Gratuitous Avalanche Lily Photo

Day 281: My lens is almost always trained on the more obscure items in Mount Rainier National Park's botanical census, but most people come to the Park to see wildflowers massed upon the meadows in views like this one taken en route to Snow Lake a few days ago. While most of the Avalanche Lilies (Erythronium montanum) are now setting seed and exhibit the typical triangular pods, there are a few pocket ecologies which are behind the rest and are still filled with massed blooms. This was probably a patch where the snow laid late, sheltered by shrubbery or in shade for most of the day while other areas had melted out earlier. Avalanche lilies are one of the first plants to bloom in the subalpine zone, often poking their heads through an inch or two of snow to put on a show for early-season hikers. As common as they are, their spectacular display is enough to make even this seasoned backpacker stop for the gratuitous Avalanche Lily photo.

Plants Playing Jokes

Day 296: As if identifying plants accurately wasn't already a daunting task, doing so without a flower is even harder. Plants may look quite different when their foliage is just beginning to develop or they are in the budding phase, and likewise when they have gone to seed. Sometimes you stumble across something so unusual that you're certain you've never seen it pictured in a field guide. Such was the case when I pulled up short to examine this specimen.

I never disturb my subject until after I have obtained photos of it in situ, and in any event, I wanted to capture the beads of morning dew, so didn't handle any portion of the plant for fear of shaking the droplets loose. While I danced around searching for the proper angle, I noticed several other leaves with the same strange growth in their centers. The plant was a lupine; that much was certain, but the structure in the middle puzzled me. It was certainly not characteristic of either a pod or bud of the species, but what was it?

Photos "in the bag," I examined the specimen more closely, and in that moment learned that some plants have a very warped sense of humour. I'd been suckered by the teamwork of a Sub-Alpine Lupine and an Avalanche Lily. Plants playing jokes! Now that's something no botanist should have to endure.

Botanizing With Bears

Day 244: Visitors to Mount Rainier National Park should be aware that they may see researchers going about their work in sensitive off-trail areas. A wide range of scientific research projects are being done throughout the Park, including seismic monitoring, air and water quality sampling, rare plant and phenology studies, amphibian studies, documentation of lichens, monitoring of benthic species, glacier and stream studies and so on. In order to obtain a reliable cross-section of data, these scientists often must go where the public is not permitted. In this photo, we see one of the Park's nutritionists test-sampling the corms of Erythronium montanum (Avalanche Lily) for caloric value. Just a reminder: research data can be skewed by a single footfall. Please stay on trail.