Montane Bluebells

 

I tend to scan the ground as I walk, in this case on a path, roadside, to check on another possible community garden. Spotting blooms is often only a matter of right place and time and today I got lucky. 

 

 

From a distance I spotted the little patch of blue and I could see its forget-me-not qualities, yet it's awfully early for a potential garden escapee to be blooming. 

 

 

This is where ID apps can get the amateur and skilled plant person on the right path, but with caveats. A) it's mid April at 8500 ft, B) this plant is real short and in full bloom before total leaf-out C) it's growing on a road embankment in full sun. I didn't trust the app identification choice of Mountain Bluebells, Mertensia ciliata, even at this montane elevation, and I already knew I was looking at a bluebell-type flower.

 

 

Readily observable traits like short stature, pubescent (fuzzy) leaves, and high elevation —these had to limit the choice of species. M. ciliata's subalpine bloom is in July, so it's hard to imagine a thousand feet or so would make this species bloom mid-April. Yet, we are definitely having an early spring! 

 

A quick search leads me to two choices: Mertensia brevistyla and Mertensia fusiformis. I'm leaning M. fusiformis, but as stated in SW Colorado Wildflowers website, the short stature montane Bluebells can be really difficult to positively ID and there's lots of historical debate on the differentiation of high elevation, short Mertensia species. I didn't think I'd see Bluebells in bloom in the mountains before I'd have seen them in MN. 

 

This patch is comprised of about 50 scattered plants, with none to be seen anywhere within eyesight of the rather disturbed, weedy site between a highly trafficked road and the town golf course. It's a six minute walk from where I will be living, beginning this weekend, so I'll be able to keep my eye on it.