Global Regional Plant Guides

Rocky Mountain Montane, Subalpine & Alpine Plant Survival Guide

A comprehensive survival plant guide for Rocky Mountain Montane, Subalpine & Alpine, covering useful woody materials, land foods, aquatic foods, traditional-use plants and poisonous look-alikes.

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Cover of Rocky Mountain Montane, Subalpine & Alpine Plant Survival Guide

Continent: North America
USDA-equivalent zones: 3-7
Köppen climate: Dfb / Dfc / ET
Profiles: 20
Regional biome: Montane forest, subalpine parkland and alpine tundra

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Useful plants · 5 Land edibles · 5 Aquatic edibles · 3 Traditional-use · 3 Poisonous look-alikes · 4

Useful plants

Wood, fibre, shelter and craft

Douglas-fir

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Useful plants

Identify: Soft single needles; cones with three-pointed bracts; thick furrowed bark on old trees.
Habitat: Western North American dry slopes and temperate forest.
Season: Year-round.
Field use: Excellent structural poles, dense fuel and dry resinous twigs for ignition.
Caution: True fir cones stand upright and lack protruding bracts. Avoid enclosed smoky fires.
Look-alikes: Grand or subalpine fir has flat needles and upright cones.

polesfueltinderconstruction

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Lodgepole pine

Pinus contorta

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Lodgepole pine

Identify: Two needles per bundle; slender trunk; small prickly cones, often closed for years.
Habitat: Burns, sandy benches and mountain slopes of western North America.
Season: Year-round.
Field use: Straight poles, resinous kindling, fuel and pitchwood.
Caution: Fire-killed trees can fall suddenly; beetle-killed wood may be structurally weak.
Look-alikes: Jack pine has more curved irregular cones.

polesfueltinderresin

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Trembling aspen

Populus tremuloides / P. tremula

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Trembling aspen

Identify: Round finely toothed leaves on flattened stalks that tremble; smooth pale bark.
Habitat: Burns, clearings, boreal forest and mountain valleys.
Season: Leaves spring-fall; wood year-round.
Field use: Light carving wood, quick fuel and one of the best soft hearth-board woods for friction fire when dry.
Caution: Standing dead stems often rot internally. Test poles before loading.
Look-alikes: Birch leaves are more pointed and bark peels.

bow drill boardcarvingfuelpoles

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Willows

Salix spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Alternate narrow to oval leaves; flexible twigs; catkins; many species root along wet ground.
Habitat: Riverbanks, lake margins, floodplains, tundra valleys and moist forest.
Season: Twigs year-round; leaves and catkins in the growing season.
Field use: Flexible rods for baskets, fish traps, wattle, arrow shafts and repair splints. Dry punky willow and softer species can serve bow-drill hearth boards; denser pieces make spindles. Bark has documented salicylate-related traditional use.
Caution: Species identification is difficult. Do not self-dose bark with aspirin allergy, bleeding risk, kidney disease, pregnancy, or in children with viral illness.
Look-alikes: Alders have cone-like female catkins; some dogwoods have opposite leaves.

arrow shaftbow drill boardbasketrycordagemedicine

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Viburnums

Viburnum spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Opposite leaves and branching; flat or rounded flower clusters; one-seeded drupes.
Habitat: Temperate forest edge, thicket and wetland margin.
Season: Stems year-round; fruit late summer-fall.
Field use: Straight shoots are classic arrow-shaft and spindle material; some species have edible fruit after correct identification.
Caution: Fruit safety varies; raw fruit or seeds of some species can cause illness.
Look-alikes: Dogwoods have strongly curved leaf veins.

arrow shaftbow drill spindlepegs

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Land edibles

Terrestrial food species

Bilberry / bog blueberry group

Vaccinium myrtillus / V. uliginosum

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Bilberry / bog blueberry group

Identify: Low woody shrub; blue to blue-black berries with a crown; leaves alternate and small.
Habitat: Boreal, montane and tundra heath.
Season: Mid- to late summer.
Field use: Ripe berries are documented food and can be dried or cooked.
Caution: Color alone is not enough; confirm woody stem and Vaccinium fruit crown.
Look-alikes: Black-berried herbs lack woody stems; crowberry has needle-like leaves.

food fruit

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Wild roses

Rosa spp.

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Prickly stems; compound toothed leaves; five-petaled flowers; red to orange hips.
Habitat: Open woods, thickets, prairie, dunes and mountain slopes.
Season: Hips late summer through winter.
Field use: Fleshy hip walls are documented food after the irritating hairs and seeds are removed; good for simmering or drying.
Caution: Internal hairs irritate skin and mouth. Avoid sprayed or moldy fruit.
Look-alikes: Hawthorn has simple lobed leaves and woody thorns.

food fruitcordage

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Fireweed

Chamerion angustifolium

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Tall colonies; narrow alternate leaves; magenta four-petaled flowers; long silky-seeded capsules.
Habitat: Burns, avalanche tracks, river gravel and disturbed northern ground.
Season: Young shoots spring; flowers summer.
Field use: Young shoots and leaves are documented food after correct identification and cooking; dry stalks yield light fiber and tinder.
Caution: Older plants become tough. Very young shoots can be confused with other herbs.
Look-alikes: Purple loosestrife has opposite leaves and dense flower spikes.

food greenfibertinder

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Wild onions and garlic

Allium spp.

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild onions and garlic

Identify: Narrow leaves or hollow stems; spherical flower heads; clear onion or garlic odor in leaf and bulb.
Habitat: Meadows, rocky slopes, open woodland and stream terraces.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Leaves, flowers and bulbs of positively identified Allium are documented food and seasoning.
Caution: Every sampled part must smell of onion, but odor is not the only test. Avoid unknown bulbs.
Look-alikes: Death camas lacks onion odor and can be fatal.

food greenfood bulb

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Broadleaf and ribwort plantains

Plantago major / P. lanceolata

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Broadleaf and ribwort plantains

Identify: Basal rosette with strong parallel ribs; leafless spikes of tiny flowers and seeds.
Habitat: Trails, camps, meadows and disturbed soil.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Young leaves and seeds are documented food; clean leaves have traditional external use on minor irritation.
Caution: Do not put dirty leaves on open wounds. Seeds swell with water and can obstruct if taken dry in quantity.
Look-alikes: Docks have netted veins; plantain ribs run from the base.

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Aquatic edibles

Water-margin food species

Cattails

Typha spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Tall flat strap leaves; dense brown cylindrical female flower spike below a narrower male section.
Habitat: Marshes, pond edges, slow channels and wet ditches.
Season: Shoots spring; pollen early summer; rhizomes year-round where lawful.
Field use: Documented food parts include young inner shoots, pollen and processed rhizome starch. Leaves make mats, baskets and thatch; seed down can bulk tinder.
Caution: Water can concentrate sewage, metals and parasites. Raw rhizome requires correct processing; avoid contaminated marshes.
Look-alikes: Yellow flag iris has sword leaves and showy flowers but no brown cattail head.

food shootfood starchbasketrythatchtinder

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Arrowhead / wapato

Sagittaria spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Arrowhead / wapato

Identify: Arrow-shaped or lance leaves rising from shallow water; three-petaled white flowers in whorls; underground tubers in some species.
Habitat: Shallow ponds, sloughs, marshes and slow streams.
Season: Tubers late summer through winter.
Field use: Tubers of confirmed edible species are documented food after cooking; leaves and flower stalks help locate the bed.
Caution: Never eat raw. Species and tuber production vary. Wetland pathogens and water hemlock are nearby hazards.
Look-alikes: Arrow arum has one large hooded flower and toxic tissues.

food tuber

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Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Creeping hollow stems; pinnate leaves with a larger rounded terminal leaflet; small white four-petaled flowers.
Habitat: Cold flowing springs and streams, often where nutrient-rich.
Season: Cool seasons.
Field use: Tender tops are documented food and are usually cooked in survival settings.
Caution: Raw watercress can carry liver flukes and sewage pathogens. Avoid downstream of livestock, roads or settlements.
Look-alikes: Water hemlock has divided leaves and umbrella flowers; never rely on habitat alone.

food green

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Traditional-use

Documented traditional medicine

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Aromatic finely divided leaves; flat clusters of small white to pink flower heads.
Habitat: Dry openings, trails, grassland, shore gravel and disturbed soil.
Season: Summer through fall.
Field use: Documented traditional external uses include washes and aromatic preparations; dry flower heads make light tinder.
Caution: Possible allergy, pregnancy and anticoagulant concerns. Not a substitute for wound cleaning or medical care.
Look-alikes: Poison hemlock is much taller with hollow purple-spotted stems and true umbels.

medicinetinder

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Golden root

Rhodiola rosea and related spp.

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Fleshy blue-green leaves on upright stems, yellow flower clusters and thick aromatic rhizome.
Habitat: Cold Eurasian alpine cliffs, streambanks and tundra.
Season: Summer.
Field use: Widely documented traditional-use plant.
Caution: Wild populations are vulnerable to root harvest. No field dosing; may affect mood, sleep and medications.
Look-alikes: Other Rhodiola and Sedum species are similar.

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Mugworts

Artemisia vulgaris complex

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Aromatic deeply lobed leaves, commonly silvery beneath; small inconspicuous flower heads.
Habitat: Disturbed ground, steppe, forest edges and riverbanks.
Season: Summer through fall.
Field use: Documented traditional uses include aromatic smoke and digestive preparations; dry stalks can be tinder.
Caution: Avoid internal use during pregnancy or with seizure disorders. Species identification is difficult.
Look-alikes: Ragweeds lack the silvery underside and have different flowers.

medicinetinder

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Poisonous look-alikes

Do not eat — verify before harvest

Monkshoods

Aconitum spp.

Poisonous plants

Identify: Deeply divided palmate leaves; blue, purple, yellow or white hood-shaped flowers.
Habitat: Moist mountain meadows, streambanks and cool forest.
Season: Summer.
Field use: No food or field medicinal use.
Caution: All parts contain potent aconitine-type alkaloids; ingestion can cause fatal heart and nerve effects.
Look-alikes: Larkspurs have a rear spur and are also toxic.

poison

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False hellebores

Veratrum spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for False hellebores

Identify: Tall herb with broad strongly pleated leaves around a stout stem and branched greenish flower clusters.
Habitat: Wet meadows, seeps and stream margins in temperate and montane regions.
Season: Spring through summer.
Field use: No food use.
Caution: All parts are poisonous and may cause vomiting, slow heart rate, low blood pressure and collapse.
Look-alikes: Young shoots can resemble wild leek but lack onion odor and have broad pleated leaves.

poison

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Water hemlocks

Cicuta spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for Water hemlocks

Identify: Wetland perennial with divided leaves, white umbrella flower clusters and thick chambered rootstocks.
Habitat: Marshes, wet meadows, stream edges and ditches across the northern hemisphere.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: No survival use. Make wetland root gathering a prohibited activity unless a qualified botanist is present.
Caution: Extremely poisonous; small amounts, especially roots, can cause violent seizures and death.
Look-alikes: Angelica, cow parsnip and other Apiaceae can look similar. Never taste to decide.

poison

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Baneberries

Actaea spp.

Poisonous plants

Identify: Woodland herb with divided leaves, white flower clusters and red, white or black berries on stout stalks.
Habitat: Moist temperate and boreal forest.
Season: Fruit late summer.
Field use: No food use.
Caution: Berries and roots are poisonous and can affect the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems.
Look-alikes: Edible Vaccinium berries grow on woody shrubs with simple leaves.

poison

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