wildflower

Hiking: Yellow-Throated Gilia, Sequoia National Park, CA

Jeff

One of the reasons I enjoy hiking is that it offers opportunities for interesting discoveries; some anticipated and others serendipitous. We were hiking along the Crescent Meadow Loop Trail in Sequoia National Park nearly a year ago when we came across a patch of wildflowers tucked away in a wooded area…


Yellow-Throated Gilia wildflower

It was hard to believe that these were real. The colors were so vibrant and unusual in combination. It was an amazing sight. The next day we were on the Sunset Point Trail and there was a large swath of these wildflowers covering the entire hillside.


Yellow-Throated Gilia wildflower
Love those standouts adding their all white accents in the middle of the patch!

 
“Nature is the art of God.” – Dante Alighieri

Read more about Yellow-Throated Gilia HERE

 

Read more JBRish.com posts:

Hiking/Exploring HERE, Nature HERE, Photography HERE


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Lupine Wildflower – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 275

Jeff

Lupine

Lupine wildflower growing through a fern

I am fond of lupines because they grow well in our Sonoran Desert environment at spring time and if there is a reasonable amount of winter rains, they can be quite spectacular.

We saw a number of patches of lupines along the trails as we hiked at Yosemite. They are more purple than blue, but the yellow highlights and gray-silver leaves (not pictured above) give them added interest and appeal.

This particular specimen was growing through a fern so the leaves are not visible in this photograph.

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 275 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Forget Me Not – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 274

Jeff

Forget Me Not Flowers

Forget Me Not wildflower

There aren’t many blue flowers either wild or cultivated so it is quite a thrill to see them growing naturally in the wild. These Forget Me Nots were growing in a relatively isolated clump along the Sentinel Dome trail.

Individually, each flower may not be too impressive, but seen as a cluster of blue along the path of mostly pink and yellow wildflowers, they provided a beautiful contrast!

Here is a larger view of the flowers.

Forget Me Not Flowers closeup

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Mountain Violet on the Trails – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 217

Jeff

Yellow Mountain Viola

Yellow Mountain Viola along the trail

This is another wildflower we came across as we hiked along the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point trails. At first this Mountain Violet (Viola purpurea) may seem like just another fairly nondescript yellow flower, but when looking close, the dark lines along the bottom petals of the flower give it a bit of flair (see detail below).

Some of the leaves on this specimen seem a bit elongated which might be caused by weather or environment, i.e. amount of shade, etc.


Yellow Mountain Viola detail

Read more about it the Mountain Violet HERE:

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 217 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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A Wildflower Meadow – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 213

Jeff

wildflower meadow

A meadow of wildflowers at Yosemite

There were times when we would be hiking through a meadow or certain microclimate and we encountered a swath of wildflowers. This particular patch had a great variety of colors and wildflowers in various life cycle stages.

The yellows and purples mixed with the green and chaotic patterns of stems was interesting if not very artistic in nature.

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 213 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Lupines Along the Path – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 212

Jeff

Lupines appeared along the trail

Lupines were abundant along the different trails. I highlighted lupines HERE and you can see that the plant looks quite different in the earlier post.

The variety in the picture above may be a different type or the fact that it is in full exposure of the sun, wind, snow, rain, etc. has stunted the growth. I find the leaf form very interesting and the leaves shed water which tends to form into drops.

NOTE – Lesson learned: Taking photographs from above the plant doesn’t always render the best perspective.

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 212 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Pussy Paws on the Trail – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 211

Jeff

Pink Wildflower at Yosemite

Pink wildflower along the Sentinel Dome Trail

I find that wildflowers are one of the treasures nature has created for all of its animals to enjoy. Whenever and wherever I hike, I try to pay attention to all of the wildflowers and plants. There are some plants that are lovely because of their leaf structure and form with or without flowers.

The plant above, Pussy Paws (Calyptridium umbellatum), had a very interesting presentation. This particular specimen had leaf damage, perhaps from the harsh winter snows, but it sent out a number of radial stems with clusters of pink flowers on top. Each flower carried a number of shades of pink and the clusters appeared almost fuzzy because of the form. A bee on the rightmost cluster was enjoying the spring’s bounty.

For additional pictures, perhaps more detailed, showing other colors and giving more information about Pussy Paws (Calyptridium umbellatum), click HERE.

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 211 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 157 (A Carpet of Wildflowers – Phlox)

Jeff

Spreading Phlox was abundant at Yosemite

Along many of the trails and paths we hiked, we came across purple or pink phlox

This somewhat dainty plant was abundant during our late Spring, 2016 visit to Yosemite. It is most likely Spreading Phlox (Phlox diffusa). The color of the phlox ranged from light purple or pink to very pale renditions of both bordering on near white.

We would often come across pockets of phlox clusters separated by only a few feet which sometimes looked as though someone had strewn beautiful bouquets along our path. I hope all the hikers took time to appreciate the beautiful display.

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 157 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 153 (Four Mile Trail 3/5 – Penstemon Wildflower)

Jeff

Pink Penstemon along the Four Mile Trail

Mountain Pride clings to the rock face along the Four Mile Trail

How amazing are wildflowers? All they need is a small foothold and they create a home between the spaces in the rocks. The pink penstemon featured above is Mountain Pride (Penstemon newberryi) and was prevalent along quite a few of the trails.

Against the gray rocks and the dark shade background, the penstemon created quite a flare as it was highlighted by the sun’s setting rays. It was difficult to show restraint by keeping my camera at bay.

You can read more about Penstemon newberryi at iNaturalist.org

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 153 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 142 (Wildflower – Clarkia)

Jeff

Wildflower Clarkia

One of the many wildflowers at Yosemite during the spring


The Clarkia is particularly attractive with its multi-color petals. This variety is very showy because of the dark purple claret cup shape on each of the pink petals and the white bottom border. It is truly a beauty. The Owl’s Clover can be seen at the center left completing the pink theme. The photo was taken along the Wapama Falls Trail, Hetch Hetchy.

NOTE – Similar pictures have been labeled as Clarkia williamsonii, but I could not definitively identify this specific variety as such. Any clarification would be appreciated and this post would then be modified if appropriate.

You can read more about the Clarkia family of wildflowers at the link below:


Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

California Native Plant Society

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 142 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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