OREGON TRAIL WILDFLOWER WALK
mid March through April
Description: For this wildflower walk we venture south of the Boise River, to see what’s in bloom above basalt cliffs along the Oregon Trail. Meet at Oregon Trail Recreation Area parking lot on the south side of Hwy 21/Gowen Road opposite E Lake Forest Drive (NOT the Oregon Trail Reserve accessed from E Lake Forest Drive). We’ll enjoy the early spring flowers of the basalt flats, including several not known from the foothills north of the river. Difficulty: 2-3 miles roundtrip, modest elevation gain. Heavy clay soils; avoid when muddy! No dogs, please.
[THIS WALK NOT YET EDITED]
PLANT LIST [updating needed]
Plants listed in approximate order of encounter within category. * indicates native species
WILDFLOWERS POSSIBLY IN BLOOM
- *Stork- or cranesbill, filaree (Erodium cicutarium) – non-native
- *Woolly-pod milkvetch (Astragalus purshii var. glareosus)
- *Sagebrush buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus)
- *Spring whitlow-grass (Draba verna) – tiny white flowers with notched petals
- *Jagged chickweed (Holosteum umbellata) – inconspicuous non-native
- *Bulbous or pink woodlandstar/prairiestar (Lithophragma glabrum, previously L. bulbiferum)
- *Small-flowered woodlandstar/prairiestar (Lithophragma parviflorum)
- *Narrowleaf or Great Basin biscuitroot (Lomatium simplex, previously included in L. triternatum, nine-leaf biscuitroot)
- *Hermit milkvetch (Astragalus eremiticus)
- *Arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)
- *Foothill or peak saxifrage (Micranthes/Saxifraga nidifica)
- *Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia/Montia perfoliata, possibly also C. rubra)
- *Prickly-leaf phlox (Phlox aculeata) – intergrading with more open long-leaf phlox (Phlox longifolia) in Boise foothills
- *Foothill death-camas (Toxicoscordion/Zigadenus paniculatum)
- *Western hawksbeard (Crepis occidentalis)
- *Cleavers, bedstraw, stickywilly, goose-grass (Galium aparine)
- *Bigseed biscuitroot (Lomatium macrocarpum)
- *Blue mustard (Chorispora tenella)
- *Beckwith’s violet, sagebrush pansy (Viola beckwithii)
- *Hairy or Hooker’s balsamroot (Balsamorhiza hispidula, aka B. hookeri var. hispidula)
- *Butterfly biscuitroot (Lomatium papilioniferum; previously included in L. grayii)
- *Barestem biscuitroot, pestle-parsnip (Lomatium nudicaule)
- *Clasping or shield peppergrass (Lepidium perfoliatum)
FERNS
- *Oregon cliff fern (Woodsia oregana)
SHRUBS
- *Basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata subsp. tridentata)
- *Rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria [previously Chrysothamnus] nauseosa)
- *Golden currant (Ribes aureum)
- *Green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus)
- *Wax currant (Ribes cereum)
- *Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) – taxonomy in flux
- *Dog rose (Rosa canina) – non-native, with large hooked prickles
- *Eglantine or sweetbriar rose (Rosa rubiginosa/eglanteria) – non-native shrub, similar to dog rose but with glandular foliage
- *Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa)
- *Syringa or Lewis’s mockorange(Philadelphus lewisii)
PRIMARY BUNCHGRASSES (not in bloom, but evident)
- *Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda)
- *Bulbous bluegrass (Poa bulbosa) – weedy non-native
- *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)
- *One-spike oatgrass (Danthonia unispicata)y
SIGNIFICANT NOXIOUS WEEDS (not in bloom, but evident)
- *Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) — other annual Bromus also present
- *Medusahead grass (Taeniatherum/Elymus caput-medusae)
- *Whitetop (Lepidium [previously Cardaria] draba)
- *Rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea)
- *Bur buttercup (Ceratocephala/Ranunculus testiculata)
- *Russian-thistle, tumbleweed (Salsola kali)
- *St. Johnswort, Klamathweed(Hypericum perforatum)