[Wildflower Bloom Reports for the Columbia River Gorge: 2013] - [Wildflower Destinations in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Wildflower Bloom in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington

Crawford Oaks and Eightmile Creek drainage

Columbia Hills State Park from State Highway 14 (Crawford Oaks gate) east to the Devils Gap

April 14, 2013

Devils Gap, Columbia Hills State Park......April 14, 2013.

Balsamroots and lupines beginning to bloom enmasse on lower slopes of the Columbia Hills State Park.........April 14, 2013. Access this area from the Dalles Mt. Ranch in the park.

View east up the Columbia River from above Devils Gap, Columbia HIlls State Park........March 2, 2013. - View west towards Horsethief Butte and The Dalles from cliffs above Devils Gap, Columbia Hills State Park.......March 2, 2013. - Columbia Hills State Park from near the Crawford Oaks Trailhead.......April 14, 2013.

Views of the lower slopes of the Columbia Hills State Park between State Highway 14 and the Dalles Mt. Road.............April 14, 2013. Lupines, balsamroot and showy phlox are starting to look photogenic here, although the peak bloom in Eightmile Canyon below the Dalles Mt. Ranch (best access point until the Crawford Oaks Trailhead is finished later this year) will be in late April, early May.

Weather: Partly cloudy with thin high clouds with a light wind in the morning to moderate by mid-afternoon. Temperatures in the mid 40s to 50s.

* indicates a wildflower currently in bloom.

Complete Plant List for the Crawford Oaks/Eightmile Creek portion of the Columbia Hills State Park.

Rock Tripe Lichen: Umbilicaria (phaea ?)

Glossy Red Bryum Moss: Bryum miniatum

Wallace's Spike Moss: Selaginella wallacei

Field Horsetail: Equisetum arvense

Lace Lipfern: Myriopteris gracillima

Gold-back Fern: Pentagramma triangularis

Imbricate Sword Fern: Polystichum imbricans

Bracken Fern: Pteridium aquilinum

Cheatgrass: Bromus tectorum

Giant Wildrye: Leymus cinereus

* Bulbous Bluegrass: Poa bulbosa

* Leiberg's Bluegrass: Poa leibergii

* Nevada Bluegrass: Poa secunda var. juncifolia

* Sandberg's Bluegrass: Poa secunda var. secunda

Bluebunch Wheatgrass: Pseudoroegneria spicata

Medusahead: Taeniatherum caput-medusae

* Brome Fescue: Vulpia bromoides

* Big-leaf Maple: Acer macrophyllum

* Oregon White Oak: Quercus garryana var. garryana - Beginning to leaf out and bloom.

* Hooker's Willow: Salix hookeriana ?

* Arroyo Willow: Salix lasiolepis ?

Domestic Grape: Vitis sp.

Tapertip Onion: Allium accuminatum - In bud.

Sagebrush Mariposa: Calochortus macrocarpus var. macrocarpus

* Panicle Deathcamas: Toxicoscordion paniculatum

* Bicolored Clusterlily: Triteleia grandiflora ssp. howellii

* Northern Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum - Yellow-flowered version beginning to bloom.

Tall Buckwheat: Eriogonum elatum

Strict Buckwheat: Eriogonum strictum var. proliferum

* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. intermontana - Fading except in moist or shady areas.

* Sticky Chickweed: Cerastium glomeratum

* Common Chickweed: Stellaria media - Fading except in moist or shady areas.

* Shining Oregon Grape: Berberis aquifolium

* Little Western Bittercress: Cardamine oligosperma - Fading out of bloom.

* Narrow Tansymustard: Descurainia incisa ssp. filipes (Descurainia longipedicellata?)

* Spring Whitlow-grass: Draba verna - Fading out of bloom.

Scale Pod: Idahoa scapigera - Seed pods.

* Fringepods: Thysanocarpus curvipes - Fading out of bloom.

* California Poppy: Eschscholzia californica - Blooming along SR14.

Mock Orange: Philadelphus lewisii

* Small-flowered Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum

Peak Saxifrage: Micranthes fragosa

* Golden Currant: Ribes aureum

* Domestic Apple: Malus x domestica

* Bittercherry: Prunus emarginata var. emarginata

Chokecherry: Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa

* Domestic Pear Trees: Pyrus communis

Evergreen Blackberry: Rubus laciniatus

* Columbia Gorge Lupine: Lupinus latifolius var. latifolius (formerly var. thompsonianus) - Beginning to bloom.

Velvet Lupine: Lupinus leucophyllus var. leucophyllus - Leaves are up.

* Small-flowered Lupine: Lupinus micranthus - Beginning to bloom.

* Bighead Clover: Trifolium macrocephalum - Fading out of bloom.

Marsh Hollyhock: Sidalcea oregana

* Yellow Montane Violet: Viola nuttallii var. praemorsa

* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium

Klamathweed: Hypericum perforatum

* Chervil: Anthriscus scandicina

* Klickitat Desert Parsley: Lomatium klickitatense

* Barestem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule

* Butterfly-loving (Pungent) Desert Parsley: Lomatium papilioniferum

* Nineleaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium triternatum var. anomalum (L. leptocarpum in Russ Jolley's book)

* Nineleaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium triternatum var. triternatum

* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis - Fading out of bloom.

* Showy Phlox: Phlox speciosa

* Ballhead Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum v. thompsonii - Fading out of bloom.

Silverleaf Phacelia: Phacelia hastata var. hastata - In bud.

* Fireweed Fiddleneck: Amsinckia retrorsa

* Weakstem Cryptanth: Cryptantha flaccida

* Puccoon: Lithospermum ruderale

* Little Combseed: Gruvellia pusilla

Scouler's Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys scouleri (var. pencillatus or var. scouleri) - Too early to ID.

Slender Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys tenellus

Henbit: Lamium amplexicaule

* Narrowleaf Owlclover: Castilleja attenuata

* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora - Fading out of bloom.

* Chickweed Monkeyflower: Erythranthe alsinoides

* Naked Broomrape: Aphyllon purpureum (old var. occidentalis)

* Naked Broomrape: Aphyllon purpureum (old var. purpurea)

Annual Bedstraw, Cleavers: Galium aparine

* Long-spurred Plectritis: Plectritis ciliosa ? - or was this pinkish Plectritis macrocera ?

* White Plectritis: Plectritis macrocera - Fading out of bloom except where moist.

*Wild Cucumber: Marah oreganus

* Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud.

* Annual Agoseris: Agoseris heterophylla

* Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha

*Carey's (hybrid ?) Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza careyana x deltoidea ?- A few plants with ray flowers visible on the flower heads.

Rush Skeletonweed: Chondrilla juncea

Gray Hawksbeard: Crepis intermedia - Basal leaves visible.

Western Hawsbeard: Crepis occidentalis - Basal leaves visible.

Gray Rabbitbrush: Ericameria nauseosa (v. speciosa?)

* Cushion Fleabane: Erigeron poliospermus var. poliospermus

Cotton-batting Plant: Gnaphalium chilense

Hareleaf: Lagophylla ramosissima

* False Agoseris: Nothocalais troximoides

* Lindley's Silver Puffs: Uropappus lindleyi

* Common Dandylion: Taraxacum officinale


Animals Seen Along This Route:

Coyote

Mule Deer herd

California Ground Squirrels

Turkey Vultures

Red-tailed Hawks

Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Prairie Falcon

Kestrels

California Quail

Ravens

Magpies

Scrub Jays

Northern Flicker

Lewis' Woodpeckers

Hairy Woodpecker

Western Meadowlarks

Spotted Towhee

American Robins

Western Bluebirds

Horned Larks

White-crowned Sparrows

Dark-eyed Juncos

Yellow-rumped Warblers

White-throated Swifts

Violet-green Swallows

Rock Wrens

Garter Snake

Duskywings


Paul Slichter