Category: Flora

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Elkweed/Green Gentian

Green gentian, Frasera speciosa, Courtesy US Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi, Photographer
Green gentian, Frasera speciosa, Courtesy US Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi, Photographer
In keeping with our nation’s 250-year celebration, Red, White, and Blue have decorated Utah’s higher elevations, from Tony Grove in the north to Cedar Breaks in the south. Sprinkled in between are mountain meadows carpeted with wildflowers, Indian paintbrush, penstemons, columbine, patriots of the loveliest hues. Additionally, nature’s erosional forces have created monuments found in our national and state parks on Utah’s Colorado Plateau, rivaling human-created monuments with their overpowering majesty.

Green gentian, Frasera speciosa, Mt Nebo Scenic Byway (Nebo Loop), Courtesy US Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi, Photographer
Green gentian, Frasera speciosa,
Mt Nebo Scenic Byway (Nebo Loop)
Courtesy US Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi, Photographer

Green Gentian, Frasera speciosa Stalk, Courtesy USDA Forest Service, S Olson, Photographer Green Gentian, Frasera speciosa Stalk, Courtesy USDA Forest Service, S Olson, Photographer

There is another monument found in the plant kingdom that towers above all others on our mountains and plateaus., frasera speciosa or green gentian. Upon first seeing this lofty flower, my senses were startled by its monumental size. On closer inspection, there were multitudes of exquisite blossoms adorning its tall stalk, with cream colors flowing into delicate green tips, with purple dots sprinkled throughout. The sepals, pistils, and stamens are no less striking. I stood in awe of this monumental beauty.

Over the years since my first introduction, I became intrigued with its remarkable life history, spending up to 80 years as an inconspicuous rosette of leaves, referred to as elkweed. Then, in its final year of life, it launches itself into a burst of glory, shooting up a tall stalk garnered with stunning flowers.

Given the size of its flowering stalk, it’s not surprising that a green gentian produces a large number of seeds. An average stalk is composed of 600 flowers and is capable of producing 66,000 seeds. When the plant dies, its leaves fall to the ground and decomposes, fertilizing nearby seeds, doubling its germination and survival chances compared with seeds dispersed further from the plant.

When a green gentian flowers, some of its offspring will flower in 20 years, while others will wait 60 or more years. Montane and subalpine environments are highly variable, with precipitation, temperature, damaging frost events, pollinator populations, thus germination and seedling survival vary unpredictably. It appears that for a plant that will flower only once, having offspring flower from 20 to 80 years is a way of hedging its bets in an unpredictable environment.

Research has revealed much about this fascinating and conspicuous wildflower, but it also demonstrates a fundamental fact in ecology. Long-term studies are necessary to identify some phenomena, such as synchronous and monocarpic-that is, dying after flowering-by Jeff Minton, a researcher.

Green gentian has been used by multiple Native American tribes for a wide range of medicinal purposes, with documented applications spanning from sedative and digestive treatments to veterinary remedies, the plant’s fleshy root was eaten by indigenous peoples as well, although considered too bitter by the untrained palate.

Parts of the Colorado Rockies are experiencing a super bloom of green gentian this year, which is interesting considering it’s been a record hot and dry winter-spring season. Many mysteries yet remain for this monument of nature.

This is Jack Green for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I’m Wild About Nature’s Monuments.

Credits:
Images Courtesy USDA Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi and S Olson, Photographers
Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and Anderson, Howe and Wakeman
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, and Jack Greene, Author, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/

Gentian Family, Yellowstone’s Photo Collection, Yellowstone National Park, US National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/plants/gentianfamily/Page.htm

Utah Rare Plant Guide, Utah Rare Plants, Utah Native Plant Society, https://www.utahrareplants.org/rpg_species.html (search lower on the page for “Frasera” or “Green Gentian”.)

Footer, Tracey, A Sight for the Ages: Frasera speciosa is on Display in the Northern Wasatch Canyons!, Utah Native Plant Society, https://www.unps.org/segolily/Sego2023Summer.pdf

Green Gentian, Utah Species of Greatest Conservation Need (2025), Fieldguide, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/wap/2025-12-sgcn-list.pdf
By County List: https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/wap/2025-12-sgcn-list-county.pdf

Rascoe, Ayesha, A rare flower is in a superbloom in the Rocky Mountains, Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR,
July 5, https://www.npr.org/2026/07/05/nx-s1-5877757/a-rare-flower-is-in-a-superbloom-in-the-rocky-mountains

Frasera speciosa – Green Gentian/Elk Weed/Monument Plant, First Nature, Wales, UK, https://www.first-nature.com/flowers/frasera-speciosa.php

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Mountain Mahogany

Mountain Mahogany: Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Tree, (Cercocarpus ledifolius) Courtesy & Copyright USU Extension
Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Tree
Cercocarpus ledifolius
Courtesy & Copyright USU Extension
Today’s Wild About Utah is in both Spanish and English. The Spanish version is be read by Carlos Ramos. You can also listen to this story in Spanish this Wednesday evening between 9:01-9:06 or online.

My name is Kate Hunter, Director of Education at Stokes Nature Center, and I love all of the trees of the Cache National Forest. But there’s one that’s always intrigued me-the Mountain Mahogany.

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Tree Devil's Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah (Mt Nebo to the right) Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer
Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Tree
Devil’s Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah (Mt Nebo to the right)
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Tree Devil's Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah Mt Nebo in the background Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Tree
Devil’s Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah
Mt Nebo in the background
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Devil's Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Devil’s Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, Photographer

You’ve probably seen this tree if you’ve hiked up the mountains in Northern Utah, I can only describe our Mountain Mahogany as twisty. Even the name suggests a twist, with our most common mahogany being the Curl-Leaf Mahogany. The branches of the Curl-Leaf Mahogany twist around as they grow upwards, like the tendrils of a pea plant or a bindweed trying to find something to grab onto. The twistiness in the branches is found in the seeds as well. These trees grow feathery wispy seeds that curl into themselves like a spiral or corkscrew which helps them drill into the ground. I feel kinship with these twisty trees whenever I’m hiking up a mountain and come upon forests of these mahoganies, as I am often feeling similarly twisty and unnerved by the amount of huffing and puffing I’m doing upon encountering them.

But unlike the tendrils of a pea plant, these trees don’t need other supports, they have extremely dense, sturdy wood. The wood of mountain mahogany actually sinks in water. This density of the wood makes it hard to count the rings as the rings are packed closely together, but scientists can use microscopes to date these trees and have discovered that they can grow to be quite old. The oldest Mountain Mahogany measured is estimated to be 1,350 years old, making it one of the oldest known flowering plants.

So far, I’m hoping you’ve found the same interest in this tree as me, whether for its twists or for its ability to withstand the tests of time. But you don’t necessarily have to travel the slopes of our national forests to connect with this tree, you can find its siblings in your garden. Although the evergreen curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany might seem like its closest relatives are the junipers or pines or even the Mahoganies of the African Savannah. This tree is actually part of the rose family-a family of plants that includes roses, apples, peaches, pears, and more.

The next time you find yourself among the Mountain Mahoganies of the slopes, hopefully you find yourself with just as much appreciation for this tree as myself.

My name is Kate Hunter and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:
English Version: Kate Hunter, Education, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Spanish Version: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Images: Courtesy USU Extension,
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin as well as Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Text: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Wild About Utah Pieces by Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany in the Landscape, Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping, Extension, Utah State University, https://extension.usu.edu/cwel/research/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany-in-the-landscape

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Natures Notebook, a project of the US NPN (National Phenology Network), https://mynpn.usanpn.org/npnapps/species/Cercocarpus/ledifolius

Curl-Leaf Mountain Mahogany, Cache Valley Native Plants, https://www.cachevalleynativeplants.com/product-page/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Native Utah Plants, Provo, UT, https://utahplants.com/products/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

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Caoba de Montaña

Caoba de Montaña: Árbol de caoba de montaña de hoja rizada, Courtesy & Copyright USU Extension
Árbol de caoba de montaña de hoja rizada
Cortesía y derechos de autor: USU Extension
La historia de hoy está en inglés y en español.
Para escuchar la traducción al español nos puedes sintonizar los miércoles a las 9 pm o en línea en UPR.org
Este artículo fue escrito por Kate Hunter, directora de educación en Stokes Nature Center y una apasionada por Utah

Árbol de caoba de montaña de hoja rizada, Devil's Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah (Mt Nebo to the right) Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, fotógrafa
Árbol de caoba de montaña de hoja rizada
Devil’s Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah (Mt Nebo to the right)
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, fotógrafa

Árbol de caoba de montaña de hoja rizada, Devil's Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah Mt Nebo in the background Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, fotógrafa Árbol de caoba de montaña de hoja rizada
Devil’s Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah
Mt Nebo in the background
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, fotógrafa

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada, Devil's Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, fotógrafa Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada, Devil’s Kitchen Trail, Nebo Loop, Utah
Courtesy & Copyright Lyle Bingham, fotógrafa

Me encantan todos los árboles del Bosque Nacional Cache. Pero hay uno que siempre me ha intrigado: la caoba de montaña.

Probablemente hayas visto este árbol si has caminado por las montañas del norte de Utah; solo puedo describir nuestra caoba de montaña como retorcida.

Incluso el nombre sugiere una torsión, ya que nuestra variedad más común es la caoba de hoja rizada.

Las ramas de la caoba de hoja rizada se enroscan mientras crecen hacia arriba, como los zarcillos de una planta de guisante o una enredadera que intenta encontrar algo de lo cual sujetarse.

Esa cualidad retorcida de las ramas también se encuentra en las semillas.

Estos árboles producen semillas ligeras y plumosas que se enrollan sobre sí mismas como un espiral o un sacacorchos, lo que les ayuda a perforar la tierra.

Siento afinidad con estos árboles retorcidos cada vez que subo una montaña y me encuentro con bosques de estas caobas, ya que a menudo yo también me siento igual de retorcida y alterada por la cantidad de resoplidos y jadeos que doy al encontrármelos.

Pero, a diferencia de los zarcillos de una planta de guisante, estos árboles no necesitan otros soportes; tienen una madera extremadamente densa y resistente.

La madera de la caoba de montaña de hecho se hunde en el agua. Esa densidad hace que sea difícil contar los anillos, porque están muy juntos, pero los científicos pueden usar microscopios para fechar estos árboles y han descubierto que pueden llegar a ser bastante viejos.

Se estima que la caoba de montaña más antigua medida tiene 1,350 años, lo que la convierte en una de las plantas con flores más antiguas que se conocen.

Hasta ahora, espero que hayas encontrado en este árbol el mismo interés que yo, ya sea por sus torsiones o por su capacidad para resistir el paso del tiempo.

Pero no necesariamente tienes que recorrer las laderas de nuestros bosques nacionales para conectar con este árbol; puedes encontrar a sus parientes en tu jardín.

Aunque la caoba de montaña perenne de hoja rizada podría parecer emparentada más de cerca con los enebros, los pinos o incluso con las caobas de la sabana africana, en realidad este árbol forma parte de la familia de las rosáceas, una familia de plantas que incluye rosas, manzanas, duraznos, peras y más.

La próxima vez que te encuentres entre las caobas de montaña de las laderas, espero que sientas tanta admiración por este árbol como la que siento yo.

Soy Carlos Ramos y estoy loco por Utah.

Créditos:
Versión en inglés: Kate Hunter, Education, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Versión en español: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Imágenes: cortesía del USU Extension y Lyle W. Bingham, fotographia
Audio destacado: Cortesía y derechos de autor J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin y Cortesía y derechos de autor Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Texto: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Lectura adicional: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Lectura adicional:

Artículos “Wild About Utah” por Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Artículos “Wild About Utah” por Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

El caoba de montaña de hoja rizada en el paisaje [Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany in the Landscape], Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping, Extension, Utah State University, https://extension.usu.edu/cwel/research/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany-in-the-landscape

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada [Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany], Cercocarpus/ledifolius, Natures Notebook, a project of the US NPN (National Phenology Network), https://mynpn.usanpn.org/npnapps/species/Cercocarpus/ledifolius

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada [Curl-Leaf Mountain Mahogany], Cache Valley Native Plants, https://www.cachevalleynativeplants.com/product-page/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

Caoba de montaña de hoja rizada [Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany], Native Utah Plants, Provo, UT, https://utahplants.com/products/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany

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Sugar Beets and German POWs in Cache Valley

Abandoned Sugar Beet Factory, Weston near Franklin, ID Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Abandoned Sugar Beet Factory, Weston near Franklin, ID
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
When I started teaching at Preston High School, one of the first books my English class read was The Diary of Anne Frank. I remember asking the class if they had any family stories of their own to share about those war years. A young woman raised her hand and said her grandparents had a painting on their wall that had been given to them by a German Prisoner of War. This POW had worked on their Cache Valley sugar beet farm in 1945. He’d signed the painting, and had written a few words of thanks on the back for the kind treatment he had received

I was astounded. German POW’s in Cache Valley? This led me to ask more questions.

I found out in 1945 there were close to 400 German POWs living in tents in a work camp at the Cache Valley Fairgrounds. Local farmers contracted with the US Government to hire the POWs to work in the fields for 80 cents a day.

Each morning the prisoners would get loaded into trucks and driven to a sugar beet field. The work day didn’t end until 8 pm when the prisoners returned to the Fairgrounds, damp and chilled, from the ride in the open bed trucks.

Sugar Beet Knives Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Sugar Beet Knives
Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
In 1945, sugar beets were a profitable crop, but labor intensive. In the Spring, the beets needed to be thinned and weeded. This work was done by a short handled hoe. In the Fall, the beets needed to be pulled out of the ground. This was done by a special beet knife with a big fish hook on the end. Once pulled out of the ground, the top leaves were sliced off and the beets tossed into a pile bound for the sugar factory.

At the peak of sugar beet farming in and around Cache Valley, there were 5 sugar factories operating. But by 1945 the factories were down to two – one located in Lewiston, and the other in Whitney, near Preston.

Native Americans came from Arizona to work the beets and set up their colorful teepees in downtown Lewiston. High school students were let out of school for 2-3 weeks in the Fall to work during what were called “Harvest Vacations.”

A friend of mine in Preston told me about a young man who went off the college in the Fall of 1945, but came home after a week. His father handed him a sugar beet knife and told him if he wasn’t going to go to college, he was going to work in the fields.

Everyone I met who once worked in the sugar beet fields told me all the work of thinning and harvesting needed to be done while bent over, and the resulting back pain was terrible.

Of all the stories I heard, my favorite was one of a Logan beet farmer who took his 3-year-old daughter with him to check on the work being done by the POWs he had hired. One day, he looked up and saw one of the German POWs holding his little girl in his arms. The farmer took his little girl by the hand, but the POW didn’t let go. A guard came running over. But both men stopped when they saw the tears running down the POW’s face. Somewhere, many miles away, they realized this German POW had a little girl of his own that he may or may not ever see again.

Today, all the POWs have long gone, as well as the local sugar beet farms. But if you drive north on Highway 89, just before you get to Preston, you can see the remains of the Whitney sugar beet factory. These huge crumbling buildings stand as a reminder that sugar beets were once king in Cache Valley.

This is Mary Heers and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright Mary Heers, Photographer
Featured Audio:
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Mary Heers & Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Postings

Powell, Allan Kent, Splinters of a Nation: German Prisoners of War in Utah (UTAH CENTENNIAL SERIES), University of Utah Press, January 1, 1990, https://www.amazon.com/Splinters-Nation-German-Prisoners-CENTENNIAL/dp/0874803306/ref=sr_1_1

Radford, Alexandria, The Old Sugar Beet Factory, Medium, Oct 7, 2021, https://medium.com/mind-talk/the-old-sugar-beet-factory-2e4b26f906d6

Arrington, Leonard J, Beet Sugar in the West A History of the Utah Idaho Sugar Company 1891-1966 University of Washington, 1966, https://www.amazon.com/-/he/Leonard-J-Arrington/dp/029574037X