Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wildflower Identification Attempts



I took a trip down to Capitol Reef NP the other day,
to satisfy my red-rock cravings.
I had not specifically thought about it being wildflower season
down in southern Utah,
but it most definitely was.
I drove along the Strike Valley road parallel to the Waterpocket Fold.
I had a glorious time and took lots and lots of photos.
I had a lot of fun on site with my wildflower book,
however, I am not sure I have identified them all correctly.

There's this stuff that was growing in a bush clump about 1 foot high.
At first I thought it might be shepherd's purse,
and I puzzled between that, and speedwells, and a couple of others,
but none fit.
My Audubon book for the Western US finally came up with "spectacle pod",
(dimorphocarpa wislenzii).



This next one threw me a bit because it is yellow,
and at first all I could find were the desert mariposa lily varieties,
which are orange.
But the yellow one is related:
yellow mariposa lily
(calochortus luteus).


This next one is some kind of globemallow
(sphaleracea),
but I'm not sure if it is a desert globemallow
(sphaleracea ambigua)
or some other related variety--
it might be scarlet globemallow
(sphaeralcea coccinea).

This last one I simply can't find.
I'm sure it's some kind of milkweed (asclepias)
but I can't be sure what variety.


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