 The
Red Paintbrush flower. It's also known as the Indian Paintbrush, but for
some bizarre political correctness reason the term "indian" has been dropped
from a lot of modern publications that refer to this flower. Like
being associated with a pretty flower is bad or something. This one
was growing on the roadside near West Thumb. The actual flower is the yellow
bit that sticks out of the red bit. The red bits are bracts that draw attention
to the flowers, sort of like in the poinsettia flower. The plant
is a partial parasite on the roots of other plants, so this is probably
why people can't grow them by planting seed in their flower beds. They
also come in yellow and orange flavors. |
 Some
sort of pale blue flowers that were especially common around the cabins
at Lake. I used to know what they are called, but have both forgotten the
name and misplaced my flower book. I saw them a lot at work, so they
get included here. Yellowstone has lots of wildflowers, but for some
reason big fields of solid flowers in a riot of colors aren't as common
as in some other western mountain parks. Yellowstone is more subdued
that way. Maybe this is from heavy grazing by all the big animals
running around the place? I don't know, I don't have any actual evidence
for it, but it sounds like a reasonable story. |
 A
Calypso Orchid, also known as a Lady Slipper Orchid. I think the
"true" Lady Slipper is a bit different though. Such confusion with
names is why scientists came up with those unpronounceable latin names.
This one was growing by the spring house
near the Elephant Back Trail at Lake. |
 Blue
Camas. Camas is a sort of lilly. Some Indian tribes used to eat the bulbs
of certain Camas plants. One kind, called "Death Camas" is deadly though.
I don't
think this is it, but I didn't do the experiment to be sure. |
 This
is a Yellow Columbine. Actually, to my eyes it has more brown than yellow.
This one was off the Elephant Back Trail. There was, maybe still is, one
growing by the flagpole at the Lake Hotel. The poor plant would always
get all it's flowers picked by ignorant people who probably didn't realize
that this was illegal, or just didn't care and didn't want to share the
flowers with the rest of us. |
 Fireweed.
Fireweed especially likes to grow in disturbed areas, like say after a
fire. Hence it's name. Sometimes you will see large areas of
Fireweed. |
 A
Geranium. This one was growing in some non-descript forest service campground
by the Gallatin River just outside Yellowstone. |
 A
bunch of grass flowers. Yes, grass does have flowers, and these are the
kind this particular plant has. OK, they are small and have no petals,
but if you look close they are really sort of pretty on this one, especially
the way the pollen bearing anthers sort of wiggle in the breeze.
In real life they do. Here, you just get a still picture. |
 A
Larkspur. This is one of the bigger, showier flowers in Yellowstone. These
were growing by the Lake Hotel cabins in a rocky field. |
 A
Phlox of one sort or another. These low growing plants start blooming
early in the spring at Lake, and bloom most of the summer. |
 I
call this Witches' Broom, even though I know that that isn't exactly what
it is. It is some sort of unusual growth on a spruce tree along the
path that leads from the Lake Hotel to the Hamilton's Store, or whatever
they call Hamilton's Store now. Yes, I know it's not a flower, or
even a flowering plant. |
 An
Avalanche Lily. These lilies are among the first flowers to bloom in the
Lake area in the spring. |
 These
are Equestium strobuli. I think these are the strobuli anyway.
These brown things are the closest this spore producing plant gets to flowers.
Another non flowering plant on the flowers page. The main plant has
a jointed stem with long thin "leaves" that stick out making it look like
a bottle brush (sort of). You can't see that in this shot, but trust
me. They are called Horsetails or Scouring Rushes. The plants
have silica deposits in them that make them slightly abrasive. Some
of the early pioneers used them to scour their pots and pans.
|
 A
Shooting Star. These very descriptively named flowers were blooming in
mid-summer on the hillsides by Lake Lodge. |