As you are out hiking in the shrub-steppe this spring, keep an eye out for a dense cluster of newly sprouting seedings.

Where antelope btterbrush (Purshia tridentata) is a dominant large shrub, scan the soil nearby to see the next generation of plants beginning to sprout.

Small rodents that do not hibernate spend much of the late spring and summer harvesting and storing seeds that will serve as a winter food supply. They excavate shallow tunnels in the soil to create storage larders. In North Central Washington, sprouting caches are typically either of antelope bitterbrush or lupine – abundant native species that have large, nutrient-rich seeds. Some of these caches are not eaten, and turn into gardens of sprouts reaching skyward. Some end up being grazed by small mammals, but a few survive and grow into the next generation of that species.

However, as this cache of tiny slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis) seedings shows, the range of species of collected seeds in wide.

In a few weeks, antelope bitterbrush will be in full bloom with dense showy yellow flowers. Over the summer, large brown shiny seeds will develop, ready for the next seasonal round of harvest by rodents. The circle of life has so many facets in the shrub-steppe. Read more about antelope bitterbrush seed caches in this blog post by the the Awkward Botanist.