Wildflowers, wild weeds, and wild bushes in the Hillside to the Hollow area:

Early



Aase’s onion

• lily family
• basal (low) pink flowers in Very early spring
• only grows from Camel’s Back Park to Emmett

Crane’s/stork’s bill geranium

• geranium family
• perennial that dies back to root each year
• pink flowers
• long thin fruit spike after flowers, not edible

Wooly-pod milkvetch

• pea family – anything wild in the pea family is poisonous
• purple flowers
• grey, hairy leaves
• hairy fruit pods afterwards

Milkvetch/locoweed

• pea family, poisonous
• perennial
• yellow flowers
• green, non-hairy leaves
• toxic to sheep & cattle, thus “loco”

Alfalfa

• pea family, cultivated so not poisonous
• perennial
• purple flower
• clover-like leaves

• parsley family
• yellow flowers
• grass-like leaves divide into 3 and 3 again

Yarrow

• sunflower family
• white flowers in umbel (like an umbrella)
• fern like leaves
• medicinal to stop bleeding and help with liver problems

Phlox

• phlox family
• perennial
• purple, pink, or white flowers – 5 or 6 petals

Low pussytoes

• sunflower family
• perennial
• brown flowers become white fruit

Rigid/Harvest fiddleneck

• borage family
• annual
• yellow flowers
• cyme/scorpoid inflorescence (like a fiddleneck)

Columbian puccon/western gromwell

• borage family
• pale yellow flowers, smell great
• roots edible and used for respiratory ailments

Prairiestar/woodlandstar/fringecup

• saxifrage family
• annual
• white pointed flowers

Western/lance-leaf spring beauty

• purslane family
• white (sometimes pinkish) flower (slight purple vein) in April but possible until August at elevation
• two opposite leaves
• all edible, mostly bulb – raw, boiled, or baked, tastes like potato

Pink microsteris

• phlox family
• annual
• tiny, pink flowers

Blue-eyed Mary

• figwort family
• tiny, blue with white flowers

Popcorn flower

• borage family
• cluster of white flowers with yellow center

Arrowleaf balsamroot

• sunflower family
• perennial
• big yellow flowers, dyc
• edible roots – very deep, boil, use as starchy food
• edible seeds – like sunflower seeds

Douglas’ brodiaea/wild hyacinth

• lily family
• big blue, purple flower made up of multiple flutes, umbel
• one or two long grass like leaves
• edible flower and bulb

Sagebrush buttercup

• buttercup family, poisonous
• yellow, shiny flowers
• leaves look like strawberry leaves

Jim Hill/tumble mustard

• mustard family
• annual, after dries and breaks free, tumbles all around
• yellow flowers, in 4’s
• long (3in) seed pod, seeds edible raw, rub to remove seeds

Blue mustard

• mustard family
• annual
• small, purple flowers, in 4’s
• smells bad, noxious weed, imported from Mediterranean

Pepperweed

• mustard family
• annual
• clustered yellow flowers
• leaves wrap around stem

Desert buckwheat

• buckwheat family
• perennial
• yellow clusters of flowers in an umbel shape
• basal, grey/hairy lobed leaves
• important food source for birds and rodents

Cheat grass/downy chess

• grass family
• annual, germinates in fall, outcompetes native grasses
• reddish, purple before dries out
• seeds have a one way hair (awn) which sticks to socks and animals (causes cysts)
• introduced from Siberia, communist plot theory because cows can only eat when young

Bulbous bluegrass

• grass family
• perennial, grows in clumps
• imported from Europe

Big sagebrush

• sunflower family
• native, evergreen
• blooms in fall
• cows don’t like to eat it, grazing issues
• galls frequently grow on them – ball of plant issue to protect an insect

Rabbit brush

• sunflower family
• perennial
• yellow flowers in fall
• many people are allergic to this
• used as shelters for rabbits and birds, color dye, and rubber

Antelope bitterbrush

• rose family
• light yellow flowers in spring, smells great
• fruit/seeds very edible and nutritious for wildlife

Dandelion

• sunflower family
• perennial, introduced
• yellow flower blooms April thru October, parachutes on fruits
• all parts edible, young leaves in salads & boiled, roots roasted (coffee) or fried, flowers in pancake batter and wine
• medicinal as a laxative
• latex in stems

Prickly lettuce

• sunflower family
• annual or biennial, introduced
• parachutes on fruits (like dandelion)
• prickly undersides of leaves, milky when broken

Later



Mariposa lily

• lily family
• perennial
• white or pinkish flower with purple center, 3 petals, blooms June/July
• edible root, nutty flavor, eaten by Native Americans & Mormon settlers
• nurturing to humans in a maternal way, according to flower remedy healers

Bachelors button

• sunflower family
• annual
• blue or white flowers most common, in a circle at end of stem
• a cultivated Mediterranean plant gone wild in the NW US

Indian/desert paintbrush

• figwort family
• perennial
• red, but various shades possible, flowers
• roots attach to sagebrush for food
• edible boiled

Lupine

• pea family, poisonous
• purple flower
• palmately leaves
• Texas state flower (Bluebonnet)

Sunflower

• sunflower family
• annual
• yellow flowers July-Sept
• seeds edible by birds and people

Death camas

• lily family
• white flowers, pale yellow in middle
• looks like but doesn’t smell like an onion, don’t eat

Sweet clover

• pea family, poisonous
• biennial
• tiny white or yellow flowers, whole plant tumbles when dry
• planted on roadsides for erosion control

• figwort family
• biennial
• yellow flowers on a spike inflorescence second year
• use as emergency toilet paper
• medicinal use for asthma and stomach ailments

Curly cup gumplant

• sunflower family
• biennial or perennial
• yellow flower, fruit sticky underneath and downward curled hooks
• pine smell

Spotted knapweed

• aster family
• purple flowers
• noxious weed
  

Russian Thistle / Tumbleweed

• goosefoot family
• each leaf becomes a spine
• green, pink, and reddish stems
• whole plant breaks off and tumbles in the wind when dry
  

Squaw current

• sumac family
• shrub up to 6 feet tall
• yellow flowers in spring, orange fruits latter
• 3 leavlets with 3 lobes/notches
• native
• can make lemonade out of fruit

Crested wheat grass

• grass family
• planted in burned grazing areas for cattle grazing
• birds do not like to eat this

Yellow salsify/oyster plant

• sunflower family
• biennial
• flower and fruits/seeds like a huge dandelion
• edible seeds
  

Hawksbeard

• sunflower family
• very dandelion-like yellow flowers
• pointed, deeply toothed leaves at base

Moth Mullein

• figwort family
• straight stalk with well-spaced yellow flowers
• up to shoulder high
• biennial

Desert Evening Primrose

• evening primrose family
• large white petals, yellow stamens
• low growing, basal, no stems
• they blush, turn red, and close up after sex
• native and edible

White Stemmed Evening Primrose

• evening primrose family
• white petals, yellow stamens
• stems can be up to 18 inches
• they blush, turn red, and close up after sex
• native and edible

Wild Onion

• lily family
• head-like cluster at tip of stem
• grass-like leaves
• bulb is edible IF it smells like an onion (so as not to be confused with the death camas)

Wild Aster

• sunflower family
• blue-violet colored ray flowers
• a native, perennial plant

Hairy Plantain

• plantain family
• native species which grows in disturbed areas
• only about 6 inches tall
• basal leaves with shoots of lots of tiny white flowers

Spring Birds


Meadowlark

Red tailed hawk
Kestrel
Quail
Magpie

The information on this page was compiled by Joanie Fauci, a recreational wildflower lover who enjoys spending time in the foothills.

Please email Joanie with comments, corrections, and additions at:

Visit our new Wildflower page !

Burn area re-seeding project lots of fun and hard work!

Listen to what residents are saying about the Hillside to the Hollow open space area: