Wild Mountain Farms
  • WildMountainFarms
  • About Us
    • Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
    • Christie's Writing
    • Dave
  • Our Stallion
    • 2021 Breeding Season
    • 2020 Breeding Season
    • The Breeding Process
    • Schedule Your Breeding
    • Breeding Contracts and Fees
    • Color and Our Stallion
  • Education
    • About the Rocky Mountain Horse >
      • History of the Rocky Mountain Horse Breed
      • Other Mountain Horse Breeds
      • What They Look Like
      • Temperament of the Rocky Mountain Horse
      • What They Do
      • Where to Find a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Cost of a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Genetic Testing
    • Breeding Education >
      • Deciding to Breed
      • Choosing a stallion
      • Getting Started
      • Breeding Costs
      • Breeding Basics >
        • Timing Details
      • AI vs Live Cover
      • Pre-Breeding Preparation
      • Breeding Contract
      • Live Foal Guarantee
    • Basic Genetics >
      • Basic Genetics Expanded
    • Color Genetics >
      • Horse Color Genetics >
        • Basic Color Genes
        • Special Color Genes >
          • Special Color Details
        • The Colors >
          • Red
          • Bay
          • Black
          • White
          • Gray
          • Chocolate
          • Cream Gene Colors >
            • Palomino
            • Buckskin
            • Black Buckskin
            • Cremello
            • Perlino
            • Smokey Cream
          • Champagne
          • Paint
          • Roan
          • Appaloosa Horses
    • Raising a Foal Right
    • Transporting Horses Long Distance >
      • Transport Paperwork
      • Transport Equiptment (Big)
      • Transport Equiptment (Small)
      • Feed and Water For Transporting
      • Driving Practices for Transporting
      • Transport Tips
  • Horses For Sale
    • Stormy-SOLD!
    • Smudge-SOLD!
    • Copper-SOLD! >
      • Copper Stories
  • Our Horses
    • Lady
    • Cowgirl
    • Belle
    • Sugar
  • Our Animal Partners
  • Our Human Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Western Montana Riding Trails
  • The Pacific Crest Trail
    • Who We Are >
      • Why and What
      • Christie
      • Kaladin
      • The Horses
      • Riding Companions
      • Local Resources
      • Home Team
    • Strategy and Goals
    • PCT Basics
    • PCT Water
    • PCT Safety
    • PCT Timing
    • PCT Maps
    • PCT Permits
    • PCT Resources
    • PCT Contacts
    • PCT Gear >
      • backpacking gear List >
        • Shelter >
          • Tents
        • Sleeping Bag
        • Sleeping Pad
        • Camp Chair
        • Water Purifier
        • Water Reservoir
        • Kitchen Gear
      • horse packing gear
      • dog packing gear
      • safety gear
      • photography gear
      • packing organization
  • AirBnB Cabin
  • Wildflowers of Western Montana
    • Arnica
    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Bear Grass
    • Biscutroot
    • Bitterroot
    • Buttercup, Sagebrush
    • Buttercup, Common
    • Bluebell
    • Cinquefoil
    • Deptford Pink
    • Fleabane
    • Glacier Lily
    • Goldenrod
    • Harebell
    • Indian Paintbrush
    • Kinickinick
    • Larkspur
    • Lupine
    • Mouseeared Chickweed
    • Oregon Grape
    • Oxeye Daisy
    • Pasque Flower
    • Prarie Smoke
    • Salsify
    • Shooting Star
    • Thistle
    • Wild Hyacinth
    • Wild Onion
    • Wild Rose
    • Wild Strawberry
    • Wild Sunflower
    • White Campion
    • Woodland Star
    • Yarrow
    • Plant ID Books I Like
  • Goats
    • Goat Enclosures
    • Feeding Goats >
      • Feeding Dwarf Goats >
        • Dwarf Goat Hay
  • Sheep
  • Horsepacking
    • How Many Horses
  • Sheep

Wildflowers
of Western Montana

I love the abundant wildflowers of my Montana home. My mom and I spend time each summer wandering the trails near our ranch and cataloging the flowers we find there. We have many flower identification books we flip through whenever we find a new one, and I have long wanted a more complete way to show the many stages of a plant than a printed book allows room for. The internet opens up many possibilities in this regard. Thus, I have begun this section of the site, posting pictures and descriptions of the flowers I am acquainted with. I hope this guide is helpful to others who love these plants as I do. (Not that I don't highly value the paper flower identification books. If you want to know which ones I use the most, click here.)

All of the photographs in this section are my photos - using one hobby that I love to further another.

Arnica -  Arnica montana ( Also know as wolf's bane, leopard's bane, mountain tobacco and mountain arnica). Flowering perennial about 7-24 inches in height. Bright yellow daisy-type flowers with yellow middle. Leaves are oppositely arranged with toothed or smooth edges and are slightly hairy. Flowers between May and August. Common on hillsides with partial shade. Flowers and leaves are medicinal for external use only. Often grows among patches of Arrowleaf Balsamroot and can easily be mistaken for this plant, though Arnica is smaller and more delicate with smaller, more lance-like leaves.
Picture

Arrowleaf Balsamroot - Balsamorhiza sagittata. (Also known as Oregon Sunflower). Flowering perennial. Bright yellow daisy-type flowers with dark orange to brown middles. The leaves are arrowshaped and grow in large clumps with many flowers stalks coming out of each clump. The clumps can easily be a couple feet tall and wide. These plants grow on hillsides or among the undergrowth of conifer forests. They are invasive and can cover entire mountain sides. They grow in full sun and partial shade.
Picture

Bear Grass - Xerophyllum tenax. These unusual members of the lily family grow at medium to high altitudes all over the mountain west. The flower is shaped either like a microphone or like a breast and is made up of hundreds of tiny white flowers. Each flower rises from a woody stalk with sharp, flat leaves clumping up around the stalk. Many clusters often grow together. The flowers are cream in color and 3-5 feet high.  
Picture

Bluebells - Mertensia arizonica Greene (Also known as Aspen Bluebells and Alpine Bluebells). Flowers look like trumpets or bells, are blue to light purple and hang off the stalk in clusters which nod in a downward direction. The blossoms are 1/2 inch or more long. The leaves are elliptic or oval and alternate. Each plant can have a single or multiple stems. Stems are 1-3 feet tall.
Picture

Blue-eyed Mary - Collinsia parviflora

​https://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Collinsia%20parviflora

Biscutroot - Lomatium caruifolium. ​A yellow flower, slightly unusual in shape, which grows out of rocky or sandy ground on hillsides in the mountains. The plant can be up to 1 foot tall. The flowers are tiny yellow peddles arranged in clusters that jut out from the top of the stem in various directions. Part of the carrot family, the root of this plant was traditionally used as food. 
Picture

Bitterroot - Lewisia rediviva. This striking flower grows on well drained, gravelly soil in dry shrub-lands often dominated by sagebrush and similar habitats. The flower is bright pink and appears on the ground as if out of nowhere, usually among rocks and often on paths. The flowers are connected to 2-8 other flowers by thick but short stems. The flowers are up to 2 inches in diameter. 
Picture

Buttercup, Sagebrush - Ranuculus glaberrimus.  One of the earliest flowers to bloom in the spring in the mountain west. You will usually see the tiny yellow flowers appear amongst the detritus of winter in large fields at medium-high altitude in mid to late March. The flowers are small, yellow, daisy-like flowers of bright yellow. They have five separate, yellow, saucer-shaped petals with green or yellow/orange middles. The leaves near the ground are fleshy, and smooth, basal, obovate leafs. The stem leaves (higher up on the plant) are deeply lobed. They grow low to the ground and easy to miss.
Picture

Buttercup, Common - Ranunculus acris L. Often reaching 3 feet in height, with long stems branching out into many flowers. As an invasive species, this plant will often take over whole pastures adn fields, leaving little else in its wake. The leaves a small and thin. The flowers are bright yellow and cup-like.
Picture

Cinquefoil - Sulfur cinquefoil. A perennial 1-1.5feet tall with light yellow flowers. Each flower has 5 petals, each petal is heart-shaped. The center is a slightly darker yellow or orange. The leaves are compound with 5-7 toothed leaflets on each leaf. Often found in disturbed areas such as roadsides and pastures. Flowers occur all summer.
Picture

Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale. 
Picture

Deptford Pink  - Dianthus armeria.  These are tiny, bright pink flowers which rarely occur in great numbers in any one place. They are 1/2-1/3 inch across, with 5 shocking pink petals, dotted white. In the center are 10 stamens with purplish tips. The flowers are solitary or in clusters of 3-6 per stem, occurring at the top or end of a stem in the upper plant. Leaves are thin and long, clustered just under the flower. Stems are green and hairy but can sometimes be a red-brown when flowering.
Picture

Fleabane - 
Picture

Glacier Lilly - Erythronium grandiflorum. These unusual flowers blooms just after the snow melts, typically from early spring through late spring. The flower has 6 curved yellow petals (actually 3 petals and 3 similar sepals) and 6 stamens that protrude from the flower's center. The leafless stems are curved at the top, giving the flower a nodding or drooping look. Normally has two large, shiny, oblong leaves at the base. Found in rich, moist soil along stream banks, in shaded woods and subalpine meadows. Often grows in large patches. 
Picture

Goldenrod - Solidago canadensis L.  A Perennial growing to heights of 4 feet, the flowers are yellow, borne on numerous small heads with overlapping clusters of yellow petals. Alternate leaves surround the central stems and are gradually reduced upwards. Leaf blades are entire or commonly toothed and have three veins on the upper surface. Grows in disturbed soil along roadsides, streambanks and along ditches. An invasive plant, it spreads through a strong root system which is hard to get rid of.
Picture

Harebell - Campanula rotundifolia L.  (Also called bellflower, lady's thimble, witch's thimble, bluebell. )  The flower is a light purple which bloom in the summer and fall. They hang down in a drooping manner and look like bells. Stem leaves are narrow and grass like, but the basal leaves are rather round. The stem is narrow and wiry, normally about a foot tall and can have many flowers branching off of it. The flowers look delicate and papery.
Picture

Indian Paintbrush - Castilleja coccinea. An unusual flower which resembles a paintbrush dipped in bright red paint, this plant is a parasite which cannot be grown except in conjunction with its host plant. The red structures are a type of modified leaf, not petals. These grow in a tuft at the end of a straight stem, normally under 1 foot in height. The stem is also dotted with tiny leaves on alternating sides of the stem.
Picture

Knnickinnick - Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L. Spreng. (Also known as Red Bearberry). A trailing evergreen shrub with paddle-shaped leaves on flexible branches. The thick, leathery leaves, rolled under at the edges, are yellow-green in spring, dark green in summer and reddish purple in fall. Nodding clusters of small, bell-shaped, pink or white flowers occure on bright red stems. 
Picture

Larkspur - Delphinium spp. Purple to blue and reaching anywhere from 2 feet to 2 meters in height. These are early to late spring flowers with an unusually notable shape. The flowers grow on the top third of a single or branched stem. Leaves alternate and are divided into deep, narrow lobes. The stem is hollow. These plants are poisonous to livestock.
Picture

Lupine - Lupinus perennis.  Showy, elongate clusters of purple or blue (and occasionally pink or white) pea-like flowers top the 1-2 foot stems of this perennial lupine. Flowers are in an upright, elongated terminal cluster on the rerect stem with palmately compound leaves. The leaves are palmately divided into 7-11 leaflets and are generally closer to the ground than the flower stalks.
Picture

Mountain Clematis - Clematis occidentalis. 
Picture

Mouse-ear Chickweed -  Cerastium fontanum.  Tiny flowers appearing in early spring, on 1/2 inch hairy stalks. Each flower is about 1/4 inch across with 5 deeply notched petals and usually 10 stamens with light yellow to greenish or even reddish blue tips. Each petal looks a bit like two ears. Leaves are opposite, toothless, stalkless and somewhat variable in shape. The stems may be erect but typically sprawl along the ground, rooting at the nodes with short, sterile branches crowded around the base.
Picture

Oregon Grape -   Mahonia aquifolium.  (Also called Holly Grape.) Oregon grape is a common name for members of the barberry family, Berberidaceae. 
Picture

Oxeye Daisy - Leucanthemum vulgare.  Another invasive species which covers roadsides and meadows all over the mountain west with its beautiful daisy-like flowers. The white petals are thin and grow out fro the middle, which is normally bright yellow or orange. 
Picture

Pasque Flower - Pulsitilla patens. An early spring wildflower that features silky, hairy, fern-like foliage and erect, open bell-shaped, solitary blue-violet flowers. Leafless, hairy flower stems emerge from the ground in the spring, sometimes when patches of snow are still on the ground.
Picture

Prarie Smoke - Geum triflorum.  An unusual, pink flower that is easy to miss, as it doesn't tend to grow in large patches but is rather scattered individually among wildflower meadows in the west. 
Picture

Salsify - ​Tragopogon porrifolius.  (Also called Oyster Root.)  This dandilion-like plant has a yellow, dandilion-like flower which turns into a puffball. 3-4 times bigger than most dandelions, it grows from a straight, woody stem in the middle of fields. Its root can be cooked in stews and tastes like oysters.
Picture

Shooting Star - Dodecatheon pulchellum.  These striking, small, bright pink flowers look like shooting stars.
Picture

Thistle - Thistle (disambiguation).  This ubiquitous plant comes in hundreds of varieties but one common one has pink, rough looking flowers surrounded by spiky leaves at the end of long stems, often 4-6 feet in  height.
Picture

Trillium (Western Trillium) - Trillium ovatum. A rare and distinctive flower that grows in wooded areas. I have also seen the flower in pink.
Picture

Wild Geranium - Geranium maculatum. 
Picture

Wild Hyacinth - Camassia scilloides.  
Picture

Wild Onion - Allium drummondii.  
Picture

Wild Rose - Rosa setigera.  (Also known as Prarie Rose or Climbing Rose.) 
Picture

Wild Strawberry - Fragaria virginiana.  
Picture

Wild Sunflower - Asteraceae helianuthus.  
Picture

White Campion - Caryophyllaceae silene
Picture

Woodland Star - Lithophragma parviflorm.  Flowers are tiny white or light pink things with 3-5 finger-like lobes on star-like flowers.
Picture

Yarrow - Achillea millefolium.  A common plant in many climates, Yarrow is a respected medicinal plant in many cultures. It has flat top or dome-shaped clusters of small white flowers that form heads at the top of a stalk. The leaves have a distinctive smell when rubbed between your fingers.
Picture

Yellowbells - Fritillaria pudica. 
Picture

Location

raising rocky mountain horses
​for every rider

Because when the mountains are wild,
the horse shouldn't be!

Wild Mountain Farms
PO Box 209
25111 Mill Creek Rd.
Frenchtown, MT  59834
406-239-4748
info@WildMountainFarms.com
Christie and Dave Goodman

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  • WildMountainFarms
  • About Us
    • Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
    • Christie's Writing
    • Dave
  • Our Stallion
    • 2021 Breeding Season
    • 2020 Breeding Season
    • The Breeding Process
    • Schedule Your Breeding
    • Breeding Contracts and Fees
    • Color and Our Stallion
  • Education
    • About the Rocky Mountain Horse >
      • History of the Rocky Mountain Horse Breed
      • Other Mountain Horse Breeds
      • What They Look Like
      • Temperament of the Rocky Mountain Horse
      • What They Do
      • Where to Find a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Cost of a Rocky Mountain Horse
      • Genetic Testing
    • Breeding Education >
      • Deciding to Breed
      • Choosing a stallion
      • Getting Started
      • Breeding Costs
      • Breeding Basics >
        • Timing Details
      • AI vs Live Cover
      • Pre-Breeding Preparation
      • Breeding Contract
      • Live Foal Guarantee
    • Basic Genetics >
      • Basic Genetics Expanded
    • Color Genetics >
      • Horse Color Genetics >
        • Basic Color Genes
        • Special Color Genes >
          • Special Color Details
        • The Colors >
          • Red
          • Bay
          • Black
          • White
          • Gray
          • Chocolate
          • Cream Gene Colors >
            • Palomino
            • Buckskin
            • Black Buckskin
            • Cremello
            • Perlino
            • Smokey Cream
          • Champagne
          • Paint
          • Roan
          • Appaloosa Horses
    • Raising a Foal Right
    • Transporting Horses Long Distance >
      • Transport Paperwork
      • Transport Equiptment (Big)
      • Transport Equiptment (Small)
      • Feed and Water For Transporting
      • Driving Practices for Transporting
      • Transport Tips
  • Horses For Sale
    • Stormy-SOLD!
    • Smudge-SOLD!
    • Copper-SOLD! >
      • Copper Stories
  • Our Horses
    • Lady
    • Cowgirl
    • Belle
    • Sugar
  • Our Animal Partners
  • Our Human Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Western Montana Riding Trails
  • The Pacific Crest Trail
    • Who We Are >
      • Why and What
      • Christie
      • Kaladin
      • The Horses
      • Riding Companions
      • Local Resources
      • Home Team
    • Strategy and Goals
    • PCT Basics
    • PCT Water
    • PCT Safety
    • PCT Timing
    • PCT Maps
    • PCT Permits
    • PCT Resources
    • PCT Contacts
    • PCT Gear >
      • backpacking gear List >
        • Shelter >
          • Tents
        • Sleeping Bag
        • Sleeping Pad
        • Camp Chair
        • Water Purifier
        • Water Reservoir
        • Kitchen Gear
      • horse packing gear
      • dog packing gear
      • safety gear
      • photography gear
      • packing organization
  • AirBnB Cabin
  • Wildflowers of Western Montana
    • Arnica
    • Arrowleaf Balsamroot
    • Bear Grass
    • Biscutroot
    • Bitterroot
    • Buttercup, Sagebrush
    • Buttercup, Common
    • Bluebell
    • Cinquefoil
    • Deptford Pink
    • Fleabane
    • Glacier Lily
    • Goldenrod
    • Harebell
    • Indian Paintbrush
    • Kinickinick
    • Larkspur
    • Lupine
    • Mouseeared Chickweed
    • Oregon Grape
    • Oxeye Daisy
    • Pasque Flower
    • Prarie Smoke
    • Salsify
    • Shooting Star
    • Thistle
    • Wild Hyacinth
    • Wild Onion
    • Wild Rose
    • Wild Strawberry
    • Wild Sunflower
    • White Campion
    • Woodland Star
    • Yarrow
    • Plant ID Books I Like
  • Goats
    • Goat Enclosures
    • Feeding Goats >
      • Feeding Dwarf Goats >
        • Dwarf Goat Hay
  • Sheep
  • Horsepacking
    • How Many Horses
  • Sheep