Purple Flowers!

Upon request, I have been collecting pictures of arctic flowers. Although it was completely not on purpose, I realized that all of the pictures I have collected are of purple (or purple-ish -- maroon, violet, etc.) flowers! It was on accident I promise!








These two are pictures of Monkshood (Aconitum delphinifolium). This is one of my favorite flowers. They kind of remind me of an iris. This was an entire field of Monkshood flowers that we found by the Kuparuk while we were YOY fishing.







These two pictures are of the insidious fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium). Although not the state flower, it is by far the most common flower we have encountered here. It has a bright red stalk, yielding its name of "Fireweed." It is also commonly the first plant to inhabit an area after a forest fire!

The picture to the left is of Jacob's Ladder (Ploemonium pulcherrimum). This picture was also taken near the Kuparuk river near all of the Monkshood. I was told that Jacob's ladder is named due to its ladder-like leaf growth. However, I also read online that it was named after the growth pattern of the stalks, since each new growth is stacked upon the last one like a ladder... so who knows.


I am not sure what flower is in these last two pictures. I was told that it is coltsfoot, but when I looked it up online it appeared quite different from what other people are naming coltsfoot. It is pretty all the same. I will have to do a bit more digging to figure out what it is though!

I know this isn't a flower, but I couldn't resist adding this picture of red moss in. I just really like the vibrantly red color. This picture was taken during my hike last weekend to the Spoomerang glacier. The red moss completely covered some of the stream beds!