• View of Half Dome and Washington Column in Yosemite Valley

    Yosemite

    National Park California

« Back to High Country Notebook Homepage

Roadside Naturalist: July 14 - 15, 2012

July 15, 2012 Posted by: BW - Mather District Volunteer Interpretive Ranger

Roadside sightings along the Big Oak Flat Road - From the Big Oak Flat Entrance to Yosemite Valley

Nude Buckwheat
Eriogonum nudum

Nude Buckwheat

July 15, 2012

Blooming along the roadside between Crane Flat and the Big Oak Flat Entrance Station.  This plant has small white flowers that appear in small ball-shaped clumps along thin leafless stems around 3 feet tall.

Washington Lily

Lilium washingtonianum

Image of Washington Lily  Close up image of Washington Lily

July 15, 2012

Blooming most heavily between Crane Flat and the Big Meadow Overlook.  These large white lilies appear at the top of four to six foot tall stems.  If you are driving with your windows open in the cool evening air, you may even be able to smell their sweet fragrance as you pass by a particularly dense bunch. 

Lupine
Lupinus sp.

July 14, 2012

A large Lupine species is common along the road throughout the Big Meadow fire scar section near Foresta.  These purple flowers form obvious spikelike clusters that stick up above the bright green bushy leaves.  

roadside naturalist




Post A Comment

Submit Comment

Did You Know?

Merced River Gorge

Descending from Yosemite Valley, the Merced River becomes a continuous cascade in a narrow gorge littered by massive boulders. Dropping 2,000 feet in 14 miles, canyon walls rise steeply from the river and have many seasonal waterfalls cascading down to the river.