Blue and violet wildflowers in-bloom in the first week of June
(from top-to-bottom, left-to-right: Penstemon sp., Mertensia longiflora,Delphinium bicolor, Lupinus sericeus, Viola adunca, Linum lewisii, Mertensia paniculata)
Lolo National Forest, MT
June 2014, 2015, 2016
Robert Niese
I finally have an instagram with loads of not-so-sciencey nature and personal content! Feel free to drop by and peak into the life of a nerdy natural historian!
www.instagram.com/robertniese/
Penstemon eriantherus “Fuzzy-tongue Penstemon” Plantaginaceae (Scroph.)
Drinking Horse Mountain, Bozeman, MT
June 3, 2015
Robert Niese
As one of our largest penstemons in the PNW, this flower is hard to miss! Look for it on drier hillsides and valleys east of the Cascades where it often blooms alongside Lupine (Lupinus sp.) and Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sp.). Its common name, Fuzzy-tongue Penstemon, is somewhat misleading as all penstemons are characterized by possessing a “fuzzy tongue.” These fuzzy tongues are actually sterile stamens (one of five total, which is where the name “pente-stamen” comes from) which attract pollinators.
Mimulus lewisii “Purple Monkeyflower” Phrymaceae (Scrophulariaceae)
Great Burn, Lolo National Forest, MT
July 10, 2015
Robert Niese
This species of monkeyflower was named after the naturalist and explorer, Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark), who discovered it in Montana, at the headwaters of the Missouri River. Although Lewis was not formally trained as a botanist, he collected and described hundreds of plant species, many of which were completely new to science at the time. Specimens of this particular plant, however, were lost in a flood and never made it back to Washington DC where they would have been cataloged, named, and formally described by Frederick Pursh. Instead, using only Lewis’s descriptions in his journal, Pursh was able to define this plant as a new species!
Castilleja hispida “Harsh Paintbrush” Orobanchaceae
Lolo National Forest, Bitterroot Mountains, MT
May 10, 2015
Robert Niese
There are three or four species of paintbrushes with red bracts in the Pacific Northwest. The two most common are the Harsh Paintbrush (C. hispida) and the Common Crimson Paintbrush (C. miniata). C. hispida has a dense coat of long, hispid hairs (which look lovely when back-lit!) and will always have lobed leaves on the upper third of their stems. Conversely C. miniata is often less hairy and will have unlobed leaves on the entire stem (sometimes with small lobes on the upper-most portion). The two can also be differentiated by their calyces which are pointed in C. miniata and blunt in C. hispida.
Fun Fact: All paintbrush species are parasites, growing on the roots of other plants to survive.
Castilleja hispida “Harsh Paintbrush” Orobanchaceae
Lolo National Forest, Bitterroot Mountains, MT
May 10, 2015
Robert Niese
There are three or four species of paintbrushes with red bracts in the Pacific Northwest. The two most common are the Harsh Paintbrush (C. hispida) and the Common Crimson Paintbrush (C. miniata). C. hispida has a dense coat of long, hispid hairs (which look lovely when back-lit!) and will always have lobed leaves on the upper third of their stems. Conversely C. miniata is often less hairy and will have unlobed leaves on the entire stem (sometimes with small lobes on the upper-most portion). The two can also be differentiated by their calyces which are pointed in C. miniata and blunt in C. hispida.
Fun Fact: All paintbrush species are parasites, growing on the roots of other plants to survive.
Collinsia parviflora “Blue-eyed Mary” Plantaginaceae (Scrophulariaceae)
Missoula, MT
April 23, 2015
Robert Niese
The Smallflowered Blue-eyed Mary is a common PNW plant, but its diminuitive growth habit makes it easy to miss. The flowers of this plant are rarely more than a few millimeters across and they hardly grow more than 10cm off the ground. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with photographing several small-flowered plants with my new macro light-ring in the botany lab (they’ve got black lab benches that provide a nice background). I’m quite satisfied with the results!
Collinsia parviflora “Blue-eyed Mary” Plantaginaceae (Scrophulariaceae)
Lolo National Forest, Bitterroot Mountains, MT
April 18, 2015
Robert Niese
The Smallflowered Blue-eyed Mary is a common PNW plant, but its diminuitive growth habit makes it easy to miss. The flowers of this plant are rarely more than a few millimeters across and they rarely grow more than 10cm off the ground. Here in Montana, they begin blooming as soon as the snow melts in March and will continue through July.
Cymbalaria muralis "Ivy-leaved Toadflax" Plantaginaceae (Scrophulariaceae)
Tacoma, WA
May 2013
Robert Niese
A common garden creeper, introduced from Mediterranean Europe. Very cute and very tiny (~1cm).
This plant has an unusual method of propagation. The flower stalk is initially positively phototropic and moves towards the light—after fertilization it becomes negatively phototropic and moves away from the light. This results in seed being pushed into dark crevices of rock walls, where it is more likely to germinate and where it prefers to grow.
This individual flower has, in fact, been pollinated.
Northwest Naturalist 
