Desert Snowberry - Symphoricarpos longiflorus

 This shrub with the oval leaves and pink trumpet-like flowers is desert snowberry (Symphoricarpos longiflorus). It grows through much of western North America.

 I had never noticed before how much the flowers of snowberry resemble those of Ribes  (currant) until this year. After the flowers drop off, white berries will appear.

For more info on desert snowberry, click here.

Spiny Hopsage-Grayia spinosa

There's a bush lighting up the landscape right now with its almost yellow clustered flowers. This is a member of the Goosefoot Family (Chenopodiaceae), a very important component of the lower elevations of the Great Basin desert. This particular bush is called spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa), although some folks prefer to call it applebush and I know one cowboy who calls it sugar greasewood.

You can see how the lighter color contrasts with the grayer sagebrush and the greener greasewood and green rabbitbrush.

A closeup of the blossoms shows their very wrinkled appearance. As they age they turn pinker, as seen below.


Male flowers are borne on separate plants, with small flowerheads growing at the axils of the leaves.

Above you can see a female hopsage on the left and a male on the right.

Here's a closeup of female flowers on the left and male flowers on the right.

For more info about spiny hopsage, click here.

Purple Monkeyflower-Mimulus lewisii

This attractive flower growing in moist places on stalks up to three feet tall is a member of the Figwort Family (Scrophulariaceae). It's name is purple monkeyflower or Lewis' monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii). Although all the other monkeyflowers (Mimulus) in this area are yellow, this one has bright pink or magenta petals.

A closer look shows that it's not all pink. Inside there's a hint of yellow with some darker red spots.

The purple monkeyflower is a real treat to find, and it grows throughout western North America. For more information about it, click here.

Dwarf Lousewort-Pedicularis centranthera

This dramatic flower in the Figwort Family (Scrophulariaceae) can easily be missed because it grows so low to the ground and is a late spring bloomer that disappears in a few weeks. It has the lousy name of Dwarf Lousewort (Pedicularis centranthera). Such an interesting-looking flower should have a better common name. 

As you can see in this photo with my fingers for scale, the pink and white flowers are quite small. The leaves grow in a basal rosette (close to the ground and all around the flower) and are deeply serrated.

Here's a view from about waist level. The colors of the leaves and flowers don't stand out much against the pine-needle strewn ground. This one was growing under a pinyon pine tree.

I knew to be on the lookout for it because I saw it mentioned on Silver Fox's blog a couple weeks ago as showing up in Central Nevada, but I have to admit that I didn't see it until my way down the trail--I missed it going up.

For more information about Dwarf Lousewort, click here.

Long-leaf Phlox-Phlox longifolia

Hidden down among the filaree I saw a larger flower, a phlox. This is a flower common to gardens, but this particular one appears to be a native version, long-leaf flox (Phlox longifolia), in the aptly named Phlox Family (Polemoniaceae). (There is a slight possibility this is Phlox stansburyi. If you know, please leave a comment.)

Many moss species grow close to the ground with short leaves, but this one is taller and longer-leaved. It falls over, though, so it does seem to be close to the ground. Although I just saw it flowering 4/17/09, I also found one specimen where the flower petals are already curling up and past their prime. 

I found it growing in gravel/cobble about 5300 ft.

For more information about this phlox, click here.