Bench Creek Flora

Bench Creek Ranch, where our little cabin sits, is a large ranch property off of Aeneas Valley Road just east of Tonasket.

Some kind of fleabane–still need to identify it, as it wasn’t obvious from my iphone wildflower app.

Unknown fleabane flowers–blooming around the cabin in the gravel we had brought in.

Phacelia linearis: there is a little stand of this little beauty on the short slope above the road in front of our cabin.

Another view of the Phacelia.

Erigeron speciosus growing on a slope near the cabin.

Erigeron speciosus with a butterfly. These showy flowers were all over the ranch late June/early July 2016.

I never realized that Sedums were native to Washington–this stonecrop is Sedum lanceolatum, I believe.

Here is the native currant, Ribes cereum (wax currant). The berries were extremely plentiful this year. Too bad they have no flavor at all!

Here is a pea relative that I haven’t identified yet–will keep looking.

Close up of the single, white-flowered pea relative.

On one hike, I came across these, which I believe are thimble berries, Rubus parviflorus. These were at the bottom of a deep ravine in what seemed like it should have been a stream bed, but there was no water on the surface.

Here is the canyon wall near where the thimble berries grow. This is off “Rocky Canyon Road”–aptly named!

Philadelphus lewisii, the native mock orange, an incredibly beautiful and sweet-smelling shrub.

Close up of the fragrant flowers.

This was just one small shrub, but it was covered with blossoms in late June/early July.

Holodiscus discolor, the Ocean Spray, is a lovely native shrub that grows down Rocky Canyon Road. Not common on the ranch, but always a fun find.

I couldn’t resist photographing the wax currents this year (2016)–they were so incredibly prolific.

You can really see just how many berries there are…and I have no idea what creatures eat them. I wonder if it might be birds, since they wouldn’t care as much about the bland taste.

Castilleja thompsonii (Thompson’s Indian paintbrush)–this was my first encounter with this parasitic/symbiotic wildflower. I read that it only grows where its host, the nearby artemisia, grows.

I used to think of mushrooms as spring and fall growers, but at Bench Creek, they pop up any time. Here were four that sprung up in a fairly fresh cow pie. How do they get there?

This little pea relative is one of my favorite wildflowers at the Ranch. It looks like it might be a lathyrus, but my iphone wildflower app didn’t have anything that was close, so I need to keep looking. The flowers are almost pure white, though some have a lavender/purple tint.

Heuchera cylindrica (roundleaf alumroot, poker heuchera)…not the showiest alumroot, but ambitious in the length of its flower stalks!

The flower of the alumroot–superficially similar to the beardtongues that were blooming at the same time.

Eriogonum heracleoides (creamy eriogonum, Wyeth’s buckwheat)–these were in full bloom all over the Ranch.

Eriogonum growth habit–shrub like growth.

Thistles are typically bad news. They are at the top of every invasive plant list and on the Ranch, we are expected to eradicate them. I never realized there were native thistles, but I found a few plants of this beauty at the start of Rocky Canyon Road. This is Cirsium undulatum (wavy leaf thistle).

I’ve always liked thistles, and this one has an amazing texture and form.

And here you can see where it gets its name–the leaves are gorgeous, wavy and light.

Gaillardia aristata (blanket flower) is very common all over the ranch. I got some good photos of them this time (July 2016). This flower stood out as a soft yellow, in contrast to the rest that are a brasher gold.

Snowberries are a common low shrub around the ranch. This is Symphoricarpos albus (common snowberry) flowers in July 2016.

This was a new plant for me this time, found only two plants growing near a gravel pile that hasn’t been disturbed for ten years or more. It appears to be a buckwheat, possibly Douglas’…but I need to research it more.

A view showing the growth habit.

Another view of my mystery plant.

Another photo of Castilleja thompsonii–the color is subtle, but because so many of the surrounding plants are blue-tinged, these flowers stand out.

Another paintbrush plant.

I couldn’t help but photograph this new species to me…

Here is another surprise plant, leaves first…Hieracium albiflorum (white hawkweed). I was looking through all the Washington wildflower pictures on my phone and had seen this one, and then stumbled on just one plant of it on one of my hikes. I won’t say it is rare, but I only found the one…

I typically ignore the dandelion-looking flowers, just a bias developed over years of lawn maintenance.

But this was a charming find and a happy surprise.

I’ve come across several stands of ragged robin, Clarkia pulchella, on the Ranch property, but just as often, these plants are one-offs, all alone. They stand out with their bright color and interesting shape.

I remember this plant being a potentilla when I first spotted it on the Ranch property. But it looks like the botanists have moved it to a new family: Drymocallis glandulosa (Green’s drymocallis, sticky cinquefoil).

Bright yellows are really common among the wildflowers near the cabin, but this soft yellow is much less common.

Another fleabane that was very common in July 2016–I believe this is Erigeron corymbosus (longleaf fleabane, foothill daisy).

The wild woodland strawberries are EVERYWHERE around the ranch. But in ten years, I had never seen (or tasted) a berry. They are very shy-fruiting plants. This year, on one hike, I ate a dozen or more of the delicious berries. This is Fragaria vesca.

Another new flower for me, this is Spiraea x pyramidata (pyramid spiraea). I need to explore why it has the x…

I found two of these beetles on two different yarrows–they obviously are one of the pollinators. This is by far the most common wildflower around the Ranch (Achillea millefolium).

I was surprised the first time I discovered this native campanula (Campanula rotundifolia) around the Ranch, but found out it is common all over the world…and several wildflowers are like that, which is pretty impressive.

A different view…

And another…

Here is another mystery flower that I’ll need to investigate. These were pretty common around the ranch, but didn’t quite fit the iphone wildflower app descriptions for similar plants.

I’m a sucker for Indian paintbrushes–this is Castilleja hispida (harsh Indian paintbrush). These are pretty uncommon, so it is always a treat to stumble on one or a bunch of them.

I love speedwells, and here is a water lover, Veronica americana, growing in the moisture under the aspen grove in the middle of our meadow.

Another water lover under the aspens, Senecio hydrophiloides (tall groundsel, sweet marsh butterweed). The red stems on these perennials are interesting.

Another mystery flower–this may be a spring beauty (claytonia), but I need to research it to be sure.

Pyrola asarifolia (liverleaf wintergreen, heart-leaved pyrola, pink wintergreen)–I find a few of these every year. They are uncommon and extraordinary.

Yet another mystery flower. This appears to be a white speedwell that was growing in a very moist place–can’t wait to research it.

Another view of my mystery speedwell.

I found another plant of Veronica americana in another wet place and snapped another photo.

I really like all the pea relatives. This is Astragalus canadensis (Canadian milk-vetch).

Flower detail of the milk vetch.

A showy bedstraw, the northern species, Galium boreale.

Another view of the sweet marsh butterweed.

And another….

And a close-up of the red stem and leaves…

There are introduced plants, too–like this Trifolium repens (white clover, white lawn clover), common in my lawn in Seattle.

Dasiphora fruticosa (shrubby cinquefoil)–another name change!

Another view. This dwarf shrub grows so well around the property, and you see cultivars planted as landscape specimens all around eastern Washington.

Trifolium dubium (least hop clover)–I think that’s right…there are several yellow clover possibilities. These grow in big clumps in moister areas around the property.

Flower and leaf close-up.

Blue eyed grass, a spectacular iris relative. This is Sisyrinchium idahoense (Idaho blue-eyed grass)

This is a pussy toes–probably Antennaria umbrinella (umber pussytoes)

A cinquefoil that still (I hope) bears the name potentilla, Potentilla gracilis (slender cinquefoil)

My favorite pea, still a mystery

How my mystery pea grows–flower stalk.

Another view…

Delphinium nuttallianum (two-lobe larkspur, upland larkspur, common larkspur)

I think this is an Arnica, but not sure which one–will have to investigate that, too.

You can get a bit of a feeling of how many wildflowers were blooming in early July 2016 from this picture.

Another picture of the Arnica…

A clearer picture of our native Achillea millefolium.

A new wildflower for me, that I found all over the Ranch this time (July 2016), this is the yellow rattle, or Rhinanthus minor (little rattlebox)

Another view.

Here you can see the inflated calyces that end up becoming rattles.

More photos of the alumroot…

and more again.

Alumroot flower detail.

Gaillardia aristata–here is a photo in evening light.

Same flower…just so beautiful!

Okay–enough already! But it really was pretty.

I like this photo of the wax currant–so festive and shiny!

Eriogonum heracleoides (Wyeth’s buckwheat)

You get a feeling of how these buckwheat flowers grow from this photo. They are impressive, especially in some of the dense stands

Owl clovers were completely new to me (July 2016). They are really interesting and there were millions of them! This is Orthocarpus tenuifolius (narrow-leaved owl-clover).

A close-up. These were growing right around the cabin, so easy to photograph.

Lupinus Lepidus (Pacific lupine, elegant lupine) grows all over the Ranch, too. These were just past their prime at our elevation (3,300 ft, July 2016), but some individual plants were still in full bloom.

These are a lot floppier than pictures I’ve seen of Texas Bluebonnets, but they put on quite a show.

Delphinium nuttallianum (two-lobe larkspur, upland larkspur, common larkspur), the bluest blue on the Ranch.

Mystery fleabane–still need to identify this one.

Erigeron speciosus.

Penstemon confertus (lesser yellow beardtongue, yellow penstemon)

Penstemon confertus (lesser yellow beardtongue, yellow penstemon), showing all those compressed flowers.

How fleabanes grow on the Ranch.

Fleabane close-up.

I have seen a few of these Silenes before, but not many. This trip (July 2016), the time was right–there were thousands of them all around. Silene douglasii (Douglas’ catchfly).

Another view of the silene.

Erigeron flower detail.

From a distant, you don’t notice the decoration that each scarlet gilia flower possesses. But close-up, they are pretty amazing. Ipomopsis aggregata (scarlet gilia, skyrocket)