Monday June 30, 2008 - Vol. VII Issue 5

Snowy Range Closeups

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As the winter snow melts high in the mountains above 10000 feet, flowers quickly appear, sometimes poking through the snow. The ground at first glance appears bare, but is covered with many interesting plants which grow only a few inches high. The author wishes to thank Ernie Nelson of the University of Wyoming (Rocky Mountain Herbarium) for plant identifications.

All photos by John Nordin, 22 June 2008.

Snowy Range, general setting, looks bare, but the ground is textured with many plants


Water gushes from the snow


Plants (pussytoes, draba, etc.)carpet the ground


Glacier Lilies appear as the snow melts


Alpine clover


Jacobs Ladder


Alpine Forget-me-nots and stonecrop


Stonecrop (one inch high) get ready to bloom


The rocks are covered with lichens


Alpine Forget-me-nots and rock lichens


Alpine phlox carpet the ground


Wood grain texture, scale about 10 inches


Candytuft (Noccaea)


More Alpine Forget-me-nots (Eritrichum nanum)


Black-mooned Anarta Moth


Alpine Drabas


Polentille cinquefoil


Eritrichum nanum (white variety)


Erigeron compositus