Spring Hike

Today was the nicest day of the year so far. Emily and I met up for a wildflower walk put on by the Idaho Botanical Garden. Considering I had an extra long day at work dealing with nasty things, it was great to get out and follow around people so passionate about botany and willing to share their knowledge. I did feel a little silly with my point and shoot compared to Emily's nifty-cam, but you have to start somewhere, right? I had a ton of fun and wished we had footage of our mistaken discovery of the elusive "Idaho" something native plant that I got overly excited about.  You had to be there. Here are a few of the shots I took, including photos of some morbidly names specimens. 

Death Camas- looks really menacing doesn't it? 

Human and animal symptoms of Death Camas may appear from 1-8 hours after eating the plant. Recovery usually occurs within 24 hours. Symptoms include: excessive watering (foaming) of the mouth, burning following by numbness of the lips and mouth, thirst, headache, dizziness, nausea, stomach pain, persistent vomiting, diarrhea, muscular weakness, confusion, slow and irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, subnormal body temperature. In extreme cases will result in difficulty in breathing, convulsions and coma followed by death. -Source

Rush Skeleton Weed 

More info here with a photo of the adult plant which is quite pretty. This is a noxious weed. 

The yellow flowers are Arrow leaf Balsam root, a favorite of mine.

The Old State Penitentiary is in the lower ground. It's one of my favorite places. Believe it or not it was in operation until the 70's. The inmates had to go to the bathroom in buckets that were hoisted out of there cells with ropes and pulleys. Isn't Boise a pretty town?

The purple flowering plant is known as Duck's Bill as well as a few other names.

One variety of Biscuit Root. The crushed leaves smell like a cross between sage, mint, and carrot.

I just thought this looked good, I love deadwood in the desert.