Carex flava

Yellow sedge (Carex flava), a rare sedge in Washington, was growing in a calcareous fen in northeastern Washington.

Ponderosa Blues

Dead ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) along the foothills of the eastern Cascade Range in Washington.

Palouse Beetle

Not sure of the name of this little beetle, but I came across it in the Palouse prairie of eastern Washington.

I’ve Spotted a Snack

This bull snake never actually took a bite, but it definitely considered snacking on this spider.

Isolated

Steptoe Butte supports a lonely, isolated chunk of native vegetation in a sea of agriculture. Steptoe Butte is essentially the top of an old mountain that has been partially buried by the thick loess soils that make the Palouse region such a productive agricultural area---an unfortunate fact for the native prairie ecosystem.

Shooting Star

White variant of Dodecatheon conjugens.

Aridland Horizons

Shrub steppe of eastern Washington.

Coulee Country

The Scablands of eastern Washington is an amazing landscape created by massive, torrential floods that occurred during Pleistocene glaciation.

End of the Line

Sullivan Lake, Washington

Bluebunch Perspective

Skin of the Earth

Took this photo at Kahlotus Ridgetop Natural Area Preserve in eastern Washington. The area had burned a few weeks prior but the 'biological soil crust' (a combination of organisms that can include cynobacteria, mosses, lichen, and fungi) was still as beautiful as ever. Soil crust are very important to many arid ecosystems as they decrease erosion, affect water infiltration, provide nutrients, and can affect seed germination.

The Dichotomy of the Palouse

The Palouse region of southeastern Washington once supported a vast stretch of grassland known as the Palouse prairie. This grassland is now one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. Because of its fertile soil, the Palouse has been converted to agriculture. The foreground of this image shows native Palouse prairie (what the Palouse used to look like) while the background shows what 99% of this region looks like today---a vast region of wheat, peas, and lentils.  Still beautiful, but not quite the same.

I See You

Short-horned lizard (Phrynosoma douglassii) skittering through shrub steppe in eastern Washington.

Prairie Star

Prairie star (Lithophragma parviflora) is a common beauty in eastern Washington and the rare prairies of western Washington.

Forest Glow

Capitol State Forest, Olympia, Washington.

South Park Sky

Looking across South Park toward the Mosquito Range. Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado.

Hoosier Giants

Large black oaks (Quercus velutina) at Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve, Griffith, Indiana. Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources and National Park Service (a unit of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore). Black oak savannas once covered much of northwest Indiana but are now very rare due to conversion to agriculture and development.

Daggerpod Display

Daggerpod (Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides) is found in the shrub steppe habitat of eastern Washington and similar habitats of western North America.

Selkirk Vista

Looking northeast toward the Salmo-Priest Wilderness Area of extreme northeast Washington.

Mountain Hemlock Forest

Higher elevation forests near the crest of the Cascade Mountains are often dominated by mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana).

Awaiting Renewal

This particular forest had been singed by a recent fire. Hardly any plants have recolonized the area.

Western Larch Woodland

Western larch (Larix occidentalis), like ponderosa pine, is a pioneer species that dominates 'old growth' stands of fire-maintained forests. This particular forest was thinned to create the open, park-like understory that was so common in these forest prior to fire suppression.

Kangaroo Ridge

Just west of Washington Pass, North Cascade Mountains in Washington State.

Majestic Aspen

Aspens (Populus tremuloides) in Washington don't quite reach the stature as they do in Utah or Colorado, but this particular tree in the South Fork Tieton River drainage was impressive. It was a beautiful “bluebird”; day.