Comprehensive Plant List for the Columbia Hills (Area between WA SR14 and the Lyle-Goldendale Road and the Klickitat River and US 97 in the east.)
Wherever you park here, be sure to post your Washington Discover Pass to avoid the $99 fee! You can roam (on foot) where you like in the Columbia Hills State Park, but know where you are as some surrounding land owners aren't friendly to trespassers! Hikers are restricted to the road in the Columbia Hills Natural Area at the top of the ridge to avoid spread of weeds and damage to sensitive plants and animals.
Cowpie Lichen: Diploschistes muscorum ?
Navel Lichen: Umbilicaria phaea
* Bulbous Bluegrass: Poa bulbosa - Inflorescence opening up and bulbils visible.
* Nevada Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia - Beginning to bloom.
* Sandberg's Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. secunda
* Leiberg's Bluegrass: Poa leibergii
* Oregon White Oak: Quercus garryana var. garryana - Beginning to bloom & leaf out.
Sagebrush Mariposa: Calochortus macrocarpus var. macrocarpus - Basal leaves.
* Pale-anther Glacier Lily: Erythronium grandiflorum var. pallidum - In bloom under shrubbery just below the north side of the summit ridge.
Heartleaf Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum
Scabland Wild Buckwheat: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sublineare
Tall Buckwheat: Eriogonum elatum
Strict Buckwheat: Eriogonum strictum var. proliferum
* Lance-leaf Springbeauty: Claytonia lanceolata
* Winter Purslane: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. intermontana
* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. perfoliata
Bitterroot: Lewisia rediviva
* Jagged Chickweed: Holosteum umbellatum
* Chickweed: Stellaria media
* Upland Larkspur: Delphinium nuttallianum
* The Dalles Mt. Buttercup: Ranunculus triternatus - A few still in bloom at the highest elevations and on the north-facing slopes.
* Purple Sicklepod Rockcress: Boechera atrorubens - Beginning to bloom.
* Spring Whitlow-grass: Draba verna
Rough Wallflower: Erysimum capitatum - In bud.
* Dagger Pod: Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides - Beginning to bloom at the higher elevations.
* Fringe Pod: Thysanocarpus curvipes - Still in bloom with lots of ripe seed pods.
* Bulblet Prairie Star: Lithophragma bulbifera (Now lumped in with Lithophragma glabrum) - In bloom at higher elevations.
Smooth Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum
* Small-flowerd Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum - Beginning to bloom.
* Brittle-leaved Saxifrage: Micranthes fragosa
Mock Orange: Philadelphus lewisii - Beginning to leaf out.
Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia - In bud.
Ocean Spray: Holodiscus discolor - Beginning to leaf out.
Sticky Cinquefoil: Drymocallis glandulosa (ssp. ?)
* Woolly-pod Milk-vetch: Astragalus purshii
* Yakima Milk-vetch: Astragalus reventiformis - Beginning to bloom.
* Columbia Gorge Broad-leaf Lupine: Lupinus latifolius var. latifolius (formerly var. thompsonianus) - Beginning to bloom.
* Big-head Clover: Trifolium macrocephalum - Beginning to bloom at lower elevations along the Dalles Mt. Road.
* Upland Yellow Violet: Viola nuttallii ssp. praemorsa
* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium
* Salt and Pepper: Lomatium gormanii - A few plants in bloom at the highest elevations.
* Klickitat Desert Parsley: Lomatium klickitatense - Abundant bloom (very pungent fragrance) at lower to middle elevations.
* Gray-leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium macrocarpum - White flowered form (with a few yellow-flowered forms), fairly common above 2000'.
* Bare-stem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule - Small plants, but numerous bloom.
* Butterfly-loving (Pungent) Desert Parsley: Lomatium papilioniferum - Abundant bloom (very pungent fragrance) at lower to middle elevations.
* Salt and Pepper: Lomatium piperi - A few plants still in bloom on the upper, north-facing slopes where snow lay late into the spring.
* Nine Leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium tridentatum var. triternatum
* Watson's Desert Parsley: Lomatium watsonii
* Desert Shooting Star: Dodecatheon conjugens - In bloom at high elevations.
Columbia Frasera: Frasera albicaulis var. nitida - In bud.
* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis
* Hood's Phlox: Phlox hoodii - Beginning to bloom at low and middle elevations.
* Showy Phlox: Phlox speciosa - Beginning to bloom.
* Ball-head Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii
Silverleaf Phacelia: Phacelia hastata var. hastata - In bud.
* Fiddleneck: Amsinckia retrorsa - Small plants, not common yet.
* Gromwell: Buglossoides arvensis
* Puccoon: Lithospermum ruderale - Beginning to bloom.
* Slender Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys tenellus
* Harsh Paintbrush: Castilleja hispida var. acuta - A few dozen plants are now beginning to bloom in the moister soils along the road, above the parking area.
* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora - Abundant at most elevations.
Hotrock Penstemon: Penstemon deustus var. variabilis
Common Snowberry: Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus - Beginning to leaf out under the oak trees.
* White Plectritis: Plectritis macrocera
* Big Root, Wild Cucumber: Marah oreganus
Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud.
* Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha - Fairly common at all elevations.
* Carey's Balsamroot: Balsamhoriza careyana (or a hybrid with B. deltoidea ?)
Hoary False Yarrow: Chaenactis douglasii var. douglasii - Only basal rosettes of leaves seen.
Hall's Goldenweed: Columbiadoria hallii
Western Hawksbeard: Crepis occidentalis - Basal rosettes of leaves seen.
* Gold Stars: Crocidium multicaule - Abundant bloom only at the summit.
Scouler's Hawkweed: Hieracium scouleri (formerly var. cynoglossoides)
* False Agoseris: Nothocalais troximoides - Beginning to bloom at high elevations.
Yellow Western Groundsel: Senecio integerrimus var. exaltus - In bud under the oaks at lower elevations.
* Common Dandelion: Taraxacum officinale
Mule Deer Herds
California Ground Squirrels
Coyote - Howling several hundred meters away.
Immature Golden Eagles
Red-tailed Hawks
Chukars
Northern Flicker
Common Ravens
Western Meadowlarks
Horned Larks
Western Bluebirds
Yellow-rumped Warblers
Dark-eyed Juncos
Savannah Sparrow?
Ruby-crowned Kinglets
Horned Lizards
Western Fence Lizards
Sara's Orantetips
Green Hairstreaks
Carnivorous Ground Beetles
Box Elder Bugs
Bumble Bees
Honey Bees
Mason Bees (small native bees)
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