This August Garden of the Gods has turned into a wonderland of yellow flowers even more so than usual. With all the rain this May and June and showers since then, not to mention many less 90+ degree days than the last few years, what beauty! Here we go . . .
When autumn arrives, it is time to head north to savor the unique and beautiful Western larch, called tamaracks in western Montana. Our first stop in Swan Valley is a marvelous view of Swan Peak, the second highest peak in the 99-mile Swan Range. Swan Peak stands at 9,289 feet, with the highest peak only 67 feet taller. Swan Valley ranges from 2,000 to about 2,500 feet giving us a spectacular 6,000+ foot rise to mountain tops. This time of year the mountains gleam with the tamaracks’ autumn gold. Let’s explore the grandeur of these glowing yellow trees of the North.
What are those tall stalks growing in the meadows? Do you see them? Let’s explore.
This four- foot stalk is covered with small flowers, and the flowers are green with purple dots. They look more like they belong in subtropic areas of the world, not the meadows of Yellowstone. So unusual and so beautiful.
This is a Green Gentian (Frasera speciosa), also called the Monument Plant, and is monocarpic. No, I didn’t know what that was either, but it thoroughly explains this unique plant. Green gentian can live to be 80 years old, but each year of its life all you see are the pretty basal leaves growing a few feet tall and reaching to the sky until . . .
. . . the last year of its life when it produces a stalk from 4 to 7 feet tall covered with beautiful small flowers. The flowers range from pale green to white with purple or blue dots, but I’ve only ever seen the flowers in shades of green. This is the “monument” phase. Each flower produces up to 60 seeds ensuring the next generation. The plant then dies leaving the dead stalk which may stand a few years, as you can see above.
So “monocarpic” means growing many years without flowering, then flowering and dying after its seeds are developed. We may see many stalks across a meadow or only a few, but the stalks tell us that this is the last hoorah of this amazing monument plant.
The Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis), a foundation species, a keystone species, is dying in great numbers across the mountain west, which includes Yellowstone.
I stand tall, proud, ancient. Overlooking the beautiful valley, the Caldera, and the mountains. Through wind, snow, ice, and rain–I stand tall. My brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles are not doing well. It is getting too hot and we have no defense against the diseases and insects that thrive in warmth. We love frigid weather, standing high above the tree line, loving the windswept mountainsides; some of us only 16 feet tall, others 66 feet tall, and our seasoned relatives are over a 1,000 years old. Regardless of size or age, we all stand guard on the mountainsides, using our shade to keep snow hard and in place until it can gently melt filling your rivers and streams. Stabilizing the soil around us which allows other plants and trees to live in our community. Feeding and giving protection to many animal and bird friends, as well as being nurseries for Lodgepole pines, Englemann spruce, and Subalpine firs. It is becoming too warm and staying warm for too long each season–I’m weakening and many of us are dying. I’m very worried–what will happen if we can no longer stand guard?
We do our jobs for humans quietly, consistently, and proudly. Humans must now do their job to save us–the dangers are real and getting worse! In the meantime, I stand tall, proud–and hopeful.
Let’s take a closer look at the amazing importance and struggle of the whitebark pine.
Continue to learn what and why . . .
