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.
Note: During our 2014 visit to this area at this same time, the balsamroots were just beginning to bloom, and the lupines were in bud. This year, the balsamroots are already past their peak while the lupines are peaking.
Cowpie Lichen: Diploschistes muscorum ?
Navel Lichen: Umbilicaria phaea
* Bulbous Bluegrass: Poa bulbosa - Inflorescence opening up and bulbils visible.
* Leiberg's Bluegrass: Poa leibergii
* Nevada Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia - Beginning to bloom.
* Sandberg's Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. secunda
Bluebunch Wheatgrass: Pseudoroegneria spicata
* Oregon White Oak: Quercus garryana var. garryana - Beginning to bloom & leaf out.
Tapertip Onion: Allium accuminatum - Basal leaves only.
Sagebrush Mariposa: Calochortus macrocarpus var. macrocarpus - Basal leaves.
Bicolored Cluster Lily: Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii - In bud.
Heartleaf Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum - In bud.
Tall Buckwheat: Eriogonum elatum
Strict Buckwheat: Eriogonum strictum var. proliferum ?
* Winter Purslane: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. intermontana
* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. perfoliata
Water Chickweed: Montia fontana - Along vernally moist streambeds.
* Jagged Chickweed: Holosteum umbellatum
* Chickweed: Stellaria media
* Upland Larkspur: Delphinium nuttallianum - Fading out of bloom except at the higher elevations.
* White Water Buttercup: Ranunculus aquatilis var. aquatilis
* Purple Sicklepod Rockcress: Boechera atrorubens - Beginning to bloom.
* Spring Whitlow-grass: Draba verna
Rough Wallflower: Erysimum capitatum - In bud.
* Fringe Pod: Thysanocarpus curvipes - Still in bloom with lots of ripe seed pods.
* Bulblet Prairie Star: Lithophragma bulbifera (Now included in Lithophragma glabrum) - In bloom at higher elevations.
Smooth Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum
* Small-flowerd Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum
* Brittle-leaved Saxifrage: Micranthes fragosa - Fading out of bloom except at the highest elevations.
Mock Orange: Philadelphus lewisii - Beginning to leaf out.
Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia - In bud.
Ocean Spray: Holodiscus discolor - Beginning to leaf out.
Woolly-pod Milk-vetch: Astragalus purshii
* Yakima Milk-vetch: Astragalus reventiformis
* Few-flowered Pea: Lathyrus pauciflorus var. pauciflorus - Beginning to bloom.
* Columbia Gorge Broad-leaf Lupine: Lupinus latifolius var. latifolius (formerly Lupinus latifolius var. thompsonianus) - Beginning to bloom.
* Whitish Lupine: Lupinus sulphureus var. bingenensis - Beginning to bloom.
* Big-head Clover: Trifolium macrocephalum - Fading out of bloom except at the highest elevations.
* Upland Yellow Violet: Viola nuttallii ssp. praemorsa
* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium
* Gray-leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium macrocarpum - White flowered form (with a few yellow-flowered forms), fairly common above 2500'.
* Bare-stem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule - Small plants, but numerous bloom.
* Butterfly-loving (Pungent) Desert Parsley: Lomatium papilioniferum - A few plants still in bloom (very pungent fragrance) at the highest elevations.
* Nine Leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium tridentatum var. triternatum
* Desert Shooting Star: Dodecatheon conjugens - Fading out of bloom at high elevations.
Columbia Frasera: Frasera albicaulis var. nitida - In bud.
Large-flowered Collomia: Collomia grandiflora - Still leafing out.
* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis - Fading out of bloom except at peak at the highest elevations.
* Showy Phlox: Phlox speciosa
* Ball-head Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii - Only in bloom at the highest elevations.
Silverleaf Phacelia: Phacelia hastata var. hastata - In bud.
* Fiddleneck: Amsinckia retrorsa - Small plants, not common yet.
* Common Cryptanth: Cryptantha intermedia
* Gromwell: Buglossoides arvensis
* Puccoon: Lithospermum ruderale - Fairly numerous bloom.
* Slender Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys tenellus
* Narrowleaf Owlclover: Castilleja attenuata
* 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
* Annual Bedstraw: Galium aparine
Common Snowberry: Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus - Beginning to leaf out under the oak trees.
* White Plectritis: Plectritis macrocera - Fading out of bloom except at the highest elevations.
* Big Root, Wild Cucumber: Marah oreganus
Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud.
* Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha - Faded out of bloom except at the highest elevations.
* Carey's Balsamroot: Balsamhoriza careyana (or a hybrid with B. deltoidea ?)
Hall's Goldenweed: Columbiadoria hallii
Western Hawksbeard: Crepis occidentalis - Basal rosettes of leaves seen.
* Gold Stars: Crocidium multicaule - Blooming only at the summit.
Scouler's Hawkweed: Hieracium scouleri
* False Agoseris: Nothocalais troximoides - Beginning to bloom at high elevations.
* Yellow Western Groundsel: Senecio integerrimus var. exaltus - Blooming at higher elevations.
* Common Dandelion: Taraxacum officinale
Mule Deer Herds
California Ground Squirrels
Yellow-bellied Marmots
Harriers
Kestrel
Red-tailed Hawks
Common Ravens
Spotted Towhees
Western Meadowlarks
Horned Larks
Western Bluebirds ?
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrows
Western Fence Lizards
Anise Swallowtails
Boisduval's Blues
California Tortoiseshells
Green Hairstreaks
Carnivorous Ground Beetles
Bumble Bees
Mason Bees (small native bees)
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