Still, a few flowers eluded identification. In part this is due to the different stages, lighting, and settings the flowers are photographed in, and in part it’s because while some flowers looked similar to what I had, the plants themselves did not match. I wanted to be thorough, but I have a limited amount of time to dedicate to identification. Those interested can do their own research.
The alpine terrain is known as the tundra. These photos will show some of the typical growth found in this environment.
I think this is a Alpine Springbeauty Plant, Claytonia megarhiza, but they vary in description.
“Alpine” is not specifically referring to the Alps, but rather to the area above the tree line (around 12,000 feet here in Colorado. . . until the climate changes). It’s the elevation at which trees have too short a growing season. This may be due to low moisture, too low a temperature, or persistent snowpacks.
Based on my “Devil is in the Details” gallery, this is Fungous Umbrellicus . . . . . . but some people call it Xanthoria elegans. That sounds so vulgar! I much prefer my name for it.
By the way, for those interested, there are a lot of details in these photos when viewed at full resolution (for that one needs to go to the SmugMug Gallery).
Lots of stuff happening here . . . some Alpine Springbeauty, some Fungous Umbrellicus, what looks to be Dwarf Clover (Trifolium nanum), and what was finally identified as Paronychia pulvinata (Rocky Mountain Nailwort).These are rocks growing among some dwarf clover and moss champion flowers.A bit of everything . . . rocks, dwarf clover, more Rocky Mountain nailwort, and Alpine Sandworth, and more rocks.The pink flower is Trifolium parryi (Parry Clover), and the red bloom is either King’s Crown Flowers (Sedum integrifolium), or Red Stonecrop (Tolmachevia integrifolia). I’m leaning more toward the King’s Crown.Close-up of the Parry Clover.A close-up of what I think is King’s Crown Flowers (Sedum integrifolium)This looks like some sort of grain plant or grass . . . The thing is I remember coming across this in my search for other flower names, but I can’t seem to find it again. . . . I’m calling it . . . Copper Stembrow, also commonly referred to as Bro.I think this is an Alpine Avens flower (Acomastylis rossii ssp turbinatum)Dwarf Clover (Trifolium nanum), and some Alpine AvensThat is a Stealthy Ground Spider, Cesonia Bilineate, on a Marsh Marigold Flower, Caltha leptosepala. I’m pretty sure about the spider, but the flower is not a 100% thing . . . the pictures for that particular flower are all over the place. Still, pretty sure.Same flower, but this time with a fly . . . perhaps I should have gotten those two together . . . they make a good pair.Springbeauty is a name that fits. I do like the combination of rocks, lichen, and alpine flowers . . . it’s like a miniature magical world of colors and textures.You would think I’d get tired of it, but each one presents its own unique interpretation of setting, colors, and textures.My scenery album showed a lot of rocks . . . what perhaps was not evident is what’s between those rocks.The tundra is very fragile . . . I took great care to walk only on the rocks, and even then, those without much lichen on them.I could wonder around these places for hours . . .. . . mostly because every few feet I would stop and snap a picture.By far the most surprising and striking are the Alpine Forget-Me-Not Flowers, Eritrichium nanum. Your eyes are drawn to them both for their delicate beauty, and because the vivid blue seems out of place in this harsh environment.Whether the center of attention, or as an accent for the lichen and rocks, the Forget-Me-Not Flowers are welcome additions to any photo.Dwarf clover, Springbeauty, Forget-Me-Nots, and more, all in a very small and visually pleasing area.Eventually one just runs out of words, and is stuck admiring in silence.And yes, the rocks and lichen are also an interesting visual treat.Many of these shots were taken while I had ventured far from the car.
I had seen a line of photographers, tripods all set up, taking pictures of something. It took me a bit to get there and discover they were photographing Mountain Goats (the subjects of a future post).
I was gone for a lengthy while, and it speaks to the patience my wife has to indulge my hobby and propensity for getting distracted by damn near anything I see.
Hmmm . . . those are odd . . . I can’t seem to find a classification for them. Looks like a type of fig. Maybe dried prunes.Alpine primroses . .As stated at the opening, I have 8-9 sites I check for flower identifications, with three as the primary ones . . . except that I can waste a lot of time and still not find the name of the flower. This particular one has a unique flower and leaves combination I could not match to any photos. After a while I get irritated and lose interest.These shots are from around the observatory, probably an area no more than fifty feet from it . . . and there are miles of the stuff.The word “tundra” for me has always brought forth images of desolate wasteland . . .Desolate, yes . . . but not wasteland.
Really, a lot of beauty to be found, and always surprising whenever I visit alpine areas that such delicate plants carpet mountainsides where hardier flora fears to thread.
I know . . . I’m repeating myself.
The SmugMug gallery can be reached by clicking HERE. It has a similar narrative, and there are more photos (57 photographs). Most readers will be content with the visuals above, but it is worthwhile (if interested in that sort of thing) to check out the plants, rocks, and lichen in detail. Some are exquisite.
Note: to those who may click on “like”, or rate the post; if you do not personally hear from me, know that I am sincerely appreciative, and I thank you for noticing what I do.
Gorgeous! I know nothing about Mt Evans – I assume that it is completely snow-covered in winter? Forgive my ignorance here, but I’ve only seen a tiny part of your area of the world. If so, even more amazing that these fragile plants can survive that sort of thing. Here (in Australia) we have very sweet tiny pygmy possums which live in the alpine regions. It’s almost like their fragility is distilled by the harsh climate.
You can find a picture of the possum at: http://www.australianfauna.com/mountainpygmypossum.php
Yeah, those peaks are all snow-covered in the winter. The growing season up there is rather short . . . June (sometime) through August. Snowfall begins in September.
You should know by now I take no umbrage to comments. Scenery especially is subject to personal taste . . . you, being from Nevada, probably enjoy an over-exposure to rocks, and hence find it difficult to get excited about them.
In truth, most rocks are rather boring; they are not very active, never come when you call (except when propelled by an outside agency . . . and usually you don’t want them to come in that particular instance), and don’t seem to grow much; in fact, most tend to shrink.
But they are loyal. You leave one someplace, and it will wait there patiently for you to come back. Rocks have been know to sit there waiting loooong after the people who left them are gone and forgotten. . . . and they are good listeners. My FSM, are they good listeners!
And I did not take your comment as a crack . . .
. . . now, if maybe you had you disparaged Joe vs. The Volcano or Firefly . . .
Beautiful photos. I’ve always wanted to do alpine wildflowers, singing and dancing like The Sound of Music. Although in your area, I would probably be tripping over the rocks.
In the past I’ve had people hire me to re-create this scene by building them “Rock gardens.” Only nature can do it right-they always looked man made, no matter what I did. I love the Parry Clover.
I’m sure I had some, but probably did not include it. I’ll look for one . . .
. . . meanwhile, if you click on the picture it will take you to SmugMug. Click the “o” magnification for a native resolution photo . . . you get a pretty good view of them.
And yes, they require some time, even in addition to the actual photo preparation. In part WordPress is not well-suited to the kind of posts I do (lots of links to photos which are elsewhere), and they are also having a problem where after spending a few hours setting it up, they lose all the link, or lose the captions, or somehow screw up the post.
At some point I’ll have to invest time and effort in finding a better avenue for my demented ramblings.
The SmugMug magnification will be good. I had already visited there, but didn’t magnify it. And regarding the problems with WP, I haven’t had anything similar yet…my problems are usually related to wireless connectivity and taking forever for photos to load, etc…. I haven’t had any problem reading your demented ramblings, either…. 🙂
I went to your SmugMug and magnified that photo…wonderful detail…also was able to see great detail of the granite and quartz rocks nearby…very nice feature. Thanks again.
Yeah, I don’t remind people any more . . . nearly all the photos I post (with the exception of scanned photos) link back to SmugMug, and nearly all can be viewed in the original resolution, typically much, much larger than here. Unless the photo is already cropped a lot.
There are very few clicks to Smugmug, and that’s OK since people seem to enjoy the photos anyway, but usually people are missing out on details that are not evident on the pictures in the posts. In this particular cased, lichen, rocks, leaves, twigs, etc, in very high detail.
Remember the line: “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.”? I think that might explain why people don’t spend more time clicking on photos and links…I think it might also explain why we have fewer hits when our posts don’t contain photos. Until today, I never visited SmugMug to see the greater detail on the photos, I typically went there to see the full collection. It was a nice pay-off today….
I don’t think most people realize just how much information gets captured on a 19MB photo. And I agree on posts . . . by far my photo posts outrank all my writing stuff . . . some individual photo posts have more reads than all my writing combined.
. . . does not bode well for me making it as a writer.
Though it was a lengthy journey viewing each of the photos in the SmugMug gallery in Original, it proved to be well worth it! I’m amazed at how much diversity is present in many of the smaller areas. A feast for the eyes and a real treat for a texture lover!
Disperser Tracks 
Beautiful, amazing wonderful! I want to walk the mountains . . .
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It’s a pain getting up there, but the alpine zone is the favorite . . . rocks and flowers. What else would anyone want?
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Is that a giant ladybug in the 3rd shot? Your dried prunes looked a lot like some poo to me. 😉
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Now you’ve done it!! You broke the illusion!
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oooops. 😦
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S’OK . . . apparently I have a well-educated readership; many would have recognized it anyway.
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Oooops or poooops, Gunta? 🙂
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either one.. or both?
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That is in fact a regular size ladybug . . . The flowers are small.
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Gorgeous! I know nothing about Mt Evans – I assume that it is completely snow-covered in winter? Forgive my ignorance here, but I’ve only seen a tiny part of your area of the world. If so, even more amazing that these fragile plants can survive that sort of thing. Here (in Australia) we have very sweet tiny pygmy possums which live in the alpine regions. It’s almost like their fragility is distilled by the harsh climate.
You can find a picture of the possum at: http://www.australianfauna.com/mountainpygmypossum.php
LikeLike
Yeah, those peaks are all snow-covered in the winter. The growing season up there is rather short . . . June (sometime) through August. Snowfall begins in September.
And I want me one of them critters.
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Beautiful shots, Emilio. Looks like an amazing place. Sorry about my crack about the rocks in your earlier post.
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You should know by now I take no umbrage to comments. Scenery especially is subject to personal taste . . . you, being from Nevada, probably enjoy an over-exposure to rocks, and hence find it difficult to get excited about them.
In truth, most rocks are rather boring; they are not very active, never come when you call (except when propelled by an outside agency . . . and usually you don’t want them to come in that particular instance), and don’t seem to grow much; in fact, most tend to shrink.
But they are loyal. You leave one someplace, and it will wait there patiently for you to come back. Rocks have been know to sit there waiting loooong after the people who left them are gone and forgotten. . . . and they are good listeners. My FSM, are they good listeners!
And I did not take your comment as a crack . . .
. . . now, if maybe you had you disparaged Joe vs. The Volcano or Firefly . . .
LikeLike
Beautiful photos. I’ve always wanted to do alpine wildflowers, singing and dancing like The Sound of Music. Although in your area, I would probably be tripping over the rocks.
LikeLike
Man! . . . there’s just no love to be found for those poor rocks.
Personally, I love playing mountain-goat on boulders and rocks strewn about like island on the carpet of vegetation.
Plus rocks have many virtues; for one, I find them to be well grounded.
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In the past I’ve had people hire me to re-create this scene by building them “Rock gardens.” Only nature can do it right-they always looked man made, no matter what I did. I love the Parry Clover.
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I really liked that close-up of the Parry Clover…would have enjoyed seeing one of the Alpine Forget-me-not, also…nice, vivid blues….
Nice post, Emilio…seems like it would have taken quite a bit of time to put together…thank you.
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I’m sure I had some, but probably did not include it. I’ll look for one . . .
. . . meanwhile, if you click on the picture it will take you to SmugMug. Click the “o” magnification for a native resolution photo . . . you get a pretty good view of them.
And yes, they require some time, even in addition to the actual photo preparation. In part WordPress is not well-suited to the kind of posts I do (lots of links to photos which are elsewhere), and they are also having a problem where after spending a few hours setting it up, they lose all the link, or lose the captions, or somehow screw up the post.
At some point I’ll have to invest time and effort in finding a better avenue for my demented ramblings.
Thanks.
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The SmugMug magnification will be good. I had already visited there, but didn’t magnify it. And regarding the problems with WP, I haven’t had anything similar yet…my problems are usually related to wireless connectivity and taking forever for photos to load, etc…. I haven’t had any problem reading your demented ramblings, either…. 🙂
LikeLike
I went to your SmugMug and magnified that photo…wonderful detail…also was able to see great detail of the granite and quartz rocks nearby…very nice feature. Thanks again.
LikeLike
Yeah, I don’t remind people any more . . . nearly all the photos I post (with the exception of scanned photos) link back to SmugMug, and nearly all can be viewed in the original resolution, typically much, much larger than here. Unless the photo is already cropped a lot.
There are very few clicks to Smugmug, and that’s OK since people seem to enjoy the photos anyway, but usually people are missing out on details that are not evident on the pictures in the posts. In this particular cased, lichen, rocks, leaves, twigs, etc, in very high detail.
LikeLike
Remember the line: “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.”? I think that might explain why people don’t spend more time clicking on photos and links…I think it might also explain why we have fewer hits when our posts don’t contain photos. Until today, I never visited SmugMug to see the greater detail on the photos, I typically went there to see the full collection. It was a nice pay-off today….
LikeLike
I don’t think most people realize just how much information gets captured on a 19MB photo. And I agree on posts . . . by far my photo posts outrank all my writing stuff . . . some individual photo posts have more reads than all my writing combined.
. . . does not bode well for me making it as a writer.
LikeLike
Though it was a lengthy journey viewing each of the photos in the SmugMug gallery in Original, it proved to be well worth it! I’m amazed at how much diversity is present in many of the smaller areas. A feast for the eyes and a real treat for a texture lover!
LikeLike
Yeah, there is a lot in those photos, more so than most.
Between the rocks, flowers, plants, lichen, and assorted droppings, a lot of stuff to explore.
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Wonderful, so wonderful. Me too, I could wander about these place for hours. But all these sweet flowers are new to me.
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I had not thought of tasting them. How do you know they are sweet?
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