Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: cohan on June 18, 2010, 07:46:42 PM
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i thought i wouldn't start a thread for this year until i got past some of the same early spring images i have posted a couple of times already-seems i get inundated with images once the flower season is fully underway, and never catch up!
i'm doing better this year, though not 100% up to date...lol
first off, a few images from a walk on the family farm which my acreage was carved from (now uncle's land);
wetlands are common here, and except for the very wettest spots, they naturally tend to be wooded, even if its smallish willows, dwarf birch(betula pumila) etc, but also tamaracks (larix laricina) and black spruce (picea mariana)..
many areas are kept artificially cleared (sometimes burning, often bulldozing) in order to keep them suitable for grazing, and of course heavy grazing will help them stay clear; one large wet area just behind my acreage has become quite overgrown over the last couple of decades of reduced grazing, which makes quite a difference to the flora--some species i saw as a youth are gone (dodecatheon, spiranthes, etc) others much reduced in flowering (menyanthes); other species don't seem to much care, and carry on shady or sunny (caltha), while still other species are suited particularly for the semi/wooded wet areas (rubus arcticus, maianthemum trifolium etc)..
so this walk was into a somewhat overgrown place-in areas like woodland, other spots more open with clumps of willow and birch, grasses, sedges etc in the most open places...
(more shots and info in my picasa album http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June032010NorthernSpringSkunkberryAndSolomonSSeal# )
first some general shots of the area..
1- the slough, with willow and birch in front; regular woodlands visible behind;
2-3, 5 my path is to the right, where it becomes more wooded..
4-Larix laricina just leafing out
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ok--just about time to get ready for work, i'll squeeze in one more!
1 Pyrola sp
i seem to see this type of leaf in exactly this type of location, different from our super common P asarifolia; haven't seen them in flower, no id...
2,3 Maianthemum trifolium
only realised last fall that these are not the same as the ubiquitous canadense..duh..
this is the only spot i saw plants with speckled leaves!
4 Rubus arcticus
very common, but always utterly charming, especially in spring foliage colour..
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cohan, do you have yucca in your area ? i´m interested on seeds, and opuntia cuttings from clones which are very hard, i´m interested too...
thanks
cheers
chris
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cohan, do you have yucca in your area ? i´m interested on seeds, and opuntia cuttings from clones which are very hard, i´m interested too...
thanks
cheers
chris
no, sorry.. Yucca glauca makes it just into the far south of alberta, many hours drive from here, someplace i have never been to! the Opuntia polyacantha and fragilis are much more common-still not in my area, but a few hours from here ( in my picasa albums you can see pictures from an area where they grow, last year and the year before);if i get there this year, i will keep you in mind, otherwise we can wait until my own very small plants from cuttings do some growing ;D
i wonder about sending polyacantha cuttings in the mail--maybe they'd need a haircut first ;D
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within the semi-open slough with clumps of willows and betula pumila, and scattered larix, there are a few old wooded mini ridges (only a couple of feet higher than the surrounding land);
i suspect these grew up on old brush piles where the trees etc were pushed aside when the area was cleared many decades ago (these ridges already had mature trees when i was young), and or along old fallen larix--i was told there was a dieoff of larix before i was born: there had been huge trees that were used for logs..nothing yet has got to that size since!
naturally, the flora is a little different along these drier, shadier 'ridges', many typical species of the surrounding woodlands-Pyrolas, Mitellas, Geocaulon, etc; some of the wetland species will grow anywhere moist, especially Caltha palustris, which grows through these wooded areas, especially along the low wet areas threading through--old cattle trails, less/unused with fewer cattle on the property than there used to be! (pic 3)
1 Geocaulon lividum
2 Vaccinium vitis-idaea a fairly common plant, though never really abundant here
3-6 Caltha palustris note varied flowers-these plants were almost adjacent..
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widespread within the wooded 'ridges' and elsewhere below birch and willow,
Maianthemum trifolium just coming into flower at this time..
something about the lighting and the colours of this plant caused the images to sort of wash out, but in a kind of poetic way! ::)
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1,2 Salix sp pretty seed pods and leaves; i assume this is the typical large shrub/small multi-stemmed tree form of most willows here..
3,4 Rubus arcticus the splashes of deep pink are conspicuous for a low plant, but its hard to get a good flower shot, as the flowers are usually raggedy, and carried below their own and other foliage..
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farther along, another interesting spot: a more recent brush pile in a long line, with willow mixed wet woods on one side, a young dense stand of larix on the other; the bush on each side and raised area of the brush pile seemed to make this strip a little warmer than surrounding, shadier lower soil, so the plants were a bit farther along..
i've been figuring out our local Ribes species, and here made the acquaintance of R glandulosum--a really pretty low sprawly shrub..
1,2 the brush pile, mixed wet woods to one side
3 the young Larix laricina stand to the other side
4-6 Ribes glandulosum pale flower form
7 another Ribes sp a gooseberry type
8,9 Lonicera involucrata more typical in regular woodland situations, the brushpile keeps it up from the wet ground..
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Cohan,
Thanks for these new impressive and detailed described ' wanderings ' - enjoyed it very much!
Gerd
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thanks gerd, i hope at least a few people enjoy them :)
i think being too detailed is probably my failing ;) this year, i will put all the pictures on picasa, and then only a few here..
i have some violets to come, and maybe you can help me with the marsh/bog species...
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this first image should have gone with the last post-
1 Chrysosplenium iowense (alternifolium)
a plant i loved to see patches of when i was younger, and in the last couple of years had not seen much..either its doing better this year, or likely i looked in better places at a better time; still usually very small patches on this farm, since there is a lot of competition from other plants; i think it did better in days of more grazing! but widespread, nonetheless; shady wet areas, often at the northern edge of woods bordering wetlands..
2,3 out of the wet woods, and just before entering regular woods, there is a border area that has remained more popular with cattle, so it has stayed more in grasses etc, and not grown in..
4 Glechoma hederacea a foreign weed, doing very nicely at the damp edge of the woods, here, but not widespread enough to be a real concern on this land, at least..
5 Petasites sagitattus the foliage at maybe the most beautiful stage, half grown or less, and very white!
that's it for this walk--my camera battery died! luckily nothing too exciting was spotted in the 10 minutes or so to walk back to the house ;)
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Very nice and interesting plants Cohan, thank you :) Some seeds from you have already grown up and I can't wait for the other
species !
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thanks nicole--glad to hear that :) i'll be happy to see some pics when they look like something :)
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cohan, sorry i forget that alberta is a big country, not so in germany ;)
thanks a lot..
cheers
chris
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Cohan: glad you are continuing to wander in 2010! Great stuff and please keep up the detail!! Does Rubus arcticus produce a lot of fruit? It grows in Norway but is quite local in its distribution apart from in the far north (Troms and Finnmark) and fruit is uncommon. How about R. stellatus - do you have that one too?
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Cohan: glad you are continuing to wander in 2010! Great stuff and please keep up the detail!! Does Rubus arcticus produce a lot of fruit? It grows in Norway but is quite local in its distribution apart from in the far north (Troms and Finnmark) and fruit is uncommon. How about R. stellatus - do you have that one too?
thanks, stephen :)
my (admittedly limited) book does not mention stellatus, but from the little i found searching online, it seems to be in b.c. and alaska..
i was trying to tell, this year, if there was something besides pubescens and arcticus (of course idaeus grows everywhere) or whether they hybridised, as i see plants of presumably pubescens with some red in the leaf more typical of arcticus, and pinkish flowers, but i think its just natural variation in pubescens..
arcticus does not produce a lot of fruit here, at least in the wild, haven't tried cultivating it yet; same for pubescens.. its also possible that they are fruiting more than i know, but many berries are eaten by critters before i see them! certainly by the very wide spread of the plants, it must be getting seeded around...
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cohan, sorry i forget that alberta is a big country, not so in germany ;)
thanks a lot..
cheers
chris
no problem, christian :) at least we have pretty good and often straight roads, so you can go far, fast!
this is what wikipedia says:
661,848 square kilometres (255,500 sq mi), an area about 5% smaller than Texas or 20% larger than metropolitan France.
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:) :D ;D cool..... 8)
cheers
chris
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thanks, stephen :)
my (admittedly limited) book does not mention stellatus, but from the little i found searching online, it seems to be in b.c. and alaska..
i was trying to tell, this year, if there was something besides pubescens and arcticus (of course idaeus grows everywhere) or whether they hybridised, as i see plants of presumably pubescens with some red in the leaf more typical of arcticus, and pinkish flowers, but i think its just natural variation in pubescens..
arcticus does not produce a lot of fruit here, at least in the wild, haven't tried cultivating it yet; same for pubescens.. its also possible that they are fruiting more than i know, but many berries are eaten by critters before i see them! certainly by the very wide spread of the plants, it must be getting seeded around...
I was particularly interested as I recently posted a picture of what we call here Allåkerbær, which is a Swedish-developed hybrid between Swedish R. arcticus and North American R. stellatus (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5556.msg155356#msg155356 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5556.msg155356#msg155356)). It came on the market in 1980 and it was quite popular here for a while (there are at least 4 varieties and you have two grow two of them for fruit, Linda and Anna being the two I have I think). It’s quite invasive and I now confine it to a big wooden tub. I’ve wanted to also “get to know” the parents for some time but seed seems to be quite rare. I was given R. arcticus a couple of years ago, but it turned out to be white-flowered R. saxatilis (Rock Bramble), a common species here in drier habitats and actually a wild plant in part of my garden. A wild hybrid between saxatilis and arcticus is also known here. Pictures of saxatilis below. The fruit is rather seedy and it’s not often one finds enough fruit to gather.
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i can see why that plant could be confused with arcticus, out of flower..
here are the plants i was talking about-first clear R pubescens, then growing very near them (this is just behind my house) the plants which have the general size and flower shape of pubescens, but the leaves look rather like arcticus, and flowers have a bit of pink.. could be a natural hybrid? i will have to go look at them again and see if any of the foliar differences disappear once they are in full growth... note: pubescens can have white to pinkish flrs, so that is not a diagnostic point...
1-4 Rubus pubescens
5-7 Rubus ?
8 a visitor on Petasites
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my first bike trip of the year was on june 06; not really far (about 14miles in a sort of rectangle), and not too exciting (i was looking for dodecatheon, but didn't find any on that day) still, it was a lovely day, great to be out on the road, and some nice views around my area..
1 that's a grader-road maintenance, up ahead--determined to churn up the gravel and make my cycling much harder!
2,3-the white fields in this view are grain stubble from last year; the yellow are dandelions!
4- a very different view on another road; wet areas to each side, mixed forest ahead..
5,6-an odd little curving road nearer home, not far from the site where i photographed Castilleja etc last year..
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same day;
1-4- at the Castilleja site (not flowering yet then, they are now, i photographed a few yesterday!) the woodlands rich and green, flowering plants just starting...
5,6- Aralia nudicaulis; some plants just emerging, and just in bud in early june; growing with:
7-Viola canadensis; a purer white flower here than the plants near my house.
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Cohan, I do so enjoy looking at your Alberta wanderings, please keep 'em coming.
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1,2 on the way back home, just up the road--look to the end of the road where it comes to a T, my place is at the right behind/inside the bush...
3-5 Prunus pensylvanica
along the top of the hill from the previous shots, are several prunus, virginiana and the only pensylvanica i know of around here (there are bound to be more, but not easy to find out of flower if they aren't in the open like these.. these beautiful small trees are at risk from a misguided local program to spray 'weeds' and woodies in the roadsides... so far these ones have escaped, but a few smaller ones not far away didn't make it..
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Cohan, I do so enjoy looking at your Alberta wanderings, please keep 'em coming.
thanks david :) living out here has some challenges-at least for an urbanised farm boy like me ;) but when i get out on some of those empty roads, i do count myself lucky :)
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same day;
1-4- at the Castilleja site (not flowering yet then, they are now, i photographed a few yesterday!) the woodlands rich and green, flowering plants just starting...
5,6- Aralia nudicaulis; some plants just emerging, and just in bud in early june; growing with:
7-Viola canadensis; a purer white flower here than the plants near my house.
Cohan,
Quite interesting to have a look at a side where Viola canadensis grows -
My own plants have a lesser part of yellow inside the flowers but seemed to be of a larger size (the plants-not the flowers).
What tree/shrub is pic no. 4 ? Is it a Corylus?
Gerd
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same day;
1-4- at the Castilleja site (not flowering yet then, they are now, i photographed a few yesterday!) the woodlands rich and green, flowering plants just starting...
5,6- Aralia nudicaulis; some plants just emerging, and just in bud in early june; growing with:
7-Viola canadensis; a purer white flower here than the plants near my house.
Cohan,
Quite interesting to have a look at a side where Viola canadensis grows -
My own plants have a lesser part of yellow inside the flowers but seemed to be of a larger size (the plants-not the flowers).
What tree/shrub is pic no. 4 ? Is it a Corylus?
Gerd
gerd-the violas here are usually growing in a zone-forest edge/open mixed forest-which has very heavy competition among the forbs and small shrubs, so i think it likely would grow bigger in the garden! it is our largest violet, and is maybe up to around 30cm average here, though my book says it could be to 60cm; it is usually in quite thick vegetation of other plants, and probably only a few stems per plant..
i have some more pictures of this species to post--some of those by my house and another colony i found with the distinctly pinkish flowers..
as for the shrub in pic 4, i think it should be Alnus sp; these are not rare, but not abundant, so i am not as familiar with them as some other shrubs/trees; it seems to me that these are extra popular with deer/moose as they seem to be pruned ruthlessly, often.. on the other hand, i don't usually get to these spots early enough in the year to see the catkins for a final id--i don't think Corylus quite makes it into my area, but sometimes the mapmakers are wrong!
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Cohan,
Thanks for the tours of your area. Some interesting stuff in there. Here's hoping that those areas that are regenerating after prolonged overgrazing will once more produce the plants that they used to. Maybe they still need to overgrow a bit further yet before conditions are right. It is amazing what can reappear at old sites ones favourable conditions return. Fingers crossed. :D
Thanks again.
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Cohan,
Thanks for the tours of your area. Some interesting stuff in there. Here's hoping that those areas that are regenerating after prolonged overgrazing will once more produce the plants that they used to. Maybe they still need to overgrow a bit further yet before conditions are right. It is amazing what can reappear at old sites ones favourable conditions return. Fingers crossed. :D
Thanks again.
thanks, paul....
as for overgrazed spots where the d****d buttercup has got a hold, i don't know if there is any going back, other than chemicals which kill everything but grass... other areas that are just grazed low have no problem regenerating..
land use is always complicated, i guess, or at least in this area--without removing the vast majority of humans from the equation, you can't go back to a completely 'natural' flora; in this area, if we removed cultivation and heavy grazing, everything would revert to forest, so all the plants that need open, sunny spots would be pushed out..
in the original state, open areas would be created by blow downs or fires, which (fires esp) tend to be prevented by modern humans! open areas also exist farther away from the mountains at prairie's edge, but that area tends to be even more heavily agriculturalised...
anyway, we can't turn back the clock, so at least this area has a patchwork of different land uses that allow many species to exist, but any of the individual plots is always subject to sudden change/obliteration..
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some of you have seen the pinkish Viola canadensis which grows wild near my house; some other populations here are whiter (and some variation within the population), and i have found another site with these pink flowered plants..
my camera has a bit of trouble with red tones, but i think i managed to fairly accurately capture the tone of these flowers..
included are a couple of shots of the habitat, as mentioned to gerd, you can see they have lots of competition: maianthemum, pyrolas, petasites ground level in the shade of the other plants, epilobium, asters, mertensia, vicia, lathyrus, galium etc, plus numerous woodies- lonicera, symphoricarpos, rosa, viburnum, shepherdia, etc
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Cohan, Thank you once again for describing the conditions where Viola canadensis grows - pretty pink variation indeed!
Gerd
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you're welcome, gerd :)
i will show you one more site (not tonight) where they are in a more open place, and a lot of plants growing together; this is the other pink site; i also know them from a place which is more shady, with spruce; but quite likely in that case, they were growing in open woods, and the spruce grew up and made it shady!
i looked for some seeds on the pink ones last year and did not find any, but maybe now that i found a bigger patch i can get some....
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Thanks for taking us along on your tours Cohan ! :D :D
Not exactly the circumstances we're used to out here in crowded Belgium ! ;)
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Thanks for taking us along on your tours Cohan ! :D :D
Not exactly the circumstances we're used to out here in crowded Belgium ! ;)
thanks, luc! most of the places i ride around here, there is a farmstead (the part with the house etc) every half mile to mile at most (i use miles, because the roads are on a grid- 2miles apart north/south, 1 mile apart east/west), sometimes closer, and sometimes across the road from one another, so i pass buildings often enough, but usually don't see any people (and i hope to not see dogs ;D ); if i'm riding for a couple of hours, i will usually be passed by a small handful of vehicles..so yes, overall, quite peaceful!
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saturday, we did one of our typical sprints into the mountains west of here;
this time, we went all the way to Jasper, Alberta, a round trip of about 760km; we left home about 7:15 am, and got back by 9pm..
full albums will be on picasa as i get them sorted and edited (starting from 650 pics) and i'll just put a few highlights here..
first album is the start of the day, and first, short, stop..
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010A#
1 not far from home, this is the view up the highway toward the town of Rocky Mountain House, where i work, and where we stopped for breakfast (take away!)
2 about 20 minutes driving west from town, the foothills biome in full effect, and the terrain begins to lift a bit more
3 our first stop, for last check of tires etc; of course i used the time to botanise, useless thing mechanically that i am!
4,5 the pull out was just before a stream valley that the road crossed; the ground and vegetation were sopping from possible overnight rain, and heavy dew
6 Lotus corniculatus a pretty weed, not very common in this part of the province; i wonder if i should look again at this spot in a season or two??
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just up the embankment into the woods...
driving along, i'd been seeing large areas of Ledum groenlandicum in flower--i can't say carpeted, it's not that dense, but still impressive; especially since here, the plant is fairly common in the wetter parts of woods, but flowers rather poorly, usually.. this and the vacciniums seem much lusher and more floriferous in this area than at home; i suspect higher rainfall and maybe better snow cover; not sure if there are other issues..
as was to be a repeating theme for the day, the flowering was not as dense where we stopped as it had been along the way, but you can get a rough idea....
1,2 Ledum groenlandicum
3 Vaccinium myrtilloides i think, blueberries; when i was a child my grandfather would occasionally pack the whole family out west for the day to pick blueberries--or attempt to-the crop is very variable depending on current and past year's weather!
4-6 Vaccinium vitis-idaea bog cranberries; we have these not uncommonly at home, but rather sparse looking by comparison...
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continuing deeper into the mountains, we pass the only (small) town in the region, Nordegg, coming back from near extinction as a mining community, reinventing itself as a tourism centre..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordegg,_Alberta
good possibilities, i guess, as the area is largely 'undeveloped' compared to areas around the park centres such as banff, jasper, etc.. notice how empty the highway looks in most of my photos, and this is a saturday in summer..note that most campsites are busy, however...
the last of these shots is near the dam end of Abraham Lake, a reservoir for a hydroelectric dam, and beginning of the Kootenay plains, a distinct environment within the montane zone..
full album here:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010B#
note: these shots, as many of the 'view' shots are taken from inside the moving vehicle, usually through the glass, so there will be blurs, blobs and other oddities ;)
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Breathtaking views Cohan !!! :o :o
Wish I could do a "hop" into the Rockies every now and then !! 8)
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thanks luc :) it is great to be relatively close..
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those of you have followed my jaunts in past years may remember this spot:a roadside viewpoint
alongside manmade Abraham Lake, in the montane zone of Kooteny Plains;
(in season) always nice plants here, between road and (drop off to) lake..my friend is always worried about me stumbling around eyes to the ground near the steep edge of the slope, nearly always fierce winds here...
this time mostly peas in flower, as its early for some of the composites..
edit: as usual, full album-
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010C#
1-3 parking and views; one of the first large pull off areas for some distance on a long stretch of road with few to no services; often a few cars, empty at this moment...
4-6 Oxytropis sericea or monticola? the only distinction i know of is blooming time, which must be variable by site and altitude?
7 another Oxytropis
8 Oxytropis splendensjust starting, but the forms in this zone seem more wool than flower compared to flashy plants i have seen pics of..still great looking plants
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second part of that site..
1 Anemone sp multifida? not that clear yet on the separation of these several sp; of course flowers weren't fully open..
2 unnamed little cress
3-4 Rosa sp at home its all acicularis; this doesn't seem so prickly, but not sure of the others.. woodsii?
5 Tragopogon another weed, but not seen often enough (by me) outside of urban areas to be really fretful..
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next site is just up the road, still along Abraham Lake;
full album here:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010D#
the highway is cut through a little hill, rock rising on both sides, and this turnout goes up that hill, between the lake and the highway, and you can't see the place from the highway, so we had never stopped there until by chance last november.. it looked interesting, and i knew i'd have to come back in summer!
part of the site is nearly bare rock, with larger plants and trees in the spots with deeper soil and where moisture gathers..overall this region is dry, and the spots on the bare rock are very exposed to constant wind, very cold winters with probably not much snow cover, except around the trees.
1,2 views
not surprisingly, the plants on the rock include some seen more typically at higher elevations, such as the
3,4 Dryas integrifolia (i think, based on the mostly smooth leaf margins, teeth only on lower part); finished flowering, unfortunately; usually at this altitude, you only see Dryas drummondii; i also saw a tiny Saxifrage, finished flowering, which amazingly i seem to have not photographed!!
5 Androsace chamaejasme finished flowering in the exposed spots, still going in the shadier places behind the trees
6,7 Erigeron caespitosus? tiny tight clumps in the open, a bit taller in the more protected spots; ranging from white to palest purply pink; in the second shot, note all the even tinier plants huddled around the Erigeron, in shelter of small rocks-Androsace, Antennaria, even a tiny
8 Draba? to the left that i didn't notice in person it' so small!
9 Packera cana fairly common in this dry region
10 Hedysarum boreale with leaves of Packera; able to survive some pretty harsh spots, but plants larger and more floriferous where it gets more water...
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same site; in more 'meadowy' sections-still dry- plants such as
1,2 Linum perenne bringing pieces of the sky to dot the meadows blue, and
3 Lilium phildadelphicum with its characteristic flashes of fire, on short stems here
4 Gaillardia aristata just starting, this bud shot was more interesting than the one opened but not very nice flower i took..
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010D#
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hello cohan, nice gaillardia aristata, do you have seed from ???
kind regards
chris
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hello cohan, nice gaillardia aristata, do you have seed from ???
kind regards
chris
thanks, chris :) no seed yet, they were just barely starting to flower, and i didn't get any seed from this one last year; if i get back to that area at a suitable time, i will let you know..
i do have seed of some of the small erigerons from last year...
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hello cohan, erigerons...that looks interesting ;)
cheers
chris
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hello cohan, erigerons...that looks interesting ;)
cheers
chris
send me a pm--i have to get some seeds together for wim also...
am i correct that you would want mostly dryland species? i also have some local asteraceae, some of which are regular meadow plants, some from wetter places..
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As usual Cohan I'm thoroughly enjoying your trip.
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thanks, david!
this next set of views takes us from the last site, along Abraham Lake, continuing through the Kootenay Plains montane zone (a relatively drier area of moderate altitude and less snowfall in many parts-important for widlife in winter)more or less west along the David Thompson Highway, which runs all the way by my home, right to its end where it meets the Icefields parkway which connects Banff and Jasper; then we proceeded more or less north, to the Columbia Icefield (end of this set) and on to Jasper...
mostly the second photo, where you see some red trees, is an area where they did controlled burns last year..
much of the road follows a river valley at modest elevation, until before the icefields there is a dramatic climb, and the snowline is nearly at road level...
full set, more and larger photos, at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010E#
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next stop--the Columbia Icefields;
full album at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010F1#
the glacier looks lovely nestled in the high peaks, and quite fascinating, but i see enough of ice and snow over the year! my interest is in the plants down among the moraines and the sheltered niches between them;
the ice has retreated 1.5km over the last 125 years, and the plants are slowly creeping in to cover all the bare stone and gravel (and fine clay, no doubt, but you don't see much of it in the spots i was in this time, its had time to filter down below the surface, i guess...
last time here i'd noticed the best colonies of plants were a bit farther back from the base of the glacier where they've had longer to establish, and that's where i stayed this time; being a bit earlier in the year, i caught more things in flower..
1 toward the glacier;
2-3 not surprisingly, the greatest number of plants grow first in the miniature valleys between the mounds of gravel and stone--these areas would be most sheltered, and no doubt hold moisture more than the exposed sides of the ridges.. further, there is no humus here apart from what these plants are creating themselves, and the wind would concentrate any movable debris in the low areas...
4,5 typical mix of Dryas, Salix, Hedysarum (pink masses), Arctostaphylos, etc (closer pics in later posts)
6 the longer an area has been free of ice, the more thorough the plant cover...i think next time i need to wander up to the green area just below where the trees start..its farther than it looks... note the spruces starting to grow here, putting more growth horizontally at the bottom!
7 who says you can't put the biggest rock at the top of the rock garden?
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Great pictures, Cohan! The Hedysarum looks as though it's almost hugging the ground. Is this because of the exposed location - they are quite a tall plant here (in the garden).
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Hi Cohan ! You wouldn't happen to have Cirsium undulatum or Cirsium scopulorum or C. foliosum or C. hookerii growing in your vicinity. Would love to grow these thistles.
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Hi Cohan ! You wouldn't happen to have Cirsium undulatum or Cirsium scopulorum or C. foliosum or C. hookerii growing in your vicinity. Would love to grow these thistles.
hi paul--a glance at my (incomplete) book shows that i might encounter C flodmanii (syn nebraskense/oblanceolatum), or possibly hookerianum.. undulatum looks to be farther south/east..
there is some thistle that i am protecting from the mower in my yard--i think it has grown too near the forest edge, and because of the shade is developing slowly, but one rosette now is farther out and i think it will flower, so i will be trying to figure out what it is--the basal leaves are quite fuzzy and purplish, i don't know if its native or weed!
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Great pictures, Cohan! The Hedysarum looks as though it's almost hugging the ground. Is this because of the exposed location - they are quite a tall plant here (in the garden).
thanks, stephen-- i haven't had a chance to try to grow these down here to find out how much is genetic and how much is environmental--this is H boreale- lori last year mentioned a possible subspecies for these higher altitude plants (was it mackenzii? listed as synonym in my book); they do seem to have more decumbent flower stems, and possibly some foliar differences (i'll be posting some closer pics, i will see if i can compare different forms from this high site and some lower ones).. H boreale is listed as 20-60cm, they are probably at least up to 20 at this site;
lower down (even around here, at least for alpinum) there is H alpinum and H sulphurescens, which are considerably taller plants..
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PaulM,
PM me. My Cirsium undulatum from central Kansas is almost done flowering. It really is a stunning species with little tubers, silver leaves, and pink to white fragrant flowers.
Aaron
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still at the icefield site; this time focussing on Dryas;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010F2Dryas#
1 a brave mat colonising an exposed moraine side..
2 Dryas drummondii much more common at lower elevations, is present here, as is
3-5 Dryas octopetala, but beyond that it gets fuzzy--you can see several floral variations amongs the white flowered plants, as well as leaves more or less recurved; i didn't photograph any untoothed leaves to confirm D integrifolia, but there are certainly significant variations:
6 with Hedysarum boreale; more experienced eyes than mine would have to say whether this is a variable population of octopetala, or whether integrifolia and or hybrids? are also present...
7 Potentilla sp
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on to the peas..
full album, slightly larger images at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010F3Hedysarum#
as mentioned, the
1Hedysarum boreale -or subspecies thereof,
were very common at this site, from bare ridge tops by themselves, 2,3
to the tangled mixed species mats in the sheltered places 4,5;
a lovely sight to see those swathes of pink (brighter and pinker than they appear in my images) on the barren moraines..
there were other peas-
6 unidentified; a low, sprawly plant with lovely pale flowers and lightly hairy foliage; very few at this site
7 also uncommon, another unidentified sp, this one forming tiny clumps only a few inches across; i missed flowering, just some remnants of blue/purple and lots of forming seedpods; they must have put on quite a show!
8 a non-pea- Antennaria sp
fairly common at the site,but mostly small patches compared to what you'd see at lower elevations; lovely white form..
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hello cohan,
the white and the blue plant with seed is astragalus.....if you have seed from this species it was wonderful
best regards my friend
chris
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thanks, christian, that was my feeling, but my current reference is not adequate so i haven't really tried to name them;
no seed yet, at least--i may not be there again when seed is ripe, and this is a protected national park, where collecting is not allowed; i've tried to find out if there is any permit available to collect a few seeds, but so far i have found no information, and had no answers from anyone i asked....
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thanks a lot, cohan....you must drive to arizona or utah ;), so you can find a lot of seed ;D
cheers my friend, have a nice day
chris
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thanks a lot, cohan....you must drive to arizona or utah ;), so you can find a lot of seed ;D
cheers my friend, have a nice day
chris
lol--now that would be some driving :)
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hello cohan, i visit you, then we ca drive ;)
cheers
chris
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sounds like a plan! but, spring for flowers or fall for seeds?
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hello cohan, it was a choke 8)
thnaks
cheers and have a nice day
chris
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i know :( i forgot to add a ;)
on a much smaller scale, i was out for a walk yesterday in the bush, and today a bike ride up the road; found a couple of new species for me... its been hard to get out, so many rainy days, so i guess the season will pass and i will miss some things still..oh well ..
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last set for this site by the columbia icefield;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010F4CressAndWillows#
1-3 unidentified Brassicaceae
i doubt its anything unusual, quite common at this site, from tiny plants huddled behind rocks or among other species -and flowering very small- to 'large' clumps, maybe 6 inches across, growing fully exposed
4 a different unidentified Brassicaceae
much less common at this site, not seen in full flower, though the flowers still seem to be white; very attractive foliage on this one..
5-7 Salix spp
lots at this site, as you can imagine, from prostrate to low shrubs, though this time i did not see any of the truly tiny/flat species
8 Saxifraga oppositifolia?
just missed the flowering, only a few small clumps, several inches across
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continuing on along the icefields parkway, more or less north, toward jasper..
edit: album for this set:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010G#
1-4 views from the car, and a brief stop at a site called bubbling springs;
5 we nearly missed the small bubbles coming up from the bottom of the pool..
6 Anemone multifida? a nice colony along the roadside
7 Castilleja -bent stem, not dwarf, and Dryas drummondii
8 Dryas drummondii in full bloom at this intermediate altitude
9 Platanthera dilatata? growing along a little stream; we have lots of bog orchids at home, but all green
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a brief stop in the town of jasper (national park of the same name), which was a bit of a treat for us- living in an area of small towns, a street of restaurants, souvenir shops and multinational tourists was a pleasant novelty; we didn't stay long, a little souvenir shopping and a take-out coffee and treat, and we were back on the road...
1-2 just outside town
3 the main tourist street; this strip continues for some distance along one side
4 the erstwhile botaniser backtracks to find the earlier spotted bakery cafe!
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back on the way home, more or less southward on the icefields parkway;
i kept seeing vibrant pink and purple clumps of flowering peas, but we never saw them in time to be able to stip, or at places where we could stop...
finally, we decided to stop at a roadside pullout for viewing of several mountain peaks, and took a few shots there, although there were none of the great specimens here, there were probably the same species i'd been seeing...
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010I#
1 Oxytropis spp
2 Oxytropis splendens
3 Oxytropis sp?
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same site, a few other plants..
1 Castilleja sp
2 Castilleja sp w/ Vicia sp
one of those vignettes so clear in real life as the eye works, hard to photograph the juxtaposition, but you can get an idea..
3 Vicia sp with Juniperus
4 Tofieldia glutinosa
like stephen, i wasn't there at the right time for open flowers..
5-6 views along the road leading to the site..
7 the site, along the road
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much of the icefields parkway between the saskatchewan crossing and jasper follows along river valleys with mountains on each side, and large stretches are marked as avalanche zone (mainly in winter, i presume, but also rock slides, also probably triggered most often by frost/moisture, though i haven't looked it up).
in many places you see rocks of various sizes that have fallen down the mountains, and a bit unnerving if you think of something even toaster size hitting your car at speed, nevermind the rocks bigger than your car!
this old slide site was not too interesting botanically, but the rocks were wonderful!
full album, larger pics:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010J#
1 checking out rock garden ideas
2 the plantings could use more variety, but you must give the design bonus points for boldness!
3 'can i fit this one into the van? what-only if i stay here?!'
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just some more highway views, from one of the higher stretches of the route, where snow (in june this year) and tree line is near the highway..fairly near the icefields; some of these are clearer than many of my from the car shots, since i finally remembered i could open the side window to shoot! didn't help for forward shots of course..
full album, larger pics:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010K#
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Such inspiring scenery.... I love it!
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Such inspiring scenery.... I love it!
thanks, maggi--you know i often think i'd love to live somewhere around treeline--love those 'bare' rocky vistas, green valleys and majestic slopes--in summer! then i remember the 10 months of winter :o
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Such inspiring scenery.... I love it!
thanks, maggi--you know i often think i'd love to live somewhere around treeline--love those 'bare' rocky vistas, green valleys and majestic slopes--in summer! then i remember the 10 months of winter :o
Oh, Cohan, you've reached the age of sense ......that strange time when we can have notions about things but realise that the grass may not always be greener!
One of the next stages is when you think it might be good to live nearer the hospital!! ;D
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Such inspiring scenery.... I love it!
thanks, maggi--you know i often think i'd love to live somewhere around treeline--love those 'bare' rocky vistas, green valleys and majestic slopes--in summer! then i remember the 10 months of winter :o
Oh, Cohan, you've reached the age of sense ......that strange time when we can have notions about things but realise that the grass may not always be greener!
One of the next stages is when you think it might be good to live nearer the hospital!! ;D
lol--i have obliquely considered that angle during fantasies about moving to certain warm climate locales..... but i could work with a good shaman ;D
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......but i could work with a good shaman
THAT'S the spirit!
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a shaman might have something to say about this next stop:
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010L#
pic 1 a high ridge overlooking the road far below, there are two roadside pullouts for drivers to stop and admire the massive change in elevation on the highway that they are about to descend or have just climbed..
(this is the part that evokes shamans) there always seems to be a raven or two in the trees just below the parking area, surveying the vast vista a below (maybe hoping for tourist handouts too)..
pics 2,3 besides the views, there are of course plants
pic 4--colonising species in the gravel banks along the road, including this
pic 5 aster which i saw in flower last year ( purple/lilac flowers just like many asters here, but a low mat), but was too early for this time.. and
pic 6 Erigeron compositus ? similar to one i have from a lower elevation, seems to have reduced ray flowers; i was interested to see the long flowering stems, making me feel less bad about the long stems on mine--i guess its just the way this species is, i needn't worry about a sunnier spot!
for the first time i also went off the road/parking area into a wooded section behind, following the sound of a waterfall; i wasn't brave enough to go too near the damp rocky edge with the furious torrent crashing through narrow channels behind! but i managed to see a couple of nice flowers, even if i had to make do with zoom photos--not always enough to get good images of white flowers on dark backgrounds!
pics 7,8 Anemone parviflora ?
pic 9 Dryas octopetala a crappy shot, but interesting to see this coloniser growing in a thin layer of humus in a shallow depression on solid rock
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Love the torrent shot!
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thanks--i probably could have got a better shot, but i wasn't nervy enough...lol--i don't have even a smidgeon of that 'danger=thrill' gene! calculated risks only, and there must be a payoff that justifies the risk...
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Hmmmm....
'danger=thrill' gene
.... otherwise known as the 'lack of sense of self-preservation gene' ::)
Yup, some risks are just not sensible..... you got a great shot and are still here to show it to us.... works for me :D
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thanks given to the inventor of the zoom lens! ;D
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second last set! one day in the mountains, over a month of edit and post :-[
the last stretch of the Icefields Parkway before turning back onto the David Thompson Highway for home..
full album, larger pics:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsJune262010M#
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homestretch!
pic 1 through the stop (bathroom only, too pricey!) at saskatchewan river crossing,
pic 2 back onto highway 11/david thompson highway which goes through the kootenay plains,
pic 3 a brief stop along the shores of Abraham lake, where there are a few nice, if common, plants on the limestone outcrops above the reservoir
pics 4,5 Packera cana
pic 6 last of the mountains,
pic 7 and on home through the seemingly endless forest of the foothills biome
pic 8 last view of the mountains, just outside of rocky mountain house, 30km from home (ok, we have almost the same view on our road....)
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one day in the mountains, over a month of edit and post
But worth all the toil for this wonderful record of your trip you have shared :D
Coming late to this latest expedition I was grateful for your reminder and have spent a happy time following your trial from gentle woodland to rugged peak. Spectacular shots of mountains with cloudscapes are your speciality and none disappointed, each one topping the one before. But above all I love the way you treat native plants even 'weeds' with the same respect as the higher eschelens of alpine plant life :D
Some great shots: Rubus arcticus, Salix pods, Viola Candensis, Lotus Corniculatus, Viccinium with moss-lichen-CU
Plus Hedysaram and the Dryas octopetula - and the purple clothed mountainside - all caught my eye
The whole landscape has such a lot of character, no view the same, and I look forward to another day in your Rocky Mountains, thanks Cohan 8)
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thanks for the kind words, robin :)
'mixed sun and clouds' is my favourite forecast for landscape photos :)
i do treasure every native plant, and even have a softspot for some of the foreign invaders-those that aren't displacing too many natives, or are simply scattered about rather than trying to take over whole fields and meadows!
next to post: i'm now way behind on pics from bicycle and foot botanising closer to home, and i have found a fair number of species new to me this year, so i am excited about those too :) just tuesday i finally did a ride on a road not to far away that has a sandy rocky hillside with a few plants quite different than other places around here..
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pic 9 Dryas octopetala a crappy shot, but interesting to see this coloniser growing in a thin layer of humus in a shallow depression on solid rock
I planted Dryas in soil about 20 years ago - it has subsequently completely colonised a rocky outcrop next to the original site, creating its own soil in the process, and disappeared from its original site (the outcrop can be seen in the picture below of the Dryas seed heads,; Renga renga lily in the pot).
Have enjoyed your pictures - hope you get time soon to sort your pictures from your local trips...
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Stephen.... I would be awfully grateful for some seed off your smart Norwegian Dryas.... if I might be so bold as to ask??
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Stephen.... I would be awfully grateful for some seed off your smart Norwegian Dryas.... if I might be so bold as to ask??
I'll have to check when I get home (the picture isn't from this year), but I presume there are some seed heads to harvest. However, I think it may be a garden hybrid (don't remember where I got it from)....
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pic 9 Dryas octopetala a crappy shot, but interesting to see this coloniser growing in a thin layer of humus in a shallow depression on solid rock
I planted Dryas in soil about 20 years ago - it has subsequently completely colonised a rocky outcrop next to the original site, creating its own soil in the process, and disappeared from its original site (the outcrop can be seen in the picture below of the Dryas seed heads,; Renga renga lily in the pot).
Have enjoyed your pictures - hope you get time soon to sort your pictures from your local trips...
thanks stephen; local pics soon :)
up near the glacier, i noticed the dryas created crunchy mats of dead leaves, which i guess gives new soil for them and other plants; i had a couple of cuttings of D drummondii a couple of years ago which were very slow to take in my rock garden, but one piece has survived and finally started to grow this year..
maggi--any tips on sowing dryas seed? does it keep?
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I shouldn't think it would keep too long, cohan.... most " daisy" type seed likes to be sown fresh. I've never had much luck with older stuff .... perhaps Kristl can advise better.... :-\
edit some 2 days later......
Sorry, I've just realised that I wrote "daisy" there when I was thinking about seeds from fluffy seed heads like Dryas and Pulsatilla.... I got the fluffy bit in my mind, turned that into Dandelion, thought yellow daisy.... and wrote daisy..... I'm getting worse! :-[ :-\ :-X
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i have sown very few things in Rosaceae..i suppose i'd likeliest sow them and leave outdoors over winter..
i hope i can get back to get some seeds, though it seems the window can be short between ripening and blowing away! i ask about keeping, since i have a few of presumed Dryas integrifolia from the lower altitude site along Abraham Lake which i got last year, and never had a chance to sow...
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okay, back to plants from around home--boy i am farther behind than i thought--back to early june!
full albums of this outing are in two albums:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010Part2ViolasPrettySkunksAndMore#
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010TheDisporumDisappointment#
i showed you earlier some ribes, which i have been making some effort to id this year, we have a number of them..
first a couple i have not yet found names for, but these are both gooseberry types--flowers similar, but leaves are different, and thorns as well, i think; these are fruiting now, there are green and dark/red berried types, so i will try to match flower and berry pics, later..
pics 1,2 Ribes sp
i'm not always clear when its a new species, since some of these are variable, but here we have a pink flower
pics 3,4 Ribes sp
pic 5 Ribes glandulosum a much darker flower than those i posted earlier, but otherwise seem to be the same sp; i have come across some of this type in fruit now, and though they are supposed to taste/smell skunky i found them at first bland, but think maybe those were underripe, and more recent finds were quite tasty with just a hint of muskiness
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full albums of this outing are in two albums:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010Part2ViolasPrettySkunksAndMore#
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010TheDisporumDisappointment#
1-3 Mertensia paniculata is a very common plant here, growing in almost every soil, light and moisture combination except standing water and baking dry sun (rare in my immediate area, anyway); it blooms over a long season from late spring, reaching its peak in early to mid june, but continuing after that;
4 a rare infestation
5 buds are usually pink, but occasionally flowers remain pink after opening..
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full albums of this outing are in two albums:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010Part2ViolasPrettySkunksAndMore#
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010TheDisporumDisappointment#
i was sure i found berries of Disporum last fall (surely i could not confuse that odd texture with anything else?) in a small section of woods on the family farm, but i have been unable to locate plants this year!!
its not a large area, and i thought i knew more or less where to look, and what sort of spot, but no luck!
pic 1 undergrowth is dense, as you can see
pics 2,3 the only 'lilies' i found were Maianthemum stellatum and Maianthemum canadense
pic 4 present in fair numbers was Actaea rubra only some plants in full flower at that time; plant size varies considerably, no doubt older larger root systems supporting the large ones...
pic 5 also present, scattered among other things, close to the ground, the delicate Moehringia lateriflora
pic 6 the ubiquitous Cornus canadensis i promise to learn the new name one day... still immature colour here, i think..
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full albums of this outing are in two albums:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010Part2ViolasPrettySkunksAndMore#
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June062010TheDisporumDisappointment#
i never showed gerd the Violas at the other site i mentioned, where they are growing more in the open than they usually do here
pics 1 the plants are along the edge of the brushy area to the left centre, and just into the trees
pic 2 Viola canadensis
pics 3,4 the more common Viola adunca i think (we have some marsh sp growing in similar places) growing in the open with the shade only of grasses and forbs
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Cohan,
Thank you for the violet pics and especially for showing the growing conditions. Viola canadensis is an easy species here in Germany - in sunny and also in shady conditions.
Please let me tell you that I enjoy ALL your distributions - not only when my favorite plants are shown. Please continue your interesting reports!
Gerd
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Cohan,
Thank you for the violet pics and especially for showing the growing conditions. Viola canadensis is an easy species here in Germany - in sunny and also in shady conditions.
Please let me tell you that I enjoy ALL your distributions - not only when my favorite plants are shown. Please continue your interesting reports!
Gerd
thanks, gerd :)
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I shouldn't think it would keep too long, cohan.... most " daisy" type seed likes to be sown fresh. I've never had much luck with older stuff .... perhaps Kristl can advise better.... :-\
Sorry, I've just realised that I wrote "daisy" there when I was thinking about seeds from fluffy seed heads like Dryas and Pulsatilla.... I got the fluffy bit in my mind, turned that into Dandelion, thought yellow daisy.... and wrote daisy..... I'm getting worse!
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I shouldn't think it would keep too long, cohan.... most " daisy" type seed likes to be sown fresh. I've never had much luck with older stuff .... perhaps Kristl can advise better.... :-\
Sorry, I've just realised that I wrote "daisy" there when I was thinking about seeds from fluffy seed heads like Dryas and Pulsatilla.... I got the fluffy bit in my mind, turned that into Dandelion, thought yellow daisy.... and wrote daisy..... I'm getting worse!
no problem,it stopped me for a second, but then i realised you meant the fluffy daisy-like seed heads, not daisy family ;)
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Thanks, Cohan... good to know someone knows what I mean, even if I have trouble myself......
Many thanks for your continued sharing of your scernery and plants. 8)
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thanks, maggi-- i hope some folks enjoy seeing whats growing around here!
still on catch-up, now a few shots from the acreage, mid june;
1 a wet area to one side of the acreage, a mainly natural area, though i have been harvesting deadwood to use as firewood, and clearing out a tangle of dead willow branches, so its more open now than it was a couple of years ago
2 Caltha palustris still going strong at that time in shady areas such as this
3 a small 'ridge' where topsoil was mounded when our sewage lagoon was excavated (early '70's); we've harvested the black organic soil from this spot for adding to beds and pots over the years! this is in a low, damp area, now mostly overgrown with young poplars, underneath you see a colony of
4 Petasites sp this seems to be the hybrid form, between P sagitattus with arrow shaped leaves, and P frigidus v palmatus with palmate leaves; the latter is a mainly woodland species here, the former growing in mostly open wet areas, and every variant of leaf shape between the two is commmon
5 just beside the house, Amelanchier alnifolia with aspens and spruce
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slowly plugging away on the season's pics!
just finished a couple of albums from a walk on my uncle's farm in mid june.first part:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010VioletsAndChickweeds#
some images of critters first..
1 a big anthill! there are supposed to be even more ants in the tropics than here--hard to imagine there could be more than there are here--they are the primary lifeform here!!
2 Cornus canadensis with visitor
3 Petasites sagittatus with visitor; these landsnails are not much seen here..
4 Urtica dioica stinging nettle, supposed to be tasty and very nutritious to eat (cooked for humans!) these guys seem to agree!
5 Viola canadensis note the spider lurking to the left side.....
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Cohan, Your Viola canadensis pic inspired me to check the flowers of my own plants (US - origin). They grow exceptionally well in heavy soil in a sunny position in my new front garden. I noticed that there was a good deal of pink at the back of the flowers and also the fading ones turned pink.
Sorry for the late reply but I wasn't able to photographe because it was raining nearly all the time until this afternoon.
Gerd
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Cohan, Your Viola canadensis pic inspired me to check the flowers of my own plants (US - origin). They grow exceptionally well in heavy soil in a sunny position in my new front garden. I noticed that there was a good deal of pink at the back of the flowers and also the fading ones turned pink.
Sorry for the late reply but I wasn't able to photographe because it was raining nearly all the time until this afternoon.
Gerd
nice plants, gerd :) the pink is also strongest on the backs of flowers, but some when open clearly show pink, others seem totally white, and certain colonies seem inclined one way or the other;could be soil or other conditions which affect those colours-i guess you'd need to grow them side by side to compare..
as to the heavy soil, certainly here, few native plants are fussy about soil, except maybe bog plants--and even then, maybe more about moisture than soil..most of our forest plants even will grow on more or less clayey soil if moisture and light are right, or on spruce duff--the native plants are spreading happily up a huge a pile of woodash!
we have had quite a bit of rainy/unsettled weather this summer too, and the heatwave gripping north america has completely passed us by!
today, however, is warm and mostly sunny and i need to get out and do some mowing--after i finish my coffee ;D
i very soon have the promised bog/marsh violas to show you to see what you think...
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chilly and smokey! i think its rather overcast, though you can't see the clouds, smoke has blown in the last couple of days from fires far away in british columbia! health warnings throughout much of the province yesterday, supposed to be a bit better in some parts today, but not here--still thick smoke, low visibility and a sting in the throat to breathe it!
a few shots from yesterday, i'll put a couple in august weather thread... the smokiest shots are zoom, the smoke was not thick enough to make driving hazardous, though not too far from it!
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Doh, preventing of forest fires is very efficient in Finland. So, ecological restoration is needed. We tried to burn forest at the end of June, but succeeded poorly. Only some of planned area burned somehow :/
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Doh, preventing of forest fires is very efficient in Finland. So, ecological restoration is needed. We tried to burn forest at the end of June, but succeeded poorly. Only some of planned area burned somehow :/
this has happened in many areas in canada also: too efficient fire prevention has led to forests not only ecologically limited, but also full of dead trees, duff, and limbs etc so if a fire does start, it is fierce and hot and hard to control.. so controlled burns are done in some areas..
my immediate area is mixed forest, so not really much of a fire risk here, except in spring--between snow and summer rain, there is usually a very dry period, where grass has not started to grow, and grass fires which can spread into brush, coniferous trees and buildings can be very dangerous...right now it would probably burn less than your forest--spruce trees would burn, not the rest...
british columbia currently has several serious issues--low snowfall last winter in many areas, meaning a dry start to summer, high temperatures and dry conditions over the summer, and in some areas a huge amount of dead standing forest due to pine beetle kill; i heard that now douglas firs in some areas are also now being killed by another insect! deadly combination..
today, the smoke has spread all the way across alberta and across the next province, saskatchewan! thats the better part of 2 days driving from the fires....
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ok, back to june 16; mostly along the edges of wet meadow habitat (the cornus is mixed woods on the way there..)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010VioletsAndChickweeds#
1 Cornus canadensis
2 Carex sp? one of the showiest sp here, though there are many nice ones..
3,4 Viola sp advice-nephrophylla or palustris?
5-7 Petasites much more visible in seed and full leaf (large glaucous arrows of P sagittatus)
8 Petasites hybrid swarm-leaves from nearly fully palmate form of Petasites frigidus var palmatus to arrow shape of Petasites sagittatus
9 Stellaria longipes? a pretty, delicate thin stemmed sp sprawling/clambering over/through other vegetation
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another Viola sp of wettish places--fairly open but amongst grasses/sedges etc..clearly paler flowers than the last one (both have larger flowers than typical adunca here)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010MoreVioletsAndChickweedsPlusMaianthemumEtAl#
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in a wooded area in the slough;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010MoreVioletsAndChickweedsPlusMaianthemumEtAl#
1-3 Maianthemum trifolium will grow on the drier raised hummocks or right down in the wetter soil (where it wont be stepped on too much by cattle/deer/moose)
4 Geocaulon lividum and
5 Cornus canadensis and
6 Mitella nuda seem to prefer to keep their feet out of the wettest spots
at the wet, grassy, grazed edge, i think this is the european weed
7,8 Scleranthus annuus? though i'm not sure as the leaves seem a bit too broad...
9 Carex sp? another sedge
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3,4 Viola sp advice-nephrophylla or palustris?
Cohan, Thanks for these interesting pics of wetland violets. I guess it is either nephrophylla or cucullata. Viola palustris has paler flowers than this.
The determination of violets in early states of their growing cycle is complicated because leaves are not fully developed and among other things also the capsules are needed as distinctive features.
Gerd
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another Viola sp of wettish places--fairly open but amongst grasses/sedges etc..clearly paler flowers than the last one (both have larger flowers than typical adunca here)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010MoreVioletsAndChickweedsPlusMaianthemumEtAl#
Cohan, this could be either Viola palustris or epipsila. If the leaves are thinner as usual it is the first one. Viola epipsila has more firm ones.
Without guarantee - see my last answer!
Nevertheless wonderful pics and plants!
Gerd
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thanks for the input, gerd; if i am in the same places again, i will try for photos of mature leaves and see if there are any capsules..
i had not heard of V epipsila, but the book i have is incomplete in genera, and for viola mentions 13 sp in alberta, but only describes 9; usda site does mention the species being present in alberta, but i have not been able to find any specific range..
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thanks for the input, gerd; if i am in the same places again, i will try for photos of mature leaves and see if there are any capsules..
i had not heard of V epipsila, but the book i have is incomplete in genera, and for viola mentions 13 sp in alberta, but only describes 9; usda site does mention the species being present in alberta, but i have not been able to find any specific range..
Cohan, You are welcome! If it isn't too much trouble - I would be glad if you could make a list of all violet species which are present in Alberta.
This makes identifikation much easier.
Gerd
I am lacking
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Good photo of Viola epipsila taken in Iceland
http://www.iceland-nh.net/plants/data/Viola-epipsila/y2007d-0127.jpg
Photo of the similar V. palustris, for comparison (also taken in Iceland)
http://www.iceland-nh.net/plants/data/Viola-palustris/y2007d-0491.jpg
Floral design on Royal Copenhagen fine china
http://www.floradanicaonline.com/images/smaller%20pictures/Viola%20Epipsila%20Ledeb.%20%20T%202405.jpg
Many Viola species on Royal Copenhagen fine china
http://www.floradanicaonline.com/flora%20danica%20flower%20list%20U-V.htm
USDA Pront Profile of V. epipsila ssp. repens
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIEP
2 photos from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/species.php?id_plant=VIEPR
http://www.cdhs.us/Flower%20Project/Family%20Index/Violaceae%20Index/V.%20epipsila/V.%20epipsila%20Fset.htm
Gerd, the USDA site displays a list of species on any particular genus with small clickable maps of North America on each, which can at a glance show the geographical areas (States in the USA, Provinces in Canada) that hold those species. Here's the link for Viola in North America.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIOLA
There is also a watercolor drawing of Viola epipsila in Dorothy Klaber's book on Violets.
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thanks for the input, gerd; if i am in the same places again, i will try for photos of mature leaves and see if there are any capsules..
i had not heard of V epipsila, but the book i have is incomplete in genera, and for viola mentions 13 sp in alberta, but only describes 9; usda site does mention the species being present in alberta, but i have not been able to find any specific range..
Cohan, You are welcome! If it isn't too much trouble - I would be glad if you could make a list of all violet species which are present in Alberta.
This makes identifikation much easier.
Gerd
I am lacking
mark, thanks for the input..
gerd--actually, i am also lacking ;)
mark mentions the usda site, which might yield a list of taxa in alberta, but actually that wouldn't be that useful without distribution maps--since certainly not all of the species will be in my area--that was my frustration with the epipsila mention on the usda site--its in alberta, but where? could be here or hundreds of kilometres from here ;)
similarly, there are some yellow flowered sp in the province, but i have never seen such a thing in person, and none likely in my area..
i'll have to wait till i get the real flora of alberta book, what i have now is something much more casual, and only names 9 of 13 sp the authors recognise...
perhaps tellingly, my search for epipsila did not turn up a google books reference to flora of alberta....
the icelandic flowers mark shows are interesting, though i think i'd need a description along with them to tell me what the differences should be! since just looking at them, i don't see a difference that couldn't be attributed to age or location or simple variation... and the LBJ photos look totally different; the danger of trying to id from photos, of course :)
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the danger of trying to id from photos, of course :)
Mark,
Thank you for your most useful links, especially from usda - kept it to favorites. I came along them when looking for a particular species but didn't imagine that there was a site which contains all (most of) the violets. It's a pity that only the states/provinces were mentioned - for instance Viola clauseniana = Utah grows only in a restricted area of Zion National Park.
Cohan,
You are totally right (see your quote) - there is also another trouble which is that if you read more than one description of a certain species there are a lot of differences between them - especially concerning the European violets. If this wasn't enough there are a lot of hybrids between them which drive one mad.
Nevertheless a fascinating genus (at least for me)!
Gerd
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Gerd, just did some armchair botanizing to dig up interesting links to rare Utah Viola species, including V. clauseniana. Enjoy!
UtahRarePlants.org site - Utah Rare Plant Guide
http://www.utahrareplants.org/rpg_species.html
Viola clauseniana
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_clauseniana.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35630341/Viola-clauseniana-Utah-Rare-Plants
Viola charlestonensis
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_charlestonensis.pdf
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+2015
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+2014
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+2013
Viola frank-smithii
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_frank_smithii.pdf
Viola lithion
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_lithion.pdf
http://heritage.nv.gov/images/2003/vilipl81.jpg
http://heritage.nv.gov/images/2003/vilipw80.jpg
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Gerd, just did some armchair botanizing to dig up interesting links to rare Utah Viola species, including V. clauseniana. Enjoy!
Mark - Really enjoyed it, especially the link to extraordinary Viola lithion which I cultivated for some years (and unfortunately lost). Thank you!
Gerd
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still in june, a bike ride up the road i live on, with a loop around to come back on the next road over..
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June202010AGeraniumsAndRoses#
standard roadside stuff here,in the first set--
1-i showed a similar view in the dandelion seed thread--this is one of the reasons i don't even try to eliminate dandelions in my yard, just control them in beds!
2,3 Geranium richardsonii just getting going in mid-june; some of these early flowers seemed extra large; flowers are generally white, but with pink veining from little/none giving nearly/pure white flowers to so much the flowers are nearly pink..petal shapes vary as well
4-6 Castilleja miniata most commonly seen ranging from salmon to scarlet
7 Lathyrus ochroleuca one of the most abundant peas; a modest climber/scrambler; good sized cream flowers
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easy to see why this is the floral emblem of alberta--wild roses are everywhere! from fully exposed roadsides and field edges to open--even not so open-woods.. Rosa acicularis is most common in my immediate area; other species may be around, likely in drier habitats...
note the reason i am unlikely to put flowers in salads, or bring in wild bouquets! in the second shot...
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farther up the road..
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June202010BRueAndValerian#
its funny, as you travel along a road, there are stretches of roadsides (ditches, we call them) with little or nothng but grasses, agricultural weeds, and at best some of the most common wildflowers, shrubs, etc.. then, you can come on a spot which has numerous interesting (even if not actually rare) species..
i assume at least part of the reason for this (part of it being simply chance?) is that these spots, and/or the land adjacent to them, have been undisturbed for long enough for plants to seed in and multiply--yet they still have to remain untreed, if the species are sun-lovers..
anyway, one such nice ditch is a corner 6 miles up the road from me, where i have seen numerous asters, lilies, zigadenus, thalictrum, valerian, etc..
this time, Thalictrum venulosum among other things was in flower, male and female forms; a tricky plant to photograph, flowers being small and very wind-mobile! not a flashy plant, but pretty, i have not grown it, but i bet it would look nice in the garden (i did collect a few seeds recently..); here the female flowers were whitish, i'm pretty sure i photographed red ones in another location a couple of years ago...
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just a little farther up the road..
of course the camera lens makes this look farther than it really is-this is about a half mile stretch of road; nor so isolated as it may seem--there is a farmstead not much more than a few hundred metres behind me, up a hill, then past the trees at the end of this view, another half mile or less is the final farm on this no-exit road (dead end sounds so harsh!)..of course all of this land is private farmland, whether it looks like it or not! the land to the left, and prob to the right as well,is fenced, meaning cattle are or at least could be grazed in there..
the second view is a zoom of the small lake which is a little ways off to the right from the first view..
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on this ride, i went down another road i hadn't been on before, and it turned out to be a great decision--i found another damp meadow site with some choice species and good diversity.. i was looking forward to getting back to this spot for seed collection, and recently did, with very disappointing results, which you will see when i get those photos ready.....
this is where the photo maggi used in IRG of Dodecatheon with Antennaria was from; in fact they were also growing with Sisyrinchium, Zizia, Maianthemum, Polygonum, Lilium (only in bud at that time) etc...(the Taraxacum i didn't mention-- self-evident!)
full album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June202010CShootingStarsAndAlexanders#
1-3 Dodecatheon pulchellum
4 Erigeron sp one of several barely pink, med-tall species, common to not too dry to damp grassy areas
5 Polygonum viviparum i was happy to find this flowering in several sites this year; in past i had seen the leaves several places on the farm, and was unsure at first what it was, as in shady places it may not flower..
6 Zizia aptera i was excited for this first spotting of this species, also, as i knew it was in the province, but had never seen it in person, and didn't know it was in my area...our only yellow flowered Umbellifer..
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Cohan, just a line to say how much I enjoy your Alberta wanderings and thank you for taking the time to add it to the Forum's riches.
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thanks, david, the comment is much appreciated :)
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Nice to see another common plant with us - the Viviparous Bistort, very common here! I've actually just planted Zizia aptera in my garden! I've had Z. aurea for some years, a nice little used plant I think that flowers over quite a long period. Looks as though aptera is quite similar.... Keep them coming...
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Cohan, I too have been enjoying these Alberta Wanderings, I really like these types of topics. Your photo of Zizia aptera reveals an old friend to me; I grew this plant back in the 1980s when I lived in Washington State, and I found it to be such a pleasant little plant. Every garden needs a "Z" or zee-plant, and with Zauschneria now usurped by Epilobium, one can looks to Zizia to fit that need ;), a bit easier or faster than trying to establish Zigadenus.
I also like Thalictrum venulosum very much, most attractive.
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Cohan, your wanderings have thrown up some wonderful and interesting flowerings - it's great when you suddenly come across a plant you're looking for or find one that is unexpected - do the roses have lethal thorns? The wild ones here on the wild hillside are bright red barbs :o
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Cohan, your wanderings have thrown up some wonderful and interesting flowerings - it's great when you suddenly come across a plant you're looking for or find one that is unexpected - do the roses have lethal thorns? The wild ones here on the wild hillside are bright red barbs :o
thanks, robin--the cycling has been a real eye opener for me: many of our local plants are common or occasional over a very large area, so i knew quite a lot of species from the family farm and roadsides very close to home where i would walk, but cycling, sometimes even just a few miles has shown me many species that i had no idea were growing around here...
Rosa acicularis is very thorny (i think that's what the name means) but really more prickly than the big barbs seen on some cultivated roses and your wild ones by the sound of it--so you could get poked a lot, maybe scratched, but not ripped open :)
the other species native to the province have different thorns, but i don't really know them...
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thanks, stephen and mark!
stephen-- i sometimes think my area (being a farming region) may not be fully explored in terms of plant ranges, since there are many common species here that i'm not sure are on the distribution maps (though admittedly its hard to find my area on tiny maps...lol)..
i don't know any other species of Zizia..i hope to grow this one, but i will have to try to find seeds, i may be too late; that spot was a bust as you will see below..
mark--i like the zizia, hope to try the no longer zauschneria, i think lori had some, so its at least possible in my climate (so sad that our fireweeds are no longer epilobium, but this one now is....)..and happen to have a very nicely established Zigadenus elegans (of course thats no longer a Z-plant either, some insulting name involving 'toxic')..
interestingly, Z elegans seems to be more and more common in my area (though i could be imagining it..) i don't remember seeing it around here growing up..i got a few seeds the other day, though most were not ripe yet, hopefully i will get the weather to get out and get more-i promised some to kristl!
i like the thalictrum too, haven't tried it in the garden yet, but i think it should be a good plant--nice foliage when not in flower..
i haven't edited the photo set yet, but here is one shot from this site showing what i found a few days ago when i went there hoping to collect seed: absolutely stripped bare! i thought it might well be grazed, but there is grazing and there is grazing!-most of the plants also grew outside the fence, and that's where i actually meant to collect seed, but cows have long necks and there was not so much as a leaf ! of most of the species,a good couple of feet past the fence you could not even tell that dodecatheon, zizia or lilies were growing there..likely they will grow back fine next year, but no seeds at all..
to make it worse, i think the ditch had been sprayed for 'weeds' so anything that the cows missed, the spray would have got.. (nice for beef eaters to think of those sprays reaching the grazing zone, which they surely must)
oops, forgot the pic!
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Enjoying this thread very much Cohan. Cycling is a great way to botanise 8)
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Enjoying this thread very much Cohan. Cycling is a great way to botanise 8)
thanks, ashley--it is great to get out on the bike--though i am experiencing the limitations of it, recently--we've been having rain more days than not, and i just can't get out: even if i didn't mind riding a couple of hours cold and soaked (don't have the high tech gear), i couldn't take photos and i'm not really keen on collecting wet seeds :(
hoping for some dry days soon, though none apparent in the next week's forecast (and of course, has to be a day off...)
i was hoping to get out today, but forecast changed from possible showers late in the day to 'periods of rain' none so far, i probably should have got out early :( oh well.... nothing to do about it now.... i am out now to saw some firewood before it rains, and if its still ok will try to get out into the bush to collect Parnassia....
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well, we did get some wood done, and there was still no rain, so i went out for a walk on the farm, into some wet areas, looking for Parnassia palustris seed, as mentioned above (i told kristl i'd try to get some for her)..
i did get some parnassia :) and there's more unripe if i can get out again at the right time (even some flowers still) plus some seed of a very pretty delicate marsh aster, and Comarum (potentilla) palustre, as well as Maianthemum trifolium, though many not ripe yet..some pretty fall colours coming along, but no sun to make them show off today, and bloody cold!- prob no more than 10C- i should have had a warmer layer on, and my feet were getting cold in my rubber boots!!
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i posted some fungi pics here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5349.30
full albums at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/September162010FungiA#
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/September162010FungiB#
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okay, i still have tons of summer flower pics, and fall foliage pics too! but i'm going to jump out of sequence, to a short day trip we took into the mountains at the beginning of this month..i thought we might be late for fall colours, since many of the trees here were already bare, but there was still some colour to be found....
as usual setting out early in the morning, breakfast in the town where i work, rocky mountain house, on from there, dawn just beginning to light the highway...
full album at :
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010A#
i tried to select the most colourful images for here, of course there were still large expanses of green evergreen conifers...
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first stop, as usual, along Abraham Lake
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010B#
not much in flower this late, and i'm sure there had been significant frosts.
pic 4 Achillea millefolium
looking great, esp for this time of year! nice compact plant, but its a severe spot..
pic 5 Cornus sericea
a seeming oddity in this usually dry site
pic 6,7 Heterotheca villosa
after wondering what this was for a year or two, i think this is it--its variability threw me off before; a few flowers recovering from frosts..
pic 8 a tiny unknown, presumed Brassicaceae
pic 9 Packera cana / Senecio
always nice foliage, here with fall colour!
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second stop, still along Abraham Lake;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010C1#
this is where the eriogonum shown in the october in the northern hemisphere thread was found;
i've only been to this site a few times, since the entrance is just off a curve, you don't realise where it leads, i just thought it was one of many access roads (/tracks) that lead down to the lake;
in fact, this is the foot of a slope/mountain (i haven't paid attention to whether this is a real mountain or a smaller 'hill') cut off by the highway carved through the rock -
pic 1 view looking down on that cut
pic 2 approaching the site, you can see the slope on the right that goes down into a point in the lake;entrance is where you see the highway loop toward it..
pic 3 you can see the site has almost bands of bare rock, gravel and deeper soil (at least some of it is fine wind deposited loess); this site may well have been altered by the road building decades ago, but a similar pattern seems to carry up the mountain beyond (pic 2)
pic 4 there are areas of loose stone where nothing much is growing yet
pic 5 to bare stone, this is down by the lakeshore, and is from a short video my friend shot
pic 6,7 to areas of deeper soils, supporting larger/more plants--grasses and trees etc
8 and more mixed spots, this one near the parking probably affected by clearing for the rough parking area
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same site;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010C1#
pic 1 maybe i should post this in the crevice gardening thread?
pic 2 there must be some days here that aren't windy, but not when i've been here..
pic 3 a natural rock garden, with pockets of soil and gravel in the rock, crevices etc..
pics 4-7 Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
i think i saw only this species, evergreen, but still some good colour on some plants; a coloniser of some tough spots, and nurse species for other plants..given time, i think most of the site other than bare rock would be treed, even if not densely, since this area can be dry
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okay, finally on to the plants for site C;
full album :
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010C2#
first the Eriogonums- i posted a couple of images here-
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6087.0
and here-
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6087.15
and there was some discussion about whether this plant is Eriogonum ovalifolium or perhaps the 'elusive' Eriogonum androsaceum-basically, the conclusion is that there would need to be more careful examination of plants in flower to be sure..
in either case, i was thrilled to see it, since i have not previously seen any Eriogonums in this area; judging by this find--5 plants in this small area, and even more luckily, one with a late flower stalk, though none with seeds, it is not likely a rare plant in the area, i just haven't been in the right places or at the right times to see it--these plants were splendid in fall pink! all the plants i saw were in exposed spots in fissures in rock or in gravel..
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same album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010C2#
another favourite, this Erigeron, which i have presumed to be Erigeron caespitosus (but welcome corrections or comments); it seems fairly common through this foothill/low mountain area (i'd guess elevations to be in the 11-1300 metre range), tolerating very dry/exposed locations (see pic 3 for an extreme), though happily taking a bit more shade from grasses and forbs and a bit more moisture when available (pic 4)..
flowers range from white to pale pinky purples-seemingly even on the same plant (pic 5) though i didn't have the presence of mind to follow the stems down and make sure it was one plant--however the white flower has some pink tips on ray flowers....
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some more composites..
same album: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010C2#
the same Heterotheca villosa presumed that i saw at the previous site just up the road..
some of these plants were in a more sheltered spot and looking better; showing more of the floral variation of the species.. pic 1,2,3 with Artemisia, Achillea etc
pics 4,5 Gaillardia aristata again, also some better flowers at this site, and many plants in seed; hard to shoot in the strong winds!
pics 6-10 Packera cana already a favourite of mine for its whitish foliage and proclivity for nearly bare sites, seeing it with a hint of fall colour made me like it even more; alas, not a seed in sight, and the plant i had in my rock garden flowered a couple of years ago and disappeared--maybe not a dry enough spot!!
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last for this site..
same album: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010C2#
another favourite, Androsace chamaejasme which i had seen at this site earlier in the year; i was surprised to find some flowers-on noticeably shorter stems than the main flowers earlier.. pics 1-3
pic 4 Artemisia sp something like frigida; a common feature in some of the driest and most exposed locations, such as in this area of nearly pure stone chunks
pic 5 Viola sp probably adunca; common enough plant, a bit of surprise in this rather dry site--the plants were quite numerous here, conspicuous at this time of year due to their clumps of yellowed foliage which stood out from surrounding greys of soils, grasses etc (note Packera near this one, tells you its a pretty dry spot)
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cohan,
great pictures....fantastic more please...
cheers
chris
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thanks, chris :) i have a little pile of seed packets set aside for you (and wim, among others..lol) , i'll be sending soon!
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thats great cohan.....i´m happy about ;D
have a good day
cheers
chris
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a favourite stop, the Siffleur Falls Staging Area, in the Kootenay Plains;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010D#
i have to confess i have never been to the falls in spite of several stops--getting there involves a long walk in the woods, and my interest is in the plants that grow out in the open areas! so, with time always at a premium (we are usually aiming for several stops in the day, and lots of driving to get there and home), looking at water loses to looking at plants ;D
this area is quite dry, so much of it looks only subtly different through the seasons.. not too much happening florally this late in the year, but always wonderful views!
first a couple of shots from the car approaching the site; pics 1,2
and some various shots through the area, 3-8
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same album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010D#
the most popular trail, toward the falls, crosses the river and continues away from it toward the slopes on the other side of the valley; my favourite trail, given limited time, stays on the first side of the river and follows it for some distance.. pics 1-3
this cuts through some of the driest parts of the valley, the soil a powder fine wind deposited loess, and bone dry for much of the year.... pic 4
this is prime habitat for Phsyaria didymocarpa pics 5-7 a beautiful Brassicaceae plant which looks great all year, in some of the driest spots of all pic 8
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same album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010D#
down the banks of the river are some small flats where there is a very different ecosystem- not dry! pics 1,2
not many of the wetland plants are in evidence at this time of year-- a few seed stalks of Dodecatheon and Tofieldia-and this unassuming plant that i am really quite fond of ---Antennaria sp -- pic 3 i have keyed it to A pulcherrima based on habitat as well as description; there are apparently several species in this complex which look rather similar, but i believe this is the only one which should be in these wet areas..we have the same species in similar habitat in my area, and i have been able to collect seed; i also have a plant in a pot from a cutting taken locally, thus far it has not shown the pretty fall colours these plants had.. pics 4-6
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same album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010D#
the last few leftover shots from this stop;
first a couple of sages, pics 1,2 Artemisia species are important through the foothills, especially in dry areas; here are two growing with another key species, Juniperus horizontalis -the sometimes extensive mats seen in many of the landscape views--bronze at this time of year including this photo of the botaniser, pic 3
pic 4 a stray Oxytropis monticola
pic 5 Plantago sp this plant with its nice long leaves caught my eye even in mid-summer, much nicer yet in fall red! in a somewhat moist spot..
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It's Monday morning, I have a list of domestic chores as long as my arm and an even longer one of SRGC "stuff" to be dealt with... I've paused to think about my "plan of campaign" for the rest of the day........ I was feeling more than a little rushed...... but I've spent a little time looking at these pictures, Cohan, and the beauty of the landscape shots has calmed me ....I feel the sense of the sheer size of the country, the huge vistas and the magnificent mountains.....pure therapy , thank you!
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I know what you mean Maggi, it's hard not to linger on this thread, the scenery so magnificently captured. Cohan, I'm glad you showed us the mystery Eriogonum again (ovalifolium or androsaceum), those pink cushions sure are attractive. With the two flower photos, it does indeed look like a possible form of ovalifolium, but since it has been impossible to find a web photo of elusive E. androsaceum, it would be hard to make a determination.
I did come across an interesting expansion of the stated range of E. androsaceum, which in Flora of North America is listed as southern Alberta and northwestern Montana, but the e-Flora of British Columbia also lists it as being found in SE British Columbia, and there's a good line drawing of it. There is an interactive zoom-able and scroll-able map (driven by an ArcGIS database) that's kind of cool, take a look everyone... Cohan, I'm sure you're familiar with it.
E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia
Eriogonum androsaceum
http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Eriogonum%20androsaceum&redblue=Both&lifeform=7
E-Flora BC Interactive Map
http://142.103.209.56/eflora_maps/index.html?sciname=Eriogonum%20androsaceum&BCStatus=red&synonyms=%27Eriogonum%20flavum%20var.%20androsaceum%27&commonname=androsace%20buckwheat&PhotoID=0&ssynonyms=%27Eriogonum%20flavum%20var.%20androsaceum%27
Liked the Erigeron caespitosus too, particularly the pink form.
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thank-you maggi and mark! i'm glad to be able to capture a little of those magical places and extra glad that it comes through in some of the images..
i've loved many different places in my life, from teeming mega-city centres to the dark quiet forest just outside my doorstep, but those places tend to have shallow or narrow sight lines, so to see those vistas opening in front of me is like taking a long, deep breath-especially the wide grassy expanse with the track running through it in the last section- it only takes a short time to walk that track to the rocky rise, but it feels as if that track could go on endlessly--yet still with those massive blue mountains behind to keep mind and heart soaring!
mark, i actually haven't run across that b.c. site before, seems really well put together! i'll be looking some more..
i have a few seeds of that Erigeron, if you are interested send me a pm; i have no idea how it handles heat and humidity (its wide range suggests heat should not be an issue) but we know it can handle drought!
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How interesting to learn of some B.C. records for the Eriogonum androsaceum- just when Ian is headed off to Vancouver...... 8)
Sadly any excitment is tempered by the fact that his visit will be but a fleeting one, with only a couple of days in the city ityself.
He's a bit of a fan of the buckwheats and would have enjoyed a little hunting trip with his camera.
Not to worry, it seems he will be staying close by the most excellent museum... lucky dog!
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How interesting to learn of some B.C. records for the Eriogonum androsaceum- just when Ian is headed off to Vancouver...... 8)
Sadly any excitment is tempered by the fact that his visit will be but a fleeting one, with only a couple of days in the city ityself.
He's a bit of a fan of the buckwheats and would have enjoyed a little hunting trip with his camera.
Not to worry, it seems he will be staying close by the most excellent museum... lucky dog!
he would have needed quite some time to get to those eriogonum sites, but i think a little time in the city proper should be a nice consolation :)
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now a very rare occurrence--i have got some photos ready to share right after taking them! this is our morning! (i've put a few on october thread, and will add some to trees, though maybe not til tonight...)
this is not our first snow of the year, though the heaviest so far, should still be gone soonish, day temps should be above 0C except today and tomorrow, up to 12C by week's end...
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cohan, i´m happy to live here in germany ;)
best wishes
chris
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lol--thanks chris--yes, you are a few zones warmer than me ;)
here are a few shots from trip to town a few days ago--shots from the moving vehicle, which i take a lot of! but this day it happened that a few turned out nicely....
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Landscapes, skyscapes, rockscapes, I love the sense of escape through your journeys into the wild Cohan 8)
You always find plant treasures in apparently barren and windy places and they are surprising in their tenacity even though some are so delicate looking!
Your shots of Abraham lake are always a favourite showing the vast scale of the region and I wonder if you encounter much wildlife in your trips?
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Landscapes, skyscapes, rockscapes, I love the sense of escape through your journeys into the wild Cohan 8)
You always find plant treasures in apparently barren and windy places and they are surprising in their tenacity even though some are so delicate looking!
Your shots of Abraham lake are always a favourite showing the vast scale of the region and I wonder if you encounter much wildlife in your trips?
thank you robin--although there is a lot of wildlife in this region, we usually don't see that much--except a lot of deer along the highway, especially in the lower foothills zone...there should be mountain sheep (we have rarely seen sheep) and goats around, but they mostly stay higher in summer, and come down into areas like the kootenay plains over winter to take advantage of the lighter snow cover...you can see a lot of sign of sheep in the plains--lots of old dried droppings and tracks (when we visited in winter we saw fresh droppings and lots of tracks, but the sheep were still out of sight) there are signs in some areas noting that there can always be bears in the back country--no doubt they prefer to stay away from trails and other areas where there are a lot of people--except those individuals who have learned they can easily get food around campgrounds! (all public trashcans are bear proof, even in parks etc in my area)..
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back to the mountains, now; being a 'short' daytrip-only 7 or 8 hours, we didn't go any further than kootenay plains, the last site, so now we have a few views from the return trip.. again, shot from the vehicle, i've tried to mostly focus here on the fall colour shots, since many of the other views i have probably shown before..
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010E#
not stunning colour, since much of the area is evergreen coniferous forest, and many of the deciduous trees had already dropped leaves..
first shot is not an interesting image, but thought some might find it interesting to see--this is a business which offers helicopter tours of the icefields, must be quite a trip! fortunately, though we always pass this place, i have never seen/heard the choppers overhead..
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Cohan, such extraordinarily beautiful scenery, photographed so well that I feel like I've been there :o :o :o
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Cohan, such extraordinarily beautiful scenery, photographed so well that I feel like I've been there :o :o :o
Me too! Especially I like the autumn colour of the small trees which seem to be Populus tremuloides (? Trembling Aspen).
Gerd
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thanks a lot, mark and gerd, i'm really happy to know you enjoy it!
gerd, you are right--the yellow trees are mainly P tremuloides; there could on occasion, in moistish spots be P balsamifera as well as Betula which yellow the same way, but i have mainly noted aspen in this generally dry zone..
i will soon, hopefully, post the autumn colour photos from my home area--the poplars were really splendid this year
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back to the mountain pics;
just to refresh, this was a short day trip on Oct 02;
last very short stop beside the road, and some shots of fall foliage in the foothills and beyond back to home..
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010F#
first couple sets are from the stop--just a more or less random roadside area, with a bit of a hill and vegetation looking like more than grass; these spots in the foothills tend to be more interesting than one would expect, with some nice plants in most seasons, even if nothing really uncommon..
pics 1-4 one little bright yellow poplar- Populus tremuloides- crowns a small outcrop clothed in Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Juniperus horizontalis
pic 5 just at the edge of the wooded slope above, a very late flowering Castilleja miniata peeks from a mat of Arctostaphylos
pic 6 looking back towards the mountains we had come from..
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same album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010F#
just across the road on a gravelly patch, ubiquitous and always charming Antennaria (trying to id these small species is above my pay grade so far..) growing with some other things, including a small composite, in seed (perhaps Erigeron, i took some seed ;D ) and a small probably Oxytropis splendens, Arctostaphylos-fall colour set off nicely against the white Antennaria...
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final batch from this trip,
same album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010F#
views while driving, 1-7 the 'boreal uplands/boreal foothills' forest, between nordegg and rocky mountain house
8-10-we went past home and toon the nearest city (Red Deer, population of about 90,000) for lunch; these views just at the edge of town...
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some of you may remember me mentioning that i live just on the edge of the boreal forest, in a zone where several plant communities and soil types come together:
right here is mixed forest, mainly Picea glauca as climax forest in all spots except wetlands, with lots of Populus tremuloides and Populus balsamifera; Betula, mainly in moist to wettish areas, many Salix, Larix and Picea marianae in wet areas;
within around 30-40km west, the foothills biome starts, similar to above with Pinus and Abies added; a similar distance east begins to open up to Aspen parkland, where spruce are mainly found in lower, moister areas (as you go farther south and east, it will gradually dry more, and become grassland)..
this means that on our regular drives for work (30km west) and shopping (40-60km east) we drive through these gradual changes;
last week we went on a short drive, to a lake a little north and east of a place we go regularly for shopping etc-roughly 50km from home, and in a range of hills that runs west to east.. not that far, but it feels really different from here, especially on the big hills..
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
pic 1 the (edge of ) the town of Sylvan Lake, where we regularly shop etc
pics 2-4 north of Sylvan; in this zone there are still spruce, but more so in low areas, and where planted around farms; all non-forested areas are cleared for farming
pic 5 this is farming country, but also oil country! wells and pipelines are never far away..
pic 6 a small river near the town of
pics 7,8 Bentley; seems like a cute town, with old style mainstreet; i've never stopped..
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Great pictures Cohan!!
It is fascinating to see where other forumists operate.
I'm impressed by the HUGE blue skies, the long straight roads, as well as the forests.
I suspect others are asking themselves "Where are these high hills" you speak of?
I can imagine the landscape change when the snows come.
John
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lol--tks, john
--i didn't yet get to the photos that show the hills, although the camera lens tends to flatten them a bit, there is one shot at least that i think gives a bit of the impression..
with the rockies on the horizon (west), we don't talk much about hills, but these are enough of a rise to show (north) at 10-20km away, when there's a clear view, nothing really major, but enough for some appealing landscapes...
i've never been to the best part (pics yet to come) of this area in mid-winter -there is a ski hill somewhere in there, i'm not sure exactly where...lol
the serious forests start to the west of here, where they stretch all the way to the mountains(wait for the last set in this series); here and east, its a patchwork of secondary growth where farmers have left areas to regrow over the last couple of generations; this patchwork is constantly changing as one area is cleared, and another is left to grow, as use on a given farm shifts..
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full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
having arrived at Gull Lake (more accurately, at Aspen Beach Provincial Park, day use area) we found it closed for the season, meaning the road to the closest parking was barred, but the parking near the highway was accessible, and its easy enough to walk down; nearest the highway its forested, then gradually it opens up as you get nearer the lake, first a sort of scrubby area, (next post) which is the most interesting part to me, as there are at least a few nice plants there (i've never been in full summer!)..
one of the interesting things is a large colony of seabuckthorn- Hippophae rhamnoides-an introduced species which can be invasive in some areas, i think, though this is the only place i have seen it in person (apart from occasional urban plantings); i did see a patch of it dead at this site once, so they may be trying to keep it in check..with its large number of berries (although the berries are hard to remove, perhaps the reason that wildlife doesn't clean them off early), and dense thorny growth, i can see it being an issue in the right environment..i suspect they are not as much of a concern in my area since they might be shaded out by native tree growth in an untended area; road/fieldsides would prob be great habitat..
i collected a few seeds to try--the berries are supposed to be super nutritious (also used in skincare) and are very tasty-a hint of tropical fruit..
last shot is non-fruit bearing male plants...
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full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
poking around in the scrub beyond the beach--the usual subjects,
pics 1-3Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Antennaria, small composites etc; i've seen clematis in the past, but not in growth/flower to know if its a native or escape (there are houses nearby)
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full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
pic 1 i did go near the actual lake for a few minutes ;D i love the wide open view
pics 2,3 quite a few waterfowl passing through; likely a lot more at the right times
pic 4 heading back to the car (my friend)
pic 5 another little composite in wet spots by the road; no leaves at all left..
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full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
driving back;
pic 1, a nice barn; i like buildings, including all the varieties of barns, and various granaries and other farm buildings (esp love seeing the latter all lined up...)
pic 2 just before the town of Bentley, again (note streetlights), hills beginning just beyond
pic 3 these exotic willows are fairly popular in shelterbelts around farms, and farmyard plantings; they hold their leaves long past native species
pic 4 many textures of a slope with several different land uses going on....
pics 5-9 approaching/on one of the larger sets of hills; the cleared stripes may be the ski runs, not sure; pic 8 with a vehicle going up the hill may give the best sense of scale; we also enjoy this highway, since it has much less traffic than the highway we travel daily!
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full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
continuing west, homeward..
pic 1 although a bare slope could easily be mistaken for being natural, you can see the trees would cover the whole area if allowed; this is presumably a pasture, though no cows at the moment.. there are spruce here, but fewer than farther west..
pic 2 even a few miles farther and there are getting to be more spruce, though there are more in the valleys than on hills, and some of these are planted around farms.. more oil industry installations...
pic 3 the intersection just ahead is where we will turn south; now, at the same 'westerliness' as home, there are noticeably more spruce
pic 4 heading south, a somewhat hazy day, and a vehicle had just turned on a gravel road to the side, raising dust..
pics 5,6 looking west out the side window (zoom shot); depending on the light/atmosphere conditions on a give day, the mountains will 'seem' about this big or a little less-they seem bigger to the eye than they do to the lens, without zoom..
the farming zone continues at least another 20-30km west from here, but the forest starts to connect to foothills forest beyond...
pic 7 continuing south; this is one of the roads we travel regularly, as one route to/from work, near the small town of Leslieville; this dip in the road is a small river crossing..
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full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#
winding up the afternoon, the last leg of the trip, off the main highway, the last few miles to home..
a zoomed view of the mountains from the home road...
last shot is a cousin's place at the other end of the family land (one mile away) from our acreage...
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pics 5-9 approaching/on one of the larger sets of hills; the cleared stripes may be the ski runs, not sure
The cleared stripes are cutlines... from shooting seismic or running pipelines.
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pics 5-9 approaching/on one of the larger sets of hills; the cleared stripes may be the ski runs, not sure
The cleared stripes are cutlines... from shooting seismic or running pipelines.
those are common enough all over this region of course;
there is a ski place somewhere around there--i've seen signs for it, but don't know exactly where it is...lol--no interest in going, so i haven't looked it up, just idly curious as i pass through, but haven't seen anything definitive on the several times i have gone that way..
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Cohan,
Once again - I love your 'show' from your part of the world very much, let me feel like to be there!
Gerd
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Yes, just out of curiosity, I did look it up... it's called Medicine Lodge Ski Area, south of Highway 12. I haven't been there either (and no interest, as well) - it looks like it's probably not visible from the highway...
For some reason, I can't post the link to the satellite photo in Google.... but it's amazing to have such easy access to something like that! (But funny too, in that if you just type the name of ski area into Google, it comes up with a spot out in a cultivated field a few miles out to the west... the wrong coordinates must have been registered!)
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Cohan,
Once again - I love your 'show' from your part of the world very much, let me feel like to be there!
Gerd
thanks, gerd :)
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Yes, just out of curiosity, I did look it up... it's called Medicine Lodge Ski Area, south of Highway 12. I haven't been there either (and no interest, as well) - it looks like it's probably not visible from the highway...
For some reason, I can't post the link to the satellite photo in Google.... but it's amazing to have such easy access to something like that! (But funny too, in that if you just type the name of ski area into Google, it comes up with a spot out in a cultivated field a few miles out to the west... the wrong coordinates must have been registered!)
that's the one :)
one of those 'rivers' that wander through the area is the 'medicine river' the other is the 'blindman river';
i think i will have to break down and find some good paper maps--
i've spent a half hour trying to look at maps online--google often doesn't have any names for smaller features like these (i agree the satellite images are fascinating, though vary in quality--my road has such poor quality images that i can't tell for sure where i am on it..lol), and many other maps also don't show (or don't name) small features, or by the time you get close enough to see them, the map is focussed on such a small area that you can't tell where anything is...lol..then, terrain/topo maps etc often don't show place names, so again, hard to tell what's where when looking at these small places.....
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i posted a few shots of things still flowering in early november--
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6205.15
here is an album with the last flowers, plus pots of seedlings etc..
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November072010LastFlowers#
here are a few shots from my drive to work from nov 15, then the 16th!
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and some images around home, first nov 04, then 16,18
an album with more from 11 04, not labelled yet..
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November042010Home#
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Cohan with a cappuccino to hand I have been traveling through your recent landscapes and thoroughly enjoyed the views! Is it mainly wheat growing in your part? These end of year images are so homely somehow and the homesteads and buildings really become part of the whole.
The seabuckthorn berries glow so yellow, what a wonderful sight - do birds take them after the red berries or are they equally popular?
What wonderful names attached to lakes and rivers, intriguing to to know why Medicine River and Blindman's River? Comforting to know you work near Leslieville - it has a good ring to it from another part of the globe!
Love your shot of sunlight through your trees and I have to say that our forest Autumn in the Alps looks remarkably similar to yours except from a different angle ;D
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tks robin :)
right here, there is some wheat, also barley, oats and canola (may still be called rape seed in europe?) as you go a bit east, the conditions shift just enough that wheat becomes more common, and i even (in the trip to gull lake) saw some fields of corn-i'm not 100% sure what they do with this--i'm guessing it is harvested green for cattle feed, since even in that area corn would not be reliably ripening, so it could not be grown for ripe grain for human or animal consumption--ok i just did a little quick research, and as i thought, a lot of it is raised for silage, but also it used to graze the cattle on over winter..apparently this practise is being promoted and spreading in central alberta..
http://www.topcropmanager.com/content/view/3428/38/
http://www.agcanada.com/Article.aspx?ID=28744
the second link is farther south, but should be a roughly similar outcome to the areas around gull lake..
medicine river:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_River_(Alberta)
the name comes from native words, 'medicine' was an early translation roughly referring to things with spiritual/healing properties (my paraphrasing; eg-this place has strong medicine)..think of medicine wheels, for example..
blindman river has two naming theories, according to wikipedia-one relating to an incident of blindness on the river, one referring to the winding river's lack of sightlines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindman_River
i'm not sure if the birds eventually take the seabuckthorn--i would assume so, but i have not been there in later winter to see--certainly the berries are tasty, though hard to remove..i know here the birds strip all berries, including white cornus (almost immediately) and symphoricarpos -takes longer, maybe because the bushes are near the ground, not so comfortable for some of the berry eating species..there were also some cornus berries left at gull lake, which there are not here, so maybe the birds just hadn't got there yet....
yes, my forest doesn't have too much angle, unless i hold the camera sideways ;)
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Cohan, I was looking around at Alberta on Google Maps in reference to your mystery Eriogonum (possibly E. androsaceum), to get a general idea about where the plant is found, before exploring more in the floras, and I am curious about one thing I see in the satellite view. heading west and reaching the mountains, past Strachan, I see this patchwork of clearings, but zooming in on them they clearly are not for building development. Do these clear patches represent logging areas?
Also I'm amazed by the very sensible approach to most roads laid out on a strict rectilinear grid, whereas the curvy spaghetti network of roads in eastern USA cities can challenge the navigational skills of even life-long residents of these areas.
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mark, i'm not personally familiar with that area, but it must be logging--i know there is logging around-you see logging trucks occasionally, but most of it is kept away from major roads, especially into the mountains where obviously views of clear cut are not good for tourism (you see logging roads in places, but rarely can you see the cleared areas from the highway)..
this should be into government land which is managed by provincial forestry agency..
its possible to run straight roads a) in areas where the roads were built before there was much settlement (and/or a grid established for settlement) , so that there are not many homesteads to work around and b) where there aren't too many geographical features to get in the way; we do of course have lakes that cause diversions, less commonly hills, since they are not rock, no reason to go around them-just over or carve a road through ..of course once into foothills and mountains, its a very different story..
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I finally got myself organized and wrote to Dr. James L. Reveal, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland and noted authority on the genus Eriogonum, regarding the mystery Eriogonum from west central Alberta that you so nicely illustrated here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5641.msg170030#msg170030
I've heard back from Dr. Reveal, he reviewed the photos, and reported back "All images are of Eriogonum androsaceum Benth. As for a distinction between E. ovalifolium and E. androsaceum all one needs to do is look at the base of the flower. In the first the rounded base of the flower is directly attached onto the pedicel; in E. androsaceum there is a short stalk ("stipe") that extends from the narrow base of the flower down to the pedicel.
Nice pictures of E. androsaceum and if you look at the narrow leaf blades that are faintly lined on the thinly and darkish tomentose upper surface that will quickly distinguish this species from the broader leaved E. ovalifolium that is usually distinctly densely white tomentose on a smooth upper surface. The line business is something you can best see in the field as this is faint and does not really preserve on herbarium specimens."
Cohan (code name: the Condor ;D), maybe go back to your message and edit it to add the update about the positive ID, these might be the first photo images available on the web of this particular species. ( edit by Maggi : I have done this for the Condor :) )
I also sent Dr. Reveal this link that reports an expansion of stated range of E. androsaceum in the e-Flora of British Columbia:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5641.msg170132#msg170132
Dr. Reveal writes: "I am aware of this but have seen no specimens to support this".
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I also sent Dr. Reveal this link that reports an expansion of stated range of E. androsaceum in the e-Flora of British Columbia:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5641.msg170132#msg170132
Dr. Reveal writes: "I am aware of this but have seen no specimens to support this".
Does it say somewhere in the eFlora of BC that the range is expanding... ? I can't find it. Flora of Alberta (Moss, Packer; 1992) indicate the range as including southern BC in the 1983 2nd edition, so it has been in the general area for some time... ?
Given the conflicting descriptions of this species, and the lack of photos, I'm not sure which records should be believed and which not!
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I also sent Dr. Reveal this link that reports an expansion of stated range of E. androsaceum in the e-Flora of British Columbia:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5641.msg170132#msg170132
Dr. Reveal writes: "I am aware of this but have seen no specimens to support this".
Does it say somewhere in the eFlora of BC that the range is expanding... ? I can't find it. Flora of Alberta (Moss, Packer; 1992) indicate the range as including southern BC in the 1983 2nd edition, so it has been in the general area for some time... ?
Given the conflicting descriptions of this species, and the lack of photos, I'm not sure which records should be believed and which not!
Lori, my mistake for accepting the Flora of North America, I see from the USDA site, Hitchcock & Cronquist "Flora of the Pacific Northwest", and other references (I don't have Flora of Alberta but believe its findings) that I've been misled by the online Flora of North America site which does not include BC in the plant's range. The E-Flora of BC clearly reflects the existence of E. androsaceum in BC, not as a new thing, but as further confirmation, shedding more question on the Flora of North America site. I wonder if the FONA site regards the BC species as belonging to a different taxa, such as E. flavum... just guessing why the discrepancy.
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=92192&flora_id=1
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250060170
Thanks for your research and taxonomic diligence!
Mark McD.
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thanks mark for the research, and maggi for the editing! i will have to change labels and tags on my picasa page so these images will be searchable..
ironic that it turned out to be what i initially called it out of ignorance...lol
lori, did you decide that this is the same as the plants you commonly see west of you?
note: i've been told there is some discussion going on about the stipes mentioned above, and these erios, at the NARGS forum; we'll see what may be concluded eventually...
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a few shots around the acreage yesterday; it was cold- somewhere below -20C in the daytime, so i didn't stay out long taking pics, though it was nice to see the sun after a week of intermittent snow and mostly cloudy...
pic 1 a view through the trees to the neighbour's cows..
pic 2 a cat that we suspected had been around for a few weeks, but scarcely seen; well he/she (we're still a little shakey on this, and i am suspecting a neutered male) came out into the open a couple of days ago when it was very cold, and we decided to feed him/her (we usually don't encourage cats that may come from neighbours etc, since our existing cat-who came from the neighbours a couple of years ago...lol has been having a very bad year with visiting cats beating him up)..well, this cat was totally tame, friendly, and starving :( he/she seems to be staying in an old building on the property, or maybe under it..there is no place heated for it--we have no porch or barns, and our cat is dead set against it coming in (i tried second day against better judgement, and our other cat was instantly in attack mode, so straight back out) so we are hoping maybe we can find another home for it before the next deep freeze (warming up overnight tonight, back to more normal temps..) or else i may try to build some makeshift but well insulated lair for it..still not sure if we can rig any sort of heat, though....
pic 3 my rock gardens past and future--mostly dug all the old rocks, pots sunk into soil for winter; see the bumps...lol
pics 4, 5 trees behind the house, and just inside the driveway
pic 6 native, self sown, ubiquitious Rosa acicularis; one of the few fruits to make it into winter without all being eaten by birds...
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road shots from the trip to work, yesterday..
note: the mountain shots are zoomed, but have an effect similar to or just slightly larger than the way we perceive them visually (that is, we unconsciously zoom in on the area of interest, block out the rest of the view)
compare pic 7 with the same view in reply #183 above)
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soon i will get back to summer flower pics, of which i still have tons!
meanwhile, some shots from today, a few more in the arty thread...
album here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/December042010Home#
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okay, i said i would go back to summer ;D
a couple of shots from june-
1-3 a patch of Lonicera dioica growing wild (among other things!) at the head of my driveway..
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can you believe it was once this green outside? after a month of white, with many more to come, i cannot.....
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we were talking about forest types in the hepatica thread,
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6315.msg176643;boardseen#new
and i was mentioning that we do not have spring flowers in our forests, except for some violets, and if you count wet forests, caltha...
here are a few views of what our forest floors tend to look like.. sorry, there may be some repeats of old postings here, but i am grouping them together for this theme:
pic 1 a view on my acreage--immature forest, poplars mostly; left alone this would grow in with spruce mainly over some decades; i am keeping this area more open (starting the last 3 years)--i have been harvesting dead trees, and thinning out the young poplars to make it even more open, leaving native shrubs and wildflowers (epilobium, asters, geranium come later, and there is an understory below the grasses--cornus canadensis, pyrolas, rubus pubescens, maianthemum canadense, vacciniums etc..
pic 2 a site a couple of miles away- this is a fairly mature deciduous forest (this is the edge, so smaller trees) but it is still growing in with spruce, slowly; you can see that if it is not grazed by cattle, the undergrowth will be quite tall with shrubs-ribes, rosa, amelanchier and others...
pic 3 the closest we come, perhaps, to the spring flowering forests of other places--caltha palustris, only in wet forests (and wet open areas) and these are tangled places, difficult to walk through, not the 'parks' with bare ground i see in pictures from europe or eastern north america..
i'm still looking for pictures of the coniferous forest..
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another view a few miles away--this is a fairly old mixed forest, heavily spruce and shady, but, the trees along the road edge were cut down, probably a few years ago, so the low plants at the edge are taking advantage of the extra light, before they are shaded again soon as taller plants grow in...
note--nice display here of cornus canadensis and maianthemum canadense, but these are not spring flowers, this is the end of june! at hepatica blooming time in the forests of the east, there would be nothing in this spot except maybe a few viola renifolia or adunca....
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hi cohan, looks very good, i like this combination.....
i wish you and your family merry chrismas and a happy new year 2011...
best regards
chris
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Cohan,
I have just started reading your Alberta thread, I've been member to short and haven't had time to read it all yet. I like it very much! It seems strange that you have no spring flowers in your wood? Even the densest spruce forests here have at least windflower (Anemone nemorosa) in the spring!
In my little woodland garden I have planted Maianthemum canadense and other of the genus but I have never seen M. trifolium! I also have some Chrysospleniums and C.iowense was new to me too.
Picture shows C. macrophyllum in my garden. A pretty spring flower!
If possible I would like to swap seed or some pieces of the plant with you!
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hi cohan, looks very good, i like this combination.....
i wish you and your family merry chrismas and a happy new year 2011...
best regards
chris
thanks, chris, and the same to you and yours! hope your yuccas are not under snow too long ;)
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Cohan,
I have just started reading your Alberta thread, I've been member to short and haven't had time to read it all yet. I like it very much! It seems strange that you have no spring flowers in your wood? Even the densest spruce forests here have at least windflower (Anemone nemorosa) in the spring!
In my little woodland garden I have planted Maianthemum canadense and other of the genus but I have never seen M. trifolium! I also have some Chrysospleniums and C.iowense was new to me too.
Picture shows C. macrophyllum in my garden. A pretty spring flower!
If possible I would like to swap seed or some pieces of the plant with you!
thanks, trond..
i have wondered about the spring flowers--i think panu in finland told me they also don't have many there; i have not read any educated discussion on this subject; i have speculated that in the boreal forest there is no real advantage to plants to flower very early here are some of the factors i have thought about
-- spring is very variable in terms of weather, and we can get cold and frost and snow very late, easily to late may (though many warm days before)..
-- the deciduous forest mostly stays open enough to allow some light through even when in full leaf, no closed canopy as in some other places
--coniferous forests are just as shady in spring as later, and warm up slowly
--although snow melt is important moisture for woodland species (and i see a big improvement in years with heavy snow) there is little moisture in spring after the snow is gone, and it can be quite dry until rains start, usually late may or in june..
--we have no serious summer heat, so there is no rush to finish before mid-summer
however, considering that in your area some of these spring species grow into the coniferous forests, i wonder if the answer is much simpler:
those spring woodland species have simply not travelled into this area since glaciation!?
our earliest native flowers are, in fact, wetland species--Petasites and Caltha palustris; there, i presume, they have the motive to flower before grasses grow tall, and also, in sunny patches with pools of meltwater, the water may warm faster than surrounding soil..
Caltha also grows in shady areas under willows, and these ones bloom a little later as the soil warms more slowly...
roland (bulborum) was mentioning to me that Maianthemum trifolium is in the original maianthemum group, whereas M canadense, stellatum etc, were originally Smilacina, and a distinct group; so the while trifolium and canadense are superficially very similar (esp considering considerable variation in leaves in both species), they have floral differences, and presumably do not cross; here, M canadense has a wide habitat range from deep shade to quite open places, moist to quite dry under spruce; M trifolium is only in wet woods/semi woods, and flowers earlier, though there is some overlap...
i think your Chrysosplenium is the same one gote showed last year,i'd have to look some more, nice plant!--i only knew our native one before then.. but gote also has native C alternifolia (sp?) which is a synonym for iowense, if i am remembering right..
definitely we can talk privately about some trading ;D keep a list as you look at my thread--i still have many sets yet to post, too!
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thanks, chris, and the same to you and yours! hope your yuccas are not under snow too long Wink
hi cohan, the temps are good for the last days, only over 0°c, but tommorrow snow again :'(
cheers
chris
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Thanks cohan1
I think from your description of the forests over there they are more similar to the high elevation spruce forests than the low elevation spruce forests here. But high elevation forests here are 700-1000m asl. I recognize many of the species or at least the genera.
We have 3 species of Chrysosplenium in Norway and I have planted 2 of them in my garden + 2 Chinese species.
I have started writing a wish-list!
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well, 700-1000m asl is my zone :) so that may be no surprise ;D my immediate are is between 900 -1000m
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I was debating how to handle my backlog from 2010, and decided to go ahead posting in this thread, even though its 2011--the images are still from 2010!
I'm also going to post at NARGS,
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=591.0
so I will only post a few images from each set to each forum (usually not the same images!) and as always, full sets on Picasa..
Diving back in, I'm going to finish a bike ride from June 20 I started here and never finished!
A few roadside shots, and some from the site of multicoloured Castilleja (not posting them today) that I have shown before...
The beginning of the ride is in the following albums:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June202010AGeraniumsAndRoses#
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June202010BRueAndValerian#
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June202010CShootingStarsAndAlexanders#
This last set is at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June202010DAnemonesAndSarsaparilla
In a roadside wet area, Ranunculus sp
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From a wet pasture, Menyanthes trifoliata not sure why I am finding flowers so rarely, the plant is quite common, but I think when areas are overgrown with woodies, the plant survives and spreads vegetatively, but doesn't flower much..
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Near the wooded site, along the roadsides and into wood edges, Anemone canadensis and friend...
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Aralia nudicaulis with friend and Viola canadensis
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Another bike ride in June, last year.
This first site is one of the first I stumbled on when I started bicycle botanising in 2009-one of those special little unassuming patches of roadside that for some reason is full of species.
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June282010APrimrosesSparrowSEggsAndMore#
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One of the teasers I saw on my first visit to the site was Primula incana - I saw only dried flower stalks, so I hoped to catch it in flower in 2010, and I was right on time! There's a healthy colony in the damp to wet ditch (roadside; --probably this is full of water in spring and after heavy rain) some on the other side of the road, and they extend into the grassy/open wooded area (pasture) across the fence (this is all private farmland, presumably there are cattle in here at some time, though I haven't seen them)..
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Some closer shots--you can see why its called 'mealy (floury) primrose', and a shot with a pollinator..
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Same site,
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/June282010APrimrosesSparrowSEggsAndMore#
A few other common favourites, ranging from the wet lowest areas, up the road banks, and into the fenceline where the open ditch area transitions to mixed woods and wetland on the other side..
Antennaria sp there are a number of possibilities for my area, now that I have a proper Flora, I may attempt them!
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Another group that will require close attention, Platanthera/Habenaria sp; this could be P viridis, based on long bracts.. These (various) are very common here in both open and wooded damp to wet areas..
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Geum rivale is another that is found from full sun to deep shade, as long as roots can be at least moderately moist...
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This Pyrola sp is interesting, and requires some research-- it seems to have generally smaller leaves, with very visible raised veins, and possibly slightly darker flowers (not quite as dark as the buds in the pics)-as compared to the very common Pyrola asarifolia; I have seen it only in damp semi/wooded areas..
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Cypripedium passerinum only a couple of plants found here, and quite small..
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The widespread charming Sisyrinchium montanum
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Finally for this site, Pedicularis groenlandica
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Cohan, I never tire of looking at Alberta wanderings!
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Thanks, Trond--more to come!