LYDLE GULCH WILDFLOWER WALK
mid March to early April
Description: Begin at Lydle Gulch trailhead opposite Barclay Bay parking lot after crossing Lucky Peak Dam from Highway 21 (VERY FRAGILE SOILS near trailhead; stay on well-established trails!). South to trail crossing Lydle Creek ca 1/2 mile above Foote Park; trail cuts north to top of slope. Turn around at gate (with option of exploring network of dirt roads from Bonneville Point to Oregon Trail trailhead on Hwy 21), return to Lydle Creek and follow trail to Foote Park on east side of creek. Difficulty: 2 miles roundtrip, modest elevation gain. Heavy clay soils; avoid when muddy, and stay on trails!
[THIS WALK NOT YET EDITED]
PLANT LIST [updating needed]
Plants listed in approximate order of encounter within category. * indicates native species
WILDFLOWERS IN BLOOM (or soon to be)
- *Spring whitlow-grass (Draba verna) – tiny white flowers with notched petals, non-native
- *Beckwith’s violet, sagebrush pansy (Viola beckwithii)
- *Woolly-pod milkvetch (Astragalus purshii var. glareosus)
- *Hare’s-foot milkvetch (Astragalus purshii var. lagopinus) – very localized and rare
- *Sagebrush buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus)
- *Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia/Montia perfoliata, possibly also C. rubra)
- *Bulbous or pink woodlandstar/prairiestar (Lithophragma glabrum, previously L. bulbiferum)
- *Jagged chickweed (Holosteum umbellatum ssp. umbellatum) – inconspicuous non-native
- *Narrowleaf biscuitroot (Lomatium simplex, previously included in L. triternatum, nine-leaf biscuitroot)
- *Dwarf or low pussytoes (Antennaria dimorpha)
- *Bolander’s yampah (Perideridia bolanderi)
- *Yellow bell (Fritillaria pudica)
UPLAND SHRUBS (not in bloom)
- *Basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata subsp. tridentata)
- *Rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria [previously Chrysothamnus] nauseosa)
- *Bitterbrush, Antelope brush (Purshia tridentata)
- *Green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus)
PRIMARY BUNCHGRASSES (not in bloom, but evident)
- *Threeawn grass (Aristida purpurea var. longiseta)
- *Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) – non-native Poa bulbosa also present
- *Great Basin wildrye (Leymus/Elymus cinereus)
- *Squirreltail grass (Elymus elymoides, previously Sitanion hystrix)
- *Bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata, alternatively in Agropyron or Elymus) – both native-to-site and planted races from other sites probably present
- *Thurber’s needlegrass (Achnatherum/Stipa thurberianum)
- *Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis)
- *Tall or rush wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum; alternatively in Agropyron, Elymus, Elytrigia) – non-native, frequently planted
SIGNIFICANT NOXIOUS WEEDS (not in bloom, but evident)
- *Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) — other annual Bromus also present
- *Rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea)
- *Medusahead grass (Taeniatherum/Elymus caput-medusae)
- *Bur buttercup (Ceratocephala/Ranunculus testiculata)
- *Whitetop (Lepidium [previously Cardaria] draba)
- *Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense)
STREAMSIDE SHRUBS AND TREES (mostly not yet in bloom)
- *Dog rose (Rosa canina) – non-native, with large hooked prickles
- *Willows (Salix) – several species, including sandbar willow (Salix exigua)
- *Syringa or Lewis’s mockorange(Philadelphus lewisii)
- *Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) – taxonomy in flux
- *Interior or Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii subsp. ultramontana) – native, with slender prickles
- *Golden currant (Ribes aureum)
- *Blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulea, alternatively S. mexicana)
- *Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) – an atypically tall form
- *Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) – non-native tree
- *Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) – non-native tree
- *Red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera s.l.)
- *Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) – planted locally
- *Box-elder (Acer negundo) – non-native variety