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Highland wildflowers

A closer look at the flowers found along highland paths, from tiny cushion plants to orchids and climbing passionflowers.

24 photographs

Close view of a cluster of pink Epidendrum orchids, showing narrow spreading sepals and petals around prominent fringed lips.
Pink Epidendrum orchid cluster
Bright yellow Gentianella hirculus flowers form rounded globes of overlapping red-edged lobes close to the páramo ground.
Gentianella hirculus globito flowers
Scarlet bracts surround the small flowers of Castilleja nubigena, forming bright paintbrush-like spikes low among green grass.
Castilleja nubigena among grass
A dark purple Eryngium humile flower head is surrounded by a star of pointed silvery-white bracts among grasses. Cav.; Apiaceae; “cardón santo”
Eryngium humile — cardón santo
A pale blue Orthrosanthus chimboracensis flower shows six spreading tepals and three yellow stamens on a mountain slope.
Orthrosanthus chimboracensis on a mountain slope
A Gentianella flower has five magenta corolla lobes, a dark throat and contrasting yellow anthers, with slender tubular buds nearby.
Magenta Gentianella flower close-up
Magenta, two-lipped Lamourouxia flowers line dark upright stems with narrow opposite, toothed leaves among dry highland grasses at El Verde.
Magenta Lamourouxia flower spikes in dry grass
Orange Pseudogynoxys flower heads with raised centres bloom on slender stems among trail-side plants at Yamballa, beside toothed leaves and older brown flower heads.
Orange Pseudogynoxys flowers beside the trail
A Passiflora cumbalensis flower hangs from a long stalk, with an elongated violet tube, spreading pink-purple segments and a projecting central column against green vegetation.
Passiflora cumbalensis hanging flower
Curved pink Pedicularis incurva flowers with dark beaked tips line a purple spike among dry grasses and mossy highland plants.
Pedicularis incurva among páramo grasses
A large pale pink Sobralia orchid flower opens among pleated green leaves, with a broad frilled lip marked by darker pink stripes.
Pink Sobralia orchid with a striped lip
Compact bracted spikes of purple and blue Dalea pea flowers grow on slender woody branches beside rocky soil.
Purple-blue Dalea flowers by rocky soil
Close view of a yellow Ranunculus flower among thin stems and green foliage, with glossy petals surrounding numerous stamens and a green centre.
Ranunculus flower close-up
Paired scarlet Macroptilium flowers show large wing petals along a slender upright raceme, with reddish buds above and broad blue-green succulent leaves behind.
Scarlet Macroptilium flowers beside succulent leaves
Tiny blue Gentiana sedifolia flowers open close to the ground among a dense mat of small green leaves.
Tiny Gentiana sedifolia flowers in groundcover
A small-leaved Valeriana microphylla shrub bears branched clusters of tiny pale purple flowers, with highland grass and water behind.
Valeriana microphylla beside highland water
A compact cluster of small tubular Valeriana rigida flowers rises above a stiff basal leaf rosette among grasses.
Valeriana rigida flower cluster
Small white cup-shaped Gentianella flowers cluster above narrow opposite leaves.
White Gentianella flowers
An Oritrophium head shows numerous fine white ray florets around a yellow disc atop a woolly stalk.
White Oritrophium flower head
Small yellow-green Halenia flowers have four distinctive backward-pointing spurs above a low cluster of narrow leaves.
Yellow-green Halenia flowers
Intense blue Cynoglossum amabile flowers have rounded lobes and blue throat scales above hairy lance-shaped leaves beside a rock.
Blue Cynoglossum amabile flowers by a rock
A small beetle rests on a Bidens head with broad golden ray florets around a yellow disc.
Beetle on a yellow Bidens flower head
A butterfly rests on clustered yellow Senecio flower heads above glossy angular leaves.
Butterfly visiting yellow Senecio flowers
Low Nototriche hartwegii rosettes spread across damp gravelly soil, with silvery, deeply divided leaves and violet flower buds.
Nototriche hartwegii rosettes and violet buds

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