The photo at right shows a close-up of cliff paintbrush, Castilleja rupicola as seen along the upper McCord Creek Falls Trail on April 2, 2005. The plants grow in cracks on the vertical (or sometimes hanging surfaces) of the cliffs.

*1. Hooker's Fairy Bells: Disporum hookeri - A good beginning bloom.

2. Columbia Tiger Lily: Lilium columbianum - Several plants of good height.

*3. False Solomon Seal: Smilacina racemosa - (Several in bloom.)

*4. Clasping-leaf Twisted Stalk: Streptopus amplexicaulis - A few beginning to bloom in moist areas along the lower trail near Elowah Falls.

*5. Wood Lily/ Trillium: Trillium ovatum - A few plants in bloom, most fading out of bloom.

*6. Fairy Slipper Orchid/ Deer's-head Orchid: Calypso bulbosa - A number in bloom along the lower trail.

*7. Field Chickweed: Cerastium arvense - In bloom on cliffs along the upper trail.

*8. Big-leaf Sandwort: Moehringia macrophyllum - Fairly numerous.

*9. Chickweed: Stellaria media - Common, especially along the road.

*10. Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata - A few in bloom.

*11. Candy Flower, Siberian Spring Beauty: Claytonia (Montia) sibirica - Common.

*12. Baneberry: Actaea rubra - A few in bloom in the woods.

13. Columbia Wind Flower: Anemone deltoidea - A few in bud.

*14. Rockslide Larkspur: probably Delphinium glareosum but possibly D. menziesii var. pyramidale - Now in bloom. Stems noticeably hollow. Sorry, I haven't had a chance to really key this one out yet!

*15. Creeping Buttercup: Ranunculus repens - A few in bloom in the ditch at the parking lot.

*16. Western Meadow-rue: Thalictrum occidentale - Good bloom at lower elevations.

*17. Hairy Rock Cress: Arabis hirsuta -

*18. Pennsylvania Bitter Cress: Cardamine pensylvanica - Several in bloom in moist areas along the lower trail near Elowah Falls.

*19. Slender Toothwort: Cardamine pulcherrima var. tenella - Scattered, but in full bloom.

*20. Shining Oregon Grape: Mahonia (Berberis) aquifolium - Fairly common in open areas.

*21. Cascade Oregon Grape: Mahonia (Berberis) nervosa - Mostly in bud, but a few flowers opening.

*22. Western Corydalis: Corydalis scouleri - A few in bloom in moist areas near the end of the upper trail.

*23. Bleeding Heart: Dicentra formosa - Good bloom.

24. Small-flowered Alumroot: Heuchera micrantha - Almost in bloom.

*25. Merten's Saxifrage: Saxifraga mertensiana - A few beginning to bloom on the cliffs along the upper trail.

*26. Western Saxifrage: Saxifraga occidentalis - Moderately common on moist cliff faces on the upper trail.

*27. Fringe Cup: Tellima grandiflora - Good bloom.

*28. Wood Strawberry: Fragaria vesca var. bracteata - A number in bloom in more open areas.

*29. Thimbleberry: Rubus parviflora - Beginning to bloom.

*30. Salmonberry: Rubus spectabilis - Fairly common bloom in moist areas near the end of the upper and lower trails.

*31. Robert Geranium: Geranium robertianum - Fairly abundant.

*32. Martindale's Desert Parsley: Lomatium martindalei - Good bloom on the upper cliffs.

*33. Douglasia: Douglasia laevigata - A few still in bloom on cliffs above the upper trail.

*34. Sitka Mist Maidens: Romanzoffia sitchensis - Fairly good bloom on large rocks or the cliffs along the upper trail.

*35. Cliff Paintbrush: Castilleja rupicola - Good bloom on cliffs along the upper trail.

*36. Chickweed Monkey Flower: Mimulus alsinoides - A few in bloom on the open, rocky slopes.

*37. Columbia Kittentails: Synthyris stellata - A few still in bloom on the steep, rocky slopes on the upper reaches of the upper trail.

*38. Small-flowered Tonella: Tonella tonesta - A few in bloom on the open, rocky slopes.

*39. Scouler's Valerian: Valeriana scouleri - Fairly common bloom.

40. Howell's Fleabane: Erigeron howellii - Several in bud.

*41. Common Dandelion: Taraxacum officinale - Too common along the trail.

Animals Seen or Heard: Pika, dark-eyed junco, black-capped chickadees, rufous hummingbirds, violet-green swallows, American robin, spotted towhee, stellers jay, turkey vultures.