Wildflowers of North Columbia Country

Table of Contents

• Variety in Bloom
• Rare and Beautiful

Variety in Bloom
by Kathy Ahlenslager

If "earth laughs in flowers," as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, then northeastern Washington chuckles grandly: about half of the 2,300 native plants known from Washington grow here in our three county area.

Our diversity of plant life comes from wide variations in elevation, precipitation, and soil and rock types. Elevations range from 1,200 feet along the Columbia River to 7,300 feet on top of Abercrombie Mountain: that's 6,100 feet of vertical relief. Valleys usually receive 15-25 inches of precipitation, while twice that much falls in the Selkik Mountains above Sullivan Lake. Several soil and rock types add to the jumble of plant patterns on our landscape.

Throughout the summer, bands of color move up the mountainsides. To enjoy this grand plant diversity take a drive or hike from a valley bottom to a mountain top. Visit the dry ponderosa pine forests of Republic and the moist western redcedar-western hemlock forests around Metaline Falls to contrast the plant variety.

The best places for bouquets of color in June occur on warm, south-facing slopes at low to mid-elevations. A drive along State Highway 20, west of the Kettle Falls, will take you past slopes of ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir. Patches of flowers color the roadsides: the reds of Indian paintbrush and sky rocket; the blues of lupine and blue bells; the yellows of biscuit-root and arnica; the whites of mockorange, oceanspray, and nine-bark; and the purples of phacelia.

In June a day-hike in Hoodoo Canyon provides a feast of color. The trail through this deep, narrow, glacially carved canyon starts in a western redcedar forest at Trout Lake in the Kettle River Range. The 2.5 mile hike north to Emerald Lake takes you through stands of ponderosa and lodgepole pines, Douglas-fir, and western larch. Granite walls rise 2,000 feet to the 5,313-foot top of Coyote Mountain.

Botanists tallied 139 species of plants from Hoodoo Canyon. Red Indian paintbrush and blue lupine carpet some slopes of the trail. Along the trail grow pink wild rose, kinnikinnick, and prince's pine; and white thimbleberry and bunchberry dogwood.

Have you ever made a list of all the plants you recognized from an area? If you don't know the name of a plant, make up your own and keep a tally. You might be surprised at how much more you see, if you think about what you'd name them.

To find the Hoodoo Canyon trail head, drive about 3 miles west of Kettle Falls on Highway 395 to State Highway 20. Follow State Highway 20 south and west about 5 miles to Trout Lake Road #020. Take Road #020 north about 3 miles to Trout Lake. The trail starts in the campground.

A favorite hike of mine in early July is up Abercrombie Mountain to see the bear grass. The stinky, three-foot-tall, white flowering stalks attract flies for pollination. Although bear grass is a lily, Lewis and Clark called it bear grass and the name stuck. They saw bears in the plants and thought they ate them. The flowering stalks are eaten by squirrels, bighorn sheep and deer.

At least 60 kinds plants grow along the trail up Abercrombie Mountain. Tree types change from western redcedar at the trail head to subalpines firs higher up the mountain. Look for white-bark pines at the top of the mountain. The more showy flowers include orange mountain dandelion, red Indian paintbrush, blue lupine, yellow parrot's beak, white valerian, yellow mountain-heather, white rhododendron, and purple penstemon.

Abercrombie Mountain lies northeast of Colville, about 5 miles south of the Canadian border in the Selkirk Mountain Range. From Colville take the Aladdin Road (#9435) north 23 miles to Deep Creek Road (#9445) and follow it north for 7 miles. At Leadpoint turn right (east) on Silver Creek Road (#4720) and drive about 3 miles to Road #7078. Take Road #7078 north about 3 miles to Road #300 and stay on Road #300 about 2.5 miles to its end at the trail head. The 3.2 miles of trail climbs 3,200 feet to the peak. At the ridge you pop out of the forest for a panoramic view of the Pend Oreille and Columbia River valleys and the Kettle River Range.

Always bring a map, water, lunch and rain gear for hikes. Poison ivy and stinging nettles are a part of our plant diversity, so watch what you touch. Also, check for wood ticks after hiking. If you're interested in free, guided wildflower hikes, contact the Colville National Forest (509-684-7000) for this summer's schedule.

Kathy Ahlenslager is the Forest Botanist for the Colville National Forest and a wildflower enthusiast.

Suggested flower guides include:
* Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia, by Roberta Parish, Ray Coupe and Dennis Loyd (Lone Pine)
* Mountain Plants of the Pacific Northwest, by Ronald J. Taylor and George W. Douglas
* Wayside Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, by Dee Strickler

For more hiking information see:
* The Hiker's Guide to Washington, by Rod Akinson
* 100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest, by Rich Landers and Ida Rowe Dolphin
* Accessible Trails in Washington's Backcountry, a Guide to 85 Outings, by The Washington Trails Association

Violet. Photo by Kirk Larson.
Oregon grape. Staff photo.

Contents

Rare and Beautiful
Article by Steve Rumsey.

Introducing the kidney-leaved violet (Viola renifolia), a wonderful and astonishing discovery, and a reminder that -- though humanity has walked every square inch of Northeastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle, though we've logged, farmed, and built on much of it, though we've driven its roads, hiked its trails, and paddled its rivers and lakes -- we still have much to learn about North Columbia country.

This particular story began in 1999 when a Forest Service employee was conducting a rare plant survey in a project area on the Colville National Forest, a procedure they follow prior to any ground disturbing activity, including logging, road construction, mining or grazing in an area that might harbor undiscovered living treasures. That is why Kirk Larson, a botanist for the CNF, was tramping around the woods, keeping his eyes to the ground. Sure enough, he found a plant that he couldn't positively identify and sent it off for analysis. The results surprised everyone, for botanists once believed that the kidney-leaved violet was extinct in Washington.

More abundant in the northeastern United States and British Columbia than here, the kidney-leaved violet is a tiny delight for those wildflower enthusiasts who are sharp-eyed, persistent, and lucky enough to see it. If you were standing next to one, it would rise not much higher than your ankle, a mere four inches. Five white petals make up the flower, and the lower three petals sport distinct purple stripes. The flowers sprout atop a stalk that usually doesn't grow as high as the highest leaves. A perennial, it grows in moist forests between 2200 and 4400 feet in elevation. Its discovery in Northeastern Washington defines the extreme southwestern extent of its range. To date, only twenty sites have been located in Washington. To protect the delicate population Larson discovered, the Forest Service established a buffer zone to ensure that no disturbance of this violet's habitat will occur. In addition, the plant was added to the list of rare and endangered plants kept by the Washington Natural Heritage Program. Run by Washington State's Department of Natural Resources, the program is charged with keeping inventory of the state's native plants to provide an accurate, scientific picture of the state's flora that can then serve as a basis for more sound decision-making about land use issues for the public and government both.

Violets have five petals, one of which usually grows into a kind of pouch. Though they flower beautifully in the spring, these first flowers don't produce seeds. Instead, the plant hides its seeds in flowers that grow low on the stalk at ground level, or sometimes underground. These seed-producing flowers don't actually ever open, but dry around the seed, providing fertilizer when the seeds disburse. People have long eaten the flowers and leaves of violets in salads, though the kidney-leaved violets in this area should be left un-munched due to their rarity. Violets are also used in various folk remedies.

The story of this flower shows -- once again -- that the closer we look, the more we see, and that, as another botanist for the Colville National Forest, Kathy Ahlenslager, puts it, "There are discoveries waiting for us, right here in Northeastern Washington."

For More Information:

Although there are a number of excellent field guides available for the flora of the region, Kathy Ahlenslager especially recommends "Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia," edited by Roberta Parish, Ray Coupe and Dennis Lloyd (Lone Pine, $19.95). This thorough guide covers the ecosystem of North Columbia country, is readable and user-friendly, and has a sturdy binding that will stand up to years of use indoors and out.

Also, the Colville National Forest sponsors a series of field trips each summer in their NatureWatch program. These include plenty of time for wildflowering. For a complete schedule, call 509-684-7000 or check the Web site here.

The Washington Natural Heritage Program Web site is at here.

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