Montana Flowers And A Tree

Beargrass in bloom, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Beargrass in bloom, Glacier National Park, 29 June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

In my final Montana installment, here are some plants seen at Glacier National Park, June 27-30, 2016.

Beargrass grows up to five feet tall with grass-like leaves and a knob of white flowers on top.  As you can see in this poorly lit photo, the beargrass was hard to ignore on the Josephine Lake trail.

Hikers next to beargrass, showing the height of the flower, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
Hikers next to beargrass showing the height of the flower, Glacier National Park, 29 June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

At Logan Pass we saw Glacier Lilies that resemble our own Trout Lily.

Glacier lily at Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Glacier lily at Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

 

And at woodland edges, Pink Wintergreen (Thank you, Dianne Machesney, for identifying this for me) …

Pink Wintergreen, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Pink Wintergreen, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

… plus Sticky Geraniums …

Sticky Geranium, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Sticky Geranium, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

… and Sego Lilies, the state flower of Utah.

Sego lily, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Sego lily, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

 

The meadows were full of wildflowers.

Paintbrush …

Paintbrush species, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Paintbrush species, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

Larkspur …

Larkspur, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Larkspur, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

Blanket flower (I think. Please correct me if I’m wrong!)

Blanket Flower Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
Blanket Flower, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

and the remnants of Camas flowers that had bloomed in mid-June.

Camas flower, McGee Meadow, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
Camas flower, McGee Meadow, Glacier National Park, June 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)

 

And finally, I marveled at the huge Western Redcedars on the wet, western side of Glacier National Park. They are so much bigger than our cedars back home.

Western Redcedar, Glacier National Park, 30 June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
Western Redcedar, Glacier National Park, 30 June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

 

(photos by Kate St. John)

6 thoughts on “Montana Flowers And A Tree

  1. I think your mystery plant is Pyrola asarifolia. ( Latin for ginger leaf)
    Common name: Pink Wintergreen

    Wintergreen leaves are high in methyl salicylate, a natural painkiller. They can be applied to wounds as a poultice in an emergency. Mashed up leaves also alleviate insect bites.

  2. Thanks for the flower pictures Kate. I love to see flowers from other parts of the country that we don’t have here in the East.

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