STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Wildflowers lovers are invited to go in search of an elusive poppy on Saturday, July 19.

The Wood River Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society is hosting a botanical survey of the area around Baker Lake in hopes of documenting a rare poppy called the Kluane Poppy.

The poppy has thumb-sized pale yellow flowers and is right at home in high-elevation talus slopes. Named after Kluane Lake in the Yukon, it is found there and in parts of Alaska.

Its star-like yellow fingers cover its black center and it sports what looks like black freckles around its pale yellow petals.

“This sweet little poppy is the size of your thumb,” said board member Kristin Fletcher. “It occurs in small, isolated populations on the rugged terrain of high peaks from the Yukon south into the Rocky Mountains but was spotted a couple of years ago at Baker Lake.  We will be joined by top Idaho botanists in the hopes of relocating it in the name of science.”

Those who wish to join in are invited to meet at 8:30 a.m. at Hailey Park and Ride. at 9:30 a.m. at the Lake Creek parking lot north of Ketchum or at 10:15 a.m. at the Baker Lake Trailhead parking lot. Carpooling will be encouraged. Please, no dogs.

The outing, which should feature plenty of other wildflowers, as well, is expected to end back at the trailhead about 3:30 p.m.

The three- to four-mile round trip hike is considered of medium difficulty because of the high elevation of 8,000 to 9,000 feet and uneven footing.

DID YOU KNOW?

Idaho sports some amazing rare plants because it is at the crossroads of ecoregions, according to members of the Wood River Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society. It’s at the far western edge of the Great Plains, the northern edge of the Great Basin, the easternmost edge of the Pacific Northwest and the southern edge of the boreal forests to the north.

Among those rare plants is the 4-inch-tall Crater’s dwarf buckwheat, whose small fuzzy leaves cool the plant and reduce evapotranspiration. The plant flourishes on intensely hot cinders at Craters of the Moon, its extensive root system allowing it to gather the scant water the Craters receive.