Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society Volume 49 Number 3 Summer 1991 Cover: Claytonia megarhiza ssp. nivalis Watercolor by Vickie Danielsen of Englewood, Colorado Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society Volume 49 Number 3 Summer 1991 Features The Wenatchee Mountains, by Arthur Kruckeberg and Coleman Leuthy 163 The Lazy Way: Broadcast Sowing, by C.J. Patterson 169 Ten Gems of the Tien Shan, by Josef Halda 175 Difficult Primulas—or Difficult People?, by Herbert Dickson 185 Why are Dwarf Iris So Rare?, by Robert Pries 189 Growing Wenatchee Wildflowers, by Stephen Doonan 193 Fort Courage, by Ev Whittemore 207 When the Cactus is in Bloom, by John Spain 217 Departments Plant Portrait: Leucocrinum montanum 225 Books 226 The Wenatchee Mountains 162 Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society Vol. 49(3) The Wenatchee Mountains by Arthur Kruckeberg and Coleman Leuthy 1 he geological backdrop of the the Wenatchees continue up the Wenatchees is a turbulent and grand Columbia River to Lake Chelan, uplake mountainous landscape with a host of to Lucerne, and west up Railroad Creek lithological types—sandstones, grani- to the Cascade Crest. This larger defini• tics, volcanics, metamorphics (like tion would include the Entiat and metadiabase, schist, and gneiss), and a Chelan Mountains. liberal display of ultramafics (serpenti- Geologically, these mountains are nite and peridotite). This lithology is complex. Major rock types include arrayed in precipitous, jagged peaks sandstones, some conglomerates, occa• and high volcanic tableland. Discontinu• sional lime-rich bands, serpentine, ities in the flora are caused by the often basalt flows and the granites of a large sharp boundaries between different batholith—the Mount Stuart Range. rock types. Serpentine outcrops abrupt• The Stuarts extend from Tumwater ly next to granite or sandstone, provok• Canyon on the Wenatchee River to ing night-and-day contacts in the living Ingalls Creek, their southern boundary. landscape. The stark "moonscapes" of Early on, these mountains were uplifted serpentine barrens often lie chock- from a fault line near the Columbia ablock with luxuriant vegetation on River. To the east, a major downwarp- non-serpentine terrain. ing or graben was created in central The Wenatchee Mountains run Washington east of the Wenatchees. southeasterly from the Cascade Range Some three million years ago, surface to the Columbia River as it runs south lava flows covered much of the area. through the center of Washington. Then during the last continental ice From the southern extreme of the age, beginning some 20,000 years range east along Interstate Highway 90 ago, an ice sheet extended nearly to the between Cle Elum, Ellensburg, and site of the city of Wenatchee. Mountain Vantage, the largely mountainous glaciation in the higher elevations terrain extends north of Stevens Pass, merged with the continental ice. Except and includes the Wenatchee River for a few ice-free peaks, mostly in the drainage. In a broader botanical sense, Stuart Range, the terrain was scoured 163 bare. As the ice receded, there was ta, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, and enormous runoff and erosion, both Purshia tridentata, and the indicator from the montane glaciers and the grass Agropyron spicatum, expect to continental ice. Floods lasted for many find a generous display of spring- years and some of them were gigantic. blooming herbs. Of interest to the rock East of the city of Wenatchee, geolo• gardener may be Lesquerella gists estimate that the flood waters douglasii, Phoenicaulis cheiran- coursing down the Columbia were thoides, Valeriana columbiana, Paeo- about 1,000' deep. Ripple ridges left by nia brownil, and Gilia aggregata. Of the force of the water are approximate• special interest and of restricted distri• ly 200' high. The floods here, as bution—so restricted that no collecting evidenced by such geologic features, of plants should be considered—are were the largest ever to occur on earth. Hackelia venusta, Delphinium xart- It was only in the last 10,000 years, tholeucum, Delphinium viridescens, since the cessation of these floods, that Trifolium thompsonii, and the famous the flora we see today in this region Lewisia tweedyi (photos, pp. 200- developed. 201). This lewisia, once thought to be Rare plants in Washington State restricted to rocky slopes of the lower make only a modest showing in the forest and talus in Kittitas and Chelan flora. Since Washington is a gathering Counties, now is known from the place for plants from the south (Oregon Methow Valley country of Okanogan and California), from the east (the County and even across the border in northern Rockies) and from the north Canada in Manning Provincial Park. (Canada and Alaska), it is not surprising At higher elevations this sagebrush that endemism is of a lower order than and yellow pine vegetation blends into in California or Oregon. Yet of the the Grand Fir-Douglas Fir zone, where three or four centers where unique Abies grandis and Pseudotsuga species of plants are found in Washing• menziesii play the leading roles. Where ton, the Wenatchees rank high. The rock outcrops and talus intrude into the Columbia River Plateau is first, the conifer forest, some fine plants are to Olympic Mountains rank second, and be encountered. Two rock ferns are the Wenatchee Mountains come in choice: Cheilanthes gracillima and third. Cryptogramma crispa. In the same At the lowest elevations near the rocky habitats, look for three penste- Columbia River, the Wenatchee country mons, Penstemon rupicola (photo p. can include some cold steppe desert 203), P. dauidsonii, and P. fruticosus. vegetation. Outstanding perennials here All three are in the section Dasanthera include Viola trineruata (photo p. and are interfertile. Hybrids involving 198), Phlox longifolia (photo p. 198) the trio are not uncommon. Other rock and P. speciosa, Townsendia florifer, inhabitants in this zone include Mertensia longiflora, Eriogonum Arenaria capillaris, Anemone occi- thymoides (photo p. 199),Leiuis/a dentalis, Aquilegia flauescens, A. rediviva, and Balsamorhiza hookeri. formosa, Lewisia columbiana, Erysi- But the Wenatchee Mountain coun• mum arenicola ssp. torulosum, Mitel- try is mostly within the Yellow Pine- la breweri, Viola purpurea, Sagebrush-Bunchgrass life zone. Yellow Monardella odoratissima, Galium pine {Pinus ponderosa) forms open multicaule, Luina hypoleuca, and woodlands. With the characteristic mix others of the daisy clan. In early July in of shrubs such as Artemisia tridenta- these openings the yellow and white 164 Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society Vol. 49(3) color forms of Eriogonum composi- of the forested and alpine zones are tum are everywhere in their glory. included within the Wenatchee National Near timberline, subalpine fir (Ab/es Forest. lasiocarpa), whitebark pine {Pinus The most striking of the endemic albicaulis), and Lyall's larch (Larix Wenatchee Mountain flora are the lyallii) are dominant. Here openings in serpentine species. Often these have an the forest become more frequent. absolute fidelity to this ferromagnesian Slopes are steeper and mountain mead• soil type. There are those that are ows and talus flora are supreme, restricted to serpentine, such as abounding in colorful diversity. Rock Polystichum lemmonil, Adiantum outcrops, cliffs, crevices, and talus pedatum ssp. calderi, Chaenactis dominate this species-rich high moun• thompsonii, Douglasia n'walis var. tain land. Just a sampling of the rich dentata (photo p. 202), Lomatium flora below and above timberline here cuspidatum, Poa curtifolia, Cryptan- will suffice as a tempting come-on. tha thompsonii, and Claytonia mega- Heather meadows with the two phyl- rhiza var. nivalis (photo p. 204). lodoces, Phyllodoce empetriformis Others, such as Aspidotis densa, Erio• and P. glanduliflora, as well as gonum pyrolaefolium var. cory- Cassiope mertensiana, have choice phaeum, Iuesia tweedyi, Anemone associates such as Luetkea pectinata, drummondii, Arenaria obtusiioba, Anemone occidentalis, Castilleja Chaenactis ramosa, Castilleja elmeri, parviflora, Pedicularis contorta, P. Polygonum newberryi, and Salix ornithorhyncha, Dodecatheon jef- brachycarpa, are good indicators of jreyi, and Lupinus polyphyllus ssp. serpentine. The pyrola-leaved buck• burkei. On drier slopes and ridge-tops wheat (Eriogonum pyrolaefolium) expect to find Smelowskia calycina, epitomizes the latter group—common Lupinus lepidus ssp. lobbii, Anten- and characteristic on serpentine, yet naria rosea, Erigeron compositus, E. also found on other rock types. This aureus, E. peregrinus, Solidago elegant low herb is largely restricted to multiradiata ssp. scopulorum, Haplo- serpentine in the Wenatchees but in the pappus lyallii, H. greenei, Campanu• volcanic Cascades to the south it is la scabrella, C. parryi, Arenaria common on sterile and unstable pumice capillaris, Sedum lanceolatum ssp. and pyroclastics. It is everywhere on rupicolum, and Thlaspi fendleri ssp. the subalpine screes and talus slopes of glaucum. the grand volcano, Mt. Adams, and In this subalpine zone where crevices even survives on Mt. St. Helens after and scree slopes abound, a cohort of the 1980 eruption. rock-loving herbs meets the eye: Serpentine soil, derived from the Elmera racemosa, Penstemon ultramafic rock, serpentinite (or its procerus ssp. tolmiei, Heuchera igneous relatives) has a chemical make• cylindrica ssp. alpina, Collomia up all its own and utterly unlike debilis, Iuesia tweedyi, Spraguea "normal" soils. It is exceptionally