Pasque flower

Bert Gildart: Few places are more lovely in spring than Montana’s Glacier National Park. At this time, I’m particularly drawn to the park’s east side and this is the area to which Janie and I gravitated about 10 days ago. Several of my favorite flowers were beginning to bloom and the park’s water falls were thundering through the gorges which they continue to endow with rugged personalities.

Three flowers in particular were abundant, and all representative of early spring. They were spring beauty, the buttercup and the pasque flower.

The pasque flower has always been one of my favorites. It grows in areas that one might call a “dry site,” and it puts forth bold purple flowers. The Craigheads in their Guide to Rocky Mountain Flowers, and a book that has been on my shelf for decades, says the flower has no petals, only sepals, which are colored purple, violet, or occasionally white.

Anemone patens, as known scientifically, has white pistils, and yellow stamens that number in the dozens. When the flower has matured it produces a cluster of fruits resembling a lion’s beard. Consequently, some call it just that, “Lion’s beard.”

TOXIC SUBSTANCE

In late June you’ll also find the flower at Logan Pass (6,646 feet) and at nearby Hidden Lake, and then, towards summer’s end, you’ll see it as a silky head. South Dakota claims the pasque flower as its state flower and it is the official flower of Manitoba and the Yukon Territories. The plant contains a toxic alkaloid called anemonine, and if over eaten by domestic animals, particularly sheep, it can be fatal.

Pasque flower

Because the flowers were growing in the shadow of the horrendous St. Mary Fire of 2006, they added a delightful counterpoint to the blackened hills that surrounded us as we hiked above the old St. Mary Ranger Station.

The station is historic and is where Chance Beebe was stationed as a ranger shortly after the park was created in 1910. It’s also where Eva Beebe paced nervously with her child as a mountain lion prowled the attic. Chance was on patrol, but later saw the prints in the dust of the floor. The lion had gained access by leaping from a tree and through an attic window.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

Not to be ignored were the water falls, which seemed to be cascading from many sources on the park’s east side. However, none that we saw last week could equal the gush and roar of Grinnell Falls, backdropped by Grinnell Point, all in the Many Glacier Valley.

It’s a lovely time to visit the park, though few of the trails are yet open. Logan Pass remains inaccessible as the lower portions of the Going to the Sun Road are closed, posted as being prone to avalanches. You’ll be hearing more about this famous road as the park will be celebrating its 75^th Anniversary throughout the summer.

This Time Last Year I posted materials about dandelions . I also posted a story entitled “An Old Farmers Advice ,” which I thought contained much sage advice.

AND NOW, THE COMMERCIAL:

If you’re interested in exploring the Flathead Valley and Glacier National park, here are two books produced by Falcon Press, one part of their Exploring Series, the other one of a new series of “Pocket Guides.”

Janie and I, of course, are the authors and you can obtain both from us, or directly from Falcon. Look for them, too, in bookstores and in Glacier.

Exploring Guide

Glacier Pocket book