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Mt. Rainier National Park (2)

Introduction	Park History	The Mountain
Nisqually Glacier	Plants and Wildflowers	Grove of the Patriarchs
Tatoosh Range	Rivers, Canyons, Valleys	Box Canyon
Animals	Reflection Lake	Paradise Inn
Other Scenes	Wildflowers	References

Wildflowers

The meadows and lower slopes of Mt. Rainier are famous for the great quantites of wildflowers which bloom after the snow has melted in midsummer. With the lush green forests and the white slopes of Mt. Rainier as a backdrop these flowers create spectacularly beautiful scenes. In the first photoghraph below aster, magenta paintbrush, and other wildflowers bloom in the Paradise Valley.

More wildflowers can be seen below. On the left below is avalanche lilly, common in the alpine and subalpine meadows and forests of mountains of the northwest. This flower is often the first to bloom as the snow melts in the meadows. In the center is the Wester Pasque flower, also common in the meadows and slopes of the mountains. On the right, the white plants in the foreground are beargrass.

    

Below is a closer look at beargrass. This plant is common in meadows and clearimgs in many of the northwest national parks. Indians used parts of this plant for both food and clothing.

Another white flower pictured below is the Labrador tea, also called trapper's tea.

Below is a group of march marigolds. These flowers like a wet habitat, like this marshy area filled with snowmelt in midsummer. They often bloom near receding snowbanks.

In the moist environs of the northwest forest many varieties of the fern is one of the common plants, such as the specimen blow highlighted by a patch of sun shining through the trees.

References

Information about Mt. Rainier National Park has been drawn from personal experience, data available in the park itself, and a number of other sources, including:

• Martinson, Arthur D. Wilderness Above the Sound: The Story of Mount Rainier National Park. Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Press, 1986.
  
  
• National Geographic's Guide to the National Parks of the United States. National Geographic Society, 1992.
  
  
• National Parks of North America. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1995.
  
  
• The Sierra Club Guide to National Parks: Pacific Northwest and Alaska. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, 1985.
  
  
• Snow, Ray. Mount Rainier: The Story Behind the Scenery. Las Vegas, NV: KC Publications, 1984.
  
  
• Whitney, Stephen. Western Forests. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.

- First Page for Mt. Rainier National Park -

All photographs ©Patrick Holleran, Shannon Technologies, 1994-2008 Commercial use of the images contained in this document without express written consent is strictly prohibited. Comments and other remarks can be sent via e-mail to parkvision@shannontech.com