The Original Mystery Plant
Dr. John Nelson

Photo by John Nelson

Last week I went on a trip to Colorado, and for the first time, I saw the central Rocky Mountains. We spent a day driving through the Rocky Mountain National Park, not too far southwest of Fort Collins, and eventually got up to an elevation of slightly over 12,000' above sea- level.

It was so high up there were no trees, as we were well above the timberline. The mountain views were amazing, and there was a good bit of wildlife; birds, elk, mountain sheep, and little furry critters scurrying around.

There was plenty of football- field sized patches of left- over snow and ice. However, the most interesting areas of the whole Park were the windswept, tundra- like meadows. Most people think places like this are barren and boring, but they are actually filled with thousands of flowers. All of them are short, brightly colored, and form acres of spectacular displays.

The resident plants must put up with some challenging situations in order to thrive and reproduce. High winds and rough weather demand short or even dwarf plants, and many of these grow only in low, densely tufted, roundish cushions. Plants in such places must have physiologies that allow them to tolerate relatively abrupt changes in temperature, which may be extreme. Soils are typically rocky and very thin, almost like pavement. And, intense solar radiation is a constant problem, unless there is cloud cover.

The mystery plant is a yellow- flowered survivor with leaves that can store water, and are designed to minimize water loss into the atmosphere. It's a member of a genus with about 500 species, which are scattered over much of the northern hemisphere, mostly in dry places.

Many of these species are popular in cultivation and rather easy to grow. The leaves of the cushion- forming mystery plant are round in cross- section, and pointy, commonly greenish, but sometimes red. The stems grow a few inches high, and then blooming occurs. Flowers consist of five greenish sepals and five bright gold- yellow petals, 10 stamens, and five pointed pistils, clustered together in the center of the blossom.

This species was described in 1828, based upon a specimen that had been collected a few years earlier from Pike's Peak.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/romo/siteindex.htm.

Answer to this week's mystery plant

[Answer: "Lance-leaf stonecrop," Sedum lanceolatum]

Dr. John Nelson is the curator of the USC Herbarium. To learn more about the Herbarium, call 777-8196. The department also offers free plant identification. www.herbarium.org