While Trekking The Terraces

This shot was taken at the Hot Springs Terraces. It is kind of a two-fer. The ones in front look like a kind of Groundsel.

As to the one’s in the back, I haven’t a clue.

Should Have Brought My Glasses

Sometimes the story is how you took the picture, and perhaps what you should have done. At a sceanic stop our guides pointed out a yellow flower as a Glacier Lily or Erythronium grandiflorum. So I took a picture of our guide taking a picture.

So far so good.

I centered my shot and took a picture of the flower. But the story is I didn’t put on my glasses to check the photo. And I rarely check it on the camera since the LCD display is small

What I got was a good picture of the back of the flower, not the front. But the wind wasn’t blowing, so at least it isn’t blurry.

Unknown Number 7

Here’s another unknown.

We found these while walking around the Hot Springs Terraces. Near as I can tell they are a sort of Bistort.

Unknown Number Six

It’s time to wander into the unknown again.

These were near the Roosevelt Arch. They had a large number of petals, so my suspicion is that they are a Showy Daisy. Or something closely related. The Oxeye Daisy doesn’t have as narrow a petal as these do.

Larkspur at Hot Springs Terraces

We spent the morning hiking around the paths at Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, kind of working our way from top to bottom. It was very encouraging to have a large section of wildflowers rather than an isolated one or two.

These are Larkspur, though I don’t know the specific kind.

We got a chance to get a little closer shot of some later on the trail. This shot gives a better view of the shape of the flower, almost bugle-like.

Montana State Flower

On our way to Mammoth Hot Springs we visited the North Entrance and the Roosevelt Arch. In addition to getting our picture taken under the arch, there were some blooming wildflowers.

This is a Bitterroot or Lewisia rediviva. It is the state flower of Montana.

Mystery Flower Number 5

Mystery Flower #5 is one I didn’t even know I took. The digital photograph takes in a wider field than just the flower I’m aiming at. Most of the photos I’m including in this blog have been cropped to remove the extra dirt and foliage.

The image for the Pasque Flower (my previous post) had this little yellow flower peaking out of the upper left hand field of view.

It is probably a young plant, so more petals may grow. It seems to only have 5 petals. Using the park’s wildflower sheet an Arnica or Groundsel would be a good bet, since they are parkwide.

Arguing against Groundsel is the seemingly single plant instead of a cluster.

Your thoughts?

Pasque Flowers

The next flower has the making to be a pretty flower in bloom. Unfortunately, it was in the shadows and hadn’t opened yet. (Or it was still immature.)

I was told it was a Pasque Flower or Pulsatilla patens.

At the time, I didn’t know what it looked like in bloom. So I snapped the photo, as if that was its normal state. It was the only one in the area so there was nothing to compare it to.

Arrowleaf Balsam Root

From the bus it was easy to spot what looked like sunflowers. They were quite common. It’s just difficult to get a good shot from a moving bus.

On the way to Mammoth Springs we stopped at Undine Falls. The parking area had its share of wildflowers, including the sunflower-like plants.

The plant is an Arrowleaf Balsam Root or Balsamorhiza sagittata. This first picture is mostly of the flower itself. The leaves are broad arrowhead like, giving it part of its name. I took a shot that shows off the leaves rather than the flower.

Just an aside. Our hungry squirrel in Post #1 is chewing on the leaves of one of these plants.

A Matching Picture

The pictures don’t always disagree. The Audubon Reference has a color photo (plate 660) with blue and pink flowers. And that’s exactly what we have in this photo.

These are Mountain Bluebells or Mertensia ciliata. While colorful, they weren’t very large and would be easy to miss. These were hiding behind a tree. Wouldn’t have seen them standing in the parking lot.

Taken at the Undine Falls overlook area.

A Sticky Subject

Here’s one that is a little more firmly identified. It is a Sticky Geranium. We were on our way to Mammoth Hot Springs and stopped to take in Undine Falls.

There is a lot to be said for roadside pull-outs and rest stops. In addition to the scenic views, there are ofter small clusters of flowers near the borders of the parking area. It doesn’t always require a half mile rugged hike.

Time for more unknown flowers

In addition to wildlife viewing (I’ve got a number of baby buffalo photos), the Lamar Valley excursion also provided some wildflowers.

I’m guessing that these are some kind of Stickseed, though I could be wrong. At first I thought they might be Forget-me-nots. However, these flowers are more on a long stem than ground cover.

There were some white flowers that looked very similar. And they were in the same cluster of plants.

I did crop out a forward facing shot, however, from one of larger photos.

So this might be Stickseed or it might be Mystery Flower(s) #4. I’d appreciate confirmation and correction by someone.

Mystery Flower Number 3

As long as we’re on a roll with Blue-Purple flowers, let’s go for Mystery Flower #3.

This was the third interesting flower I found during my short walk from the parking lot in Lamar Valley. My original intent was to see if I could get a shot of the buffalo on the other side of a short rise. I did, but found these on the walk back.

My guess is it is a Phacelia of some kind. A close match in the Audubon book is Purple Fringe. Perhaps the most notable feature is the protruding stamens, giving it a pin cushion appearance.

I’m open to a more specific species. Suggest away!

Sugar Bowls and Vase Flowers

Another purple plant was easier to identify. It has a very distinctive shape. It also has a number of names. The Audubon Reference list three names. Vase Flower; Sugar Bowls; and Leather Flower.

This photo was take in Lamar Valley, at the same stop as the Prairie Smoke photo. I was using my zoom (long) lens. But I also didn’t have a boardwalk to navigate and could get the angle I wanted on the flower.

Mystery Flower Number 2

Now for Mystery Flower #2.

This photo was taken from the boardwalk with my short lens. But, digital photography yields some interesting features when blown up to full size on a computer. You have the purple flowers in the sunlight. You also have some flowers that aren’t quite open yet.

To the upper right of the flowers in the sunlight, hidden in the grass, are a number of the same flower that haven’t opened yet.

I’m leaning toward ”Fringed Gentian.” It seems close to the photo in the Audubon book as well as the plastic fold-out card for Yellowstone Wildflowers.

But, that’s why we have comments. Anyone have another likely suspect?

Painting The Landscape

There was one flower that was easy to identify. We have paintbrushes in Texas. This immature plant hasn’t started to show its true colors, but the basic shape of the petals gives it away.

The Indian Paintbrush is the State Flower for Wyoming.

As a note for Amateur Photographers; these flowers are an example of limitations the environment may place on you. We were on a boardwalk around the Old Faithful Geyser. You can’t step off the boardwalk, and it’s a little hard to lay down with other tourists walking along.

As usual, you never have the right lens on the camera. I had my shorter lens (35-80mm), mostly for scenery and wider angle shots. The longer lens (80-200mm) might have let me get “closer” to the plants even though I was on the boardwalk.

My thinking had been the short lens for close-ups and the long lens for wildlife off in the distance. I ended up using the long lens more than I had expected.

Just as a gratuitus addition, here’s a Texas Paintbrush for comparison.

Fumerals and Monkeyflowers

When we first got to the park (East Entrance) I was concerned that we might not see many wildflowers. There were 3 and 4 foot drifts of snow. Parts of the road driving in had signs “No Stopping - Avalance Danger.” It wasn’t encouraging.

Wildflowers are opportunists, however. The next morning we hiked around on the boardwalks of Upper Geyser Basin. There was plenty of yellow from the Monkeyflowers. They were taking advantage of the heat being released by the thermal features.

Some of my photos were more for context, i.e. what was surrounding the flowers or what was their environment. That’s the case for the Yellow Monkeyflowers, taking over an embankment.

My closeup suffered a bit from what the auto-focus latched onto.

Mystery Flower Number 1

Finally, our first Mystery Flower. And our first slightly less than in focus example of amateur photography.

My camera has auto-focus. If it can’t get a “lock” it won’t shoot the photo. There are ways around it, but I thought I’d locked on the flowers. In the event, the lock was more on the leaf, when you blow the photo up to actual pixels you get blurred petals.

By way of assisting the identification process I’ve included 2 shots. The first, shows the very distinct branching of the stems (I’m sure that’s not correct from a botany standpoint).

The second photo is more of a complete plant/cluster.

The photos were take during the Upper Geyser Basin hike.

My quick look at the plastic foldout card for Yellowstone seemed to look like Common Tansy. A different reference had a photo of Sweet Fennel that had little clusters of yellow plants. Neither of these are listed as common on the Yellowstone Wildflower Sheet.

I’m leaning toward Sulfur Buckwheat since it is found parkwide.

But I wide open to suggestions. So comment away.

Why Bladderpod?

Thought I would take a few moments to discuss the name of the blog, i.e. Bladderpod.

We were walking about the Hot Springs Terraces. The yellow flowers were prolific enough that they were hard to miss. And it was clear they were “different” from the Yellow Monkeyflowers (a later post). There wasn’t a great clutter of grass or weeds. More like barren rock surfaces.

I asked our guide and she knew it but couldn’t remember it. So, when we happened to meet a park ranger coming up the trail, we asked him.

Without a moment’s hesitation he said “Double Bladderpods, the picture is in the field guide.” (He probably gets asked by every tour group, since the flowers are everywhere.)

I was struck by the thought, ”What would posess me to think of a Bladderpod?” I’d never heard the term before. And it’s a double bladderpod no less. On the other hand, I won’t forget the term now. A great name for a blog related to identifying wildflowers. If you hear it once, you’ll probably remember it.

Be glad to hear your comments on the blog name.

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.”

Blog Objectives and Introduction

My wife and I recently returned from a driving trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches, and Mesa Verde National Parks. I took a lot of photos, some good, some not as good. The advantage of digital photography is you can take plenty of shots and only save the ones you like.

During our tour of Yellowstone someone suggested I share some of my wildflower photos. Gladly, but, there’s a problem. I’m not a botanist or a naturalist and I don’t know what many of the flowers are.

So, I think this blog can accomplish three objectives:

1. Identify wildflowers, first my own, and then photos taken by others. Using reader’s comments to narrow down the possible flowers. (Your help is needed.)


2. Share my photos with fellow tour travellers who put up with me wandering off or slowing the hike down as I took photos.


3. Give other casual photographers some support by showing that not all flower photographs come out perfect.

My later posts will actually have flowers in them, but to start:


Keep in mind that not everyone sees flowers, some residents of national parks see ”FOOD.”

By the way, all these photos can be clicked on, to see other sizes. I’ve stored them as part of a Flickr photostream.