Botanical Glossary - Home

The Western Tiger Swallowtail one of our largest butterflies in this region. These butterflies like to move a lot, so they are a challenge to photograph while they sit still. (Western Tiger Swallowtail) one of our largest butterflies in this region. Above and below, this butterfly has lemmon-yellow with black tiger stripes across the wings. The margins are black with small yellow dashes. It also has one or two orange-red spots and several blue spots in a black tail on the hind wing. They can be found in moisture areas such as seepage sites, creeks, canyons, water sides, trails, roadsides, parks and gardens throughout British Columbia to Baja California and east through the Rockies to the Black Hills of South Dakota, the high Plains of Colorado and New Mexico.

Philadelphus spp. is a cultivated ornamental. Philadelphus owes much of its popularity to its nearly indestructible nature. Once established, plants will grow for a hundred years without serious care (other than pruning). All mockoranges prefer full sun, but will tolerate a bit of shade, and sandy or loamy soils. Few do well on heavy, overly wet or compacted clay soils. Native to Southern Europe, Eastern Asia, and North and Central America.