Above: Laramie false sagebrush {Sphaeromeria simplex) 
By Jane Dorn. 
Following a picnic lunch among the wildflowers on 
the atypically-calm rim of the Butte, we then traveled 
across the Shirley Basin to the Petrified Forest on the 
east edge of the Shirley Basin. Geology-savvy Nina Haas 
pointed out the large stumps and fragments of fossilized 
tree trunks that litter the rolling hills of this site east of 
the old uranium mine. We also encountered living 
plants, including Bitterroot {Lewisia rediviva), Bun 
milkvetch {Astragalus simplicifolius), Mountain phlox 
{Phlox multiflora), and the graceful Larch-leaved 
penstemon {Penstemon laricifolius). 
Those who wished to camp continued on to the 
Shirley Mountains for the evening. Our campsite 
featured a montane colony of Laramie false sagebrush 
on reddish soils amid outcrops of gray dolomite, as well 
as the white-flowered Brandegee’s Jacob’s-ladder 
{Polemonium brandegei) on a shady cliff. A hen blue 
grouse with a dozen precocious chicks were also camped 
at our site. 
The following morning we visited additional sites on 
the summit of the Shirley Mountains, observing more 
Laramie false sagebrush growing with larkspur 
{Delphinium nuttallianum), a patch of yellow-flowered 
Desert paintbrush {Castilleja angustifoliavar. dubia), 
Scribner’s fleabane {Erigeron ochroleucusvar. scribneri), 
Three-tip sagebrush {Artemisia tripartita), and Glabrous 
beardtongue {Penstemon glaber). By noon, it was time 
to depart, but not before observing the flowering display 
of pink-flowered pincushion cacti {Coryphantha vivipara) 
in the sagebrush. 
Black Hills: The Black Hills field trip began on Friday, 
July 21 , with a rain-shortened hike along the trails of 
Devils Tower led by Hollis Marriott. Fortunately the 
weather cleared for those plant enthusiasts from WNPS 
and the Great Plains Native Plant Society who chose to 
camp at the Monument amid Plains cottonwoods. Green 
ash, and Box-elder along the banks of the mighty Belle 
Fourche River. 
The next morning, the campers left for the Sundance 
Rest Area to convene with late arrivals. In all, a group 
of over 25 people and 3 dogs were on hand. Led by the 
intrepid Marriott, an extensive car pool proceeded to 
Beulah, and on to the Dugout Gulch Special Botanical 
Area on Black Hills National Forest. At the trailhead 
Marriott explained how the Native Plant Society had 
helped bring attention to this interesting botanical site in 
the mid 1980s, when the area was slated for logging. 
Along the trail we encountered stands of Bur oak 
{Quercus macrocarpa) and Hop-hornbeam {Ostrya 
virginiana), an uncommon species in Wyoming. Other 
interesting finds included Canadian enchanter’s 
nightshade {Circaea lutetiana). Fennel-leaved giant 
hyssop {Agastache foeniculaceum), and Marbleseed 
{Onosmodium molle). 
From Dugout Gulch, we traveled to Spearfish Canyon 
for lunch at the cabin of Elaine Ebbert amid a grove of 
White spruce {Picea glauca). We then proceeded along 
back roads to the Black Fox Iron Bog, stopping once to 
admire wetland plants along a roadside cold-water 
spring. The iron bog is located just outside Black Fox 
Campground within a moist forest of White spruce. Bog 
birch, and Sphagnum moss. The site is rich in 
uncommon and disjunct fungi, lichens, and vascular 
plants, including the Spurred gentian {Halenia deflexa). 
Dwarf blackberry {Rubus pubescens), and Bunchberry 
( Cornus canadensis) . 
That evening we camped at the empty Moon 
Campground and were treated to after-dinner music 
courtesy of the Hollis Marriott Trio (Hollis on fiddle, Beth 
Burkhart on guitar, and the WNPS Secretary/Treasurer 
banging a stick with nailed-on beer caps). 
On Sunday morning Jim Johnson led us on a short 
hike through one of the remnant high elevation 
grasslands on the South Dakota side of the Hills. Though 
we were unable to find the elusive grass Sporobolus 
heterolepis, we did enjoy a good show of wildflowers, 
including the bizarre, giant-headed Drummond’s thistle 
{Cirsium drummondii). 
Our last stop of the weekend was a visit to the 
“granite core” of the Black Hills in search of spleenworts. 
We were joined by legendary Black Hills mountaineers 
Jan and Herb Conn. The Conns led the group on a faint 
trail to the base of a granite outcrop containing 3 taxa of 
Asplenium: the grass-like Forked spleenwort (A 
septentrionale), the pinnately-divided Maidenhair 
spleenwort (A trichomanes), and a hybrid between the 
two species {A. x alternifolium). Hollis Marriott and the 
Conns discovered the hybrid fern while climbing in the 
area in 1998. Although common in Europe, the hybrid 
has only been documented sporadically in the United 
States, and the Black Hills population is nearly 2000 km 
west of the nearest known location. WF 
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