Two Years Running

We ventured into the Big Belt Mountains today to see if we could find any Kelseya Uniflora in bloom on the limestone cliffs. As a staring point, we revisited our successful sighting location from last year. There was a lot of Kelseya, but from our vantage point, 100ish feet (30m) below the plants it did not look like they were blooming.

Neither of us recalled the slope we needed to scramble up being this steep and unstable. After agreeing that we really should be better chaperoned, we scrambled up the steep, unstable slope. We agreed that if either of us fell, we would drag the victim down the trail a bit to make it appear we didn’t ’do what we did’. The Lab did not go all the way up with us- he’s a smart boy.

I’ll cut to the chase- no flowers, another relatively rare plant, in the end we do find flowers, and we both lived. 

Kelseya uniflora is very particular about where it lives. As a result it only found in a few places in Montana and Wyoming. We happen to be fortunate enough to live within an hours’ drive. 

Relatively speaking, there is a lot of Kelseya up in the limestone canyons on the Belts. Hellgate and Avalanche canyons have loads of it that is visible from the road. In a few places, the dense mat of leaves is within easy reach with minimal effort. None of the easy to see/reach plants were in bloom. The really big mats are up high on the limestone and get a lot of sun compared to the plants lower down. Using binoculars and zoom lenses, we’re able to find some in bloom.

The second somewhat rare plant was Smooth Cliffbreak. Known from only about 50 locations in Montana, this specimen looks happy and healthy. 

Another successful trip into the hills to find flowering plants which brings the 2024 Plants in Bloom list to a total of 33. 

Onward!