Part 2

Anemone, Wind Flower Anemone multifida

Plate 3, fig. 1

This Anemone is usually white, but it varies through pink to deep rose-red. It is 1-2 ft. tall, grows in meadows and on hillsides at 7000-12000 ft. and blooms throughout the summer. Most anemones have an acrid juice which irritates the skin and is poisonous if taken internally. They make very attractive garden plants, though the native species are little cultivated as yet.

Alpine Clematis Clematis alpina

Plate 3, fig. 2

The Alpine Clematis differs from the cultivated species in climbing but rarely. The plants are usually but a few inches high and bear very ornamental lavender or purple-blue flowers. Under favorable conditions they may clamber over shrubs for a few feet. They are found in open forest and woodland at 7000-10000 ft. The flowers open in spring and early summer and are visited by insects for the plentiful pollen, though they contain no honey. Like the cultivated species, the seed-like fruits have long feathery styles which form silvery clusters.

Alpine Buttercup Ranunculus Macauleyi

Plate 3, fig. 6

The Alpine Buttercup has bright yellow, cup-like flowers that fit our ideas of a buttercup much better than do those of the Trailing Buttercup described below. It is more rarely found, since it grows only on alpine peaks at 10000-14000 ft. It prefers wet places among the rocks and near snow-banks and blooms in midsummer. Many species of buttercup possess a more or less acrid juice. For this reason, they are little eaten by cattle and hence the notion that the deep color of butter in early spring is due to the buttercup is, of course, without foundation.

Trailing Buttercup Ranunculus cymbalaria

Plate 3, fig. 3

The flowers of this little trailing plant are lemon-yellow, and rather inconspicuous, blooming from June throughout the summer. The plants are only a few inches tall and grow in wet or alkaline soil at 3000-10000 ft.

BUTTERCUP FAMILY

1 Anemone, Wind Flower: Anemone multifida 2 Alpine Clematis: Clematis alpina 3 Trailing Buttercup: Ranunculus cymbalaria 5 Pasque Flower: Pulsatilla hirsutissima 6 Alpine Buttercup: Ranunculus Macauleyi

WATER LILY FAMILY

4 Yellow Water Lily: Nymphaea polysepala]

Pasque Flower Pulsatilla hirsutissima

Plate 3, fig. 5

The Pasque Flower is one of the earliest spring blossoms, as is indicated by the name which is from the French for Easter. The word “Pulsatilla” means wind flower and indicates its relationship to the anemones. The color of the flower ranges from whitish through pale blue or pink to purple. By the end of spring, the flowers have all developed into beautiful feathery clusters of fruits, very like those of the Clematis. The plants are 6-15 in. high and densely covered with fuzzy white hairs. They occur abundantly on plains and foothills and in mountain meadows at 4000-10000 ft. The Pasque Flower is the state flower of South Dakota and is sometimes cultivated in gardens.

WATER LILY FAMILY

Yellow Water Lily Nymphaea polysepala

Plate 3, fig. 4

Water lilies are not lilies at all but are very like buttercups in the structure of the flower. The famous Lotus Flower of the Nile is a water lily. The flowers of the Rocky Mountain species are yellow, tinged with red. They may be found from May to August, floating on the surface of lakes and slow streams up to 11000 ft. The seeds from the large mucilaginous pods are used as food by the Indians of the Northwest. They are dried and roasted, after which they taste very much like popcorn, or they may be ground into meal and made into porridge or bread. Nymphaea means “water nymph” and refers to the home of the plant.

VIOLET FAMILY

1 Yellow Violet: Viola biflora 2 Prairie Violet: Viola pedatifida

CAPER FAMILY

3 Rocky Mountain Bee Plant: Cleome serrulata

MUSTARD FAMILY