Utah desert plants

[RickR]

Really spectacular, Lori.  you "picked" a good time to go out there.  Amazing that those dunes could be "frozen" hard like that.  I can only imagine the thrill for you, having a special interest in geology. 

Is Lake Powell a salty, Dead Sea like body of water?

[Hoy]

Lake Powell is man-made I assume, and loosing water due to low precipitation/high demand for water. I read a story about it somewhere - possibly National Geographic.

Thank you Lori for sharing those pictures!

[Lori S.]

More from the dunes (modern, that is)...

     

     

Visitor center at Capitol Reef N.P.:

[Lori S.]

Some early morning photos while wandering around the roadside sand dunes outside the hotel in the little town of Bluff:

Oenothera pallida?:
   

Lygodesmia sp, possibly L. arizonica?:
   

Unknown - the foliage rosettes of this plant were shown in some earlier photos:


Cleome lutea:


Gaillardia pinnatifida?:


Rumex hymenosepalus?:

[Lori S.]

More Abronia argillosa(?):
   

Lupinus sp.:
 

Oenothera pallida(?):


The more subtle beauty of the desert... wind ripples with the tracks of little inhabitants (beetles, lizards perhaps) and windblown grasses...
   

[cohan]

Great trip, Lori! Look like really soul healing landscapes
You may already know, the cactus in reply 8 is an Echinocereus, I'd have to dig for a species name, but maybe coccineus or fendleri etc, not sure of ranges..

Did you figure out your 'lily' in the second last post? I was thinking Hesperocallis (which you  probably already considered) with unopened flowers, though those usually have flat, crisped leaves, I did see pics of some with smooth leaves.. of course if those flowers are actually open narrowly, then I have no second thought..lol