[Wildflower Bloom Reports for the Columbia River Gorge: 2024]

Wildflower Bloom in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington

Mill Creek RidgePreserve (Columbia Land Trust property)

April 11, 2024

Carey's balsamroot blooming enmasse at Mill Creek Ridge, Columbia River Gorge..........April 22, 2018.

Carey's balsamroot blooming enmasse at Mill Creek Ridge, Columbia River Gorge..........April 22, 2018. The peak bloom should be sometime in the next week at lower elevations around The Dalles, OR.

* Indicates the wildflower is currently in bloom.

Antlered Perfume: Evernia prunastri

Fragile Fern: Cystopteris fragilis

Ponderosa Pine: Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa

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

* Cheatgrass: Bromus tectorum

* Bulbous Bluegrass: Poa bulbosa - Propagules forming.

* Leiberg's Bluegrass: Poa leibergii

* Sandberg's Bluegrass: Poa secunda var. secunda

Bluebunch Wheatgrass: Pseudoroegneria spicata

Tapertip Onion: Allium accuminatum - In bud.

Sagebrush Mariposa: Calochortus macrocarpus var. macrocarpus - Basal leaves.

* Glacier Lily: Erythronium grandiflorum var. grandiflorum

* Yellow Bells: Fritillaria pudica - Fading out of bloom.

Bicolor Cluster Lily: Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii

Grass Widows: Olsynium douglasii var. douglasii

Heart-leaf Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum

Tall Buckwheat: Eriogonum elatum

Snow Buckwheat: Eriogonum niveum or Strict Buckwheat: Eriogonum strictum var. proliferum ?

Strict Buckwheat: Eriogonum strictum var. proliferum ?

Common Bastard Toadflax: Comandra umbellata ssp. californica - In bud.

* Pale Springbeauty: Claytonia exigua ssp. exigua

* Western Springbeauty: Claytonia lanceolata

* Small-fowered Springbeauty: Claytonia parviflora ssp. parviflora

* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. intermontana

* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata ssp. perfoliata

* Linear-leaf Montia: Montia linearis

* Jagged Chickweed: Holosteum umbellatum

* Common Chickweed: Stellaria media

* Shining Chickweed: Stellaria nitens

* Upland Larkspur: Delphinium nuttallianum

Shepherd's Purse: Capsella bursa-pastoralis

* Spring Whitlow-grass: Draba verna

* Fringe Pod: Thysanocarpus curvipes

* Bulblet Prairie Star: Lithophragma bulbifera (Now included as part of Lithophragma glabrum.)

* Smooth Praire Star: Lithophragma glabrum

* Small-flowered Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum

* Nesting Saxifrage: Micranthes nidifica

* Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia (var. alnifolia ?)

* Few-flowered Pea: Lathyrus pauciflorus var. pauciflorus

* Spurred Lupine: Lupinus arbustus - Beginning to bloom.

* Bicolored Lupine: Lupinus bicolor

* Common Broad-leaf Lupine: Lupinus latifolius x sericeus (L. latifolius var. thompsonianus) - Beginning to bloom.

* Bingen Lupine: Lupinus sulphureus var. subsaccatus - Beginning to bloom.

* Bighead Clover: Trifolium macrocephalum - Beginning to bloom.

* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium

Deerbrush: Ceanothus integerrimus

Poison Oak: Toxicodendron diversilobum - Beginning to leaf out.

Chervil: Anthriscus caucalis

* Columbia Desert Parsley: Lomatium columbianum - Fading out of bloom.

* Bare-stem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule

* Nineleaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium triternatum var. triternatum - Beginning to bloom.

False Hedge-parsley: Yabea microcarpa

Columbia Frasera: Frasera albicaulis ssp. nitida - In bud.

* Desert Shooting Star: Dodecatheon conjugens

Large-flowered Collomia: Collomia grandiflora

* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis

* Ball-head Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii

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

* Puccoon: Lithospermum ruderale - Beginning to bloom.

* Rigid Fiddleneck: Amscinkia menziesii

* Rusty Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys nothofulvus

* Slender Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys tenellus

* Common Deadnettle: Lamium amplexicaule

* Narrowleaf Paintbrush: Castilleja attenuata

* Harsh Paintbrush: Castilleja hispida var. acuta

* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora

Sticky-stem Penstemon: Penstemon glandulosus (var. ?)

* Little Tonella: Tonella tenella

* Purple Broomrape: Aphyllon purpureum

Bedstraw: Galium aparine

* Big Root: Marah oreganus

Common Snowberry: Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus - Beginning to leaf out.

Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud.

* Annual Agoseris: Agoseris heterophylla

* Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha

* Hybrid Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza careyana x deltoidea x sagittata ?

Diffuse Knapweed: Centaurea difusa

Rush Skeletonweed: Chondrilla juncea

Columbia Goldenweed: Columbiadoria hallii

Gray Hawksbeard: Crepis intermedia

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

Oregon Sunshine: Eriophyllum lanatum (var. ?)

Scouler's Hawkweed: Hieracium scouleri

* False Agoseris, Prairie Dandelion: Nothocalais troximoides

* Western Groundsel: Senecio integerrimus var.ochroleucus- Beginning to bloom.

* Common Dandelion: Taraxacum officinale

Salsify: Tragopogon dubius


Animals Seen Along This Route Today:

Turkey Vultures

Red-tailed Hawks

Lewis' Woodpeckers

Northern Flickers

Ravens

Scrub Jays

Stellers Jays

Spotted Towhees

Dark-eyed Juncos

Ruby-crowned Kinglets

Yellow-rumped Warblers

Violet-green Swallows

Pacific Wrens

Western Tree Frogs

California Tortoiseshells

Julia's Orangetips

Fairy Longhorn Moths

Bumblebees

Hoover Flies


Carey's balsamroots blooming under the oaks along the Memaloose Trail, Columbia River Gorge.......April 14, 2018. - Meadows of western buttercups on the Memaloose Plateau, Columbia River Gorge........April 14, 2018.

Meadows of western buttercups on the Memaloose Plateau, Columbia River Gorge........April 14, 2018.

Wildflower bloom on the Memaloose Plateau, Columbia River Gorgel..........April 14, 2018.

Paul Slichter