Plants of the East Idaho Mountains: A Field Guide to Edible and Poisonous Species

What it is

The tall, skinny, dead-straight pine that carpets huge stretches of the East Idaho high forest, named for the poles Native peoples used to frame their lodges.

How to identify

• Slender, straight tree with a narrow crown; bark thin, gray-brown, and flaky, not deeply furrowed.
• Needles in bundles of two, 1 to 2.5 in long, often slightly twisted (contorta means twisted).
• Cones small, egg-shaped, often curved and prickle-tipped; many stay closed on the tree for years and open after fire.
• Often grows in dense, even-aged stands, especially after burns.

Where & when

Mid to high elevation forest across the region, especially post-fire; visible year-round.

Field notes

The fire-opened cones make lodgepole a fire-follower, which is why you see it blanketing old burns in solid stands.

What it is

A towering conifer of the mountain forest, not a true fir, known for soft flat needles and distinctive cones with little three-pronged bracts.

How to identify

• Large tree with soft, flat, single (not bundled) needles that spray all around the twig.
• Cones hang down and show unmistakable three-pronged “mouse-tail” bracts sticking out between the scales.
• Buds at the branch tips are sharply pointed and reddish-brown.
• Bark thick, corky, and deeply furrowed on old trees.

Where & when

Mid-elevation slopes and canyons, often mixed with pine and fir; year-round.

Field notes

One of the most important timber trees in the West; the spring tips are a forager favorite for tea and seasoning.

What it is

A narrow, spire-shaped spruce of the high country, with square, sharp needles that roll easily between your fingers.

How to identify

• Needles single, four-sided (square in cross-section), sharp, and roll between the fingers, unlike flat fir needles.
• Needles attach to tiny peg-like bases that stay on the twig, making old twigs feel rough.
• Cones hang down, papery, with thin flexible scales.
• Narrow, steeple-like crown; common at high elevation.

Where & when

Cool, moist high-elevation forest, often near timberline and along streams; year-round.

Field notes

A timberline tree; at the highest elevations it grows stunted and wind-flagged (krummholz).

What it is

The classic narrow “spire” evergreen of the subalpine, with soft flat needles and upright cones near the very top.

How to identify

• Very narrow, steeple-shaped crown that sheds snow.
• Needles flat, soft, blunt, blue-green, curving upward off the twig.
• Cones sit upright on the top branches and disintegrate in place (you rarely find whole ones on the ground).
• Smooth gray bark with resin blisters when young.

Where & when

High-elevation forest to timberline, often with Engelmann spruce; year-round.

Field notes

Its narrow shape is an adaptation to heavy mountain snow, which slides off rather than breaking the branches.

What it is

The white-barked tree whose flat-stemmed leaves tremble in the slightest breeze and turn whole mountainsides gold in fall.

How to identify

• Smooth, chalky white-to-greenish bark, often marked with dark scars and eyes.
• Round leaves on flattened stalks that make them “quake” in the wind.
• Grows in clones, whole groves are often one connected organism sharing roots.
• Golden fall color, brilliant against the conifers.

Where & when

Moist slopes, meadow edges, and along water at low to mid elevation; leaves spring to fall.

Field notes

Aspen clones are among the largest and oldest living organisms on Earth; the trees green up early and feed wildlife heavily.

What it is

A small, shrubby maple of canyon slopes and streamsides, with the classic lobed maple leaf and paired winged seeds.

How to identify

• Small tree or large shrub, often multi-stemmed, with reddish young twigs.
• Leaves opposite, palmately lobed (usually 3 to 5 lobes) with toothed edges.
• Paired winged seeds (samaras, “helicopters”) joined at a narrow angle.
• Turns yellow to red-orange in fall.

Where & when

Canyon bottoms, moist slopes, and streamsides, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

Important browse for deer and elk; the tough, straight young stems were used for tool handles and bows.

What it is

A scaly-leaved evergreen of dry, rocky slopes with dusty-blue berry-like cones and prized aromatic wood.

How to identify

• Small evergreen tree, often gnarled and open-crowned on dry ground.
• Leaves tiny, scale-like, pressed flat against the twig (not sharp needles on mature growth).
• “Berries” are actually small fleshy cones, dusty blue with a waxy bloom, taking two years to ripen.
• Reddish, shreddy, fibrous bark.

Where & when

Dry, rocky slopes, ridges, and foothills, low to mid elevation; year-round.

Field notes

The rot-resistant wood was used for fence posts and bows; the aromatic foliage was burned as a cleansing smudge.

What it is

A rugged, often twisted high-elevation pine with branches so flexible you can tie them in a knot, growing on windswept ridges.

How to identify

• Needles in bundles of five, stiff and clustered toward the branch tips.
• Young branches are famously flexible and bend without snapping.
• Cones large, egg-shaped, with thick scales; open to drop big wingless seeds.
• Often stunted and picturesque on exposed rock.

Where & when

Dry, rocky, high-elevation ridges and exposed slopes; year-round.

Field notes

Clark’s nutcrackers cache the seeds and plant future trees; a single bird may hide tens of thousands of seeds a year.

What it is

A gnarled tree of the highest, harshest ridgelines whose seeds are a keystone food for grizzlies and Clark’s nutcrackers.

How to identify

• Needles in bundles of five, stiff, tufted at the branch ends.
• Cones purple, egg-shaped, and stay closed on the tree, they do not open on their own.
• Often multi-stemmed and krummholz (shrubby, wind-beaten) near timberline.
• Whitish, smooth young bark.

Where & when

The highest subalpine ridges and timberline, the harshest sites; year-round.

Field notes

A candidate for endangered-species protection; Clark’s nutcrackers are its main seed disperser, and grizzlies rely on its fat-rich seeds.

What it is

A streamside tree with narrow, willow-like leaves that releases drifts of cottony seed fluff in early summer.

How to identify

• Leaves narrow and lance-shaped, willow-like but alternate, finely toothed.
• Female trees release masses of white, cottony seed fluff in early summer.
• Furrowed gray bark on older trunks; smooth and greenish when young.
• Almost always right along water.

Where & when

Stream banks, river bottoms, and springs, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

A pioneer of new gravel bars and a key streamside (riparian) tree for shade, bank stability, and wildlife.

What it is

The defining smell of the West: silvery, three-toothed leaves on a gray shrub that scents the whole desert after rain.

How to identify

• Gray-green, evergreen shrub with a strong, clean sage aroma when crushed.
• Small wedge-shaped leaves with three teeth at the blunt tip (tridentata).
• Shreddy gray bark on twisted woody stems.
• Tiny yellowish flower heads on tall spikes in late summer.

Where & when

Dry flats, foothills, and open slopes across the sagebrush steppe, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The backbone of sage-grouse country; its deep and shallow roots let it survive brutal drought.

What it is

A wedge-leaved shrub often mistaken for sagebrush, covered in small yellow flowers in spring and critical winter browse for deer and elk.

How to identify

• Spreading shrub with small three-toothed wedge leaves, dark green above and pale beneath.
• Leaves do NOT have the strong sage smell of sagebrush.
• Small yellow five-petaled rose-family flowers in late spring.
• Grows intermixed with sagebrush on dry ground.

Where & when

Dry sagebrush flats, foothills, and open pine forest, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

One of the most important winter browse plants for mule deer in the Intermountain West.

What it is

A rounded gray shrub that erupts in brilliant golden-yellow flowers in late summer and fall, often alongside sagebrush.

How to identify

• Rounded, gray-green shrub with flexible, felt-covered twigs.
• Narrow, thread-like gray leaves.
• Masses of small golden-yellow flower clusters in late summer and fall.
• Faintly rubbery or unpleasant smell when crushed.

Where & when

Dry, disturbed, and open ground, roadsides, and sagebrush flats, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

A tough pioneer of disturbed soil and a valuable late-season nectar source for pollinators.

What it is

A low, spreading juniper with sharp needle-like leaves and blue-black berries, the classic gin flavoring.

How to identify

• Low, spreading, mat-forming shrub (not a tree).
• Leaves are sharp, awl-shaped needles in whorls of three, with a white band on top.
• “Berries” are fleshy blue-black cones with a waxy bloom, ripening over two to three years.
• Prickly to handle, unlike the scaly Rocky Mountain juniper.

Where & when

Rocky slopes, ridges, and open forest, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

The most widely distributed woody plant in the world, circling the entire Northern Hemisphere.

What it is

The common wild rose of the region, with pink five-petaled flowers in summer and red-orange hips that hang on through winter.

How to identify

• Thicket-forming shrub with straight or slightly curved thorns.
• Leaves pinnately compound, with 5 to 9 toothed leaflets.
• Fragrant pink five-petaled flowers in early to mid summer.
• Round to oval red-orange hips that persist into winter.

Where & when

Streamsides, moist slopes, thickets, and forest edges, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The hips hold their vitamin C through winter, making them a valuable cold-season wild food and wildlife staple.

What it is

A gnarled evergreen shrub-tree of dry rocky ridges, known for feathery corkscrew seed tails and extremely hard, dense wood.

How to identify

• Small evergreen tree or shrub, often twisted and picturesque on rocky ground.
• Leaves narrow, leathery, dark green, with edges rolled under (like a small Labrador-tea leaf).
• Seeds carry a long, feathery, corkscrew-twisted tail that catches the light.
• Wood so dense it barely floats.

Where & when

Dry, rocky ridges, slopes, and canyon rims, mid elevation.

Field notes

Among the hardest, hottest-burning firewoods in the West; slow-growing plants can be centuries old.

What it is

A shrub with showy white flowers in spring and blue-purple, blueberry-like fruit in mid-summer, a cornerstone of Native diets.

How to identify

• Shrub to small tree with smooth gray bark and oval leaves toothed mainly on the top half.
• Showy white five-petaled flowers with narrow, strappy petals in early spring, before most shrubs leaf out.
• Fruit blue-purple with a waxy bloom, crowned by a tiny five-pointed star at the tip (like a mini apple).
• Fruit is a pome, not a true berry.

Where & when

Open slopes, forest edges, canyons, and streamsides, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

Called Saskatoon in Canada; the dried fruit was pounded into pemmican and is still prized for pies and jam.

What it is

A glossy-leaved evergreen shrub with a sticky, balsam smell and frothy clusters of tiny white flowers that fixes nitrogen and thrives after fire.

How to identify

• Rounded evergreen shrub with shiny, sticky, aromatic leaves (three main veins from the base).
• Leaves dark green and varnished-looking above, pale and felty beneath.
• Frothy clusters of tiny white flowers in early summer.
• Strong balsam or bay-rum smell, especially in heat.

Where & when

Open slopes, burns, and clearings, mid elevation; often carpets recently burned ground.

Field notes

A fire-follower whose seeds can lie dormant in the soil for decades and sprout after a burn; it enriches soil by fixing nitrogen.

What it is

A low, holly-like shrub with spiny evergreen leaflets, yellow flowers, and clusters of dusty-blue berries, with a bright yellow inner root.

How to identify

• Low, creeping evergreen, usually under a foot tall.
• Leaves pinnately compound with 5 to 7 stiff, spiny-toothed, holly-like leaflets that often turn purplish-red.
• Clusters of bright yellow flowers in spring.
• Dusty-blue, grape-like berries; the root and inner bark are vivid yellow.

Where & when

Dry forest floors, foothills, and open slopes, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The bright yellow root contains berberine and was widely used as a medicinal and a natural dye.

What it is

A smooth, thornless currant with clove-scented golden-yellow flowers in spring and amber-to-black berries in summer.

How to identify

• Thornless (unarmed) shrub, unlike the spiny gooseberries.
• Small three-lobed maple-like leaves.
• Golden-yellow tubular flowers with a spicy clove scent in spring.
• Smooth round berries ripening amber, red, to black.

Where & when

Streamsides, moist draws, and open slopes, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The clove-like fragrance makes it a favorite native landscaping shrub as well as a wild food.

What it is

A compact shrub of dry, rocky slopes with small round scalloped leaves and translucent red berries.

How to identify

• Low, densely branched, thornless shrub of dry ground.
• Small round leaves with scalloped edges, slightly sticky and aromatic.
• Small pinkish-white tubular flowers.
• Translucent red berries, a bit seedy.

Where & when

Dry, rocky slopes and open forest, mid elevation.

Field notes

A tough, drought-hardy shrub; the berries are more valued by wildlife than by most foragers.

What it is

A trailing evergreen groundcover with small paddle-shaped leaves, pink urn flowers, and mealy red berries that carpets pine forest floors.

How to identify

• Low, trailing, mat-forming evergreen with reddish peeling stems.
• Small, thick, spoon-shaped leaves, glossy dark green.
• Pink to white urn-shaped (blueberry-family) flowers in spring.
• Bright red, dry, mealy berries.

Where & when

Dry, sandy, open pine forest and rocky slopes, low to high elevation.

Field notes

“Kinnikinnick” was a widespread Native smoking blend; the leaves (uva-ursi) remain a known herbal remedy for the urinary tract.

What it is

A shrub instantly known by its bright red winter stems, flat white flower clusters, and clusters of chalky white berries along creeks.

How to identify

• Thicket-forming shrub with bright red stems, most vivid in winter.
• Opposite oval leaves with curved veins that follow the leaf edge; leaves tear to show stringy latex.
• Flat-topped clusters of small white flowers in early summer.
• Clusters of chalky white (sometimes bluish) berries.

Where & when

Streamsides, wet meadows, and ditches, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The red stems make it a popular native landscaping plant; the inner bark was a common ingredient in kinnikinnick smoking mixes.

What it is

A tidy mounded shrub covered all summer in bright yellow five-petaled flowers, common in wet meadows and a popular landscaping plant.

How to identify

• Low, mounded, densely branched shrub with shreddy brown bark.
• Small gray-green leaves divided into 5 to 7 narrow leaflets.
• Bright yellow, five-petaled, buttercup-like flowers all summer long.
• Grows in wet meadows and along high-country streams.

Where & when

Wet meadows, streamsides, and open slopes, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

Sold widely as the ornamental “potentilla”; a hardy native that blooms for months.

What it is

The famous wild purple berry of the Northern Rockies, a knee-high shrub of mid-to-high mountain forest and a wild cousin of the blueberry.

How to identify

• Low deciduous shrub, usually 1 to 2 ft, with green, slightly angled young twigs.
• Leaves alternate, thin, oval with a pointed tip and finely toothed edges; they turn red in fall.
• Flowers single, small, urn or bell-shaped, pale pink, hanging under the leaves.
• Berries borne singly (not in clusters), round, deep purple to nearly black, with a tiny crown at the tip.

Where & when

Coniferous forest, old burns, and open slopes, mid to high elevation. Ripe late July into September.

Field notes

Idaho’s signature wild fruit. A personal handful needs no permit on most national forest land, but check local rules before any large harvest.

What it is

A tiny, broom-like relative of the huckleberry that forms low green mats under high-elevation conifers, dotted with minuscule red berries.

How to identify

• Very low (a few inches), dense, broom-like green shrub carpeting the forest floor.
• Green, sharply angled, broom-twiggy stems (stays green in winter).
• Tiny oval leaves.
• Minuscule bright red berries, easy to miss.

Where & when

Shady high-elevation conifer forest, often under spruce and fir; berries mid to late summer.

Field notes

A favorite of grouse (hence the name); the dense green mats are a signature of cool subalpine forest floors.

What it is

A low groundcover with three-part leaves, white flowers, and tiny red strawberries in meadows and forest edges.

How to identify

• Low groundcover spreading by runners.
• Leaves in threes, toothed, blue-green.
• White five-petaled flowers with a yellow center.
• Tiny true strawberries with seeds set into the surface.

Where & when

Meadows, open forest, and trail edges, low to high elevation.

Field notes

The garden strawberry was bred partly from this species; wild plants reward patient picking with unmatched flavor.

What it is

A thornless bramble with big soft maple-shaped leaves, white flowers, and shallow, cap-like red berries you pick like a thimble.

How to identify

• Thornless (unarmed) shrub with large, soft, fuzzy, maple-shaped leaves.
• Large white five-petaled flowers.
• Berries shallow, domed, and hollow like a thimble, bright red when ripe, falling apart easily.
• Forms colonies in moist ground.

Where & when

Moist forest, streamsides, and clearings, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The berries are too soft to ship, which is why you only ever taste them in the wild.

What it is

The wild ancestor of the garden raspberry, with arching prickly canes and true red raspberries in rocky, disturbed ground.

How to identify

• Arching canes with slender prickles.
• Compound leaves of 3 to 5 toothed leaflets, white-woolly beneath.
• White flowers, then true raspberries.
• Berry pulls off its core hollow, exactly like a store raspberry.

Where & when

Rocky slopes, burns, clearings, and roadsides, low to high elevation.

Field notes

Thrives on disturbed and burned ground, so recent burns can produce spectacular raspberry crops.

What it is

A currant relative armed with spines, bearing striped green-to-purple berries marked with the dried flower tail at the tip.

How to identify

• Shrub armed with spines at the leaf nodes (unlike the thornless currants).
• Small maple-like lobed leaves.
• Small greenish to pink dangling flowers.
• Round berries with faint stripes and a dried flower “tail” at the tip.

Where & when

Streamsides, moist slopes, and thickets, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

Gooseberries and currants were once banned in parts of the U.S. because they host white pine blister rust.

What it is

A shrub with silvery-scaly leaf undersides and translucent red-orange berries, also called soapberry for its foamy juice.

How to identify

• Shrub with opposite oval leaves, dark green above and silver-scaly with rusty dots beneath.
• Twigs and buds coated in rusty-brown scales.
• Small inconspicuous flowers.
• Translucent red-orange berries with a bitter, soapy taste.

Where & when

Open forest, streamsides, and rocky slopes, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

The saponins let the crushed berries whip up like egg whites into a frothy traditional dessert.

What it is

An arching, kinked stem with clasping leaves and small red-orange berries dangling on twisted stalks beneath, in wet forest.

How to identify

• Arching stem with a distinctive zig-zag “kink” at each leaf node.
• Leaves clasp the stem and are arranged in two ranks.
• Small greenish-white bell flowers, then berries, hang below the stem on sharply twisted stalks.
• Red to orange translucent berries.

Where & when

Wet, shaded forest and streamsides, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

The “twisted stalk” name comes from the sharp bend in each fruit stalk, a reliable ID feature once berries form.

What it is

The big golden sunflower that washes entire foothills yellow in May, over large silver arrowhead leaves, a cornerstone food of Native peoples.

How to identify

• Clump-forming perennial, 1 to 2 ft, from a deep woody taproot.
• Leaves basal and large (up to a foot), triangular and arrowhead-shaped, gray-green and softly hairy (silvery).
• Sunflower-like heads 3 to 4 in across, bright yellow rays around a yellow center, usually one per stalk.
• Blooms in a spectacular foothill display.

Where & when

Dry sagebrush foothills, open hillsides, and juniper edges, low to mid elevation. Peak bloom in May.

Field notes

A drought-hardy native; the deep taproot lets it green up early. Don’t dig the root casually, it takes years to regrow.

What it is

Tall spikes of magenta-pink flowers that blanket burned and cleared ground, a signature of recovering mountain slopes.

How to identify

• Tall, single, unbranched stalk 2 to 6 ft high.
• Willow-like narrow leaves with a pale midvein; veins loop and do not reach the leaf edge.
• A long spike of four-petaled magenta-pink flowers that opens from the bottom up.
• Later forms slender pods that split into silky, wind-borne seed fluff.

Where & when

Burns, clearings, roadsides, and open slopes, low to high elevation.

Field notes

Named for the way it floods in after wildfire; a classic pioneer that heals scorched ground.

What it is

Nodding, swept-back yellow lilies that bloom at the edge of melting snowfields, one of the first flowers of the high country.

How to identify

• A pair of broad, glossy, basal leaves at ground level.
• A single nodding flower (sometimes two or three) with six bright yellow, swept-back tepals.
• Blooms right as the snow melts, often in drifts.
• Grows from a deep bulb.

Where & when

Moist meadows and slopes at the edge of receding snow, mid to high elevation, spring.

Field notes

Also called dogtooth violet or avalanche lily; grizzlies dig the bulbs on high slopes in spring.

What it is

Delicate sky-blue five-petaled flowers on slender, wiry stems, opening in the morning and dropping their petals by afternoon.

How to identify

• Slender, wiry stems 1 to 2 ft tall.
• Many small, narrow, alternate leaves.
• Sky-blue, five-petaled flowers that open in the morning and shed petals by afternoon.
• Round dry seed capsules follow.

Where & when

Dry open slopes, meadows, and roadsides, low to high elevation.

Field notes

A tough native wildflower named for Meriwether Lewis; the strong stems yielded cordage and the seeds an oil.

What it is

Pink-purple five-petaled flowers with dark veins, over deeply lobed sticky leaves, common in aspen groves and meadows.

How to identify

• Bushy perennial 1 to 2 ft tall with sticky (glandular) hairs throughout.
• Leaves deeply palmately lobed and toothed.
• Pink to magenta flowers with darker purple veins.
• Beaked “cranesbill” seed pods that fling seeds when ripe.

Where & when

Aspen groves, meadows, and open slopes, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

The dark veins act as nectar guides, steering bees to the flower’s center.

What it is

Flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers over feathery, fern-like leaves, one of the most widespread plants in the mountains.

How to identify

• Upright plant 1 to 2 ft with a single stem.
• Leaves soft, very finely divided and feathery (millefolium means thousand-leaf), aromatic.
• Flat-topped clusters of many small white (rarely pink) flower heads.
• Strong, sweet-medicinal smell when crushed.

Where & when

Meadows, roadsides, slopes, and open forest, low to high elevation.

Field notes

Named for Achilles, who legend says used it to staunch soldiers’ wounds; a genuine traditional first-aid plant.

What it is

The flame-red brush of mountain meadows, where the color comes from leafy bracts rather than true petals.

How to identify

• Clumped stems 1 to 2 ft tall.
• The showy red-orange color is from leafy bracts, not petals; the true flowers are green tubes hidden among them.
• Narrow, often three-lobed leaves.
• A partial root-parasite that taps neighboring plants.

Where & when

Meadows, streamsides, and open slopes, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

Because it borrows from its neighbors’ roots, it can pull up toxins (like selenium) they contain, which is why it is not a reliable edible.

What it is

An elegant white three-petaled cup with a yellow-and-purple center, on a thin stem in dry foothills, and a regional icon.

How to identify

• Slender stem 6 to 18 in with a few grass-like leaves.
• A single upward-facing cup of three broad white (sometimes lilac) petals.
• A yellow band and a dark purple spot mark the base of each petal.
• Grows from a small edible bulb.

Where & when

Dry foothills, sagebrush, and open slopes, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

Utah’s state flower, honored for feeding Mormon settlers during crop failures; too special now to harvest casually.

What it is

Unmistakable pink flower spikes where each tiny bloom is shaped like an elephant’s head, trunk and all, in wet subalpine meadows.

How to identify

• Stalk of densely packed pink-purple flowers.
• Each flower genuinely resembles an elephant’s head, with two ears and an upcurved trunk.
• Fern-like, finely divided leaves, often reddish.
• Grows in wet meadows and along cold streams.

Where & when

Wet subalpine meadows, streambanks, and seeps, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

Like paintbrush, it is a partial root-parasite, which is why it is not considered a safe edible.

What it is

Big, glossy, mule-ear-shaped leaves and large yellow sunflower blooms that cover hillsides, often confused with balsamroot.

How to identify

• Clump of large, glossy, green (not silvery) leaves shaped like a mule’s ear.
• Several large yellow sunflower heads per clump (balsamroot usually has one per stalk).
• Leaves clasp the stem (amplexicaulis) and are resinous and shiny.
• Grows in dense colonies on hillsides.

Where & when

Moist meadows, open slopes, and foothills, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

Often forms solid stands that outcompete grass; livestock avoid its bitter, resinous foliage.

What it is

Upright square stems and toothed, arrowhead leaves covered in fine stinging hairs, in moist rich soil. Brush against it bare-skinned and you will not forget it, but cooked it is one of the finest wild greens in these mountains.

How to identify

• Upright plant 2 to 6 ft with a square stem.
• Opposite, toothed, arrowhead-shaped leaves that taper to a point.
• Fine stinging hairs bristling on the stems and leaf undersides.
• Tiny greenish flowers in dangling, tassel-like clusters from the leaf axils.

Where & when

Moist, rich soil along creeks, in aspen groves, and disturbed shady ground, low to mid elevation, often in dense patches.

Field notes

The classic trailside antidote is dock, which conveniently grows in the same damp ground: crush a dock leaf and rub its cool juice on the welts (jewelweed works too). Cooking, steaming, or thoroughly drying removes the sting entirely, turning nettle into a powerhouse wild food and spring tonic; the tough stem fibers were even spun into cordage and cloth.

What it is

The one truly minty-smelling plant of these mountains: square stems, opposite toothed leaves, and small lilac flower clusters in wet ground.

How to identify

• Square stem (like all mints).
• Opposite, toothed, aromatic leaves that smell strongly of mint when crushed.
• Small lilac to white flower clusters tucked where the leaves meet the stem (not at the tip).
• Always in wet ground.

Where & when

Streamsides, wet meadows, ditches, and springs, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

A refreshing trailside tea and a traditional remedy for upset stomach.

What it is

A tall stalk of rusty-brown papery seed clusters over long, wavy-edged leaves, conspicuous by late summer. Introduced but naturalized everywhere.

How to identify

• Tall (2 to 4 ft) single seed stalk turning rust-brown.
• Long, lance-shaped leaves with distinctly wavy, curled edges.
• Dense clusters of small papery, rust-colored seeds.
• A thin papery sheath (ocrea) wraps the stem at each leaf base (a buckwheat-family trait).

Where & when

Disturbed ground, fields, roadsides, ditches, and meadows, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

A cosmopolitan weed and a classic wild green; the seeds can be winnowed and ground into a flour extender. Dock is also the traditional on-the-spot remedy for a stinging-nettle sting: crush a leaf and rub the cool juice on the welts. Handily, it grows in the same damp, disturbed ground as nettle, so the cure is usually within arm’s reach of the sting.

What it is

Golden-yellow daisy petals around a dark chocolate-brown dome. Worth knowing, but not a native of these mountains: mostly a planted and roadside species here.

How to identify

• Coarse, bristly-hairy plant 1 to 3 ft tall.
• Golden-yellow ray petals around a raised dark brown-black center dome.
• Rough, hairy, lance-shaped leaves.
• Common on roadsides and in plantings rather than wild high country.

Where & when

Roadsides, plantings, and disturbed ground, low to mid elevation (not truly montane here).

Field notes

A prairie and garden favorite that turns up along Western roads, but it is not a native mountain wildflower.

What it is

Rounded rose-pink flower heads over leaves marked with a pale V, along roadsides and field edges. An introduced European forage plant.

How to identify

• Sprawling to upright plant with three-part (clover) leaves, each leaflet often marked with a pale V or crescent.
• Rounded rose-pink to magenta flower heads.
• Soft-hairy stems.
• Along roadsides, fields, and trail edges, more in valleys than high country.

Where & when

Roadsides, fields, pastures, and trail edges, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

An introduced forage and cover crop, valued by bees and as a nitrogen-fixer, now naturalized across the West.

What it is

A showy native daisy with red-and-gold rays, like a woven blanket, ringing a domed brown-purple center, on dry foothill slopes.

How to identify

• Native perennial 1 to 2 ft tall with grayish, hairy leaves.
• Ray petals gold at the tips and red or maroon toward the center, three-lobed at the outer edge.
• A rounded brown-purple central dome.
• Dry foothill slopes and meadows.

Where & when

Dry foothills, open slopes, and meadows, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

A drought-hardy native wildflower and a favorite of native-plant gardeners and pollinators alike.

What it is

In its first year, a flat rosette of large, soft, silver-woolly leaves that look a lot like a dock plant; in its second year it shoots up a tall yellow spike. The very fuzzy plant many people here call “lamb’s ear.”

How to identify

• First year: a flat ground rosette of big, soft, densely woolly (fuzzy) pale-green leaves.
• Second year: a single tall spike, 3 to 7 ft, of yellow five-petaled flowers.
• The whole plant is felted with soft hairs.
• All over foothills, roadsides, and old burns.

Where & when

Disturbed ground, roadsides, foothills, and burns, low to mid elevation.

Field notes

An introduced Eurasian biennial; the dried flower stalks were once dipped in tallow and burned as torches.

What it is

An elegant wildflower with nodding, five-spurred blooms, blue-and-white in the high country (Colorado columbine) or red-and-yellow lower down (western red columbine, Aquilegia formosa), in open forest and on rocky slopes.

How to identify

• Distinctive flowers with five petals each drawn back into a long, hollow spur, behind five flat, petal-like sepals.
• High-country form is large, blue-purple and white; the lower-elevation form is red and yellow and strongly nodding.
• Lacy, blue-green leaves divided into rounded, three-part leaflets (like a fine meadow-rue).
• 1 to 2 ft tall in open woods, meadows, and rocky slopes.

Where & when

Open forest, rocky slopes, streamsides, and meadows, mid to high elevation.

Field notes

A hummingbird magnet, especially the red form. Colorado columbine (Aquilegia coerulea) is Colorado’s state flower and graces Idaho’s high country too; it is slow to establish, so admire it rather than dig it.