Uncommon Ones

To me, the word "uncommon" is a strange one. It means "not common," which is sort of obvious. In the mid 1500's they said "not possessed in common." I suppose that explains why at some point the phrase became "uncommon." It still sounds odd to me, especially when used in a sentence with "not." Such as, "it is not uncommon to sneeze in the spring." Why not just say "it is common to sneeze in the spring?" But I digress...

In the plant world, most guidebooks use a classification system to indicate how likely you will be to find a certain plant. The classifications I have seen in several books progress as follows: common (or abundant), uncommon, rare, threatened, endangered, and extinct. Most of the plants I come across fall into that "common" category and that is fine with me; I don't really go out of my way to look for rare plants. On the other hand, I'll be the first to admit it is rewarding to find plants that are not "common." As I mentioned in a previous post (Finders Keepers), finding something special is probably just human nature.

In any event, here's a quick overview of the "uncommon" blooms I came across in 2014.

Giant Purple Wakerobin (Trillium kurbayashii) - Rare

Stumbling across this remarkable, rare native plant was a pleasant surprise indeed! It is supposed to be at home near the southern Oregon coast and northwest CA, but at the end of March, we found a small colony growing at Jackson Bottom Wetlands near the Tualatin River. The three large, dark purple flower petals stay straight up, unlike the white, curved, Western Trillium.

Henderson's Checker Mallow (Sidalcea hendersonii) - Rare

This attractive mallow was also spotted at Jackson Bottom Wetlands in late May.

Meadow Checker Mallow (Sidalcea campestris) - Uncommon

One of our regular walking/jogging parks near home is the Cooper Mountain Nature Park. They don't allow dogs, but it's a large, hilly park, with several miles of trails. We spotted this uncommon native in mid July just off the trail on an afternoon walk. 

Lindley's Clarkia (Clarkia amoena ssp. lindleyi) - Rare

This little spring bloomer is one of several named after William Clark of the Corps of Discovery. This particular sub-species is rare and was probably planted in an effort to keep it going. Seen at Jackson Bottom Wetlands in late June, 2014.

White Rock Larkspur (Delphinium leucophaeum) - Endangered

This was the most surprising find of 2014 if I had to rank them. See my earlier post about this unique plant. Finders Keepers.

Washington Lily (Lilium washingtonianum) - Uncommon

I've only seen a couple of these growing in the wild. One small cluster was seen on the Iron Mountain loop trail in July. The odd thing is that they look very similar to lily plants you would buy at the garden shop to plant in your yard. These natives are named after Martha Washington and can grow up to 8 ft. tall!

Northern Water Horehound (Lycopus uniflorus) - Uncommon

The Lycopus genus is in the Mint family, which has nearly 7,000 species. Needless to say, it took me a while to track this one down! The only place we have seen this plant blooming or otherwise was at Lacamas Lake near Camas, WA, in mid August. As the name suggests, it prefers shady, moist, areas, where we found it, along a three-mile long trail. The plant is about three feet tall, but the flowers are tiny, at 1/4 inch wide.

Wild Geranium (Geranium oreganum) - Uncommon

Over the past two years we have spotted this native beauty just a few times. They usually start blooming in spring and go until mid-summer, but we found this one in the Columbia Gorge near Oneonta Creek in August. The flowers are about 1.5 inches wide.

     

And last, but not least, I wanted to add this one just for grins. It's a common Bachelor Button (Centaurea cyanus) in a local field. It caught my eye because the colors mutated a bit and I have never seen one like this before. These guys are not native to our area and some consider them noxious, but I try not to discriminate here. The typical blue one is on the left, the mutated one on the right.

   

     

Links:

Native Plant Society of Oregon

Oregon Flora Project

Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest