6 thoughts on “Day 81: lost springs and verbal driving lessons”

  1. Mules Ear is what I’ve always called it. That said, use this to determine and report back:

    The plant can be easily confused with species belonging to the genus Wyethia (Mule’s ears) and Wyethia and Balsamorhiza tend to have very similar appearance and flowering habits. Wyethia species are easily distinguised from Balsamorhiza due to their very sharply lanced leaves which lack the fuzzy silver gray appearance of Balsamorhiza species. Balsamorhiza sagittata is the most common and widespread species in the genus within the Mountain West of North America.

  2. I always called them Mules Ears if you can picture a herd of green mules with yellow sunflowers. If they turn out to be Balsam Root, you can use the sticky sap as an antiseptic for small wounds and it is supposedly edible according to wikipedia.

  3. I remember that flower well (I think I was a bit allergic to it). According to the PCTA, it’s Mule’s Ear. I was just looking at their trail overview map tonight, which features a photo of the plant labeled as such.

  4. The plants in this post look like Mule’s Ears. They have a darker green, shiny leaf. In the post before, on a dry looking ridge, were Balsam Root. Their leaves are lighter green, kind of silvery. Their roots are supposed to have similar properties to echinacea. Usually very hard to dig. Also the leaves have a different shape. Balsam root’s are a bit triangular, wider at the base than Mule’s Ear.

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