Sunday, April 21, 2019

Visiting Colorado--Devil's Backbone, Loveland, Colorado in June

Devil's Backbone, Loveland Colorado from the northeast

Devil's Backbone is a distinctive rock outcrop on the western side of Loveland, Colorado. 

Devil's Backbone, Loveland Colorado from the north

Along the northern side, the land has been preserved as Devil's Backbone Open Space (link). The hiking trails lead west and north through Rocky Mountain Front Range grasslands. It is a favorite hike of mine.

Here is what you might see in June.
Devil's Backbone Open Space, Larimer County, CO
Big cottonwoods in the low spots
Wild roses (Rosa woodsii, rose family Rosaceae) in flower
wild rose
Wild rose
The occassional prickly poppy (Argemone polyanthemos, poppy family Papaveraceae). Prickly poppy is a native annual. Some years they are very abundant, other years hard to find.

prickly poppy, Argemone polyanthemos
prickly poppy, Argemone polyanthemos
Rolling grasslands with small soapweed (Yucca glauca, asparagus family, Asparagaceae) in bloom. 

Devil's Backbone Open Space, June

Small soapweed is a slow-growing native, the most northerly of the yuccas and agaves. Its very sharp fiberous leaves resist grazing but it is slow to seed in and grow to flowering size after plowing or similar disturbances, so the presence of so many in bloom suggests 20 or 30 years undisturbed here. (Devil's Backbone was mined for gypsum and hosted a plaster plant between the 1880s and 1965, though the disturbance to the field in the photo above might have been minor.)

small soapweed, Yucca glauca
small soapweed, Yucca glauca
Purple larkspurs (Delphinium, buttercup family, Ranunculaceae) among the mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus,  rose family, Rosaceae).
larkspurs and mountain mahogany
Larkspurs (Delphinium species) and mountain mahogany (Cercocapus montanus)
Blanket flowers (Gaillardia aristata, sunflower family, Asteraceae). These are native annuals, so you never know where they might pop up. 
blanket flower, Gaillardia
blanket flower, Gaillardia aristata
The prickly pear cacti (Opuntia polyacantha, cactus family Cactaceae) flower in June. The flowers open in the sun, close if it is cool and gray. The bee noticed the flower was open. 
prickly pear, Opuntia polyacantha
plains prickly pear, likely Opuntia polyacantha
There is a second species of prickly pear, big root prickly pear (Opuntia macrorhiza), which is very similar. Opuntia polyacantha is more common along Devil's Backbone.

The Foothills grassland looks much simpler than it is. There are multiple species of many native plants, some because the plains meets the mountains here, with lots of different microhabitats, others because they have relatives that grow in the same places.

Here, for example, is a white species of larkspur, the pale larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum). Devil's Backbone has not only two blue species of larkspur but various hybrids between them.

Carolina larkspur, Delphinium carolinianum
white larkspur, Delphinium
Wavy-leaf thistle (Cirsium undulatum, sunflower family, Asteraceae) looks like some of our weedy exotic thistles, but it is native and not very common.  The leaves are particularly deeply "wavy," silver on the underside, and quite spiny.

wavy-leaf thistle, Cirsium undulatum
wavy-leaf thistle, Cirsium undulatum
And of course there are many more

western spiderwort, Tradescantia occidentalis
western spiderwort, Tradescantia occidentalis 
(dayflower family, Commelinaceae)
Go! Take a hike!


Devil's Backbone, Larimer County Open Space


Comments and corrections welcome.

Best plant ID book: Bilsing, L. editor. 2014. Wildflowers and other plants of the Larimer County Foothills Region. Larimer County Natural Resources. Specifically for the Front Range of Larimer County, 5,000-8,000'.

For more information on conspicuous plants: Keeler, K. H. 2017. NoCo Notables: Fifteen Northern Colorado Plants to Notice. WhatIf? Publications, Loveland, CO.

Kathy Keeler, A Wandering Botanist

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