[Wildflower Bloom in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington: 2017]

Currently Blooming Wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington

May 28, 2017

Simcoe Mountain Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area

Masses of western groundsel (Senecio integerrimus var. exaltatus) blooming under the oaks at the East Simcoe Mountain Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.......May 28, 2017.

Masses of western groundsel (Senecio integerrimus var. exaltatus) blooming under the oaks at the East Simcoe Mountain Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.......May 28, 2017.

Wildflower meadows at the East Simcoe Mountain Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.......May 28, 2017. - Wildflower meadows at the East Simcoe Mountain Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.......May 28, 2017. - Masses of heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia) blooming under the oaks and pines at the East Simcoe Mountain Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area........May 28, 2017.

Wildflower meadows (Alium nevii, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sublineare & Toxicoscordion venenosum) and masses of hearleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia) under the pines and oaks at the East Simcoe Mountain Unit, Klickitat Wildlife Area.........May 28, 2017.

Note: Most of this hike was taken between the elevations of 35-4400'.

Weather: Sunny with a light breeze and temps in the low to mid 80s.


* Indicates the wildflower is currently in bloom.

Antlered Perfume: Evernia prunastri

Bone Lichen: Hypogymnia sp.

Brown-eyed Wolf Lichen: Letharia columbiana

Brown-eyed Sunshine Lichen: Vulpicida canadensis

Fragile Fern: Cystopteris fragilis

Grand Fir: Abies grandis

Western Juniper: Juniperus occidentalis var. ocidentalis

Ponderosa Pine: Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa

Coast Douglas Fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii

Mock Orange: Philadelphus lewisii

Oregon White Oak: Quercus garryana var. garryana - Blooming and mostly leafed out.

Scouler's Willow: Salix scouleriana

* Arroyo Willow: Salix lasiolepis ?

Elk Sedge: Carex geyeri

* Sedge: Carex #1 - Something like microptera or pachystachya

* Sedge: Carex #2 - More elongated, female inflorescence

* Common Spike-rush: Eleocharis palustris

Rush: Juncus (like tenuis ?) - In bud.

* Lemmon's Needlegrass: Achnatherum lemmonii ssp. lemmonii

* Cheat Grass: Bromus tectorum

One-spike Oatgrass: Danthonia unispicata ?

Bottlebrush Squirreltail: Elymus elymoides

* Idaho Fescue: Festuca idahoensis

* Bulbous Bluegrass: Poa bulbosa

* Leiberg's Bluegrass: Poa leibergii - Fading out of bloom.

* Nevada Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia

* Sandberg's Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. secunda - Fading out of bloom.

Bluebunch Wheatgrass: Pseudoroegneria spicata

* North African Grass: Ventenata dubia

* Small Fescue: Vulpia sp.

* Tapertip Onion: Allium accuminatum - Begininng to bloom.

* Nevius' Onion: Allium nevii - Beginning to bloom.

Common Camas: Camassia quamash (ssp. breviflora ?) - Leaves.

Pale-anther Glacier Lily: Erythronium grandiflorum var. pallidum - Past bloom.

Yellow Bells: Fritillaria pudica - Pods well-formed.

* Panicle Death Camas: Toxicoscordion paniculatum

* Meadow Death Camas: Toxicoscordion venenosum

Hyacinth Cluster Lily: Triteleia hyacinthina - In bud.

Rein Orchid: Platanthera sp.

Heart-leaf Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum - Beginning to bloom. Yellow flowers.

Tall Buckwheat: Eriogonum elatum - In bud.

* Douglas' Buckwheat: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sublineare

Strict Buckwheat: Eriogonum strictum var. proliferum

* Close-flowered Knotweed: Polygonum polygalioides (ssp. confertiflorum ?) - Beginning to bloom.

Curly Dock: Rumex crispus

* Erubescent Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia rubra ssp. rubra

* Spring Water Chickweed: Montia fontana

* Line-leaf Montia: Montia linearis - Fading out of bloom.

* Sticky Chickweed: Cerastium glomeratum

Meadow Larkspur: Delphinium distichum - In bud.

* Upland Larkspur: Delphinium nuttallianum

* Little Buttercup: Ranunculus uncinatus

* American Wintergreen: Barbarea orthoceras

* Sicklepod Rockcress: Boechera pauciflora - Fruits forming.

* Secund Rockcress: Boechera retrofracta - Fruits forming.

* Spring Whitlow-grass: Draba verna - A few plants left in bloom.

* Rough Wallflower: Erysimum capitatum

Scale Pod: Idahoa scapigera - Maturing pods.

* Small-flowered Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum - Fairly numerous but on the way out of bloom.

* Nesting Saxifrage: Micranthes nidfica ?

Wax Currant: Ribes cereum var. cereum

* Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia var. alnifolia

* Douglas' Hawthorn: Crataegus douglasii

Sticky Cinquefoil: Drymocallis glandulosa var. glandulosa - In bud.

Ocean Spray: Holodiscus discolor

* Domestic Apple: Malus domestica

* Bittercherry: Prunus emarginata var. emarginata

* Antelope Bitterbrush: Purshia tridentata

* American Bird's-foot Trevoil: Acmispon americanus var. americanus

Nevada Deervetch: Acmispon nevadensis var. nevadensis - Visited by bramble green hairstreaks.

* Yakima Milkvetch: Astragalus reventiformis

* Few-flowered Pea: Lathyrus pauciflorus var. pauciflorus

Nevada Pea: Lathyrus lanszwertii var. lanszwertii - Only narrow leaves.

* Spurred Lupine: Lupinus argenteus var. heteranthus

* Common Broad-leaf Lupine: Lupinus latifolius var. latifolius

* Cup Clover: Trifolium cyathiferum - Beginning to bloom.

Big-head Clover: Trifolium macrocephalum - Past bloom.

* Few-flower Clover: Trifolium oliganthum ? - Beginning to bloom.

False-mermaid: Floerkea proserpinacoides

* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium - Fading out of bloom.

Upland Yellow Violet: Viola praemorsa var. linguifolia - Past bloom.

Sagebrush Violet: Viola trinervata - Past bloom. Leaves only.

Snowbrush: Ceanothus velutinus var. velutinus - In bud.

Oregon Checker-mallow: Sidalcea oregana var. oregana

Fireweed: Chamaenerion angustifolium

Diamond Clarkia: Clarkia rhomboidea

Tall Annual Evening Primrose: Epilobium brachycarpum

* Diffuse Groundsmoke: Gayophytum diffusum

* Bare-stem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule

* Gray's Pungent Desert Parsley: Lomatium papilioniferum 

* Nine Leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium tridentatum var. brevifolium

* Nine Leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium tridentatum var. triternatum

* Western Sweet-cicely: Osmorhiza occidentalis

Gairdner's Yampah: Perideridia montana (Perideridia gairdneri)

Spreading Dogbane: Apocynum androsaemifolium

Narrowleaf Milkweed: Asclepias fascicularis

Field Bindweed: Convolvulus arvensis

* Poet's Shooting Star: Dodecatheon/Primula poeticum - A few plants still blooming in moist places.

Large-flowered Collomia: Collomia grandiflora

Scarlet Gilia: Ipomopsis aggregata ssp. aggregata

* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis var. gracilis

* Ball-head Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. capitatum - Mostly past bloom.

* Meadow Nemophila: Nemophila pedunculata - Only still in bloom in the wettest places.

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

* Rigid Fireweed: Amsincki menziesii var. menziesii

* Cryptanth: Cryptantha sp. - Small flowers. Opposite leaves? - Need to collect fruits next visit.

* Blue Scorpionweed: Myosotis stricta (M. micrantha)

* Yellow and Blue Scorpionweed: Myosotis discolor

* Scouler's Popcornflower: Plagiobothrys scouleri var. scouleri ? - Small flowers.

* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora

* Short-flowered Monkeyflower: Erythranthe breviflora

* Common Monkeyflower: Erythranthe guttata

* Gairdner's Penstemon: Penstemon gairdneri var. gairdneri

* Cleavers: Galium aparine

Common Snowberry: Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus

Heterocodon: Heterocodon rariflorum

Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud.

* Annual Agoseris: Agoseris heterophylla

Spear-leaf Agoseris: Agoseris retrorsa - In bud.

* Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha - Fading out of bloom.

* Stoloniferous Everlasting: Antennaria flagellaris - Beginning to bloom and send out aerial stolons.

* Woodrush Pussytoes: Antennaria luzuloides - Beginning to bloom.

* Heart-leaf Arnica: Arnica cordifolia

* Hillside Arnica: Arnica fulgens - Disc corollas with both stipitate-glandular and spreading hairs. No tufts of brown wool in the leaf axils, though.

Stiff Sagebrush: Artemisia rigida

* Carey's Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza careyana Still numerous on upper slopes of Bickleton Ridge.

Hooker's Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza hookeri var. hookeri

* Hybrid Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza careyana x hookeri

* Silvercrown: Cacaliopsis nardosmia

Dustymaidens: Chaenactis douglasii var. douglasii - In bud.

Canada Thistle: Cirsium arvense - In burnt forest.

Bull Thistle: Cirsium vulgare - In burnt forest.

Smooth Hawksbeard: Crepis capillaris ?

Gray Hawksbeard: Crepis intermedia - In bud.

Rabbitbrush Goldenweed: Ericameria bloomeri or Green Rabbitbrush: Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus ?

Rubber Rabbitbrush: Ericameria nauseosa var. speciosa

* Cushion Fleabane: Erigeron poliospermus

* Oregon Sunshine: Eriophyllum lanatum var. lanatum ?

* White Hawkweed: Hieracium albiflorum

Scouler's Hawkweed: Hieracium scouleri

Prickly Lettuce: Lactuca serriola - In burnt area.

* False Agoseris: Nothocalais troximoides

* Yellow Western Groundsel: Senecio integerrimus var. exaltus

* Common Dandelion: Taraxacum officinale

Salsify: Tragopogon dubius - In bud.


Animals Seen at the Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area:

Mourning Doves

Spotted Towhee

Western Tanager

American Robin

Mountain Bluebirds

Western Bluebird

Dusky Flycatchers

Western Wood Peewees - One feeding young in a nest.

Casssin's Finches

Cassin's Vireos

Chipping Sparrows

Dark-eyed Juncos

Red-breasted Nuthatches

White-breasted Nuthatches - Collecting nesting materials

Nashville Warblers

Orange-crowned Warblers

Yellow-rumped Warbler

House Wren

Brown Creeper

Vaux's Swift leaving nest in snag?

Western Fence Lizard

Pacific Chorus Frog

Anise Swallowtail

Pale Swallowtail

Coronis Fritillary

Julia's Orangetip

Propertius Duskywings ?

Skippers

Bramble Green Hairstreaks - On Acmispon nevadensis & perching on Purshia tridentata

Western Pine Elfin

Acmon Blues

Arrowhead Blue

Boisduval blues

Western Tailed Blues

Pine Beetle


Paul Slichter