Columbia Gorge - Rowena

The Columbia River Gorge is a great destination for just about any outdoor activity. For us retired wildflower photographer types it's an 80-mile long garden of opportunity, with five different bio-regions and ecosystems: rain forest on the west end and dry grasslands in the east. Huge ice flows and water carved out the Gorge during the Missoula Floods about 14,000 years ago. Today, the diverse and prolific flora living in the Gorge seems to change weekly and if we lived just a bit closer, I would probably be out there every day with camera in hand!

About six weeks ago I visited two prime flower locations and captured a host of new blooms (see March Madness). We returned to the same location on April 29th to find a whole new batch of bloomers. The grass is green now, balsamroot is everywhere, and the poison oak is showing its nasty face again! We spent an hour or so wandering around the Rowena Plateau on a beautiful, warm, Thursday; even so, there were about a half-dozen other photographers out there as well.

Poison Oak Emerges

In about a month or so, Rowena will be dry and dormant until next Spring, so we'll plan one more visit in a few weeks.

Here's a rundown of what we saw this time. All of them are native to the west or northwest, except the last one!

Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)

These beauties are what I call "calendar flowers" because they always seem to be in those freebie Oregon real estate calendars. It's no wonder, as they are impressive, alone or covering entire hillsides. The name comes from the balsam smell of the roots. Native peoples in the area collected the roots for medicinal use.

Columbia Gorge Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius var. thompsonianus)

We found quite a few of these at Rowena, blending nicely with the Balsamroot. There are three variations of Broadleaf Lupine in the Gorge, making 100% identification a challenge!

Bicolored Cluster Lily (Brodiaea howellii)

First collected by botanist Archibald Menzies in 1792, these cover the western slopes of Rowena. They seemingly have no leaves and grow about 8 inches off the ground. The naming of Brodiaea have a colorful past in botanical circles. Some species have been cultivated for backyard garden use. More Information.

Pungent Desert Parsley (Lomatium grayi)

There are a number of different "desert parsley" plants growing in the Gorge. We saw quite a few of this one at Rowena, in the rocks and ground. They do indeed have a strong smell if you rub the leaves.

Oregon Swallowtail (Papilio oregonius)

Ok, it's not a flower, but it is a native; this guy was sunning himself right on the trail, so I had to capture it. After that I shooed him away so he would not get squished!

Big Root (Marah organus)

Also called Man Root and Wild Cucumber, this native vine looks out of place here. It grows along the ground and has small star-shaped white flowers that are covered with tiny hairs. Don't be putting these cukes in your salad though, the fruit is inedible.

Small Flowered Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii)

The flowers on this Borage are indeed small, at about 1/4 inch. We barely noticed them growing among the large balsamroot. The leaves and seeds are very toxic to cattle so ranchers want to eliminate these from rangelands. The common name comes from the curved stems on some of the species (not this one however!).

Large Flowered Cryptantha (Cryptantha intermedia)

We found just a few of this member of the Borage family today. The ID is not 100% as there are at least three very similar variations of Cryptantha growing in this area of the Gorge. The flowers are about 1/3 inch wide, so not so "large."

Dove's Foot Geranium (Geranium molle)

We've seen this non-native throughout the area and in our local parks and even along our road. It's prolific to say the least. The flowers are about 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide.

Links:

Columbia River Gorge Overview

Oregon Swallowtail