Created with Wolfram Mathematica 8.0
The flowers in the Colorado mountains are spectacular. Here is a selection. I am grateful to Jane Hendrix and Marty Richardson for their help in identification. Jane Hendrix's web page has a quite complete collection of photos of flowers in Summit County. See <<http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=6&uid=22322>>. My favorites in the list below are the last one in the Fairy Slippers section, the first Glacier Lily (by Mike Rogers), the Stemless Goldflower, the Kluane Poppy, and the exploding Prairie Smoke.
Some of these appear to me to be rare or unusual in the Colorado mountains, as they are seldom seen. In such a list I would place the following, in order of rarity as far as my observations go. This does not mean they are truly rare (though some are), but only that they are hard to find.
White elephant heads (seen only once, near Loveland Pass)
Rock clematis (purple; seen only once: my wife Joan Hutchinson spotted it on Lily Pad Lake trail)
Scree penstemon (purple; seen only at one place, but in quantity there: below Argentine Pass, east side, on the old trail)
Alpine dusty maiden (white; seen only once, Loveland Pass area)
Purple avens (seen only once)
Kluane poppy (yellow; seen only twice: Hoosier Ridge and near North Mount Massive)
Clustered lady slippers (brown; seen only twice)
Wooly actinella (yellow)
Sugar bowl (purple)
White fairy slippers
Alpine harebell (seen several times)
Mushroom hunting in Colorado is a great sport. I include here my favorite fungal portraits. In 2010-2011 I curated an exhibit of mushroom paintings by the Russian artist Alexander (Sasha) Viazmensky at Macalester College. Check out his beautiful work at http://www.pelcor.com/mushrooms/SashaMushrooms.html