Wildflower Identification Guide: 20 wildflowers found around Colorado
Colorado’s landscape is known for lighting up with wildflowers every year, most of which are in bloom at some point from June to August. Here are twenty wildflowers that can be spotted around Colorado.
Author’s Note: When scouting wildflowers in Colorado, respect the habitats by never picking flowers and staying on the trail to avoid trampling them.
Columbines (Photo) Courtesy: Bernie Nagy
1. Columbine
The columbine is Colorado’s designated state flower, found scattered around mountainous foothills and abundant in alpine settings. Columbines can bloom with blue, violet, lavender, or white.
Photo Courtesy: Bernie Nagy
Sunflowers bloom next to a pond in Red Rock Canyon Open Space (Photo) Credit Christian Murdock
2. Various Sunflowers
There are five types of sunflowers native to Colorado: common sunflower, Maximilian sunflower, Nuttall’s sunflower, prairie sunflower, and bush sunflower. Each type shares characteristics such as upright growth, deep taproots, hairy stems, and heights ranging from two to 10 feet tall.
Photo Credit: Christian Murdock, The Gazette.
Paintbrush (Photo) Courtesy Bernie Nagy
3. Castilleja
The Castilleja wildflower, often referred to as the Indian Paintbrush and commonly called 'prairie-fire' flowers, splatters Colorado’s landscapes with vibrant colors. Most commonly seen in orange and red, varieties of the Castilleja flower genus can tolerate the state’s dry climate and are popular with pollinators like butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
Photo Courtesy: Bernie Nagy.
Geraniums (Photo) Credit CatLane (iStock)
4. Geraniums
Native to Colorado, geraniums bloom in just about any color. They are found at various elevations, including foothills, montane, subalpine, and woodlands.
Photo Credit: CatLane (iStock).
Chiming Bells (Photo) Credit Jane Nearing (flickr)
5. Fringed Bluebells/Chiming Bells
The Fringed Bluebell flower, also known as the Chiming Bell, is a rich blue-purple. Its leaves are colored with a blue-green shade. These bell-shaped flowers grow in montane, subalpine, and along streams in Colorado.
Photo Credit: Jane Nearing (flickr).
Fleabane (Photo) Credit Lubov (iStock)
6. Fleabane
One of the most common wildflowers in Colorado is the fleabane. These flowers are showy as they spread throughout large areas in foothill, montane, subalpine, and meadow settings.
Photo Credit: Lubov (iStock).
Gothic Mountain (Photo) Credit Brycen McCright
7. Payson Lupine
The Payson lupine is a lupine species found nowhere natively outside of Colorado. This lupine has been found only in Montrose County of western Colorado. The petals are light hues ranging from white to pink with purple tips. Other more common lupines are usually solid blue-purple. Ten other species of lupines are abundant throughout the state.
Photo Credit: Brycen McCright.
Delphinium (Photo) Credit krblokhin (iStock)
8. Delphinium
“Delphinium” is the Latin term for “dolphin.” These flower buds take a shape before bloom that resembles a pod of leaping dolphins. Delphinium flowers range from blues to deep purple. They grow best in moist, subalpine woods in July and August with stems towering up to seven feet.
Photo Credit: krblokhin (iStock).
Fireweed (Photo) Credit TRAILSOURCE.COM (flickr)
9. Fireweed
It’s a good sign of nature running its course when fireweed is spotted. This plant sprouts after natural events such as fire, landslides, and avalanches. This flower plays a significant ecological role in stabilizing soils that were upset from natural events by reaching its roots deep underground, even through rocks, to pull minerals up to the surface for future plant growth.
Photo credit: TRAILSOURCE.COM (flickr).
Scarlet Gilia (Photo) Credit Peter Stevens (iStock)
10. Scarlet Gilia
Scarlet Gilia, common throughout Colorado, can turn a whole valley red or yellow. The flowers feature trumpet-like petals, making them popular with hummingbirds.
Photo Credit: Peter Stevens (iStock).
Rocky Mountain Iris, Moraine Park (Photo) Credit SeanXu (iStock)
11. Iris
Irises are spectacular signs of springtime in Colorado. Native species to North America include the Dwarf Lake iris, Copper iris, and Douglas iris.
Author’s Note: Most native irises are extremely difficult to transplant and will not survive the disturbance. It is illegal to dig or pick irises on national forest lands.
Rocky Mountain Iris. Photo Credit: SeanXu (iStock).
James Telesonix (Photo) Credit Matt Lavin (flickr)
12. James’ Telesonix
The rare telesonix jamesii thrives in montane and alpine climate zones and can be found on Colorado’s Pikes Peak and in Rocky Mountain National Park. The telesonix is found on cliffs, ledges, rock outcroppings, boulders, and scree slopes. There are 20 to 25 documented sites where telesonix jamesii is found in Colorado, totaling an estimated 100,000 individual plants.
Photo Credit: Matt Lavin (flickr).
Mountain Marsh Marigold (Photo) Credit James Harris Photography
13. Mountain Marsh Marigold
Another wildflower that is a sign of spring is Colorado is the mountain marsh marigold. These small flowers thrive with spring runoff, found along stream beds and marshy areas. Moose and elk often snack on clusters of the mountain marsh marigold.
Photo Credit: James Harris Photography.
Plasqueflower (Photo) Credit Stefan Rotter (iStock)
14. Pasqueflower
The pasqueflower is common throughout Colorado, known for its early bloom in spring. During bloom, the flower emerges before the leaves. Pasqueflowers grow under and around snow melt in high montane forests and meadows.
Photo Credit: Stefan Rotter (iStock).
Wild Rose (Photo) Credit Dennis Jarvis (flickr)
15. Wild Rose
The simple, elegant beauty of the wild rose brightens hillsides and meadows in Colorado. This pink flower is large and opens with five petals and bright yellow centers.
Photo Credit: Dennis Jarvis (flickr).
Wildflowers (Photo) Credit OakleyOriginals (flickr)
16. Prairie Flax
Prairie flax are beautiful little flowers that are found in shades of pale to dark blue. Five rounded petals give the prairie flax a charming character.
Photo Credit: OakleyOriginals (flickr). File Photo.
Mountain Ball Cactus (Photo) Credit Patrick Myers National Park Service (flickr)
17. Mountain Ball Cactus
Mountain ball cactus is often found throughout Colorado among pinyon, juniper, and sage. White, yellow, or pink flowers blossom from the cacti, typically in April.
Photo Credit: Patrick Myers, National Park Service (flickr).
Boulder Raspberry (Photo) Credit CAJC: in the PNW (flickr)
18. Boulder Raspberry
Also called “delicious raspberry,” the Boulder raspberry is found in a small geographic range mostly in Colorado. This shrub is spotted with large white flowers among bright green leaves. The Boulder raspberry was first collected for western science studies in Boulder Canyon.
Photo Credit: CAJC in the PNW (flickr).
Wester Wallflower (Photo) Credit mlharing (iStock)
19. Western Wallflower
The western wallflower thrives equally in montane and alpine meadows of the Rocky Mountains, as well as in desert canyons. The densely clustered heads of bright yellow or orange are easy to recognize. Traditionally, Native Americans have used this flower to treat stomach cramps.
Photo Credit: mlharing (iStock).
Prairie Golden Banner (Photo) Credit Tom Hilton (flickr)
20. Prairie Golden Banner
A large group of tall plants with elongated yellow flower clusters make the Prairie Golden Banner easy to spot in Colorado. It’s a common, lovely flower that grows quickly after snow melt, often under aspens.
Photo Credit: Tom Hilton (flickr).
Telluride, Colorado (Photo) Credit danicachang (iStock)
BONUS
Places to find wildflowers in Colorado include mountain towns, hiking trails, and even an entire road trip through the state to see various types.
Photo Credit: danicachang (iStock).
Sunflower Field (Photo) Credit kjschoen (iStock)
Leave No Trace
More ways to protect Colorado’s pristine environments are the seven Leave No Trace Principles: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces only, dispose of all waste properly, leave what you find (including wildflowers), minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors.
Author’s Note: The fields in the picture above are private property. Visitors can take pictures from the shoulder of the road, but are not permitted to enter the sunflower fields. Read more from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office here.
Photo Credit: kjschoen (iStock).
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