Prairie Smoke and Old Man's Whiskers

This flower was going to be my first Mystery Flower. Some email correspondence, however, has me convinced it is an immature “Prairie Smoke” plant. (Also referred to as “Old Man’s Whiskers.”)

This brings up a little housekeeping note. I’m tagging each post, as best I can, with:

• Color


• Location or state


• Month


• Genus (latin) or UNKNOWN


• species (latin) or UNSURE


• Guess at maturity


• Common Name(s)

The search box for the blog should allow you, the reader, the ability to look for a flower or find the posts that still need identities (i.e. UNKNOWN or UNSURE).

I’ve come to the conclusion that not all flowers look like the pictures in the reference book. So, the four categories I’ll use are: Immature, Blooming, Mature, and Gone2Seed. The picture of Prairie Smoke (in the reference) is more Mature & Gone2seed than the photo here, which doesn’t have the white plumes that give the plant it’s “Smoke” moniker.

We took a break from wildlife viewing in Lamar Valley. Wandering off from the parking lot to a small rise. I didn’t spot them at first. These flowers were seen on the return trip.

So, first suggestion to amateur photographers: “Look behind you on your hikes, there are sometimes little gems hidden by other plants.”