Oil Shale Columbine Family:
Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) Grows to 2½ feet high with mostly basal leaves divided into rounded lobes that have a bluish waxy coating. Flowers can be erect or nodding with pale pink sepals, long pink spurs and yellow, cream or pink petals. Bright yellow stamens protrude from the flower. It is is endemic to the Green River drainage of Colorado and Utah. It is abundant at Hanging Lake and easily identified as the USFS has a sign at the lake. In my photo the flower is badly out of focus, although not bad of the leaves. The beautiful photo at left is from the Denver Botanic Gardens website. |
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Photo taken on:
August 9, 2003 Flora of North America reference. |