Bear grass in bloom at Mount Rainier National Park

During a June 2006 trip to Washington state to visit family, Rick went to Mount Rainier National Park and got this picture of a bear grass in bloom. Interestingly enough, bear grass is neither a grass nor eaten by bears, so the name doesn't really mean what it sounds like. It's actually a member of the corn lily family of plants. It's other common name is Indian basket grass, which is a reference to how native people used it, but it's still not a grass. It's common throughout the Cascades, northern Sierra Nevada, and the Rockies.

Pitcher plants in Oregon, green but deadly

These pitcher plants that we found in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in Oregon, are insect-eating plants. The insect crawls into the opening at the top to follow the scent to the inside of the tube, but downward-projecting hairs and a slippery surface cause the insect to be trapped inside. When it falls into the liquid inside the tube, it dies and is digested. The plant benefits from the extra nutrients. The pitcher plant tends to grow on nutrient-poor soil, so the extra nutrition gives it the chance to in places where poor soil might prevent it.

We backpacked into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness to look for and photograph the rare Kalmiopsis flower, but found many other interesting plants, too.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Fireweed blooming at Teton Pass, Wyoming

Fireweed blooming at Teton Pass at the southern end of the Teton Range in Wyoming and Idaho.  Fireweed gets its name from the fact that it tends to be one of the first plants to come back into a burned area after a fire.  It has an interesting habit of starting to bloom at the bottom of the flower cluster and working upward.  This photo shows blooming flowers at the bottom while buds are waiting to bloom on top.

Teton Pass is at an elevation of 8,432' and is near the border between Wyoming and Idaho.  The nearest large town is Jackson, Wyoming  near the southern end of the mountain valley called Jackson Hole.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.