[Wildflower Bloom Reports for the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington: 2018]

Wildflower Bloom in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington

USFS Lands East of Major Creek

April 4 & 6, 2018

A small wooded canyon at the end of the East Major Creek property........April 6, 2018.

A deep wooded canyon at the end of the East Major Creek property........April 6, 2018.

* Indicates the wildflower is currently in bloom.

Comprehensive Catherine Creek Plant List

Weather: Mostly cloudy with a thin layer letting the sun through in the morning and thickening and lowering by early afternoon. Winds mostly calm with winds with occasional gusts to mph by mid-afternoon. Temps in low to mid 50s.

Route: I parked on Old Highway 8 on the east side of Major Creek at a pullout at a point where the road crests the east bank of Major Creek. I then explored the slopes to about a third of a mile east (to where a small creek empties into the west side of a small lake paralleling the north side of Washington Highway 14.

Cowpie Lichen: Diploschistes muscorum ?

Glossy Red Bryum Moss: Bryum miniatum ? - On rocks in the creeks or at seeps.

Juniper Haircap Moss: Polytrichum juniperinum

Bristly Haircap Moss: Polytrichum piliferum

Elongate Racomitrium Moss: Racomitrium elongatum

Wallace's Spikemoss: Selaginella wallacei

Podfern: Aspidotis densa - New foliage emerging.

Fragile Fern: Cystopteris fragilis

Imbricate Sword Fern: Polystichum imbricans - West-facing clifftops above Major Creek.

* Bigleaf Maple: Acer macrophyllum

White Alder: Alnus rhombifolia ? - Past bloom. They haven't leafed ou tyet for a positive ID.

Ponderosa Pine: Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa

Oregon White Oak: Quercus garryana var. garryana - Some trees beginning to leaf out.

* Common Woodrush: Luzula multiflora ?

Silver Hair-grass: Aira caryophyllea

* Cheatgrass: Bromus tectorum

Idaho Fescue: Festuca idahoensis

Prairie Junegrass: Koeleria macrantha

* Bulbous Bluegrass: Poa bulbosa

* Nevada Bluegrass: Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia

Bluebunch Wheatgrass: Pseudoroegneria spicata

Medusa-head: Taenitherum caput-medusae

* Rat-tail Fescue: Vulpia myuros

Ball-head Cluster Lily: Dichelostemma congestum - Basal leaves only.

Sagebrush Mariposa: Calochortus macrocarpus ssp. macrocarpus

* Common Camas: Camassia quamash var. quamash - Beginning to bloom. Still 2 weeks from peak bloom.

* Chocolate Lily: Fritillara affinis

* Yellow Bells: Fritillaria pudica - Only a few plants seen remaining in flower.

* Bicolored Cluster Lily: Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii - Several plants in bud.

Hyacinth Cluster Lily: Triteleia hyacinthina

* Panicle Death-camas: Toxicoscordion paniculatum

* Meadow Death-camas: Toxicodendron venenosum var. venenosum

* Grass Widows: Olsynium douglasii var. douglasii - Fading out of bloom.

Common Bastard Toad's Flax: Comandra umbellata var. californica

Northern Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum - Only leaves.

Tall Buckwheat: Eriogonum elatum

Snow Buckwheat: Eriogonum niveum

Scabland Wild Buckwheat: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sublineare

Sheep Sorrel: Rumex acetosella

Curly Dock: Rumex crispus

Willow Dock: Rumex triangulivalvis

* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. intermontana

* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. perfoliata

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

Bitterroot: Lewisia rediviva - Plants with flower buds.

* Line-leaf Montia: Montia linearis

* Sticky Chickweed: Cerastium glomeratum

* Common Chickweed: Stellaria media

* Upland Larkspur: Delphinium nuttallianum

* Western Buttercup: Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidentalis

* Shining Oregon Grape: Berberis aquifolium

* Dutchman's Breeches: Dicentra cucullaria

California Poppy: Eschscholzia californica - Leaves so far.

* Mouse-ear Cress: Arabidopsis thaliana

* Little Western Bittercress: Cardamine oligosperma

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

* Shepherd's Cress: Teesdalia nudicaulis

* Fringepods: Thysanocarpus curvipes

Broad-leaf Stonecrop: Sedum spathulifolium

* Smooth Prairie Stars: Lithophragma glabrum

* Small-flowered Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum - Past their peak.

* Northwestern Saxifrage: Micranthes integrifolia

* Peak Saxifrage: Micranthes nidifica

* Rustyhair Saxifrage: Micranthes rufidula - Fading out of bloom.

* Golden Currant: Ribes aureum var. aureum

Mock Orange: Philadelphus lewisii - Beginning to leaf out.

* Cusick's Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia var. cusickii - Beginning to bloom.

Hawthorn: Crataegus sp. - Leafing out.

Oceanspray: Holodiscus discolor - Leafing out.

Antelope Bitterbrush: Purshia tridentata - Leafing out.

Domestic Rose: Rosa sp.

Himalayan Blackberry: Rubus armeniacus

* Bicolor Lupine: Lupinus bicolor

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

Columbia Gorge Lupine: Lupinus latifolius x latifolius - In bud.

Alfalfa: Medicago sativa

* Sand Clover: Trifolium oliganthum

Hairy Vetch: Vicia villosa - In bud. Too common weed on this site!

* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium

Dove'sfoot Geranium: Geranium molle

Poison Oak: Toxicodendron diversilobum - A few plants beginning to leaf out.

Slender Clarkia: Clarkia gracilis - Last year's stems.

Tall Annual Willowherb: Epilobium brachycarpum - Last year's stems.

Queen Anne's Lace: Daucus carota

* Columbia Desert Parsley: Lomatium columbianum - Mostly past bloom.

* Klickitat Desert Parsley: Lomatium klickitatense (Synonym: Lomatium grayii) - Peak bloom.

* Biscuitroot: Lomatium macrocarpum (yellow-flowered form) - Past their peak bloom.

* Bare-stem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule

* Nineleaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium triternatum var. triternatum

Pacific Sanicle: Sanicula crassicaulis

Sierra Snakeroot: Sanicula graveolens

Narrow-leaf Milkweed: Asclepias fascicularis - Last year's pods.

Whitestem Frasera: Frasera albicaulis var. columbiana

* Poet's Shooting Star: Dodecatheon/Primula poeticum

* Baby Stars: Leptosiphon bicolor - Beginning to bloom.

* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis

* Ballhead Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii

Silver-leaf Phacelia: Phacelia hastata var. hastata - In bud.

* Rigid Fiddleneck: Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia

* Common Cryptanth: Cryptantha intermedia

Little Combseed: Gruvelia pusilla

* Rusty Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys nothofulvus

* Matted Popcorn flower: Plagiobothrys (scouleri var. penicillatus ?)

* Slender Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys tenellus

* Red Dead Nettle: Lamium purpureum

* Attenuate Paintbrush: Castilleja attenuata - Beginning to bloom.

* Harsh Paintbrush: Castilleja hispida var. acuta

* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora

* Few-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia sparsiflora var. bruceae

* Chickweed Monkeyflower: Erythranthe alsinoides

* Common Monkey Flower: Erythranthe guttata

Dalmatian Toadflax: Linaria dalmatica

* Slender Tonella: Tonella tenella

English Plantain: Plantago lanceolata

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

* Bedstraw, Cleavers: Galium aparine

Common Snowberry: Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus

* Big Root: Marah oreganus

* Rosy Plectritis: Plectritis congesta - Beginning to bloom.

* White Plectritis: Plectritis macrocera

Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud.

* Carey's Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza careyana - In bloom where there's deeper soil.

Bachelor's Buttons: Centaurea cyanus

Rush Skeletonweed: Chondrilla juncea

* Gold Stars: Crocidium multicaule - Fading out of bloom.

Columbia Goldenweed: Ericameria resinosa

Hairy Goldaster: Heterotheca villosa (var. ?)

Scouler's Hawkweed: Hieracium scouleri

* False Agoseris, Prairie Dandylion: Nothocalais troximoides

* Old-man-in-the-Spring: Senecio vulgaris

* Common Dandylion: Taraxacum officinale

Salsify: Tragopogon dubius


Animals Seen Along This Route Today:

Bald Eagles

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawks

Turkey Vultures

American Dipper - 200' upstream from Highway 14 in Major Creek.

American Wigeons

Common Mergansers - On Columbia River.

Canada Geese - Heard on the Columbia River.

Gadwall ?

Pied-billed Grebe - In Hewett Lake.

Western Grebes - Heard on the Columbia River.

Northern Flickers - Heard

Common Ravens

Scrub Jays

Stellers Jays

Brewer's Blackbirds

European Starlings

Western Meadowlarks

Spotted Towhees

American Robins

Townsend's Solitaire

Western Bluebirds

White-crowned Sparrows

Mountain Chickadee

Dark-eyed Juncos

Yellow-rumped Warblers

Red-breasted Nuthatches - Heard.

Violet-green Swallows

Yellow-rumped Warblers

Tree Frog

Bull Frogs

Julia's Orange Tips

Bumble Bees

Domestic Honey Bees


Paul Slichter