Adenocaulon bicolor

Pathfinder

Pathfinder
aka Trail Plant, Silver Green. A relatively tall plant of slender branching stems 1′ – 3′ (30 – 100 cm) tall with distinctive leaves and very unusual, and difficult to photograph, flowers. The mostly basal triangular-shaped leaves are 4 – 6″ long and are a bright green on top and white-wooly underneath (see leaf detail). One can ‘find’ their path by retracing the route where upturned silver leaves show the way. The flower heads are very small (1/4″ in diameter) of tubular disk flowers only. Usually found in forest openings to 6,500′ elevation.

Family:

Asteraceae - SUNFLOWER FAMILY, ASTER FAMILY (Compositae)

Genus:

Adenocaulon from Greek aden 'gland' and kaulos 'stem'

Species:

bicolor for leaf color; green on top, silver underneath
Photo location: Paul Peak and Carbon River trails.