Quaking Aspen

Populus tremuloides

 Leaves quake in the wind.

 White Bark.

 Bare Catkins.

 Located in moist sandy soils, elevation 6,000-11,500.

Plant Index| Grand Mesa Field Trip

Alpine Asters

Aster alpigenus

 Found High in the mountains.

 Bracts are usually purple.

 Long slender and narrow leaves.

Plant Index| Mesa Field Trip

Tamarisk

Tamarisk pentandra

 Leaves are thick, scale-like, and grayish in color.

 Flowers are small , showy and pink.

 Can grow to 15-20 ft.

Plant Index| Grand Mesa Field Trip

Big Sagebrush

Artemisia tridenata

 3-parted leaves, which are silver, hairy, and wedge shaped.

 Bark is dull gray.

 Can reach 2-7 ft.

Plant Index| Grand Mesa Field Trip

Piñon Pine

Pinus edulis

 Two needles grouped together at the base.

 Chunky, little cones.

 Bark is reddish color and grows crooked

 Can reach 35 ft.

Plant Index| Grand Mesa Field Trip

Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja miniata

 Almost entirely made up of leaves.

 An assortment of colors in flowers.

 Can grow 1-2 ft.

 Plant Index

Fremont Cottonwood

Populus fremontii

 Coarsely toothed leaves.

 Females produce white cotton.

 They are a good indicator of nearby water.

 Can grow 50-60 ft.

Plant Index| Grand Mesa Field Trip

Sweet-Clover

Melilotus offcinalis

 Flowers can be white, yellow, and pink.

 Found on roadsides and in fields.

 Planted to control erosion.

 Not a native plant.

 Can grow 2-5 ft.

Plant Index

Woolly Locoweed

Oxytropis campestris

 Season is May- July.

 Poisonous.

 Found in a semidesert region.

 Can reach 10-24 in.

Plant Index

Willow

Salix exigua

 Found on sreambanks, lakeshores, and irrigation ditches.

 Grow where water is abundant.

 Stems are ash gray color.

 New growth is red.

 Usually not taller than 15 ft.

Plant Index| Grand Mesa Field Trip

Bistort

Polygonum bistortoides

 Long slender plant.

 Narrow basal leaves.

 Small clusters of white and pink flowers extend from stem.

 Located on streambanks, mountain canyons, wet meadows, and above the timberline.

Plant Index| Mesa Field Trip

Sunflower

Helianthella uniflora

 Leaves are lance shaped and rough to the touch.

 Flowers are yellow.

 Located in medium dry to moist soils.

 Can reach 1-3 ft.

Plant Index

Blue Colorado Columbine

Aquilegia coerulea

 Flowers vary from white to blue.

 Leaves are mostly basal.

 Leaves have 2-3 round-lobed, deeply cleft, leaflets.

 Located in moist wet soil, elevations 6,000-11,000 ft.

 Can grow 8-24 in.

Plant Index| Mesa Field Trip

Dandelion

Taraxacum offcinale

 Stalk with flower is leafless.

 Leaves on plant are lanced shaped and basal.

 End of stalk has yellow rayflowers.

 Stem contains milky sap.

 Can grow 2-20 in.

Plant Index| Mesa Field Trip

False Hellebore

Veratum viride

 Usually grow in dense patches.

 Have coarse leafy stem and coarse leaves.

 Poisonous.

 Large oval leaves that can reach 4-12 in. long.

Plant Index| Mesa Field Trip

Lichen

  Grow in patches on trees and rocks.

  Red,  orange, or green colored.

  Consist of algae and fungi.

Plant Index| Mesa Field Trip

Mountain Mahogany

Cercocarpus montanus

 Found in the lower foothills.

 Small wedge-shaped, toothed leaves.

 Can grow 4-6 ft. 

Plant Index

Mesa Plants Page 2