The First Flowers

Purple Mountain Saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia

The purple mountain saxifrage plant looks kind of like a succubus when you first see it. They are among the first flowers to bloom and are quite stunning. When they bloom they look like flower-covered cushions. The flowers are a deep purple color and have 5 petals with 10 stamens. They generally grow in rocky crevices, or in cracks on mounds on the tundra. The semi-sweet petals of the flowers are edible and is known to the Inuit people as aupilaktunnguaq.

Small Purple mountain saxifrage with flowers in full bloom

Saxifrage starting to bloom

Wooly Lousewort  Pedicularis lanata

The Arctic has a variety of louseworts, but this species is the first to show its colorful flowers. It is coated with white wooly hairs when it is young. The hairs protect the plant from the cold in the early spring and from the sun in the summer. They also help it stay moist. It has pinkish-purple flowers that grow out horizontally and are very pretty. The root is edible and apparently tastes somewhat like a yellow carrot.

Two wooly louseworts.
You can see the white hairs on the top of the one in front

Tall wooly lousewort

So, those are the first two entries for flowers.  I will try to do more, especially in the next week when we have less and less work to do!