{"id":48587,"date":"2017-09-25T05:34:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T11:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48587"},"modified":"2026-03-22T06:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T11:41:22","slug":"blooming-gardners-yampah-in-southwestern-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/25\/blooming-gardners-yampah-in-southwestern-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Blooming Gardner’s Yampah in Southwestern Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BloomingBlooming Gardner’s Yampah – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While I am photographing birds I also look around for other things in nature including wildflowers when they are in bloom, everything in nature is connected and I try to be connected too when I am out in the field.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year in July I spent some time in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana where I photographed this Gardner’s Yampah near Elk Lake. Gardner’s Yampah (Perideridia gairdneri<\/em>) is also known as Common Yampah, western false caraway, squawroot, and Gairdner’s Yampah<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The umbels of these white wildflowers remind me of Queen Anne’s Lace, a non-native wildflower I used to see often in the eastern U.S..<\/p>\n

This plant provided an important food source for many Native American tribes including the Paiute, Blackfoot, and Cheyenne. Gardner’s Yampah has tuberous roots like potatoes that can be steamed, roasted, eaten fresh out of the ground, dried and ground to make a flour, or it can be made into a mush.<\/p>\n

I have my friend Eve Wills to thank for the identification of this wildflower. Eve lives in Dillon, Montana and works as a Soil Scientist.\u00a0 Eve and her husband Kurt Westenbarger own WalkAbout West and give guided tours throughout the most beautiful areas of the Western United States.\u00a0 Thanks Eve!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my wildflower, shrub, and tree photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year in July I spent some time in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana where I photographed this Gardner’s Yampah near Elk Lake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,223,17299,12,608],"tags":[6098,6557,7353,6116,5342,6518,6121,6119,6114,6115,6118,2315,5434,6117,6120,4307],"class_list":["post-48587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-centennial-valley","category-gardners-yampah","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-common-yampah","tag-edible","tag-flowering","tag-food-source","tag-gairdners-yampah","tag-gardners-yampah","tag-perideridia-gairdneri","tag-squawroot","tag-summer-3","tag-valley","tag-western-false-caraway","tag-white-wildflower","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gardners-yampah-mia-mcpherson-5722.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cDF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9268,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/09\/i-know-why-i-love-this-scenic-image-of-red-rock-lakes-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":48587,"position":0},"title":"I 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Sea","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was Thinking Pink so this week I thought I would focus on the shades of blues found in wildflowers, birds, the sky and seas.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-adult-mia-mcpherson-5727.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-adult-mia-mcpherson-5727.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/great-blue-heron-adult-mia-mcpherson-5727.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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