Part 2

A rather rare lily sometimes called Leopard Lily or Bronze Bell. Its drooping flowers on fairly tall stems are found growing in the Sagebrush areas or in alpine meadows. As they are not very conspicuous, they are often overlooked by visitors. The petals, with their mottled effect in brown, yellow and purple spots, present a remarkable pattern of beauty when observed closely. The odor of the plant is not pleasing to humans, but is no doubt attractive to insects.

6. FINELEAF YUCCA Lily Family Yucca angustissima

The name “Our Lord’s Candlestick” was given to this tall, conspicuous plant of the desert by the early Spanish Padres, who were the first white men to see this region of Southern Utah. During May and June the waxy-white flowers bloom on tall stalks and soon mature into rather large seed pods.

Indians made very good use of all parts of the plant. Its fiber was used for making sandals and clothing, the seeds provided food, and the roots were used for making soap. The Navajo Indian called it Yaybi-tsa-si, which means literally “Yucca of the Gods.”

7. MOUNTAIN DEATHCAMAS Lily Family Zigadenus elegans

An onion-like plant with a long, loose cluster of small, creamy-white flowers. Its root is shaped much like that of the onion, but is odorless. The plant is poisonous to man and beast. Deathcamas is found mostly in meadows or wet places on the plateaus where it presents a serious danger to grazing cattle and sheep. At Cedar Breaks it blooms during July and August and is fairly common in the alpine meadows.

8. WILD BUCKWHEAT Buckwheat Family Eriogonum umbellatum

Wild Buckwheat is commonly associated with Sagebrush and arid regions of the West. Many species of the genus are found blooming throughout the summer season.

The spreading branches grow close to the ground and help reduce erosion, and the yearly accumulation of leaves adds humus to the soil. The flower head at the top of single stalks, with its many-branched, dense cluster in a lacy pattern, makes a fine floral display of yellow. The flowers are important to the honey bee, and the ripened seeds are diligently sought by the chipmunks, other rodents and several birds.

9. GREEN EPHEDRA Jointfir Family Ephedra viridis

Not a very showy plant with its pale-green stems, very small leaves and inconspicuous flowers. It is probably of greatest interest because of the use made of the plant by early pioneers in brewing a tea, which served as a tonic for various ailments. It was commonly called Brigham Tea, Squaw Tea or, more generally, Mormon tea.

The plant is a relative of the Pines and Firs and is very able to withstand drouth. It is found fairly abundantly in the Sagebrush and Saltbush areas of the Upper Sonoran Zone.

The drug ephedrine is obtained from some of the species of Ephedra found in China.

10. FOURWING SALTBUSH Goosefoot Family Atriplex canescens

A silvery-green, profusely branched shrub growing two to five feet high with conspicuous clusters (in late summer) of four-winged seeds about the same color as the leaves. It is very common in the Sonoran Zones and abundant in the alkaline flats of the Great Basin of Utah. In the lower portion of Zion Canyon it is abundant and often taken to be Sagebrush, which it resembles to some extent.

This plant is of value as forage for livestock, and deer feed upon it to a limited extent.

11. CALYPSO ORCHID Orchid Family Calypso bulbosa

If you travel to the mountains early in June or July, you may be lucky enough to find this beautiful flower, the dainty Calypso or Fairy Slipper Orchid, as it blooms in the dense woods of Spruce and Pine or in the deep canyons along shady streams at elevations above 6,000 feet. The flowers grow singly on stems 4 to 6 inches high and have only one large leaf. The plant takes part of its food from decaying wood or other organic matter.

Thoughtless picking of this flower has made it very rare and in danger of becoming extinct. Please do your part to help save the Fairy Slipper Orchid.

12. FOUR-O’CLOCK Four-O’Clock Family Mirabilis multiflora

Closely resembling the cultivated variety of Four-O’Clock, this plant, with its abundance of brilliant magenta-colored flowers, is one of the spectacular sights in May or early June. It is a sturdy perennial with thick, glossy-green leaves spreading low over the ground. The south-facing slopes in the Sonoran Zones are its most common habitat, but it is also found in the broken lava fields. Being a night bloomer, the flowers close during the bright daylight hours and open at about four o’clock in the afternoon. Its blooming season is generally brief, about two or three weeks, but it sometimes blooms twice in the same summer.

13. SPRINGBEAUTY Purslane Family Claytonia lanceolata

Found abundantly at Cedar Breaks during May and early June and also in the shady canyons of Zion in the Transition Zone. Each plant has two narrow leaves near the base, each about 2 inches long, above which are four to five practically leafless branches with a single flower at the top of each. The plant is rarely over 6 inches high; more commonly it is flat to the ground. Flowers vary in color from white to pink or sometimes the white blossoms have pink veins or stripes which tend to accentuate their beauty. Usually one of the early blooming flowers of the high plateaus, along with the Indianpotato and Buttercup.

14. BITTERROOT Portulaca Family Lewisia rediviva

This beautiful, dwarfed plant, never more than an inch or two high, is found during May mostly on the lava fields of the Transition Zone in Zion National Park. Its flower of white petals with pink veins is about 2 inches in diameter.

The Bitterroot was discovered in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark expedition while passing through western Montana. It was later named Lewisia rediviva by the botanist Pursh.

The plant is of economic importance to the Northwestern Indians, who discovered that the bitter, parsnip-shaped roots possess a nutritious heart of starch, which cooking reduces to a pasty mass, palatable, at least, to Indian taste.

15. MARSHMARIGOLD Buttercup Family Caltha leptosepala