Observations by dhouck

No varieties.

Note oval, opposite leaves, two long stamens which extend will beyond the petals, with hairy sepals. Flower stems are not as hairy as V. wormskjoldii (whose stamens do not extend beyond petals). The plant size is variable (4 - 18 inches). Found at high elevations throughout Cascades and Olympics.

ITIS now calls this flower E. glacialis with two varieties:
var. glacialis: (SYN: ssp. callianthemus with 3 varieties)
var. hirsutus

Our common sub-alpine daisy. All WA flowers are var. glacialis.

Note lance shaped, alternating sessile (slightly hairy) stem leaves with no teeth (entire). Stem has short soft hairs. Not as many as Eucaphalus paucicapitatus. Petals start rose-purple and age toward white.

ITIS in 2011 changed the name Dodecatheon jeffreyi and its two subspecies (ours is subsp. jeffreyi) to Primula jeffreyi.

The only shooting star found on Mt. Rainier. It usually has 5 and sometime 4 petals that are rose-purple with white near the base with a red ring. One flower seems to have 6 petals which is uncommon. Found at high elevations >4,000 ft. in wet seeps.

This is a strange one. For some reason Cronquist classified the flower as a variety of a dark purple penstemon and not P. confertus, the Yellow Penstemon. In looking at descriptions the only reason I can find is based on location and elevation. P. confertus is found in montane forest openings at mid-elevations just east of Mt. Rainier while P. procerus var. tomiei is found at high elevations in the Cascades and Olympics which this one was. One can find the same variety but still purple also on Mt. Rainier. Either someone has this variety wrong, habitat and elevation trump morphology, and/or that is some unique plasticity.