Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow
Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow is a tall perennial with pink five-petaled flowers, maple-like leaves, and clustered stems and is most meaningfully sought in moist meadows and openings restricted to the Wenatchee Mountains.
Artwork inspired by Richard Gilkey
Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow is a tall perennial with pink five-petaled flowers, maple-like leaves, and clustered stems. Identification depends on that combination and on its highly restricted moist-meadow habitat in central Washington.
Flowering is most useful from June through August, but managed openings can be fragile and other mallows can look similar. Photograph the whole plant, leaves, flowers, stem, and surrounding meadow from durable ground.
- Primary range
- Washington
- Habitat
- moist meadows and openings restricted to the Wenatchee Mountains
- Status
- Federally endangered and geographically restricted to central Washington
Quick guide
- Primary field mark
- A tall perennial with pink five-petaled flowers, maple-like leaves, and clustered stems
- Independent mark
- June–August in moist mountain openings
Four checks for Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow
- Establish height and growth form
- Look for several upright stems forming a tall cluster rather than identifying the plant from one pink flower.
- Compare leaf and flower
- Pair maple-like lobed leaves with five-petaled pink flowers and record both in the same individual.
- Use range as a strict check
- Confirm a moist meadow or opening in the Wenatchee Mountains during the June–August flowering period.
- Keep the meadow intact
- Remain on durable ground, avoid trampling neighboring stems, and share exact locations only with appropriate conservation staff.
Good to know
Look from a signed Wenatchee Mountains trail or durable meadow edge during June–August. Photograph the complete plant and habitat without entering a restoration plot or publishing sensitive coordinates.
Notice these
- A tall perennial with pink five-petaled flowers, maple-like leaves, and clustered stems
- moist meadows and openings restricted to the Wenatchee Mountains
- June–August in moist mountain openings