Flowers, ⅜ inch across, of 5 bright purplish-red petals, notched at the end, spread from the top of a tubular calyx so that the whole flower forms a tiny salver. Stems and leaves are so dwarfed and tightly grouped as to give the appearance of a cushion of green moss 3 to 8 inches across, studded with little reddish stars. Grows in alpine rocky areas extending to peak summits. Blooms late June-early July.
This is one of the alpine flowers we share with all the alpine and arctic lands of the Northern Hemisphere. High mountain ridges are its home here, and if we travel north we keep finding it at progressively lower elevations until it reaches the low barren lands of the arctic. Always it is where winds are cold and climate is too rough for trees. You might take it for a pad of green moss if it were not for its red flowers, often in the form of a circlet near the plant’s edge. Close examination shows a full-fledged plant, however, with leaves, stems and a stout tap-root well buried in what soil there is below and around the rock it presses against. Another member of the pink family that grows as a mat against our timberline rocks is sandwort, Arenaria sajanensis. Its flowers are white, and the plant less densely compacted. Related to both of these alpine pinks are the numerous chickweeds of foothills and mountains. They have low slender stems and their petals are white and deeply notched at the end.
Buttercup Family
Pasque Flower, Pulsatilla ludoviciana, HELLER
Flowers, of 5 to 7 petal-like sepals, form a wide cup 1½ inches across, white or pale lavender within, and much darker lavender to purple, covered with silky hairs, on the outside. The numerous golden stamens are prominent. The flower buds, quite furry at this stage, spring directly from a buried root crown before the green leaves, divided into several lobes, appear. Grows in foothills, especially on gentle north slopes where extra snow has drifted. Blooms late March-April.
It goes also by the name of wind-flower, and often is called anemone. Whatever name you choose, it is one of the best-loved flowers of the Rockies. They are with us in March, going on into April, coming up through late snows—keeping themselves warm with their furs about them. The flowers start on short stems, but the whole plant grows quite large and “leggy” as the season advances, and finally the fluffy seed plumes offer their wares to every breeze. This same pasque flower is the state flower of South Dakota. A northern species, growing in Glacier Park and in Canada, Pulsatilla occidentalis, has larger flowers, of a creamy color. Its cluster of seed plumes is large and dense enough to resemble a dish mop.
Buttercup Family
Globe Anemone, Anemone globosa, NUTT.
Flower, ¾ inch in diameter, of 5 to 9 showy petal-like sepals, usually deep red, occasionally yellow, forms a shallow cup around the numerous stamens and a conspicuous group of pistils which, after the flower fades, become a round thimble-shaped seed cluster. The pedicels, bearing the solitary flowers at their tips, are several inches long and covered with silky hairs. Plant is about 1 foot tall, with subdivided leaves near the base and on the sparingly branched stems. Grows in partial shade in montane zone. Blooms June-July.
This globe anemone, related to the better known pasque flower, is one of the many less conspicuous plants that add to the charm of a flowery hillside, yet reserve their more delicate beauty for those who take time to prowl. This particular specimen was found in a glade filled with columbines. We would probably not have seen it if we had not stopped to try one more columbine picture! Anemone canadensis is a somewhat larger plant with pure white flowers, rather woody stems and deep green foliage. It grows in shady places along foothill streams, but only where conditions are to its liking. In these spots it forms rather dense colonies.