Common names:
Gordon's mousetail, Alpine ivesia
Family:
Scientific name:
Ivesia gordonii
Main flower color:
Range:
The northern Rocky Mountain states, plus parts of Washington, Oregon, north Nevada and north California
Height:
Up to 6 inches
Habitat:
Rocky areas in mountains; up to 12,000 feet
Leaves:
Up to 4 inches long, pinnately divided into 10 to 25 leaflets, each split into 3 to 8 segments
Season:
June to August
The fern-like leaves of ivesia gordonii are quite distinctive, being divided into around 20 leaflets, each further divided into smaller segments. The inflorescence grows on leafless stalks, a little longer (6 inches), and consisting or spherical clusters of small flowers; these have (usually) three tiny pistils and five stamens at the center, surrounded by five narrow, yellow, spatula-shaped petals above five wider, pointed, hairy, greenish-yellow sepals, below which is a cluster of hairy green bracts. Anthers are colored yellow, later reddish. Flowers become orange then reddish as they wither.
The plant is found at relatively high elevations, between 6,000 and 12,000 feet, in the mountains of the north and west. There are four varieties (wasatchensis, ursinorum, gordonii, alpicola), differing such aspects as the number of leaflets, the hairiness of the leaflets and the color of the stems.
The plant is found at relatively high elevations, between 6,000 and 12,000 feet, in the mountains of the north and west. There are four varieties (wasatchensis, ursinorum, gordonii, alpicola), differing such aspects as the number of leaflets, the hairiness of the leaflets and the color of the stems.
All Contents © Copyright The American Southwest | Comments and Questions | Contribute | Site Map