to have a pleasant odor at first that becomes skunky as they age (Beidleman et al. 2000; Kelso 2009) or when touched (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers).


Parry's Primrose was first collected by Charles Christopher Parry in 1861 in Colorado; it was named in his honor by Asa Gray in 1862 (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers). Parry returned the favor by naming Gray's Peak on the Front Range of Colorado after Asa Gray.

Beidleman, L.H., R.G. Beidleman, & B.E. Willard. (2000). Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Nature Association; Helena, Montana: Falcoln Publishing, Inc.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Kelso, S. (2009). Primula. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 15+ vols. New York and Oxford. Vol. 8.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved December 11, 2009. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

Strickler, D. (1990). Alpine Wildflowers: Showy Wildflowers of the Alpine and Subalpine Areas of the Northern Rocky Mountain States. Columbia Falls, Montana: The Flower Press.

Snowball Saxifrage

A somewhat common plant that we saw in the alpine life zone in Colorado was Snowball Saxifrage (Saxifraga rhomboidea), a member of the family Saxifragaceae. This species grows in a variety of habitats from the foothills (6000' - 8000' above sea level) all the way up into the alpine (>11,500' above sea level) (Guennel 2004). It is known from many states in the western part of the country (USDA NRCS 2009). Edward Greene made the first collection of this species in 1889 and named it Saxifraga rhomboidea; John Small came up with the name Micranthes rhomboidea - the name currently used for this plant by William Weber - for the same species in 1905 (Southwest Colorado Wildflowers).


Also known as Diamondleaf Saxifrage and Early Saxifrage, this species can often be found in rocky habitats. This is one potential origin for the genus (and family) name, as "saxifrage" is translated to mean "rock-breaker;" another potential origin, as discussed by Gerard in The Herbal (1633), is that plants in this family have been used for hundreds of years to treat kidney stones (Weber 1976; Southwest Colorado Wildflowers).

I took the photograph above at Loveland Pass on the Continental Divide in central Colorado.

Guennel, G.K. (2004). Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2: Mountains. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. Retrieved December 10, 2009. http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/.

USDA, NRCS. (2009). The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov/, 10 December 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Weber, W.A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado.