It's very common throughout the Rockies. I just don't know it's name.

By contrast, I know this one all too well, wyethia or mules ear. I call them DEW plants, for 'deer early warning'. When they dry off, stepping on one will warn every deer within 1/4 mile that you're coming.

We always referred to that as skunk cabbage

According to my book "Weeds of the West", it is California false-hellebore or [/i]Veratrum californicum[i]var [/i]caudatum[i]

"This native plant is found most commonly in swamps, creek bottoms, meadows, and moist woodlands at medium altitudes in our mountainous areas. Falsehellebore is toxic to humans and livestock, the poison reaction occurring within 2 to 3 hours after the plant is consumed. It causes congenital deformity in lambs known as "monkey face", as well as abortion when pregnant ewes feed on the plant. Since it is commonl found in mountain meadows around watering places, it is readily accessible to grazing livestock. Flowering occurs from June to August."

That's the one.

Ok, thanks. It's good to know that it's toxic to livestock. I've had my llamas around it quite a bit but have never seen them try to eat it. We were on a pack trip this last weekend and there was plenty of this and also water hemlock everywhere.

I don't see it alot in most of my country but have seen it on some big sheep ranches and they didn't seem to have much trouble with their sheep eating it.

That water hemlock is absolutely nasty.

It's very common across so. Idaho where there's decent moisture.

We always called that skunk cabbage, and it's smell earned it the name. It makes for tough stalks on deer in the fall when it's dried out!

Mules Ear and Skunk Cabbage are 2 very different plants that live in entirely different environments. Skunk Cabbage is found in moist, swampy environs while Mules Ear is found in dry, well drained sagebrush environments.

Skunk Cabbage has a definite “aroma” and is often smelled before it’s seen. Mules Ear dries out and is often heard before it’s seen. 😁

Mules Ear is also a toilet paper substitute. It’s “Charmin” soft.

That sounds like how I'd call them too. But folks use all kinds of different common names for plants. And they tend to be regional.

Ralphie, I know what you mean but the difference between the two is night and day. Having grown up in the West I’ve come to know the flora and fauna well and I try to help others with taxonomic identification. I’ve never heard anyone call Mules Ear, Skunk Cabbage or vice versa. Skunk Cabbage has clusters of tiny flowers clustered close together on a stalk (spadix) that’s surrounded or encapsulated by a leaf-like spathe. while Mules Ear has sunflower looking flowers. Mules Ear is in the Aster family while Skunk Cabbage is in the Arum family. The leaf structure is completely different as well. Skunk Cabbage has glossy, waxy looking leaves while Mules Ear is soft and fuzzy. The 2 grow in completely different environments as well. There’s no confusing one with the other except in cases of misidentification. I don’t mean to come across as a contrarian but I don’t want someone to McCandless themselves over a minor misidentification. 😁

Skunk Cabbage is always found in wet ground like swamps, bogs and muskeg while Mules Ear is always found in dry ground like the sagebrush steppe country east of the Cascades.

Okay, that's enough, we get the picture!🤢

Funny they call it false hellebore. I don't see a similarity.

Those common names are a real pain sometimes. Aces, I like knowing the local plants too, but asking some locals gets frustrating when they call something it isn't.

I can sorta see the false hellebore/skunk cabbage confusion, but like you, not the mules ears.

I have a friend who calls prickly lettuce "thistle". I try to correct him, but I've given up. Not sure, might just be what folks around here have always called it, as it's a bit spiny like a thistle.

At least around here a creek is a creek, and not some other funky name.

Geno

To my dad, Canada thistle was always 'cactus'. Nothing could change that.

Skunk cabbage and false hellebore are quite different. Compare my OP photo of FH with this pic of western skunk cabbage.

Yep RC, especially easy to see the difference when flowering. I can see where a person could confuse them based on leaf shape before they start to flower though.

Geno

I looked skunk cabbage up, and the yellow daisy flower looking plant isn't it. I was wro....wro...wron...

I was a bit mistaken.

Lolol.....I can’t say that word either. 😂

Once I thought I was wrong but I was mistaken.

what kind of mushroom is this.

I’ve seen people confuse Arrowleaf Balsamroot with Mules Ear but never Skunk Cabbage. If your feet aren’t wet and moss isn’t growing everywhere then you’re not in Skunk Cabbage country.

STX...Cubensis?

lol yes. just wondered if anyone knew what it looked like.

Speaking of plants, while up hunting the Sierras last weekend I came across a little flowering plant that smells like spearmint/menthol/onion when you step on it.

Near as I can tell by looking at pictures it's some kind of pennyroyal. Flower like an wild onion but with a woody root.

Supposed to keep fleas off and abort babies so learn something new every day.

Yeah, those two are similar, especially while driving by a patch at 60MPH.

As for the Skunk cabbage, in places like up where you live, if you're fighting through the Devil's Club, it's skunk cabbage.

Down in SoCal we were blessed with no Devil's Club.

Geno

Yep. Skunk cabbage is neither and never heard them confused....

Balsamorhiza sagittata is fuzzy, Balsamroot




Wyethia spp is smooth, Mule's Ear

That's Balsamroot not mule's ear. Balsamroot does not have the empty center of the flower like the Mule's ear.... Can't recall the terminology, obviously....

Sorry, I was wwwwwwwrrrrrooooonnnnnggggggg.

What did the thankful biogeek say to the helpful biogeek?

"I Purshiate it...."

Then a whole lot of places have it mis-identified. Here's a nursery for example: WYETHIA

If you google wyethia-helenioides and look at images, about 1/2 have the open center. If you google balsamroot, about 1/2 don't have the open center.
The big difference appears to be that with mules ear, the leaves taper into the bottom of the stem. Balsamroot is cut up at the stem so the leaves are arrow shaped at the base.

Uuuhhh sorry I am wrong...



I'll assure you, the plant you have pictured is arrowleaf basamroot, Balsamorhiza sagitata.


I was tripping on the flower. no need to even look. The leaves are diagnostic. Sorry for the mistake. Furry is Balasamroot, smooth is Mule's ear...
The deal with the flowers is one per stem on Balsamorhiza and 2+ on Mule's ear. They do hybridize IIRC.

Look at the leaf attachment. Arrowleafs are like this top one. The mules ear is completely different.

If the leaves are shiny, it's a mule's ear.

There are others too.... In the Norther Great Basin....Smooth vs shiny is all one needs to know.


Your leaf shape sure look correct for what you are calling them... LOL

Commonly known as Psilocybe

the web is full of shiny leaved balsamroot leaves and fuzzy mules ear leaves. There's the gray mules ear with smooth leaves and the woolly mules ear with fuzzy leaves. All mules ear leaves taper the opposite of arrowleaf at the base. Arrowleaf is called that for a reason.

The bottom has leaves that arent shiny, though.

This looks like White Hellebore, Veratrum californicum. Often found in moist areas in the mountains. Contains lots of alkaloids and the roots are very poisonous.

Uhhh, sorry man. There's, no surprise, multiple other species around I am not familiar with. My experience is only between these two species which a simple fuzzy vs not fuzzy leaf works.... In sagebrush country SE Or...


Wyethia amplexicaulis

Balsamorhiza sagittata

Jag, this is very typical of Wyethia spp I speak of, not hairy, smooth and fairly well shiny....

After digging around I see what RC is saying. And indeed leaf shape will differentiate the genre fairly well and my localized training about smooth vs shiny was not applicable across the range. I am a dumbass. Thank you.

Not that my botony cred is trending high, I think you got it!

Well, we're good dumbasses.

Consistency is a virtue.....


Come on Rock Chuck... I got a, "I told you so...." coming.

Well, it was your idea...

The first post is a Corn Lilly


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veratrum_californicum