Wildflowers
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The sagebrush steppe dominates the drier parts of the West, including parts of Southeast Oregon, much of Nevada, southern Idaho, western Wyoming, western Colorado, western Utah, and parts of New Mexico. Sagebrush steppe covers 165 million acres of the West. Due to many factors, including farming, ranching, subdivisions, and, most importantly, range fires, sagebrush vegetation…
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One of the most beautiful pollinators bites the dust- One of the fun things I remember from childhood is capturing the black, yellow and white monarch butterfly caterpillars. They were not hard to find. I would put them in a Mason jar and feed them milkweed which was commonplace. It was where I got the…
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Larkspur Strikes Again !!! Kinda’ puts the whole “Canadian wolves are a threat to our ‘livelihood’” argument into perspective: 30 cows die in S. Idaho after eating larkspur – Idaho Statesman via Associated Press Perhaps they will spend millions of tax-payer’s dollars to commission a federal agency to crop-dust our public lands with herbicide such…
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This story gives more info on the dead botanist Erwin Frank Evert- Story from National Parks Traveler. By Kurt Repanshek Evert recently wrote Vascular Plants of the Greater Yellowstone Area. He knew the Yellowstone country well. His death certainly is a loss.
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It’s that season (again) ! Bighead clover in Artemisia rigida sites (click for larger picture).
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Fritillaria pudica are among the first flowers to bloom in sagebrush country following the receding snow. Indigenous peoples used to eat their starchy bulbs. They’re blooming now ~ this photo was taken yesterday north of Fish Creek Reservoir. With the moisture remaining following the fresh recession of snow – sagebrush country all over the West…
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Mimulus patulus Occurence & Habitat Springs and seeps are unique habitats that occur where subterranean water emerges from an aquifer. In the semi-arid and arid west, these unique sources of water are particularly important ‘oasis’ habitats for wildlife, especially during drought and heat. Their relatively consistent temperatures and chemistry provides for “hotspots” of biological diversity – many of the more fragile…
