Click on an individual photo to learn more about the flowers listed here or scroll down to see these flowers in alphabetical order. You might also want to try you hand at identifying various wildflowers that appear in the valley by clicking here.
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 2 feet tall.
Leaves: Basal, arrow-shaped, silver gray, covered in fine, short hairs.
Stems: Erect, branched at rootstalk, greyish green, covered with fine, short hairs.
Flowers: Yellow, sunflower-like, 4-5 inches across.
Roots: Large, deep, thick taproot.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Open hillsides and grasslands, drought-resistant.
Penstemon spp.
Growth Habitat: Perennial, heights range from 4 inches to 4 feet.
Leaves: Opposite and basal, oval to linear, toothed or toothless, sometimes thick and firm.
Stems: Erect, branched, clustered.
Flowers: Finely glandular-hairy, 3-lobed lower lip and 2-lobed upper lip, many flowers in several whorls from upper leaf axils. Flowers range from pale reddish-purple to bluish-purple.
Roots: Branched, woody.
Reproduces: By seed and by rhizomes.
Habitat: Dry to moist open sites.
Gaillardia aristata
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 2 feet tall.
Leaves: Light green, hairy, alternate, and entired, divided, or variously toothed.
Stems: Single or several, erect.
Flowers: Red with yellow rims, 2 to 3 inches across. Each ray petal is 3-lobed. Middle is brownish-red.
Roots: Slender taproot.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Drought-tolerant, roadsides, open fields.
Hedysarum boreale
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 2 feet tall.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnately divided into 9-13 linear-oblong to elliptic, thick leaflets, densely hairy.
Stems: Many, branched.
Flowers: Compact to elongate clusters of pinkish-purple to reddish-pink, pea-like flowers, bilaterally symmetrical.
Roots: Thick taproot.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Dry, rocky hillsides and crests, roadsides.
Achillea millefolium
Growth Habitat: Herbaceous perennial, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Pinnate, almost feathery, arranged spirally on stems, hairy. Larger leaves are near the base of the stem, smaller leaves are higher on the stem.
Stems: Erect, unbranched, may or may not have hair.
Flowers: Inflorescence produced in a flat-topped cluster with 3-8 ray flowers that are round to ovate and white or pink and 15-40 disk flowers.
Roots: Rhizomatous, fibrous.
Reproduces: By rhizomes.
Habitat: Drought-tolerant, open hillsides and grasslands.
Lupinus spp.
Growth Habitat: Herbaceous perennial, grows up to 4 feet tall.
Leaves: Compound, palmate with 5-28 leaflets, greyish-green, dense fine silvery hairs.
Stems: Erect, multiple.
Flowers: Stiff, erect flower spikes. Flowers are pea-like and grow in large, crowded racemes of deep blue, purple, yellow, pink, or white.
Roots: Taproot.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Full sun to light shade, cool and moist environments.
Echinacea pallida
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Mostly near the base of the plant, narrowly ovate, smooth margins, curve upward, covered with fine white hairs.
Stems: Erect, unbranched, greyish or reddish green, covered with coarse white hairs.
Flowers: Single daisy-like flower about 3 inches across with prominent reddish brown cone of disk florets surrounded by 12-20 light purple ray florets.
Roots: Taproot.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Full sun and average to dry conditions, drought-resistant.
Ratibida columnaris
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 2 feet tall.
Leaves: Numerous, pinnate, deeply cut into linear or lance-shaped segments.
Stems: Alternately branched.
Flowers: Showy yellow ray flowers droop and surround the columnar-shaped, brown central disk flowers.
Roots: Taproot.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Drought-tolerant, prairie grasslands, waste places, disturbed areas, roadsides.
Dalea purpurea
Growth Habitat: Perennial forb, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Alternate, compound with 3 to 9 narrow leaflets, smooth
Stems: Erect, multiple.
Flowers: Rose, pinkish, or bright purple with bright orange stamens that protrude beyond the petals. Flowers are massed into a cone-like spike on the ends of the stems and begin flowering from the bottom and work up toward the top of the spike.
Roots: Taproot can be up to 6 feet deep, 3-5 lateral roots extend up to 18 inches before turning downward.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Dry plains, roadsides, hillsides, open woodlands, grasslands, drought-resistant.
Symphyotrichum laeve
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Smooth, almost waxy, clasping, simple, alternate
Stems: Erect, smooth, almost waxy, purplish.
Flowers: Purple ray flowers around a yellow disk, flower heads about 1 inch across.
Roots: Rhizomatous, fibrous.
Reproduces: By seed and by rhizomes.
Habitat: Drought-tolerant, meadows, grasslands, and open woods.
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Mailing address: Clearwater Resource Council, P.O. Box 1471, Seeley Lake, MT 59868
Office Location: 3166 MT Hwy 83, Ste 202, Seeley Lake, MT 59868 (in the Bison & Bear Center)
For additional information contact Jon Haufler ( jon@crcmt.org)
or by phone: 406-677-0069 (CRC Office)