Flowers near Vernal and Nevada Falls (Yosemite)

Flowers by the trails to Vernal and Nevada Falls (Yosemite)
Notes by J. Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Trees and Shrubs of California by John Stuart and John Sawyer. California's native California trees and common shrubs in this accessible field guide. Over 100 line drawings, 300 range maps, and 40 color photographs.

Flowers at Hetch Hetchy (Rancheria Falls Trail)

Flower in the Coast Redwoods

Forest and Tree Home. Glossary: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

The most beautiful trail in the Yosemite Valley climbs from Happy Isles to Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.

These are flowers can you find beside it, June 8-10, 2004, in the sequence seen as well as some additional flowers seen on the valley floor near the Visitor's Center.

For comparison, see:

• the flowers of the coastal redwoods seen in June.
• the graph of flower species in bloom and banana slugs spotted year-round in coastal redwoods.

June Flowers of Yosemite in the sequence seen on the trails near Vernal and Nevada Falls

Starting near Happy Isles: Water buttercup, Ranunculus aquatilus (white, 5 white petals about a third of an inch long). In slow moving (seasonal) water. Few-flowered (or bush) pea, Lathyrus brownii (violet). Lovely unidentified yellow flower with 4 long stamens, petals peel back. Not in Munz. We reach the Bridge over the Merced River with the still beautiful (though increasingly blocked) view of Vernal Falls. The Valley needs a fire not only to maintain its prehistoric balanced ecology, but also to take out a few trees and open up this view! Mountain pink currant, Ribes nevadense (Pink pendants on a shrub). The gorgeous small-flowered alumroot (also called small-flowered heuchera or crevice heuchera), Heuchera micrantha (pink). 1-foot flowering stem topped by branches with numerous tiny flowers. The gorgeous pink alumroot (also called pink heuchera), Heuchera rubescens (pink). 1-foot flowering stem topped by many-flowered branches. Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus (5 white petal). Drummond's cinquefoil, Potentilla drummondii (5 yellow petals, half-inch-diameter flower). Mountain pride, Penstemon newberryi (rose pink-red). Yarrow , Achillea millefolium (5 white petals, arrayed in several upward-facing disks). Broad-leafed lotus, Lotus crassifolius (yellow with maroon dot at tip of lower lip). White star-shaped flower. Not in Munz. Arrow-leaved balsamroot, Balsamorhiza sagittata (yellow multi-petalled flowers, 2 to 3 inches diameter; lower leaves are triangular). Mountain sorrel, Oxyria digyna (dusky reddish, tiny flowers in clusters along branched stems). Near Vernal Falls. Pacific stonecrop, Sedum spathulifolium (5-pointed petals in a yellow star; basal rosette of leaves). Lemmon's campion (also called Lemmon's catchfly), Silene lemmonii (5 white petals on nodding, hanging flowers; petal tips cleft into 4 lobes giving the flower a disarrayed look). Dusty maidens (yellow). Rosy everlasting (pink). Imbricate phacelia, Phacelia imbricata (white flowers clustered along coiled branches). Alpine aster, Aster alpigenus (purple petals with yellow center; flowers over 1 inch diameter; very thin leaves). Indian paintbrush (red). Hiker's gentian.

June Flowers of Yosemite Valley Floor seen near the Visitor's Center

• Mountain pennyroyal, Monardella odoratissima (mauve; opposite paired aromatic leaves).
• Western azelea, Rhododendron occidentale (creamy white, delicious fragrance).

Related Books

• Sierra Nevada Tree Identifier by Jim Paruk. Published by The Yosemite Association. An excellent guide book to all tree species in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Highly recommended to the amateur and the professional.
• An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park by Stephen J. Botti, Walter Sydoriak.
• Introduction to California Mountain Wildflowers by Philip A. Munz (revised Faber and Lake) (2003).
• The Ecology of Fire by Robert J. Whelan.
• Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests: A Photographic Interpretation of Ecological Change Since 1849 by George E. Gruell.
• The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter by Colin Tudge.

Related pages

• Home and List of Articles.
• John Muir on the Trees of Yosemite: Part 1.
• John Muir on the Trees of Yosemite: Part 2.
• Yosemite's Trees.
• Got Conifer - How You Can Tell What Kind of Conifer You Have..
• Trees of the Sierra Nevada.
• Trees of Southern California.

Glossary: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Copyright © 2004-2012 by J. Zimmerman.

[Thanks for visiting.]