Breaking out of sheer rock, on the barren ground, or beside a mountain stream, hundreds of different kinds of wildflowers grow in the Yukon mountains. Some bloom as early as the snow melts in April, some continue blooming well into September.
The seven alpine flowers described below all grow on mountaintops close to Whitehorse.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Arnica lessingii Many types of yellow flowers are found on mountain tops. I chose the nodding arnica – nodding its head compared to the upright ones we know.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Saxifraga bronchialis, subspecies funstonii This is Funston’s saxifrage. The name saxifrage indicating its rock breaking qualities, saxum - rock and frago - to break. Prickly saxifrage is very common on the hillsides and this alpine variety bears a resemblance to its more common cousin.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Gentiana glauca Not so common, but included here because of its amazing blue-green colour and rarity: a gentian. Glaucous gentians get no bigger than a pinky finger.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Dryas octopetala Mountain avens are hard to miss due to quantity; they cover whole slopes in early summer.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Oxytropis nigrescens The little blackish locoweed, blooms early in summer, and, later in the season, the long red pods – almost 3 cm – are a common find on the mountaintops here.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Myosotis asiatica And last but not least, the alpine forget-me-not.
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Issue: 2016-08-11, PHOTO: Jozien Keijzer
Silene acaulis The brightest one of all: the moss campion – and it’s fragrant!