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  • Iconic symbol of the Sonoran Desert and the American Southwest - and the state flower of Arizona, this saguaro cactus is in full bloom in Southern Arizona near the Mexican border below the Puerto Blanco Mountains.
    Saguaro Blossoms!
  • Iconic symbol of the Sonoran Desert and the American Southwest - and the state flower of Arizona, this saguaro cactus is in full bloom in Southern Arizona near the Mexican border below the Puerto Blanco Mountains.
    Saguaro Blossoms!
  • Iconic symbol of the Sonoran Desert and the American Southwest - and the state flower of Arizona, this saguaro cactus is in full bloom in Southern Arizona near the Mexican border below the Puerto Blanco Mountains.
    Saguaro Blossoms!
  • Iconic symbol of the Sonoran Desert and the American Southwest - and the state flower of Arizona, this saguaro cactus is in full bloom in Southern Arizona near the Mexican border below the Puerto Blanco Mountains.
    Saguaro Blossoms!
  • The delicate salmonberry in full blossom, this member of the rose family is one of the very first spring wildflowers in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
    Salmonberry Blossom
  • Taiwan cherry blossoms - stylized into creative and "vintage" botanical art.
    Taiwan Cherry Blossoms
  • Given its somewhat similar appearance and fragrance to an orange blossom (besides the four petals vs. the orange's five) the mock-orange is the State Flower of Idaho and is native to Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia and Alberta. First collected by Meriwether Lewis himself on the famous Lewis and CLark expedition to find an overland route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, it was later named after him in his honor. This one was found growing halfway up a steep arroyo above the Cowiche Creek in Yakima County, WA.
    Mock-Orange
  • A blooming sticky purple geranium opens its first blossom on a warm summer day in rural Montana at the edge of a mountain forest. This plant is a natural astringent, and has a long history of being used by Native American tribes for various medicinal uses.
    Sticky Purple Geranium
  • This is truly the bush with many names, including Texas Ranger, Texas rain sage, cenizo, Texas silverleaf, Texas barometerbush, ash-bush, wild lilac, purple sage, senisa, cenicilla, palo cenizo, and hierba del cenizo. I'm choosing to just call it "Texas sage" as it is commonly called around where I found it in Mission, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. This plant has a cool feature: when it rains or the soil becomes wet, it will suddenly go into blossom. You can tell if an area has had recent rain just by the presence of these beautiful pink flowers, which look beautiful next to its silver leaves.
    Texas Sage 1
  • This is truly the bush with many names, including Texas Ranger, Texas rain sage, cenizo, Texas silverleaf, Texas barometerbush, ash-bush, wild lilac, purple sage, senisa, cenicilla, palo cenizo, and hierba del cenizo. I'm choosing to just call it "Texas sage" as it is commonly called around where I found it in Mission, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. This plant has a cool feature: when it rains or the soil becomes wet, it will suddenly go into blossom. You can tell if an area has had recent rain just by the presence of these beautiful pink flowers, which look beautiful next to its silver leaves.
    Texas Sage 2
  • This unusual tree found in California, Nevada, Arizona and parts of Mexico is named after its blue-green trunk and branches, and it's name in Spanish means "green  stick". Historically, the dried beans were an important food source for both wildlife and local indigenous native American tribes, the wood of the tree was important for making cooking utensils It also happens to be the State Tree of Arizona. I found this one in full blossom in the Colorado Desert, and it was swarming with bees, flies and other insects on a hot, dry spring morning just outside of Mecca, California.
    Blue Palo Verde with Beans
  • This unusual tree found in California, Nevada, Arizona and parts of Mexico is named after its blue-green trunk and branches, and it's name in Spanish means "green  stick". Historically, the dried beans were an important food source for both wildlife and local indigenous native American tribes, the wood of the tree was important for making cooking utensils It also happens to be the State Tree of Arizona. I found this one in full blossom in the Colorado Desert, and it was swarming with bees, flies and other insects on a hot, dry spring morning just outside of Mecca, California.
    Blue Palo Verde
  • A detailed look from above at a beavertail cactus in Joshua Tree National Park. This photograph was taken  in early April just after the spring rains when the plants of the desert burst into color and blossom.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Found along the lower slopes of the Cascades Mountains, this lupine is identified by leaf-shape and the noticealy reddish-brown stems where the flowers blossom.
    Streambank Lupine
  • This very common species of cactus is spectacular in bloom with its showy display of fuchsia flowers in the spring, such as this beavertail cactus in full blossom in Southern Nevada.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • A Mojave yucca in Southern California's Mojave desert shows already blossomed, flowers, closed flowers, and new buds late in the afternoon.
    Mojave Yucca
  • Found only in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, the hooded pitcher plant is one of the smaller of our native pitcher plants found at the edges of bogs and wet pinelands. Like all carnivorous plants, nectar glands inside the "hood" attract insects where a series of hairs inside the pitcher (a modified leaf) encourages the insect downward into the tube until it cannot turn around and escape. These insects will in turn be dissolved and deliver the essential nutrients that are needed in such a plant that grows in such nutrient-poor soils. This is the blossoming flower that is ironically also pollinated by flying insects. This one was found and photographed during the summer rains in the Osceola National Forest in North Florida.
    Hooded Pitcher Plant
  • Just about nobody notices the tiny, delicate green flowers of the stinging nettle. And they usually don't even notice this common North American native woodland plant at all until they walk through a patch of it with bare legs or bare feet, when the intense itching and burning starts when the sharp needles that cover the leaves puncture the skin. The good thing is that the pain goes away after about 5 or 10 minutes. This one was found in full flower in an old-growth forest in the Woodard Bay Conservation Area just outside of Olympia, Washington.
    Stinging Nettle Flowers
  • When looking at the flower of the Himalayan blackberry, it's easy to see that it actually is a member of the rose family. A favorite of bees and loads of other wildlife who love the delicious sweet blackberries that come later in the summer, this highly invasive import which is actually from the Armenia area (not sure where the  Himalayan part of the name comes from)  thrives in the Pacific Northwest and is a major pest for gardeners and forest stewards all over the region. This one was found in the Woodard Bay Conservation Area just outside of Olympia, Washington on a beautiful summer afternoon.
    Himalayan Blackberry Flowers
  • This beautiful native morning glory can be found in every state and province in North America in scattered populations across the United States and Canada. Commonly associated with salt or freshwater marshes and ranging in colors from pink, white with pink stripes to pure white, these beautiful summer bloomers grow on long herbaceous (non-woody) vines. This one was found growing in a thick patch next to a creek that was emptying into Henderson Inlet near Olympia, Washington, which is connects to the Puget Sound.
    Hedge Morning Glory (Calystegia sepium)
  • Also known as the orange mountain dandelion, this native relative to the (non-native) common dandelion is found across most of Western Canada and the United States in mountain valleys and subalpine altitudes. The leaves are edible and can be used for fermented beverages! This one was found and photographed in the mountains above Aspen, Colorado in Pitkin County on a hot summer day.
    Orange Agoseris
  • Also known as the orange mountain dandelion, this native relative to the (non-native) common dandelion is found across most of Western Canada and the United States in mountain valleys and subalpine altitudes. The leaves are edible and can be used for fermented beverages! This one was found and photographed in the mountains above Aspen, Colorado in Pitkin County on a hot summer day.
    Orange Agoseris
  • This beautiful native morning glory can be found in every state and province in North America in scattered populations across the United States and Canada. Commonly associated with salt or freshwater marshes and ranging in colors from pink, white with pink stripes to pure white, these beautiful summer bloomers grow on long herbaceous (non-woody) vines. This one was found growing in a thick patch next to a creek that was emptying into Henderson Inlet near Olympia, Washington, which is connects to the Puget Sound.
    Hedge Morning Glory (Calystegia sepium)
  • Also known as heal-all, self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) is a beautiful member of the mint family common all over much of North America all the way up to the Arctic Circle as an important medicinal plant. It is used for a variety of uses in many countries across the globe: it can be eaten fresh as a salad or cooked in soups and stews, a refreshing tea or as a olive-green dye. Medicinally, it is used for the treatment of wounds, ulcers, sores and is known to have antibacterial properties. This beauty was found in full flower in an old-growth forest in the Woodard Bay Conservation Area just outside of Olympia, Washington.
    Self-Heal (Prunella vulgaris)
  • Belonging to the family of wildflowers known as umbellifers that includes carrots, dill and celery, this just-about-to-blossom Columbia desert parsley is an uncommon native to the sagebrush steppes of Washington State and Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains. This one was found growing on the hilltops just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Columbia Desert Parsley
  • The firebush is a real beauty of the tropics and is a commonly encountered native shrub in South Florida and many parts of Mexico and Central America. A relative of coffee, the firebush (also known by many other names such as Mexican firecracker, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead) attracts large numbers of butterflies and hummingbirds who feed on the sweet nectar provided by the bright orange and red tubular flowers. This one was found growing deep in the Fakahatchee Strand in the northern part of the Florida Everglades in Collier County.
    Firebush
  • Also known as the grassy arrowhead, the grass-leaved arrowhead is a common native aquatic member of the water plantain family found all over eastern Canada and the United States, and across the southwestern states. It is found in marshes, swamps and along the sides of lakes and rivers with muddy soils, and can reach about 6 feet in height. This one was found growing in the Six Mile Cypress Sough in Fort Myers, Florida on a chilly fall evening.
    Grass-leaved Arrowhead (Sagittaria g..nea)
  • While looking very similar to our native penstemons in both shape and color, the wooded beardtongue has a couple of minor differences such as its serrated opposite leaves and winged seeds. This beautiful member of the plantain family is found in the mountains between British Columbia and Northern California on the west coast. These were found and photographed above the Carbon River, about 15 miles northwest of Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Woodland Beardtongue - 1
  • While looking very similar to our native penstemons in both shape and color, the wooded beardtongue has a couple of minor differences such as its serrated opposite leaves and winged seeds. This beautiful member of the plantain family is found in the mountains between British Columbia and Northern California on the west coast. These were found and photographed above the Carbon River, about 15 miles northwest of Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Woodland Beardtongue - 3
  • What a beauty! The shrubby penstemon is one of the many species of very pretty beardtongue wildflowers found all across the Pacific Northwest. This particular species is found growing in dense mats in the more arid regions on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains where there is less rainfall and more sunlight throughout the year. This one was found growing in thick profusion along one of the sides of Cowiche Canyon, just outside of Yakima, Washington.
    Shrubby Penstemon
  • The positively tiny clusters of the infamous stinging nettle are easily overlooked, especially when one is trying to avoid the painful rash this plant give in order to protect itself. This one was found in full bloom along Soos Creek in Kent, Washington on a cloudy summer day.
    Stinging Nettle Flowers
  • This pretty little bright yellow flowering pea is an invasive plant from Eurasia and Northern Africa and Africa that has taken over large parts of North America where it was once used to help control soil erosion in agricultural areas. These "escaped" plants were found growing in abundance along Soos Creek in Kent, Washington on a cloudy summer day.
    Bird's-Foot Trefoil -1
  • This beautiful native morning glory can be found in every state and province in North America in scattered populations across the United States and Canada. Commonly associated with salt or freshwater marshes and ranging in colors from pink, white with pink stripes to pure white, these beautiful summer bloomers grow on long herbaceous (non-woody) vines. This one was found in full flower on the edge of Soos Creek in Kent, Washington on a cloudy summer day.
    Hedge Morning Glory
  • Hardhack (also known by many other common names such as rose spirea, western spiraea, steeplebush and more) is common wetland flowering bush in the rose family that easily reaches a hight of around 7 feet and can be found in wet soils across the Pacific Northeast and Western Canadian provinces. It attracts a large number of pollinating bees, bumblebees and hummingbirds, and the thick vegetation it provides makes it ideal cover for all sorts of small mammals and birds to take shelter, such as rabbits, towhees and other passerine songbirds. This one was found in full flower on the edge of Soos Creek in Kent, Washington on a cloudy summer day.
    Hardhack
  • This tiny late-winter bloomer is a member of the figwort family and can be found anywhere in the wet conifer forests between the Puget Sound and San Fransisco Bay in the Pacific Northwest. This one was found growing at the base of a conifer on a wet, cold March mid-morning just outside of Yelm, Washington toward the northern end of its native range.
    Snow Queen
  • The wild poinsettia goes by many common names such as fire-on-the-mountain, paintedleaf, and dwarf poinsettia and is a member of the spurge family native to North and South America, but has spread all over the world. Related to the commercially important poinsettia that we all have come to love at Christmastime, this one was found growing wild among some landscaping at a community park in Palm Beach County, Florida. Many people think the red part of the is the petals, but they are actually just colored leaves called bracts that surround the flowers. You can see the tiny yellow flowers just inside the red bracts.
    Wild Poinsettia
  • Common in ponds and lakes all over Florida and eastern North America, this native spadderdock is often confused with the water lily, and is found as far north as Nova Scotia. The difference between spadderdock and true water lilies is that spadderdock has heart-shaped leaves and small, half-opened flowers and water lilies have round leaves and large showy flowers. This one was found growing in a lake in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Spadderdock2021-2.jpg
  • Common in ponds and lakes all over Florida and eastern North America, this native spadderdock is often confused with the water lily, and is found as far north as Nova Scotia. The difference between spadderdock and true water lilies is that spadderdock has heart-shaped leaves and small, half-opened flowers and water lilies have round leaves and large showy flowers. This one was found growing in a lake in Fort Myers, Florida.
    Spadderdock2021-1.jpg
  • While incredibly beautiful and also incredibly stinky, the parry's primrose is found blooming in the summertime in very high elevations 8,800 to 13,800 feet (2700 to 4200 meters), often within sight of melting snow. Although common in the Western United States, their range is restricted to Rocky Mountains and cannot be found in the coastal states. These incredibly bright native primroses were found just below the top of the tree line high in the mountains above Aspen, Colorado in Pitkin County at around 10,000 feet in elevation.
    Parry’s Primrose (Primula parryi) - 1
  • While incredibly beautiful and also incredibly stinky, the parry's primrose is found blooming in the summertime in very high elevations 8,800 to 13,800 feet (2700 to 4200 meters), often within sight of melting snow. Although common in the Western United States, their range is restricted to Rocky Mountains and cannot be found in the coastal states. These incredibly bright native primroses were found just below the top of the tree line high in the mountains above Aspen, Colorado in Pitkin County at around 10,000 feet in elevation.
    Parry’s Primrose (Primula parryi) - 2
  • While incredibly beautiful and also incredibly stinky, the parry's primrose is found blooming in the summertime in very high elevations 8,800 to 13,800 feet (2700 to 4200 meters), often within sight of melting snow. Although common in the Western United States, their range is restricted to Rocky Mountains and cannot be found in the coastal states. These incredibly bright native primroses were found just below the top of the tree line high in the mountains above Aspen, Colorado in Pitkin County at around 10,000 feet in elevation.
    Parry’s Primrose (Primula parryi) - 3
  • Found almost everywhere in North America (except Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida) this aggressive native aster has become invasive in parts of China, Japan and Europe. This perfect specimen was found near Soos Creek in Kent, Washington about 20 miles south of Seattle.
    Canada Goldenrod
  • A favorite food source for hummingbirds, butterflies and moths, the western trumpet honeysuckle is a beautiful flowering vine found throughout much of the western United States, including British Columbia in several types of coastal to lower-elevation mountain habitats. This particular one was found growing in wild profusion in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on the eastern side of Washington State's Cascade Mountains.
    Western Trumpet Honeysuckle
  • A favorite food source for hummingbirds, butterflies and moths, the western trumpet honeysuckle is a beautiful flowering vine found throughout much of the western United States, including British Columbia in several types of coastal to lower-elevation mountain habitats. This particular one was found growing in wild profusion in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on the eastern side of Washington State's Cascade Mountains.
    Western Trumpet Honeysuckle
  • A close-up view of the interesting fused leaves that form a disk around the honeysuckles flowers (or buds in this case). This native vine is found all over much of the western United States, including British Columbia in several types of coastal to lower-elevation mountain habitats. This particular one was found growing in wild profusion in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on the eastern side of Washington State's Cascade Mountains.
    Western Trumpet Honeysuckle Buds
  • Getting their name from the sweet nectar produced by their beautiful bright red-orange flowers and tube-like flowers, the western trumpet honeysuckle is a beautiful flowering vine found throughout much of the western United States, including British Columbia in several types of coastal to lower-elevation mountain habitats. These were found growing on a bright summer day overlooking the Puget Sound on Fidalgo Island in Washington State.
    Western Trumpet Honeysuckle
  • Getting their name from the sweet nectar produced by their beautiful bright red-orange flowers and tube-like flowers, the western trumpet honeysuckle is a beautiful flowering vine found throughout much of the western United States, including British Columbia in several types of coastal to lower-elevation mountain habitats. These were found growing on a bright summer day overlooking the Puget Sound on Fidalgo Island in Washington State.
    Western Trumpet Honeysuckle
  • A close-up view of the interesting fused leaves that form a disk around the honeysuckles flowers (or buds in this case). This native vine is found all over much of the western United States, including British Columbia in several types of coastal to lower-elevation mountain habitats. This particular one was found growing in wild profusion in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on the eastern side of Washington State's Cascade Mountains.
    Western Trumpet Honeysuckle Buds
  • This plant needs no introduction to most of us. I learned about it the hard way while unknowingly walking through a huge patch of it in shorts. While not native to North America, this "uncomfortable" is an unfortunate import from Europe, Asia and Western Africa where it has been stinging people and animals forever and now can be found growing in every state (except Hawaii) and province of the United States, Canada, and even in parts of Northern Mexico. As an act of delicious revenge, when the leaves of the stinging nettle are added to boiling water, the tiny stinging hairs break down resulting in a very healthy and nourishing food source, similar to cooked spinach. This one was found growing above the forrest cliffs of Whidbey Island in Washington State's Puget Sound.
    StingingNettle2020-1.jpg
  • Close-up of the tiny green flowers of the stinging nettle. While not native to North America, this "uncomfortable" is an unfortunate import from Europe, Asia and Western Africa where it has been stinging people and animals forever and now can be found growing in every state (except Hawaii) and province of the United States, Canada, and even in parts of Northern Mexico. As an act of delicious revenge, when the leaves of the stinging nettle are added to boiling water, the tiny stinging hairs break down resulting in a very healthy and nourishing food source, similar to cooked spinach. This one was found growing above the forrest cliffs of Whidbey Island in Washington State's Puget Sound.
    StingingNettle2020-2.jpg
  • Augochlora sweat bee feeding on the abundant nectar of a grizzlybear prickly pear cactus while collecting pollen in Central Washington.
    Augochlora Sweat Bee on Grizzlybear ..Pear
  • The desert Indian paintbrush is a common springtime bloomer throughout much of the American Southwest. This bright scarlet specimen was found growing in the dry sand on a canyon in Utah's Zion National Park.
    Desert Indian Paintbrush
  • Eastwood Indian paintbrushes thrive in arid, rocky canyons. This one was growing out of a crevice high up a rocky wall in Zion National Park.
    Eastwood Indian Paintbrush
  • Swamp lilies growing deep in the Fakahatchee Strand. In the summertime, these can be found just about anywhere there is standing water in the Florida Everglades.
    Swamp Lilies
  • Pine lily found growing on the side of a trail in the CREW Marsh Hiking Trails in Collier County, Fl.
    Pine Lily
  • The firebush is a real beauty of the tropics and is a commonly encountered native shrub in South Florida and many parts of Mexico and Central America. A relative of coffee, the firebush, (also known by many other names such as Mexican firecracker, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead, attracts large numbers of butterflies and hummingbirds who feed on the sweet nectar provided by the bright orange and red tubular flowers. This one was found growing in a nature preserve in Palm Beach County in South Florida.
    Firebush
  • The firebush is a real beauty of the tropics and is a commonly encountered native shrub in South Florida and many parts of Mexico and Central America. A relative of coffee, the firebush (also known by many other names such as Mexican firecracker, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead) attracts large numbers of butterflies and hummingbirds who feed on the sweet nectar provided by the bright orange and red tubular flowers. This one was found growing in a nature preserve in Palm Beach County in South Florida.
    Firebush
  • While looking very similar to our native penstemons in both shape and color, the wooded beardtongue has a couple of minor differences such as its serrated opposite leaves and winged seeds. This beautiful member of the plantain family is found in the mountains between British Columbia and Northern California on the west coast. These were found and photographed above the Carbon River, about 15 miles northwest of Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Woodland Beardtongue - 2
  • While superficially it looks like your common dandelion, the common cat's-ear is an invasive Eurasian species of aster that has run wild in the Pacific Northwest, particularly west of the Cascade Mountains where it is listed as a noxious weed. This one was found about 15 miles to the northwest of Mount Rainier in Washington state in an open field by the Carbon River.
    Common Cat's-Ear
  • While looking very similar to our native penstemons in both shape and color, the wooded beardtongue has a couple of minor differences such as its serrated opposite leaves and winged seeds. This beautiful member of the plantain family is found in the mountains between British Columbia and Northern California on the west coast. These were found and photographed above the Carbon River, about 15 miles northwest of Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Woodland Beardtongue - 4
  • This pretty little bright yellow flowering pea is an invasive plant from Eurasia and Northern Africa and Africa that has taken over large parts of North America where it was once used to help control soil erosion in agricultural areas. These "escaped" plants were found growing in abundance along Soos Creek in Kent, Washington on a cloudy summer day.
    Lotuspedunculatus2021-3
  • This pretty little bright yellow flowering pea is an invasive plant from Eurasia and Northern Africa and Africa that has taken over large parts of North America where it was once used to help control soil erosion in agricultural areas. These "escaped" plants were found growing in abundance along Soos Creek in Kent, Washington on a cloudy summer day.
    Bird's-Foot Trefoil -2
  • A common wetland plant in Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, the alligator flag (also known as bent alligator-flag or arrowroot) has large lance-shaped leaves and can grow in standing freshwater to a height of six to ten feet! This one was blooming out of season (usually May through July) in late November in the Corkscrew Swamp in Southwest Florida.
    Alligator Flag Flower
  • Close-up of the tiny green flowers of the stinging nettle. While not native to North America, this "uncomfortable" is an unfortunate import from Europe, Asia and Western Africa where it has been stinging people and animals forever and now can be found growing in every state (except Hawaii) and province of the United States, Canada, and even in parts of Northern Mexico. As an act of delicious revenge, when the leaves of the stinging nettle are added to boiling water, the tiny stinging hairs break down resulting in a very healthy and nourishing food source, similar to cooked spinach. This one was found growing above the forrest cliffs of Whidbey Island in Washington State's Puget Sound.
    StingingNettle2020-3.jpg
  • These gorgeous spring bloomers are perfectly adapted to finding the best sources of water in the desert. By growing wedged into these cracks, they can tap into the parts of the canyon walls that retain the most water since the last rain, as seen here in Utah's Zion National Park.
    Eastwood Indian Paintbrush
  • A desert specialist, the Eastwood paintbrush thrives in the cracks in canyon walls of Zion National Park, and blooms a vibrant scarlet in the springtime.
    Eastwood Indian Paintbrush
  • The  Eastwood Indian paintbrush has found a special niche in its harsh desert environment in which to thrive. They are found almost exclusively in cracks and crevices in the canyon walls of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
    Eastwood Indian Paintbrush
  • Alligator Lily in the Big Cypress National Preserve. These are very common in summer when the prairies are completely flooded in the middle of the wet season.
    Alligator Lily
  • The exotic and unusual alligator lily growing out of a swampy region in the Florida Everglades. These flowers are freshly opened, and naturally have this "ragged" edge.
    Alligator Lily
  • This particularly beautiful specimen of a the seep monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata) is a favorite of our native bumble bees which it relies on heavily for pollination, but is also known to self-pollinate when there aren't enough bees. This particular one was found in Kent, Washington in the wetlands around Soos Creek on a warm, sunny day.
    Seep Monkeyflower
  • Yellow bells (also known as yellow fritillaries or yellow missionbells) are very small, beautiful bell-shaped wild native lilies that grow among the hills, slopes and upper canyons of sagebrush country in early sprint in the Western United States and both British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. The small bulbs were traditionally used for a food source, which can be eaten both cooked and raw. This one was found growing on a mid-March morning just east of Yakima, Washington State.
    YellowBells-1
  • Confined to Western North America, the bulbiferous prairie star is an interesting member of the Saxifrage family with peculiar spiky petals. These were found on the exposed hilltops above the sagebrush canyon lands just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Bulbiferous Woodland Star
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This patch was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-3
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This one was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-1
  • Seen from above, the California pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica) grows well in sunny, wet places with poor soil nutrients. Unusual for pitcher plants, the water contained inside the covered (or hooded) pitchers is drawn in from the roots instead of using rainwater. This may possibly be a way to keep from diluting the enzymes in the "trap" that are used to dissolve and break down the trapped insects in a climate where there is so much rainfall.  These were found growing in a peat bog in rural Josephine County, Oregon near the California border.
    California Pitcher Plant
  • Of the two green-flowered piperia orchids found in North America, this one is also the most common and is found in most of the Western United States and Canada, and parts of Eastern Canada including Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland. How you can tell the two apart is by the length of the spur, which is a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower. In this species, the spur is equal to or slightly shorter than the lip of the flower (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal" in the middle of each flower) as opposed to the closely related long-spurred Piperia (Piperia elongata) which has a spur quite a bit longer than the lip. As always, it always makes me very excited to see these unusual and often hard to spot wild native orchids out in the wild, such as this one growing near the Deschutes River in rural Thurston County, Washington just west of Mount Rainier.
    Piperia unalascensis-13.jpg
  • Of the two green-flowered piperia orchids found in North America, this one is also the most common and is found in most of the Western United States and Canada, and parts of Eastern Canada including Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland. How you can tell the two apart is by the length of the spur, which is a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower. In this species, the spur is equal to or slightly shorter than the lip of the flower (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal" in the middle of each flower) as opposed to the closely related long-spurred Piperia (Piperia elongata) which has a spur quite a bit longer than the lip. As always, it always makes me very excited to see these unusual and often hard to spot wild native orchids out in the wild, such as this one growing near the Deschutes River in rural Thurston County, Washington just west of Mount Rainier.
    Piperia unalascensis-12.jpg
  • Of the two green-flowered piperia orchids found in North America, this one is also the most common and is found in most of the Western United States and Canada, and parts of Eastern Canada including Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland. How you can tell the two apart is by the length of the spur, which is a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower. In this species, the spur is equal to or slightly shorter than the lip of the flower (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal" in the middle of each flower) as opposed to the closely related long-spurred Piperia (Piperia elongata) which has a spur quite a bit longer than the lip. As always, it always makes me very excited to see these unusual and often hard to spot wild native orchids out in the wild, such as this one growing in Washington's  Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in rural Kittitas County on the Eastern side of the Cascade Mountains.
    Piperia unalascensis-7.jpg
  • Close-up view of one of the two green-flowered piperia orchids found in North America, this one is also the most common and is found in most of the Western United States and Canada, and parts of Eastern Canada including Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland. How you can tell the two apart is by the length of the spur, which is a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower. In this species, the spur is equal to or slightly shorter than the lip of the flower (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal" in the middle of each flower) as opposed to the closely related long-spurred Piperia (Piperia elongata) which has a spur quite a bit longer than the lip. As always, it always makes me very excited to see these unusual and often hard to spot wild native orchids out in the wild, such as this one growing in Washington's  Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in rural Kittitas County on the Eastern side of the Cascade Mountains.
    Piperia unalascensis-4.jpg
  • Easily distinguishable from the other four native species of piperia orchids in the Pacific Northwest, the slender white piperia (Piperia candida) is the only one with a spur (a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower) that is equal to or shorter than the lip (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal"), and also  has white flowers. Two other species fit this description, but both of those have green to yellowish-green flowers. It is also one of the westernmost species, found growing geographically near the Pacific Ocean in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. This one was found growing near the Deschutes River in rural Thurston County, just west of Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Piperia candida-3.jpg
  • Close-up view of the slender white piperia orchids, easily distinguished from the other four native species of piperia orchids in the Pacific Northwest, the slender white piperia (Piperia candida) is the only one with a spur (a small horn-like appendage growing underneath each flower) that is equal to or shorter than the lip (the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal"), and also  has white flowers. Two other species fit this description, but both of those have green to yellowish-green flowers. It is also one of the westernmost species, found growing geographically near the Pacific Ocean in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. This one was found growing near the Deschutes River in rural Thurston County, just west of Mount Rainier in Washington State.
    Piperia candida-2.jpg
  • A very lucky find in Washington's Olympic Mountains! This tiny orchid was in full bloom up a narrow mountain goat trail overlooking the majestic glaciers and peaks found in Olympic National Park. Found only in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia, this easily overlooked beauty is only one of two green-flowered Piperia species growing in the Pacific Northwest. How you tell this one apart from the somewhat similar Alaskan piperia is the length of the spur. This one (Piperia elongata) has a spur on the flower that greatly exceeds the length of the lip, while the closely related Alaskan piperia (Piperia unalascensis) has a spur that is equal to or slightly less than the length of the lip. The spur in this photo looks a bit like a horn growing underneath each flower, and the lip is the bottom part that looks like a wide "lower petal" in the middle of each flower.
    Piperia elongata-2.jpg
  • Poison oak in full flower outside of Medford, Oregon. While it is an important food source to several species of deer and squirrels, the slightest casual contact with leaves and flowers and the urushiol oil found within the plant can cause mild to severe reactions in humans in the form of blistered skin, swelling of limbs, seeping wounds and severe itching. Symptoms can become worse with proximity to the smoke of burning poison oak.
    Poison Oak
  • The mountain death camas spends much of the year underground as an onion-like corm, until the spring when it emerges as a beautiful, multi-flowered stalk. It is distinguishable from other death camas from the greenish-yellow markings on the petals, and as the name suggests, it is very poisonous to humans and livestock. This one was found growing in the Rocky Mountains, just east of Aspen, Colorado on a chilly subalpine June morning at about 9000 feet.
    Mountain Death Camas
  • The purple-petal bog orchid (also known as the short-spurred bog orchid - a better name!) is another one of those difficult to ID members of the Platanthera family of bog orchids that not only look very similar to other species, they also hybridize to make identification even more confusing and difficult. Even the common name is misleading as the flowers are actually dark green, but some of them can develop a faintly reddish to purplish coloration. The most important keys to identifying this species are the width of the base of the lip, the short length of the spur and thick, blunt and wildly-positioned leaves. This one was part of a small colony found growing in standing water at about 12,000 feet in elevation in the Rocky Mountains at Independence Pass, just east of Aspen, Colorado.
    Purple Petal Bog Orchid (Platanthera..ens)
  • The sudetic lousewort - also known as fernweed -  (Pedicularis sudetica subsp. scopulorum) is a non-native European import member of the Orobanchaceae family that is found primarily in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. Like other louseworts, it is parasitic on the living roots of neighboring plants. These were found growing at approximately 12,000 feet on the continental divide, just east of Aspen, Colorado.
    Sudetic Lousewort
  • The Japanese honeysuckle is an Asian import that has found its way into the wild into most of the continental United States excluding Oregon, the Rocky Mountain states and the Great Plains. It can also be found in parts of Ontario, Canada. This beautiful honeysuckle was in full bloom in a small wooded area in Kent, Washington.
    Japanese Honeysuckle
  • Also known as pinkladies, pink evening primrose and Mexican evening primrose, this wonderfully beautiful native to the Central United States and Northeastern Mexico is spreading across all of the lower half of the continental United States from coast to coast, mostly due to its use in gardens and hardy nature. These were photographed just a few feet from the beach in North Florida's St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf of Mexico.
    Showy Evening Primrose (Oenothera sp..osa)
  • Also known as pinkladies, pink evening primrose and Mexican evening primrose, this wonderfully beautiful native to the Central United States and Northeastern Mexico is spreading across all of the lower half of the continental United States from coast to coast, mostly due to its use in gardens and hardy nature. These were photographed just a few feet from the beach in North Florida's St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf of Mexico.
    Showy Evening Primrose (Oenothera sp..osa)
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Newly budding bitterroots growing at the top of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. A sometime food source of many of the Native Americans who inhabited the Western plains and sagebrush deserts where the bitterroot grows, the first European explorers found the roots too bitter to be palatable, so the first to arrive - the French named this plant the "racine amer" translated literally as bitter root. Not are these some of the most beautiful of all the flowering plants of the summer, these are also the toughest!
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Tough and beautiful! One of the toughest plants in all of North America, the bitterroot is also one of the prettiest. The bitterroot grows natively in all the western continental states (excluding Arizona), including Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, where it remains dormant for most of the year buried under snow, ice, and completely dried up in hot desert sand. In late spring to early summer, this ground-hugging perennial of the sagebrush deserts and plains puts out one of the most incredible white to bright pink flowers, that shows in very sharp contrast to the surrounding habitat. These were found growing at the top of some of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.
    Bitterroot
  • Newly budding bitterroots growing at the top of the hills near Whiskey Dick Mountain near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. A sometime food source of many of the Native Americans who inhabited the Western plains and sagebrush deserts where the bitterroot grows, the first European explorers found the roots too bitter to be palatable, so the first to arrive - the French named this plant the "racine amer" translated literally as bitter root. Not are these some of the most beautiful of all the flowering plants of the summer, these are also the toughest!
    Bitterroot
  • Also known as the checker lily or mission bells, the chocolate lily (Fritillaria lanceolata - fritillaria refers the mottled or checkered pattern on the petals) is a native, somewhat uncommon to rare member of the lily family found in cool mid-elevation mountains to coastal forests ranging from Northern California to British Columbia, and as far east as Idaho. One the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains it can be found growing in open prairies and grassy bluffs. The chocolate lily grows from tiny rice-like bulbs and once was used as a food source to the indigenous people who have lived here for millennia. The Haida, a tribe from British Columbia when first introduced to rice, referred to this new food as "fritillary-teeth." These were part of a large colony found and photographed in the Olympic National Forest next to Lake Cushman on a bright and sunny May spring morning, just west of Hoodsport, Washington.
    Chocolate Lilies
  • The cardinal flower is an extremely beautiful member of the lobelia family native to most of the United States (excluding the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies states, and the Dakotas) and Eastern Canada. It is primarily found in somewhat wet soils, near marshes, streams, rivers, floodplains etc. and is such a vibrant red that it is easily spotted from a distance. This particularly large plant stood about five foot tall, and even though I found it growing in a depression of a dried-up creek, it still stood tall in the forest near the Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle on a very hot and sweltering summer day.
    Cardinal Flower
  • The cardinal flower is an extremely beautiful member of the lobelia family native to most of the United States (excluding the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies states, and the Dakotas) and Eastern Canada. It is primarily found in somewhat wet soils, near marshes, streams, rivers, floodplains etc. and is such a vibrant red that it is easily spotted from a distance. This particularly large plant stood about five foot tall, and even though I found it growing in a depression of a dried-up creek, it still stood tall in the forest near the Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle on a very hot and sweltering summer day.
    Cardinal Flower
  • Also known as the desert Indian paintbrush, linearleaf Indian paintbrush,  narrow-leaved Indian paintbrush, and Wyoming desert paintbrush, this is one of the tallest of North America's Castilleja species, reaching upward to four feet and sometimes growing in such density that they can appear more like a shrub than the typical, low-growing singular forb wildflower one would expect to see among Indian paintbrushes. These unusually orange (they are usually red) beauties were found blooming in profusion in Utah's Arches National Park.
    Wyoming Indian Paintbrush (Castillej..lia)
  • With the reputation of being the plant that has killed more people in the Pacific Northwest than any other plant ever will, the death camas is a rather plain-looking, white-flowered member of the bunchflower family that often grows in and among the historically significant common camas, which has been used as a food source for centuries, if not millennia. The corm (think of something similar to a tulip or daffodil bulb) of the common blue-flowering camas was an extremely important food source for the native peoples and settling pioneers, and when dug up when not in flower, the nutritious common camas corm and the highly poisonous death camas corm are virtually indistinguishable. This was one of hundreds found and photographed among the edible common camas on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes, Washington on a mid-April afternoon almost at the very edge of the high cliffs overlooking Rosario Strait.
    Meadow Death Camas
  • The thimbleberry is one of those often overlooked, highly under-appreciated wild berries that deserves a lot more credit than it gets. Found in all of the western states, and Canadian provinces and all around the Great Lakes, both in the United States and Canada the humble thimbleberry is considered by many to be superior than any raspberry. It is easily recognized in the wild by its large, papery maple-shaped leaves and completely thornless stalks. The tart, intensely fruity, high in Vitamin C berries are used to make some of the best jellies, and are often added to other berries such as blueberries, blackberries and raspberries to kick up the sweetness and flavor. These were found growing above Lake McDonald in Montana's Glacier National Park.
    Thimbleberries
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