Herbs, with alternate or opposite leaves and perfect flowers; calyx tube adnate to the ovary, 2—6 lobed; petals white, yellow, pink, or purple, folded on each other in the bud; stamens usually as many or twice as many as the petals.
| Parts of the flower in 4’s; seeds with tufts of hair on the ends. | |
| Calyx tube not prolonged beyond the ovary; flowers large. | Chamænerion. |
| Calyx tube prolonged beyond the ovary; flowers usually small. | Epilobium. |
| Parts of the flowers in 2’s; fruit with hooked hairs. | Circæa. |
Erect, stout, simple or branched, usually smooth, 2—8 feet high. Leaves numerous, alternate, very short petioled, lanceolate, entire or denticulate, 2—6 inches long, ¼—1 inch wide, pale beneath, thin, acute at the apex, the lateral veins confluent in marginal loops. Flowers ¾—1½ inches broad, reddish-purple, in elongated terminal spike-like racemes, 1—2 feet or more long.
An abundant plant throughout the entire region on open mountain sides and banks, especially where visited by fire, flowering throughout the summer, the air being filled with the white cottony seeds a few weeks after flowering commences.
Erect, usually branching, very smooth below, 6—18 inches high. Leaves mostly sessile, 1—2 inches long, ¼—½ an inch wide, denticulate or entire, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acutish at both ends, thick, those of the branches opposite, the veins inconspicuous. Flowers reddish-purple, 1—2 inches broad, mainly in short leafy-bracted racemes; petals entire; stigma 4-lobed.
On gravelly river bars and moist clayey banks throughout the entire region; flowering during July.
a Epilobium luteum Pursh. Yellow Willow-herb. (⅗ Nat.)
b Chamænerion latifolium (L.) Sweet. Broad-Leaved Willow-herb.
Stems rather stout, 1—2 feet high, usually simple, nearly smooth. Leaves 1—3 inches long, ovate or elliptical to broadly lanceolate, acute or acuminate, sinuate-toothed, sessile, or when large, obliquely tapering to a winged petiole, slightly fleshy. Inflorescence with more or less glandular pubescence; flowers about ¾ of an inch long, not opening widely, pale yellow, rather few, at first nodding in the axils of the upper leaves; style usually exserted and deeply 4-parted.
A rather rare plant in springy places and along alpine brooks, confined to the Selkirks: flowering during July.
Slender, smooth or nearly so, 3—12 inches high. Leaves pale, petioled, opposite or the upper alternate, obtuse or obtusish at the apex, ½—¾ of an inch long. Flowers, few, white, nearly erect, ¼ of an inch or more broad; stigma nearly entire; capsules slender stalked, 1—2 inches long, seeds beaked.
In damp and springy places at the higher altitudes throughout the region; flowering in July.
Low, usually tufted, 2—6 inches high, slender, smooth or nearly so; stems commonly hairy in lines and nodding at the apex. Leaves oblong or narrowly ovate, entire or nearly so, obtuse at the apex, narrowed at the base into a short petiole ½—1 inch long. Flowers few, axillary, clustered at the apex, pink-purple, nodding, about ¼ of an inch broad; stigma entire.
On damp stones and along alpine brooks at high elevations throughout the region; flowering during midsummer.
Berberis aquifolium Pursh. (¼ Nat.)
Trailing Mahonia.
Chamænerion angustifolium (L.) Scop. (½ Nat.)
Fire-Weed.
Erect, 6—12 inches high, simple or nearly so, slightly hairy above, otherwise smooth. Leaves short-petioled, ovate or elliptic, mostly, broadly obtuse at the apex, narrow or rounded at the base, entire or rather remotely denticulate, thin, ½—1¼ inches long. Flowers few in the upper axils, pink-purple or violet, ¼ of an inch or more broad; stigma entire.
A frequent and very variable species throughout the region at the higher elevations, along alpine brooks or in damp, partly shaded or springy spots; flowering during June and July.
Mostly smooth or slightly hairy above, 3—8 inches high. Leaves acute or acuminate at the apex, more or less cordate at the base, coarsely dentate, 1—2 inches long. Flowers about ⅛ of an inch broad, white, on pedicels nearly ¼ of an inch long, subtended by minute, slender bracts, in a slender raceme; fruit nearly obovoid, about ⅛ of an inch long, covered with weak hooked hairs.
In moist shaded situations and beside alpine brooks, through the Selkirks; flowering in July.
Mostly smooth, stems usually simple, 6—12 inches high, from a small tuber. Leaves ovate, rounded or cordate at the base, acute or acuminate, repandly dentate, 1—3 inches long, the slender petiole about the same length. Flowers white, very small in slender racemes, without bracts; fruit about ⅛ of an inch long loosely covered with soft curved hairs.
Growing oftentimes with the other species in moist shaded situations through the Selkirks; flowering in July.