Borage Family
Alpine Forget-me-not, Eritrichium elongatum, JOHNSTON
Flowers, ⅜ inch in diameter, are formed of deep-blue (occasionally white) petals, spreading into a little flat disc and joining at their base into a short tube. Minute golden crests in the throat of this corolla tube, often bordered by white, give the effect of a central eye. Plant is formed of a tough woody root crown bearing several very short leafy shoots with flower clusters at the top. Entire plant is compact, covered with short silky hairs, and rarely 3 inches high. Grows on flat spots between rocks in alpine zone extending clear to peak summits. Blooms late June-early July.
The plant “association” pictured above is such as we find on Trail Ridge. It has bright lichen, sedum, polemonium and alpine forget-me-not—the kind of miniature garden that makes high altitude flower hunting so much fun. The woody base of the forget-me-not is built to stand the cold of long winters. The flowers—tiny and delicate for so rugged a habitat—are of heaven’s own blue. Their exquisite perfume is elusive. Only once have we found them in such abundance that the fragrance called out to tell us where they were hiding. Their range is wide, however, and in the short blossoming season there is a good chance of finding a few on the slopes of any of our high peaks.
Phlox Family
Sky Pilot, Polemonium viscosum, NUTT.
Numerous violet-blue flowers, each about ½ inch across, of 5 rounded corolla lobes joining in a funnel-like tube, are clustered into a head about 2½ inches in diameter, which nods slightly on its erect stem. Plants are about 8 inches high, with numerous bright-green, pinnate leaves cut into many narrow leaflets. The leaves may be erect or may interweave somewhat at the base of a close group of several plants. Grows in rocky places, alpine zone. Blooms late June-early July.
The sky pilot, growing among rocks up where the sky seems very near, reflects its blue and so is supposed to direct our thoughts upward. This same feeling is embodied in the name of another species of Polemonium, Jacobs ladder, Polemonium pulcherrimum, the staggered leaves of which may represent the steps by which we climb. Sky pilot seems very much affected by the particular season. In a dry summer, it is straggly and manages to produce only a few blooms of faded blue. In a good year, large clumps of sturdy erect plants make patches of deep color, accented by their golden stamens. The leaves have a strong, offensive odor, but the flowers are honey sweet.
Phlox Family
Scarlet Gilia, Gilia aggregata, SPRENG.
