Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, July 3, 2004.

A walking pace is just too fast if we really want to see the world.  Snowlover is one of those tiny alpine plants (the one pictured is just two inches high) that evades you unless you search with the slowest pace.  And then, as happened to us, you may find many Snowlover plants.  Snowlover flowers are in an unusual one-sided cluster, leaves are thick and almost as high as the flower, and, in a manner unique among Snapdragons, the flower is flattened.

George Bentham (1800-1884) named this genus and species in 1846.  "Chionophila" is Greek for "snow lover".  Edwin James was a naturalist with the Long Expedition (1819-1820).  (More biographical information.)

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, July 3, 2004.

Alpine. Tundra. Summer.
Cinnamon Pass, August 1, 2007.