Day 293: Sibbaldia procumbens has been observed in only a few locations in the Park but sufficiently often that it is considered "uncommon" rather than "rare." It goes by the enchanting common name of Creeping Glow-wort, and when a photo of it was sent to me by a Park colleague for confirmation of identity, my radar immediately began pinging. I wrote back, "Did you take coordinates?" but then I didn't bother to wait for her reply, choosing to be in the office yesterday morning to catch her as soon as she came through the door. She gave me an excellent set of instructions to the location and off I went. I have often argued that I can't file a safety "flight plan" when I'm out looking for plants because I can't predict where the habitat will direct my search, especially when I'm in the deep backcountry exploring drainages and outcrops. Likewise, I've maintained that you won't find rarities beside established trails, not where people would walk past them every day. Sibbaldia proved me wrong on the last point. A 12-inch patch was growing at the very edge of a paved trail...paved, mind you!...and several smaller plants were struggling for existence in an adjacent and thoroughly boot-stomped margin. Its "uncommon" status certainly can't be attributed to fragility; this plant is a definite survivor. It is relatively small, the flowers only a few millimeters in diameter, not large enough to call attention to it. The leaves are perhaps its most striking feature, displaying sparse silky hairs, each leaflet terminating in three points, not unlike the fast-food utensil we know as a "spork." While this was not my first observation of Sibbaldia, it is my first photographic record of it.
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