Clustered Oreocarya: White Grasslands Flowers

Still winter in Saskatchewan with three feet of snow, so more memories of summer, this time with the snowflake-sized flowers and spiny stalks of Clustered Oreocarya at Grasslands National Park.

A summer tuft of Clustered Oreocarya. © SB

These wild flowers, which bloom on dry open grasslands through June and July, are a great example of native plants you don't see unless you're really looking for them. (You = me... I'm very short-sighted, so often wander in a daze...)  

And this, I like: The species name, nubigena, comes from the Latin words nubes and genus, meaning "born in the clouds." (Royer/Dickinson, Plants of Alberta.) Cloud-born flowers. Yes. 

Prairie Wildflower: Clustered Oreocarya (or Cryptantha nubigena, or Oreocarya nubigena, or...) 

Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Photo Date: June 23, 2012.  

~~~~~