The California Floristic Province (or CFP for those in the know) doesn’t stop at the northern border of the state. Just like California, southwestern Oregon has a Mediterranean climate with cool, relatively wet winters and hot, dry summers. Additionally, several mountain ranges extend from Northern California into Oregon. One of these is the Siskiyous. The Siskiyou Mountains are the largest section of the Klamaths, which also includes the Trinity Mountains to the south and a number of smaller ranges. The Siskiyous extend in a large arc from Crescent City, California in the southwest to their collision with the Cascades just west of Ashland, Oregon. This past week, I botanized two areas of the Oregon Siskiyous–the Soda Mountain Wilderness, and the Siskiyou Crest from Mount Ashland to Cow Creek Glade. The former area, at elevations from 4,500-5,500 feet was in glorious full bloom. The later, ranging from 6,500-7,500 feet was covered in snow until recently, and the flowering was just getting going. At both spots, the floral diversity was amazing.

A few of the species, particularly those at higher elevations, are extremely range-restricted. These include Horkelia hendersonii (Henderson’s Horkelia, Rosaceae),

Tauschia howellii (Howell’s Umbrellawort, Apiaceae)

And unquestionably my favorite find of the week, Castilleja schizotricha (Splithair Paintbrush, Orobanchaceae)

The latter has a beautiful rose-pink color and is amazingly fuzzy all over. Here is a flower that I have dissected a bit to reveal the fuzzy bract (modified leaf below the flower), the fuzzy sepals (structures above and below the petals), and the fuzzy corolla (petal) tube:

The next set of plants are found throughout a larger area of the Klamaths, but are mostly restricted to just Northern California and Southwest Oregon. We’ll start with a second fuzzy paintbrush! Castilleja arachnoidea (Cobwebby Paintbrush, Orobachaceae),

Triteleia crocea (Yellow Trumpet Lily, Themidaceae),

Allium siskiyouense (Siskiyou Onion, Alliaceae) with its pink bulb and falcate (sickle-shaped) leaves,

the adorable Lomatium fusiformis (California Biscuitroot, Apiaceae), which was blooming feet away from a melting snowfield.

and, like my last post, I found another beautiful cream-colored Iris Iris chrysophylla (Golden-leaved Iris, Iridaceae).

I took hundreds of photos this week, but I’ll just post a few more of my favorites of more widely-distributed plants. Will start with a Fritillary, Fritillaria atropurpurea (Mountain Fritillary).

Kopsiopsis strobiacea (California Ground Cone, Orobanchaeae). Yes it’s a flowering plant that appears to be mimicing a pine cone. Yes, that’s the whole plant–it doesn’t need green leaves because it’s a root parasite.

 

Camassia quamash (Common Camas, Agavaceae) with a butterfly visitor. The butterfly is an Olive Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus), whose caterpillars feed on trees in the Cupressaeceae (Junipers and Cedars).

And finally, two (distantly related) plants with large white flowers with yellow centers: Hesperochiron pumilus (Dwarf Hesperochiron, Boraginaceae)

and Polemonium carneum (Royal Jacob’s Ladder, Polemoniaceae)