Elmera Racemosa

Day 324: Elmera racemosa is one of the plants I generally refer to by its scientific name. "Elmera" rolls off the tongue more easily than "Yellow Coralbells" and gives the plant the degree of distinction it is due. Elmera occurs only in the Pacific Northwest (British Columbia, Washington and Oregon), and only in the alpine/subalpine zones. It is sufficiently distinct from other Coralbells (Heuchera) that it merits a genus all its own (Elmera). In Mount Rainier National Park, it is not considered uncommon, but never occurs in abundance at any location or below 5000'.

Natural Habitat

Day 320: This is a Crow in its natural habitat. For all of how much I love wildflowers and the critters of the forest, it is the high, bleak and desolate places which truly command my heart. I am too old, beat-up and decrepit to get to the ones which are dearest to me, but there are others almost equally beautiful still within the reach of my strength and stamina. Today, I went up the Lakes Trail on a MeadoWatch hike, recording the phenological stages of specific plants at plots with precise geographic coordinates. At the top of the transect, the sub-alpine plants thin out until only a few of the hardiest species remain. Continuing up, the environment becomes a moonscape of ankle-wrenching rocks, layer upon layer laid down by the stratovolcano which is Mount Rainier. It was this landscape which drew me higher today, my soul craving the open space of the Mountain's rocky alpine zone. Here is where perspective rises up and shows you that your human presence is no more than a speck of grit in the cosmos. It is a metaphysical journey which, oddly, I find eminently consoling, comforted in the knowledge that whatever happens in this world is of very little significance indeed.

Partridgefoot Pods

Day 354: One of the challenges of botany is being able to recognize plants in their different phenophases: foliage, bud, blossom, fruiting, releasing or having released seed. With some species such as this Partridgefoot (Luetkea pectinata), the foliage persists into the later phases, but in others, it withers as fruits are forming. That said, there are other issues which may make identification difficult; case in point, a photo of foliage which landed in my email a few days ago, submitted first to a ranger, thence to our Plant Ecologist who forwarded it to me with the note, "My mind is blank." I recognized the leaves (red, clothed for autumn) as something familiar, but couldn't dredge up a memory of the blossom, so I referred it out to two experts in the field. I said "challenge," didn't I? The two botanists identified the family and confirmed my initial suspicion, but disagreed as to species. Why was this particular plant so difficult? Because it had been affected by either insect galls or disease.

MeadoWatch Patrol

Day 351: My favourite month slipped by with little time for hiking or any other outdoor activity, so I was grateful to get out on my last MeadoWatch patrol of the year without having to don rain gear. It was a little chilly when I set out, but that's one of the things I love about September: it lets you work out without getting too steamed. The sky was mostly overcast and although clouds obscured the Mountain, the seasonal colour was stunning in the meadows. There was suprisingly more data to record for the target wildflower species than I'd expected this late in the season. Even at this high point (the last stop on my patrol from Reflection Lake), Western Anemones were releasing their seeds and some lupine pods had not yet burst. That said, it seemed to have been a poor year for Sitka Valerian, at least in this local micro-ecology.

Elmera Racemosa, Yellow Coralbells

Day 316: Yellow Coralbells (Elmera racemosa) is a small plant with leaves you might mistake for those of a Heuchera. It was first considered to fall among the Heucheras until genetic research proved it to be a distinct genus and in fact, it is the one and only Elmera currently known. It occurs only in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon to British Columbia), and somewhat infrequently in the upper subalpine zone at Mount Rainier National Park. Elmera is a hardy plant capable of surviving both cold winters and dry summers.

Ran Out Of Plants

Day 308: That's as far as I got. Then I ran out of plants. I might have pushed a bit further but for the fact that I didn't have sunglasses and the glare from snow can be quite intense. Besides, my duty for the day was only to conduct a MeadoWatch survey, but I just couldn't turn around at the last waypoint, not with more trail ahead of me. I decided to go until I hit snow, and as you can see, that's right where the "end of maintained trail" sign was positioned. I sat on the rocks for a while, talking to visitors as they came up, handing out wildflower brochures and information about the Park's volunteer program, delighting in the cool breeze drifting down from Paradise Glacier. I explained the demise of the famous Ice Caves and talked about climate change, and reminisced with several people who had been here decades ago.

I'd completed my MeadoWatch duties on the way up, charting the phenological stages of a dozen or so "target" plant species at 12 stations marked with surveyors' disks. I found very little Sitka Valerian, something which is normally abundant at this time of year, but was rewarded with meadowed slopes dappled with spires of Bistort and the occasional Paintbrush. I found an unusual colour variation among the Penstemons as well as several plants I have yet to identify, but no alpine lichens (much to my dismay). It was a delightful way to spend a day which in the lowlands would have been too warm to be comfortable.