SE Oregon Flowers

The purpose of this forum is to help people identify things they've seen while out hiking: wildflowers, trees, birds, insects, small animals, animal tracks, even geographical features like buttes or streams
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cfm
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SE Oregon Flowers

Post by cfm » May 12th, 2022, 6:51 pm

I recently met some flowers I was unfamiliar with on a trip to SE Oregon. Do you recognize, them?

This purple plant might be in the mustard family, was growing in masses near some of the moister areas.
purple1.JPG
Purple2.JPG
This looked kind of like a heather:
mysterywhite.JPG
In the pea family, I think this is an Astragalus, rather showy!
A1.JPG
A2.JPG
Pretty composite:
C1.JPG
C2.JPG
And up on Ninemile Ridge near Pendleton, I saw a bunch of these, I think in the mint family:
M1.jpg
M3.jpg
Was excited to stumble on a few patches of Hespirochiron spp.
H1.JPG
H2.JPG

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adamschneider
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by adamschneider » May 12th, 2022, 8:48 pm

cfm wrote:
May 12th, 2022, 6:51 pm
This purple plant might be in the mustard family, was growing in masses near some of the moister areas.
Blue mustard. It's an invasive weed.
This looked kind of like a heather:
Something in the mustard family. Maybe a penny-cress.
In the pea family, I think this is an Astragalus, rather showy!
The second one is Astragalus purshii. The first might be Astragalus too, but not one I recognize off-hand. Where was it?
Pretty composite:
Either Balsamorhiza hookeri or Balsamorhiza hispidula.
And up on Ninemile Ridge near Pendleton, I saw a bunch of these, I think in the mint family:
Besseya rubra, a.k.a. Synthyris rubra, a.k.a. Veronica rubra.

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adamschneider
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by adamschneider » May 12th, 2022, 9:03 pm

By the way: what part of Ninemile Ridge? I'd think it would still be buried in snow.

cfm
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by cfm » May 12th, 2022, 9:35 pm

Thanks Adam. The location was the South Bull Canyon RNA near Juntura. I was helping ONDA with site monitoring.

Although it was snowing while I was hiking Ninemile Ridge, nothing accumulated, and was snow free on the trail except for a few sections near the summit on the north facing slopes.

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adamschneider
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by adamschneider » May 12th, 2022, 10:05 pm

cfm wrote:
May 12th, 2022, 9:35 pm
Although it was snowing while I was hiking Ninemile Ridge, nothing accumulated, and was snow free on the trail except for a few sections near the summit on the north facing slopes.
So is Skyline Road fully open?

cfm
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by cfm » May 13th, 2022, 4:24 am

If you mean the FS 32 road to Buck Creek TH, yes it is open to that point.

However the bridge is out just after the turnoff for the TH. I walked up it a ways after my hike and the river is eating the road away.
river eats road.jpg
I will update the Field Guide

This is what it looked like between snow showers on Ninemile Ridge last week:
9mile ridgeview.jpg

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adamschneider
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by adamschneider » May 13th, 2022, 6:12 am

Oh, you were on the NORTH end of Ninemile Ridge. Skyline Road is FR 31, and it accesses the south end of the ridge at a much higher elevation. That's probably not open.

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bobcat
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Re: SE Oregon Flowers

Post by bobcat » May 13th, 2022, 8:08 am

The "heather" is a rather rare plant in the mustard family: Polyctenium fremontii (desert combleaf).

https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=7483

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