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Idaho Mountain Wildflowers

Figwort (Snapdragon) family: Scrophulariaceae (page 5 of 6)

Plantaginaceae (plantain family) continued

Tweedy’s Snowlover, Chionophila tweedyi, takes its generic name from the Greek xioni meaning "snow" and filos for "friend". The species name honors Frank Tweedy (1854-1937), a topographic engineer with the US Geological Survey who collected plants in the Yellowstone area, Montana and in the Pacific Northwest. The chionophila is a perky high subalpine plant. In good years, with a heavy snowpack, the flowers appear soon after the snow melts. They are usually found growing in open shade, on what will later be parched ground. The flowers are easy to identify. They have a basal rosette of small oval leaves out of which grows a long stem. Half a dozen or so lavender-tinged flowers, their lips turned up at the end, bloom one above the other, on only one side of the stem (the plant has been called by the inelegant name of “toothbrush flower”). The flowers are related to, and closely resemble penstemons—in fact, they were for a while classified as Penstemon tweedyi. They are also a very localized plant, found only in the mountains of Idaho and Wyoming.

Blue-eyed Mary, Collinsia parvifolia var. parvifolia: The name Collinsia, proposed by Thomas Nuttall in 1817, honors Philadelphia botanist Zacheus Collins (1764-1831). Blue-eyed Mary flowers are usually tiny, no more than 1/8 ” long. They appear in late spring while the ground is still wet from the snowmelt. With magnification, you’ll see that the flowers are attractive, with a lower "lip" made up of two turned-down white petals with blue tips. Lewis and Clark collected Collinsia parviflora--tthen unknown to science--on April 17, 1806 at present day The Dalles, OR. The plant that Lewis found now goes by the contradictory name Collinsia parviflora var. grandiflora ("large-flowered small-flowered Collinsia"), for it is a localized, far larger variety than the common blue-eyed Mary (left). Still another (unrecognized) variety, larger than the common plant, but smaller than the Lewis and Clark plant, grows in North Central Idaho. The one on the right, photographed along the Clearwater River, has a flower that is almost 1/2" in size. Blue-eyed Marys are found in all western states, and north to Alaska.

Cusick's Speedwell, Veronica cusickii: The name “speedwell” refers to supposed medicinal properties. Cusick's speedwell blooms at high elevations in the mountains of the Northwest. The small flowers are deep blue to violet, in a loose terminal cluster, or “raceme”. Veronicas have four petals; the upper one is largest and the lowest one smallest, so the flowers are irregular. Two long stamens, an even longer style, and opposite lanceolate leaves help to identify this lovely little alpine plant. Other species of veronica are found in our area, including several water plants. Identification, at the generic level at least, should not be difficult, for the four petaled, slightly irregular flowers are typical of the genus as a whole. William Conklin Cusick (1842-1922) for whom this plant is named taught and ranched in Oregon. He found the plant in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and it was described in 1878. Another veronica, the American alpine speedwell, Veronica wormskjoldii, (right) is more widely distributed across northern North America. Typically the stem is hairy and it lacks the long anthers and stigma of Cusick's veronica.

Mountain Kittentoes, Synthyris missurica, favors shaded, moist woods. Its four petals are similar to those of the veronica shown above, so for a time it was classified in that genus. The small leafy bracts below the flower cluster help to identify this and several related species. Its broad stemmed basal leaves are scalloped--another distinguishing feature. This species of kittentoes (four others grow in the Northwest) is found only in the Northwest and California. The plant shown here was photographed along US highway 12 where it parallels the Lolo Trail, adjacent to the Clearwater River, very close to where Meriwether Lewis collected the plant, then unknown to science, on June 26, 1806.

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Tweedy’s Snowlover, Chionophila tweedyi, takes its generic name from the Greek xioni meaning "snow" and filos for "friend". The species name honors Frank Tweedy (1854-1937), a topographic engineer with the US Geological Survey who collected plants in the Yellowstone area, Montana and in the Pacific Northwest. The chionophila is a perky high subalpine plant. In good years, with a heavy snowpack, the flowers appear soon after the snow melts. They are usually found growing in open shade, on what will later be parched ground. The flowers are easy to identify. They have a basal rosette of small oval leaves out of which grows a long stem. Half a dozen or so lavender-tinged flowers, their lips turned up at the end, bloom one above the other, on only one side of the stem (the plant has been called by the inelegant name of “toothbrush flower”). The flowers are related to, and closely resemble penstemons—in fact, they were for a while classified as Penstemon tweedyi. They are also a very localized plant, found only in the mountains of Idaho and Wyoming.
	Blue-eyed Mary, Collinsia parvifolia var. parvifolia: The name Collinsia, proposed by Thomas Nuttall in 1817, honors Philadelphia botanist Zacheus Collins (1764-1831). Blue-eyed Mary flowers are usually tiny, no more than 1/8 ” long. They appear in late spring while the ground is still wet from the snowmelt. With magnification, you’ll see that the flowers are attractive, with a lower "lip" made up of two turned-down white petals with blue tips. Lewis and Clark collected Collinsia parviflora--tthen unknown to science--on April 17, 1806 at present day The Dalles, OR. The plant that Lewis found now goes by the contradictory name Collinsia parviflora var. grandiflora ("large-flowered small-flowered Collinsia"), for it is a localized, far larger variety than the common blue-eyed Mary (left). Still another (unrecognized) variety, larger than the common plant, but smaller than the Lewis and Clark plant, grows in North Central Idaho. The one on the right, photographed along the Clearwater River, has a flower that is almost 1/2" in size. Blue-eyed Marys are found in all western states, and north to Alaska.
	Cusick's Speedwell, Veronica cusickii: The name “speedwell” refers to supposed medicinal properties. Cusick's speedwell blooms at high elevations in the mountains of the Northwest. The small flowers are deep blue to violet, in a loose terminal cluster, or “raceme”. Veronicas have four petals; the upper one is largest and the lowest one smallest, so the flowers are irregular. Two long stamens, an even longer style, and opposite lanceolate leaves help to identify this lovely little alpine plant. Other species of veronica are found in our area, including several water plants. Identification, at the generic level at least, should not be difficult, for the four petaled, slightly irregular flowers are typical of the genus as a whole. William Conklin Cusick (1842-1922) for whom this plant is named taught and ranched in Oregon. He found the plant in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and it was described in 1878. Another veronica, the American alpine speedwell, Veronica wormskjoldii, (right) is more widely distributed across northern North America. Typically the stem is hairy and it lacks the long anthers and stigma of Cusick's veronica.
*Mountain Kittentoes, Synthyris* missurica,** favors shaded, moist woods. Its four petals are similar to those of the veronica shown above, so for a time it was classified in that genus. The small leafy bracts below the flower cluster help to identify this and several related species. Its broad stemmed basal leaves are scalloped--another distinguishing feature. This species of kittentoes (four others grow in the Northwest) is found only in the Northwest and California. The plant shown here was photographed along US highway 12 where it parallels the Lolo Trail, adjacent to the Clearwater River, very close to where Meriwether Lewis collected the plant, then unknown to science, on June 26, 1806.