Scarlet Gilia....Blooming Right Now

I promised to take pictures for you....... of the beautiful carpet of scarlet gilia growing on a sandy area along the trail to Dewey Point.!!!  I hope the pictures invite you to hike the McGurk Meadow trail....at least to the 2.5 mile marker.  The beautiful pussy paws growing on sandy slope with a mass of scarlet gilia growing in distance.  A patch of scarlet gilia growing together......flocking together.

A close-up picture of scarlet gilia ...notice the color variation of the flowers in the foreground!!!  A carpet of scarlet gilia growing beautifully on the sandy area. As we pass the Taft Point junction......the trail " ascends a gentle sandy slope which often holds a remarkable display of Scarlet Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata).  The scarlet hue will be noticed as a vivid mass before one is near enough to be aware of the individual plants.

There are few other mountain flower that can rival it in color intensity, while the structure of the blossom itself is of interest too.  Growing on erect stems, 1 to 2 feet high, the bright flowers remind one of a sharply pointed star, trailing a comet-like tail which is the long tube from which the five petals explode.  The red color is offset by a mottling of yellow along the slender petals, while from the center emerges a cluster of bristling stamens.

Gilia leaves are rather distinctive in their form:  1 to 4 inches long, divided into several minute and very slender sections.  Scarlet gilia is a flower of dry, sandy slopes and will be found from 6,000 to 9,000 feet blooming from late June to mid-August.

Look for it also along the Tioga Road at about the 8,000-foot elevation, and occasionally beside the Glacier Point Road as well.  There is a notable display on the old Glacier Point Road, between the Badger Pass ski area and the Bridalveil Creek Campground, a road which is closed to automobiles now but still affords a fascinating hike."  From Yosemite Wildflower Trails by Dana C. Morgenson

Carl W. Sharsmith wrote the forward to the aforementioned book.....and his words are appropriate for this display of scarlet gilia.  "The beauty that holds our eyes as we gaze over the wild landscape or examine more closely its detail is the result of ages-long interactions of an intricate complex of physical and biological forces.  It has its fragile aspects, and this is notably the case as to the aggregations or scatterings of the particular kinds of flowering plants composing elements of the communities of vegetation.

The flower-strewn areas and the flowers themselves, both of which we so admire, are easily disrupted by our thoughtless actions.  All of us, by treading lightly and merely admiring, can leave but little if any trace of ever having passed that way."  Stay in a cozy Scenic Wonders' vacation home....in Yosemite West...where Nature has provided beautiful flower-strewn areas......for our guest.

Another terrific day in Yosemite