Sitka Nature

Roseroot (Sedum roseum)

Other Posts in the series:
Bear Mountain Flora (part 1)
Bear Mountain Flora (part 2 – Saxifrages)
Bear Mountain Flora (part 3 – Aster Family)

This is (finally) the last post about the plants I found on a hike up Bear Mountain earlier this month. This will be sort of a catch-all of plants that I thought were interesting but didn’t make it into one of the previous posts.

Unidentified Pea Family

When I first saw this plant, it looked like a plant in the pea family, but I was totally sure about that. I looked for seedpods, but did not see any until I looked carefully at my photos when I got home. I did not look closer at the actual plant because I only saw them growing on a very steep (almost cliff) slope with loose rocks and a long drop. I opted to just take photos from a distance rather than risk the fall.

Yellow Monkey-flower (Mimulus guttatus)?

These plants were growing in a moist area. At the time I thought the leaves looked a little bit like Enchanter’s Nightshade. Looking at the photos and comparing with Enchanter’s Nightshade leaves, it’s pretty clear they are not. I’m now leaning toward Yellow Monkey-flower (Mimulus guttatus)

Holly-fern (Polystichumm lonchitis)

This does not seem to be an especially common fern around Sitka, though I have seen it a few places.

Unidentified Cinquefoil (Potentilla sp)

If I saw this plant growing on rocks along a beach, I probably would not question it as a Villous Cinquefoil (P. villosa). However, I have never seen it at upper elevations before, though it apparently does grow in the alpine. I would not be surprised if it is Villous Cinquefoil, but there are other alpine potentillas that I am not sure about. One particular difference I notice is that the leaves seem much coursely toothed than I am used to seeing on the beach. I only found it on the summit ridge at around 4000 feet, or so.

Unidentified Pearlwort (Sagina sp.)

It seems most likely that this is Snow Pearlwort (S. intermdedia) or Arctic Pearlwort (S. saginoides). Habitat seems to fit better with Snow Pearlwort.

Roseroot (Sedum roseum)

This was a new-to-me plant that seemed restricted to the alpine areas. I’ll have to try to get up again a little earlier next year to get photos of the flowers.

Sibbaldia (Sibbaldia procumens)

Another new-to-me alpine plant that I only saw in the alpine areas. In this case I managed to find some flowers, though they are fairly inconspicuous.

Arctic-alpine Daisy (Erigeron humilis)

Previous posts in the series:
Bear Mountain Flora Part 1
Part 2 – Saxifrages

There were quite a few plants in the aster family that I saw up in the alpine. Several of them were new-to-me plants and there were quite a few still blooming, which was nice.

Arctic-alpine Daisy (Erigeron humilis)?

I tentatively identify this as an Arctic-alpine Daisy (Erigeron humilis), like the photo at the top of the post. However, the growth for of this plant was enough different that I was not positive. This plant, and the many others I saw that looked similar, was much taller with purple petals that were not so large. The flowers pictured at the top of this post were the only example of those that I noticed, the rest of the presumed E. humilis looked like this.

Dandelion (Taraxacum sp.)
This looks a lot like a dandelion to me. I’ve never noticed the introduced dandelion up high before and there is a native species, Rocky Mountain Dandelion (T. eriophorum), that occurs on Baranof Island. I do not know if it is possible to distinguish the two on the basis of leaves and location alone, however.

Lessing Arnica
I am relatively confident about this identification, though certainly wouldn’t stake my life on it. I only remember seeing one of these blooming, though with all the rocky slopes and such, I would not be surprised if there were other places it could be found. This was growing on a relatively dry site.

Arnica Arnica sp.
I am not sure what species this might be, nor am I sure if there is enough information in the photo to identify it.

Arrow-leaf Groundsel (Senecio triangularis)
The leaves plant of this look a little different than I remember seeing elsewhere, but there really are not many other options. Arrow-leaf Groundsel was fairly common near the treeline, but these were the only ones I noticed up in the alpine reaches.

Pussytoes (Antennaria sp.)

Pussytoes (Antennaria sp.)

These are pretty clearly Pussytoes, but I am uncertain whether they are A. umbrinella or A. alpina. The first two photos are from the same plant. The third is a different plant growing much closer to the summit ridge. I am uncertain whether it is the same species as the first two, nor if it is possible to tell from the photos. Unfortunately, I realized belatedly that my photos of these plants were not that great, so this is all I’ve got to work with until I get up there again (perhaps next year).

One-headed Pussytoes (Antennaria monocephala)

I am not supremely confident in this identification, but it seems to be the most likely. I would be less hesitant if it weren’t for the fact that it seems to have not been previously reported south of Glacier Bay and Lynn Canal.

Leatherleaf Saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrolifolia)

(second in a multipost series: Bear Mountain Flora part 1)

Several species of saxifrage seem to be quite happy above the treeline. Some species were abundant (and still flowering) in the moist seeps, forming a lush rock garden along with other plants that grew there. Other species were found in drier locations, tucked into small crevices on exposed ridges.

I definitely saw two new-to-me (on Baranof Island, anyway) species, and a third that I am uncertain about.

Red-stem Saxifrage (Saxifraga lyallii)
Heart-leaved Saxifrage (Saxifraga nelsoniana)
These two saxifrages (along with Leatherleaf Saxifrage, shown in the main photo for the post) I have seen and photographed previously on Starrigavan Ridge. They favored moist places.

Mystery Saxifrage (Saxifraga sp.)
These photos are of the same plant. I haven’t been able to figure out what species it is, but that could just be a lack of appropriate knowledge on my part. To me it appears intermediate between S. nelsoniana and S. lyallii. The leaves do, anyway. I guess the stem and flowers do not look much different than S. nelsoniana.

Purple Mountain Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia)
I would be more confident with this identification had I seen any flowers, but they were clearly well past blooming. I have seen this plant before, but that was on Mt. Borah in Idaho. They were not exactly hard to find, so I am guessing they have been previously noted on Baranof Island, though I had not heard about it. I found it mainly in fairly dry areas in the alpine.

Cushion Saxifrage (Saxifraga eschscholtzii)
This plant was entirely new to me. When I first noticed it, I had no idea what it was. I only figured it out when I happened to see a line drawing in one of the floras I was looking through that seemed to match. It seems to have a pretty distinctive growth form, at least I have not seen anything quite like it before. I did see some evidence of past blooming, but clearly I missed its blooming time by quite a bit. I only found this growing on the highest portion of the ridge. It seemed to favor cracks and crevices on the east side of the summit ridge.

A lush patch of Leatherleaf Saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrolifolia) growing in a seep on a rocky slope.

I ended up with so many different plants I wanted to mention (and show photographs of), that I decided to break up my comments and questions into more than one entry. In this first entry I will give an overview of my observations and thoughts, with an emphasis on plants that I had seen before. In subsequent entries, I will focus on plants that were new to me, including a some I do not have identifications for yet.

September is pretty late in the season for most flowers, and I did not really notice any down low, but then I was not really looking. With the heavy/late snow this year, I was hopeful to see at least a few flowers in the alpine. As it turned out, I did see a few, but I probably would have seen a lot more flowers 3-6 weeks ago. Still, given the lateness of season, I really can’t complain.

There were a few of the typical subalpine meadow species in bloom just at the edge of the treeline. These included Northern Star Flower, Broad-petalled Gentian, Arrowleaf Groundsel, and Subalpine Daisy. Noticably absent was fruit on the Dwarf Blueberry plants. The last time I was up this way (August 2004), there were a lot of blueberries. It made me wonder whether plants can sense how late in the year it is when they are exposed during heavy/late snow years and forgo investing the energy in blooming and fruiting when it is unlikely to be successful. It seems plausible that they could do this by responding to the photoperiod. It strikes me that it might be a useful adaptation for plants above the treeline. Other plants seemed to suggest this possible also. I saw several plants that gave no indication that they had bloomed. I guess it’s possible that in some cases they just have not had enough time to develop flowers this year.

Another thing that struck me today was how much things changed around 3500 feet. This is about the elevation where bare rock started to dominate the landscape. I assume snow/cold at this elevation prevents the plants that form a ground cover a little lower down from getting well established. Perhaps this defines true alpine from subalpine habitats. In this habitat, there are scattered plants growing, but the most lush microhabitats are seeps where snow melt from above provides consistent moisture. Saxifrages especially seemed to favor these locations (more on them in a subsequent entry).

There at least a couple of species that I only noticed along the summit ridge at 4000 feet or so. I wonder why this is. There are certainly rocky outcrops and such that, to my eyes, don’t seem all that much different than these higher elevation locations, but there did not seem to be any of these alpine plants growing there. I guess it’s possible there are some subtle differences in aspect/slope or something that make a difference. It’s also possible I just didn’t look in the right places.

One other thing I did note was a few trees scraping out an existence well above the treeline. I saw isolated Sitka Spruce, Mountain Hemlock, and Sitka Alder at various points 1000 feet or more above the tree line.

Below are thumbnails of several species I have seen before (click to see larger image), with comments about them.

Yellow Monkey Flower (Mimulus guttatus)
This is fairly easy to find in low elevation disturbed locations, but I do not remember seeing it up high before. These were growing on a seep at around 3500 feet, well above the treeline.

Mountain Sorrel (Oxyria digyna)
Another plant I have seen in disturbed locations at low elevations (river gravel bars, especially). Given the name, I am not surprised it grows up high, but I believe this is the first time I have noticed it. This also was growing at approximately 3500 feet.

Sitka Mistmaiden (Romanzoffia sitchensis)
Yet another plant that I have always associated with streamside habitats. This plant was fairly easy to find above around 3500 feet. With plants such as this, I wonder if there are intermediate elevation examples, or if they grow only at low and high elevations.

Whorled Lousewort (Pedicularis verticillata)
Bird-beak Lousewort (Pedicularis ornithorhyncha)
The two louseworts are fairly common subalpine plants. I saw both growing from near the treeline up into the alpine. My recollection is that the Whorled Lousewort was growing higher up than the Bird-beak Lousewort, though I did not pay enough attention to be sure.

Arctic Sweet Coltsfoot (Petasites frigidus)
I have noticed this before on Starrigavan Ridge and the bowl between Picnic Rock and the summit of Mt. Verstovia. This particular plant was growing at close to 4000 feet in a seep. I only noticed it in one or two locations.

Northern Goldenrod (Solidago multiradiata)
I have seen this at low elevations (at Sealion Cove) and up here. This plant was growing near 4000 feet. I have not noticed it on any of the lower elevation mountains, but I am not sure why it wouldn’t grow there. (Update: My brother pointed out that we had seen it previously on Starrigavan Ridge. I did not remember that at all, but he had photographic evidence, so I couldn’t really argue.)

Moss Campion (Silene acaulis)
Moss Campion (Silene acaulis)
This is only the second time I have seen this plant. The first time I saw it was on the north side the summit of Mt. Verstovia (well below the summit, actually). This trip I saw it several times before I realized what it was. I pretty much missed the blooming, and the leaves and growth form were less familiar to me. Finally I realized what it was. The first photo shows what I typically saw, with bloomed out flowers. The second shows the one flower I found still blooming. I think I started seeing this species a little below 3500 feet, and it was present as high as I made it on the mountain.

Alpine Veronica (Veronica wormskjoldii)
I’m not absolutely certain about this identification and would welcome any necessary correction. It’s a fairly common plant of subalpine meadows. This particular plant was growing at around 4000 feet.