Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Rocky Mountain Snowlover
Chionophila jamesii
Plantain family (Plantaginaceae)

A walking pace is just too fast if we really want to see the world. Snowlover is one of those tiny plants that evades you unless you search with the slowest pace. And then you may find many Snowlovers. Flowers of Snowlover are in an unusual one-sided cluster, leaves are thick and almost as high as the flower, and, in a manner unique among Snapdragons, the flower is flattened. George Bentham named this and species in 1846. "Chionophila" is Greek for "snow lover." Edwin James was a naturalist with the Long Expedition of 1819-1820 and James was the first to climb what we now call Pike's Peak -- it was then called James' Peak.


©2010 Rick McNeill

Description

caulescent plants with stems to 4" tall, or minutely hairy. Most , thick, or . Small stem leaves . dense, mostly one sided, -like. about 1/3" long. two-lipped, somewhat flattened, a bit less than 1/2" long, green-white to cream. a .

Field Marks

Short plant from upright cluster of narrow . Flattened mostly white flowers on one side of stem.

© Al Schneider

oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

A spike is an unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are without stalks.

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

spatulate -- spoon-shaped.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.

alpine -- above the tree line. Thin soil, rocks, short growing season, frost, winter snow.