Monday, June 1, 2009
Under the Forest Canopy..
Today we walked up into the forest on the trail across from the RedRock RV Park. The walk is not far (literally a couple hundred yards to the forest's edge.) There is first a meadow of grasses and soon to be wildflowers of about 100 yards, then an edge of aspens (quakers), and then the forest is made of mainly Douglas Fir conifers. In addition to a nice view shed for the RV Park, the forest is home to many wildflowers and shy animals. It's known that white-tailed deer, Elk, Moose, bear, fox, marmot and others live there, not to mention many birds, though they all live rather quietly. We don't see too many (other than the birds), especially at once. But ever so often one or more of these species is spotted from within the confines of the RV Park and excitement reigns.Well, today I merely was looking for new wildflowers. Reggie (my Golden Retriever) keeps an eye (and nose) on the lookout for the other species. Yesterday afternoon we had a pretty good rain (.2 inches in 30 minutes) so the flowers have had a good drink.
Storm approaching us yesterday, dropped .2 inches on the wildflowers
The first newly blooming species of wildflower that we encountered was at the forest's edge, but it is also found further back. It is the beautiful forest climbing vine called Western virgin's bower (Clematis occidentalis). The leaves are three-parted with toothed, heart-shaped leaflets. The beautiful purple sepals shaped like a bell stand out in the normally green colored forest foliage. According to my records, this vine is blooming 18 days earlier than last year. Since it is the first flower you encounter as you walk up the trail from the RedRock RV Park, it is unlikely that I made a mistake. Last year the snow lasted about 10 days later and this area was probably still under snow which may account for the difference in time.
closeup Western virgin's bower under Forest canopy
The heart-leaf Arnica that we found in meadow #1 a couple days ago is now blooming here in small numbers, but soon will have many specimens blooming. It is the brightest flower here. The Glacier Lily continues to be the dominant wildflower under the trees but many of those specimens are starting to wilt. The false Soloman's Seal (Smilacina racemosa) is in fairly large numbers up here, and some of the plants have started to develop the final form of their small flowers. (See image on right).
Another new flower for this season starting to bloom in this part of the forest is the lovely blue Many-flowered Stickseed (Hackelia floribunda). So far only an isolated specimen in this area, but soon they will be all over. This plant stands from 1 to 3 feet tall. They are often called the forget-me-nots, thanks to the similar blue flower, but those are from a totally different genus. This plant produces little barbed nutlets in the mature stage which Reggie will be sure to collect in his fur.Another plant blooming under the forest canopy is what appears to be a valerian, maybe the Sharp leaf Valerian (Valeriana capitata). It has a florescence of tiny white flowers on the top of a large plant. The leaves are very long, narrow and sharp pointed without teeth.
Sharp leaf Valerian The meadow rue are throughout the forest floor, and are just beginning to "bloom". Other flowers under the forest canopy include the Utah Honeysuckle (aka Red Twinberry) and the Fairy-bells that we saw further down the road last week. They are similar in appearance but the Honeysuckle is on a woody stem (shrub) and the Fairy-bells are like a common perennial flower.
Fairy Bell (Disporum) with twin white flowers
Utah Honeysuckle (Lonicera utahensis) with twin white flowers. In the meadow there are a few specimens of the Vase Flower blooming, the yellow Goosefoot Violet and the beautiful Shooting Star. The forbs are still less than a foot in height. Soon this area will be knee deep and then waist deep with colorful flowers and grasses. Come see for yourself at RedRock RV Park, near West Yellowstone (22 miles south) and nearby Island Park, Idaho.
Reggie leading the way through the meadow to the Forest across from RedRock RV Park today.
# posted by RV Guy @ 7:09 AM 
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