[image]

Florets on opposite sides of stem

Agropyron spicatum

Bluebunch wheatgrass

VD-D

"We use wheat for agriculture."

[image]

Drooping panicle of purple florets with long awls

Bromus tectorum

Cheatgrass

D 

"Droops like a broom"

[image]

Panicle in close, narrow cluster

Calamagrostis rubescens

Pinegrass

D-F

"You'd have to be a rube to think this grass is a pine!"

[image]

sheaths persistent, intact at base

few branches at nodes. Florets somewhat purple, in clusters

Festuca scabrella

Rough fescue

M

"Rough enough to give you scabs."

[image]

multiple branches per node

flattened spikelets 

Poa pratensis

Kentucky bluegrass

M

"People aren't pretentious in Kentucky, they're 'pratensis'."

[image]

Florets very dark purple, small, giving a spikey appearance

panicle can be more open than shown

Calamagrostis canadensis

Bluejoint

M-W

"Gotta love those Canadian joints!"

[image]

It's a cactus

Opuntia fragilis

Prickly pear cactus

VD

"They may be fragile, but those prickles sure are a-pointy (opuntia)!"

[image]

Long lanceolate leaves, bases truncate to cordate

long leaves with cordate bases

Balsamorhiza sagittata

Arrow-leaved balsam root

VD-D

"Balsam roots have saggy tatas."

[image]

doubly compound leaves

Achillea milefolium

Yarrow

VD-M

 "The surface area of this leaf goes on for acres,  even miles!"

[image]

Palmately compound, relatively small leaves with hairy surfaces, 10-20cm inflorescences with white banners, pods densely hairy

Lupinus sericeus

Silky lupin

D-F

[image]

basal leaves prominant, cordate; petals (bracts) lanceolate

Arnica cordifolia

Heart-leaved arnica

F-M

[image]

Very big leaves

Aralia nudicaulis

Wild sarsaparilla

F-M

"Drinking sasparilla in the wild of Australia (aralia) makes me want to get nude!"

Allium cernuum

Nodding onion

D

"All the onion farmers? *nods head* I sure knew 'em (cer-nu-um)."

Sedum lanceolatum

Lance-leaved stonecrop

D

"See dem (sedum) stones?"

[image]

Very small leaves (>0.5cm)

10-25 cm, small red berries

Vaccinium scoparium

Grouseberry

D-M

"It's hard to scope anything when you're as small as a grouse."

Vaccinium caespitosum

Dwarf blueberry

D-M

"Just say spit (cae-spit)"

Streptopus roseus

Rosy twisted-stalk

F-M

[image]

Palmately compound, relatively large leaves, 10-15cm racemes, leaf surfaces glabrous

Lupinus arcticus

Arctic lupin

F-M

[image]

basal leaves small and short-lived, petals (bracts) notched

Arnica latifolia

Mountain arnica

F-M

"Pinus contorta var. latifolia grows in the mountains."

Orthilia secunda

One-sided wintergreen

D-M

"One-side for Orth sec"

[image]

light purple flowers

Aster conspicuus

Showy aster

D-M

Chimaphila umbellata

Prince's pine

D-F

"Thick, evergreen leaves are winter (cheima) lovers (philos)"

[image]

fruits hairy strands

Geum triflorum

Old-man's whiskers

D

[image]

leaves pedately compound, serrated

Fragaria virginiana

Wild strawberry

D-M

"strawberries are most fragrant in Virginia"

[image]

Deeply dissected, basal leaves. Flowers can be white or yellow

Trollius laxus

Globe flower

W

"'Trololololo-lololo-lololo. Hahahahahaaaaa.' has been heard all around the globe."

[image]

Leaves narrow, bases truncate.

Senecio triangularis

Arrow-leaved groundsel

M-W

"The strongest of all shapes, triangles don't senesce when they hit the ground"

[image]

triangular stems

Carex. sp

Sedge

W

Juniperus communis

Common juniper

VD-D

Penstemon fruticosus

Showy penstomon

D

"These flowers look like open mouths, waiting for fruit."

[image]

Very small leaves multiply-dissected

Artemisia frigida

Pasture sage

D

"leaves look like frigid icicles"

[image]

Leaves very narrow, almost string-like

Chrysothamnus nauseosus

Rabbit brush

D

"Much like the Chrysler PT Cruiser, this will make you nauseous unless you're a rabbit."

[image]

Leaves 3-lobed

Artemisia tridentata

Big sagebrush

D-F

[image]

opposite leaves

Symphoricarpos albus

Common snowberry

D-F

"When their leaves fall off during the winter, these plants are a symphony of white (albus)."

[image]

Tall shrub, leaves serrated but entire at base, petals separated

bluish, round berries

Amelanchier alnifolia

Saskatoon

D-M

"I like the jam from these berries for me lunch. The leaves are almost serrated."

Spiraea betulifolia

Birch-leaved spirea

D-M

[image]

Many small leaves

Pachistima myrsenites

Falsebox

D-M

"Everything about this plant is very packed together nice and neatly (myrs-en-itely)."

[image]

Leaf undersides covered in glands

opposite leaves

Shepherdia canadensis

Soopallalie

D-M

"Even if I were a Canadian shepherd, I wouldn't eat soup made of this."

Linnaea borealis

Twinflower

F-M

"By the time Linnaeus got to the boreal, he was so exhausted he saw double."

[image]

Produces 2 fused, red berries

Lonicera utahensis

Utah honeysuckle

M-W

"These flowers aren't lonely."

[image]

Produces pairs of round, black berries

Lonicera involucrata

Black twinberry

M-W

"These berries aren't lonely, but it's involuntary."

Ledum glandulosum

Trapper's tea

M-W

"Trappers lead 'em (ledum) to the tea, which reduces the sweeling in their glands."

[image]

Lanceolate to obovate leaves

Salix sp.

Willow

F-W

[image]

Leaves >1 inch

Betula glandulosa

Scrub birch

M-W

"I bet you'll-a (betula) remember that scrub birch has glands."

Alnus tenuifolia

Mountain alder

M-W

"In the mountains, alders have very thin (tenuous) foliage."

[image]

Leaves in uniform ranks

Selaginella densa

Compact selaginella

D

Peltigera aphthosa

Pelt lichen

D-M

"You can find pelt lichen up those (aph-thos) trees!"

Cladonia spp.

Cladonia lichens

D

Cladina spp.

Reindeer lichens

D-W

Pleurozium schreberi

Red-stemmed feathermoss

D-M

"This moss looks like plural shrubs (schrebs)."

[image]

Branches very close together

Ptilium crista-castrensis

Knight's plume

D-M