Arapaho Pass trail, Indian Peaks wilderness area

This place takes my breath away. We couldn’t get to Arapaho pass or Diamond lake with out going through bogs and snowfields, but still found all these wildflowers. Seems like it is still early in wildflowers season at 10,000 to 11,000 feet.

Shooting star, Dodecatheon pulchellum, Primulaceae (Primrose) family

Alpine Forget-Me-Not, Eritrichium aretioides, Boraginaceae (Borage)

Globeflower, Trollius albiflorus, Ranunculaceae (Buttercup)

Marsh marigold, Psychrophila leptosepala, Ranunculaceae (Buttercup). USDA puts this in buttercup family, but other references call this a hellebore. This looks similar to the globeflower and both are growing abundantly along the streams.

Glacier Lily, Erythronium grandiflorum, Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Purple Fringe, Phacelia sericea, Hydrophyllaceae (Waterleaf)

Parry’s Primrose, Primula parryi, Primulaceae (Primrose). Just budding.

Indian paintbrush, Castilleja sp., Orobanchaceae (Broomrape Family)

Valeriana acutiloba, Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle)

Jacob’s ladder, Polemonium pulcherrimum, Polemoniaceae (Phlox)

Sky Pilot, Polemonium viscosum, Polemoniaceae (Phlox)

Pygmy Bitterroot, Lewisia pygmaea, Portulacaceae (Purslane)

Probably about to bloom Rose crown, Rhodiola rhodantha, Crassulaceae (Stonecrop)

Snowball Saxifrage, Micranthes rhomboidea, Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage)

Blueberry, Vaccinium myrtillus,  Ericaceae (Heath). I’ll have to verify this one. I know this is a Heath, but am not positive it is a blueberry because I haven’t seen fruit. Huckleberry has similar flowers and could also be at this location. But, I am eliminating huckleberry based on the toothed leaves.

butterfly

Nuttall’s Violet, Viola nuttalli, Violaceae (Violet)

Wallflower

scenery

Rocky Mountain National Park wildflowers, shrubs, and bugs

A close up of Purple Fringe,  Phacelia sericea.  My friend Alice found this at the Alluvial fan.  It is also called purple pincushion — imagine the long stamens with yellow anthers are the pins. For this blog, I go with USDA plant database to chose between synonyms or to ID families, so I’ll call this a Hydrophyllaceae (Waterleaf). But one of my favorite websites, swcoloradowildflowers.com , puts this in the Borage family.

Purple Fringe,  Phacelia sericea . At the Alluvial fan.

Darn tick! Found this when I got home. The only tick in Rocky Mountain National Park is the Rocky Mountain wood tick. I believe this is a male. According to the fact sheet linked below, these can cause Colorado Tick Fever.

RMNP tick fact sheet

Pine Tiger Moth, Lophocampa ingens, photo credit to my friend Andrew.  ID through Bugguide.net. The caterpillars make “nests” that bind together the needles on the top of a  pine tree (or some other trees) and they feed on the needles. They pupate in early summer and moths emerge in July.  Here is information from CSU: Insects that feed on trees

Northern Fairy Candelabra, Androsace septentrionalis, Primulaceae (Primrose Family). I love the name of this tiny white flower. First photo is from Aluvial fan, second and third from Aspen Glen loop trail.

All the other cool stuff! Click on photos for slideshow with ID.