On June 15, 1896, Meriweather Lewis wrote about a notable plant in his journal:
“There is a great abundance of a species of beargrass which grows on every part of these mountains,” he noted.
And so beargrass got its name. Living in Montana, we often see this member of the lily family when it blooms in subalpine meadows and mountainsides. Its dense clusters of tiny white flowers, atop a stalk that can reach five feet in height, are strikingly beautiful. Beargrass is native to Montana, but can also be found in the mountains from British Columbia to California.
The abundant wilderness of Glacier National Park is a great place to see beargrass in all its glory. There’s a prevalent myth that it has a seven-year bloom cycle, but in reality, some beargrass blooms every year. Mass blossomings occur when the plants receive the ideal amount of spring rainfall and have the correct level of moisture in the soil, which does seem to happen every five to ten years. It is also an important part of fire ecology and is often the first plant to sprout after a burn.
Beargrass also grows across many private properties in Montana and the mountain west, and is a beautiful benefit to owning higher-altitude acreage or ranches. Despite its name, is actually neither a grass nor food for bears — deer, sheep, elk, and goats will eat it, but bears only seem to use it to line their dens. Several of its lesser-known names, including turkeybeard and pine lily, are more accurate descriptors, but beargrass is the one that stuck.
Native people have used beargrass for a variety of purposes: they wove baskets from the leaves and made clothing from the leaf fibers, and also roasted and ate the underground roots of the plants.
The summer blooms on a field of beargrass are just one of the reasons many people consider the land around Glacier National Park the best place to live in Montana. But whether you’re thinking about a country home near one of our many rural communities or a historic home near a charming Main Street, there’s a Montana lifestyle that is perfect for you.
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