Monitor
Pass Flowers
By
Bruce Homer-Smith, PlantID.net
Monitor Pass, on route 89, rises to about
8,300 feet and sits astride Alpine and Mono Counties. Its open fields fill with spectacular
mid-summer floral displays. The plants
shown here, all above 7,500 feet, are the ones you’re likely to notice.
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Woolly Mule Ears (Wyethia mollis)
Photos Bruce Homer-Smith Big
yellow sunflowers are easy to see from far away. Leaves are wide, long, and pointed, like
mule ears. 2-3 feet tall. more… |
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Sulphur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum)
Photo ©Neil Kramer (left) and Steve Matson (right) Low bunches of bright yellow flowers cover the
hillside. 1-3 feet tall. more… Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)
This woody shrub is common in sagebrush chaparral, and
fills the countryside with a yellow floral display after wet winters. The paler plants in the first photo are
sagebrush. Grows to about 8 feet
tall. more… Tall Hawksbeard (Crepis acuminata)
Look for many dandelion-like flowers, each on its own branch. Each flower head has 5 – 10 yellow
“petals”. Grows about 2 feet
tall. more… Woolly Sunflower
(Eriophyllum lanatum)
This low-lying sunflower has 6-10 yellow “petals” and a
yellow center. The leaves are woolly,
giving them a pale appearance. more… Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum)
Wallflower is a member of the Mustard family. Look for groups of 4-petaled flowers at the
top of erect stems. 2-3 feet
tall. more… Tumble Mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum)
Most flowers on Monitor Pass are native to California. The Tumble Mustard, however, is a troublesome invasive that takes over open range land. When it dries out, it becomes tumbleweed. Like the Wallflower above it has 4-petalled yellow flowers, but they’re smaller and distributed all around the plant. 2-4 feet tall. more… |
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Blue Flag Iris (Iris missouriensis)
The
open fields to the south of Monitor Pass, on the west side of the road, are
filled with this beautiful plant. 1-2 feet
tall. more… Silvery Lupine (Lupinus argenteus)
This lupine has long
stalks of blue pea flowers rising above finger-shaped leaves. 1-2 feet tall. more… Anderson’s
Larkspur
(Delphinium andersonii)
Look for
tightly-bunched dark blue spikes of flowers.
Up close the flower is distinctive with a long lip in front and a
purple spur behind. Leaves are narrow
and divided. 1-2 feet tall. more… Meadow Beardtongue (Penstemon rydbergii)
This is a Penstemon,
with horizontal whorls of pale purple and blue trumpet flowers. It has narrow leaves up to 2 inches
long. 1-2 feet tall. more… Royal Penstemon (Penstemon speciosus)
Here’s another
common Penstemon, with larger flowers and not in whorls but in bunches
pointed in the same direction. These
leaves are less narrow, clasp the stem, and often fold in on themselves along
their length. Typically 1 foot
tall. more… |
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Prickly Poppy (Argemone munita)
Big white poppy petals, and a yellow
center, make this easy to spot. 2-5
feet tall. more… Snowbrush
Ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus)
This is a woody shrub with large clusters
of creamy white flowers. They can
cover a large area of a hillside in white.
The leaves are shiny on the top and pale underneath. Grows to 20 feet tall. more… Bitter Cherry (Prunus emarginata)
This is also a woody shrub, but with
smaller bunches of flowers and often more space between the branches. The leaves are slightly serrated and often
fold in on themselves along their length.
Look for horizontal cherry lines on the bark.The
bark often has a woody shrub with large clusters of creamy white flowers. They can cover a large area of a hillside
in white. The leaves are shiny on the
top and pale underneath. Grows to 40
feet tall. more… Cobweb Thistle (Cirsium occidentale)
Peregrine Thistle (Cirsium cymosum)
Both
these thistles have spiny leaves and a sphere of spines at the base of the
flower head. Cobweb Thistle has
cobwebby hairs throughout the plant, giving it a white appearance except for
thin red or purple flowers that appear at maturity. Peregrine Thistle is less hairy, and the
flower itself is a brownish-white. Both
are typically 4 feet tall. Spur Lupine (Lupinus arbustus)
These lupine can be white or blue. The flowers stand erect above wide
finger-like leaves. If you look
closely, you’ll find a spur on the back of the pea flower. Typically 2 feet tall. more… Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow flower heads are flat and made up of many tiny
white flowers. Other plants have this
pattern too but Yarrow’s leaves are definitive, with finely divided lobes and
a spicy smell. 2-5 feet tall. more… Spreading Phlox (Phlox diffusa)
This plant grows low to the ground, on a cushion of
thin leaves. Its white or pink petals are
separate, and remind me of a pinwheel.
more… Mariposa Lily (Calochortus leichtlinii)
This arresting plant is always fun to find. Notice the purple markings, which distinguish
it as Leichtlin’s Mariposa Lily. 1-2 feet tall. more… Brewers Angelica (Angelica breweri)
Angelica flowers form small spheres, grouped together
in an umbrella shape, a pattern common in the Carrot family. Its leaves are distinctive, made up of many
leaflets. 3-6 feet tall. more… |
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Mountain Snowberry (Symphoricarpos rotundifolius)
This shrub is a thicket of narrow woody branches and
3/4-inch oval leaves. The flowers
start as hanging pairs of red buds, and then bloom white and pink. They develop into snow-white berries. From under a foot to 5 feet tall. more… Waxy Checkermallow (Sidalcea glaucescens)
Showy pink flowers are spread along the stem. The leaves are pale gray, or waxy looking. 1-2 feet tall. more… Sierra Onion (Allium campanulatum)
Sierra Onion makes small balls of 6-petaled pink
flowers. Notice the papery bract at the base of
the flowers. Growing less than 1 foot
tall, it is still easy to notice because of its beautiful color. more… |
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Wavy Leaf
Paintbrush (Castilleja
applegatei)
This paintbrush has wavy leaves up to 3 inches
long. The red at the top is actually
colored leaves, which probably helps guide pollinators to the yellow
flowers. 1-3 feet tall. more… |
Summary
This area is a beautiful example of established native
plants. Lower on both sides of the pass,
burned areas have been largely repopulated by fast-growing human-introduced weeds. Let’s hope this pristine spot remains
undisturbed for a long time.
Thanks to Tim Messick (U.C.
Davis) and Ann Howald (Mono County CNPS) for their
help identifying plants in this guide.
Photographer copyright information can be found at http://plantid.net/Contributors.aspx.