Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Lori S. on August 02, 2009, 05:11:27 AM
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Revisiting Forget-Me-Not Ridge (Kananaskis Prov. Park, east slope Rockies, Alberta) on July 31st, we had a wonderfully floriferous trek along the top!
1) Down at river level, the silken seedheads of Dryas drummondii, each tightly wound with a counter-clockwise twist (or so it seemed), until they spring loose to release the plumes; very few still in bloom now.
2, 3) No photos during the hot trudge up, but with the climb over, it's time for lunch and some views, followed by easier walking ahead;
4, 5) At home on the scree slope of the ridge, Eriogonum ovalifolium var. ovalifolium, some with the aging flowers beginning to turn colour;
6, 7) And Saussurea nuda var. densa, very few still in bloom here - most instead with seedheads forming;
8, 9, 10 ) And then the meadows up top!
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Lori,
A lot of colour in the meadows, isn't there.
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great stuff, lori!
looking forward to more gems from this site, already love the Eriogonum and Saussurea...
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Yes, it was amazing!
Making up the bloom (and please correct me if I'm getting any of these wrong!):
1) Hedysarum sulphurescens in vast tracts;
2) Zigadenus elegans, beyond count in both the scree areas and on the turfy substrates;
3) Oxytropis montica
4) Polygonum viviparum
5) Delphinium glaucum, providing the dashes of purple; up here, they are only 15-25 cm tall;
6, 7) And in some areas, the russet spikes of sorrel, Rumex acetosa ssp. alpina, adding to the colour palette;
8, 9 ) The ubiquitous Dasiphora/Potentilla fruticosa - a constant backdrop - with many very attractive specimens, and smaller and smaller towards the top of the ridge;
10) Arnica angustifolia, adding more yellow (with a close-up in the next batch...)
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1) Arnica angustifolia close-up.
2) Pink tones added by Erigeron spp...
3) And more yellows added by black-tipped groundsel, Senecio lugens...
And, more to follow!
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Wonderful posting, as always, Lori ... many thanks once again.
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Nature at it's best Lori ! 8)
Thanks for showing !!
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Mmm. It's a long way from home but I can feel the urge to plan a trip coming on :D
Thanks for sharing your walks - the massed display of flowers is magical.
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What a great name Forget-me-not-Ridge - plenty to remember Lori with those views, meadows and variety of plants. I really like Zigadenus elegans (and that name too!)
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Thanks, all!
1) Many tiny delphiniums, only 10cm at the tallest, which I think are D. bicolor (if so, very dwarfed). I'm not totally sure they are not D. nuttallianum... ?
2) Mat of Eriogonum ovalifolium with unknown low-growing composite, Delphinum glaucum and potentilla.
3, 4) Colourful seedpods of Oxytropis podocarpa.
5) Myosotis alpestris and a fair number of Dryas octopetala in bloom on a north slope.
6) Salix spp.
7) Abundant splashes of pink from what I believe is Hedysarum boreale ssp. mackenzii (as opposed to ssp. boreale at lower elevations, with more upright habit); the characteristic hedysarum loments (flat pod with constrictions between seeds) are visible in the photo.
8 ) A cute little Dasiphora/Potentilla fruticosa - nice flower size-to-plant ratio!
9) Back in the scree as we carry on towards the next finger of the ridge complex... Claytonia megarhiza
10) I always wonder about the origin of these patterns of scree and vegetation on the ridge... the striations at the top of the hill running at a high angle to those at the bottom of the photo... down-slope creep?, some preservation of ice-flow directions? Directional symbols to guide alien spaceships to the nearest trailhead parking lot... ?!?! :o (As a child, I read those books by Erich von Daniken, LOL!)
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1) As we continue along to the high point in the middle of this photo, we pass through a slightly lower, wetter saddle with a rich growth of many different species...
2, 3) Penstemon procerus - the first patch we encountered was a wonderful rich blue, but it doesn't register in the photo. >:(
4, 5, 6) Pedicularis groenlandica... a good sign that there must be a spring or very recent snow in that little saddle. I'm sure the common name for these will immediately spring to mind, from the close-up!
7, 8, 9, 10) The many colour variations of Castilleja spp., enjoying the wetter conditions in the saddle - absent from the ridge itself.
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What a beautiful landscape and such great plants Lori,
thanks for showing them to us!
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My pleasure!
More from the saddle area:
1) Beautiful shining petals on Potentilla gracilis
2) A few Dodecatheon spp., again suggesting ample moisture here.
3) A patch of Salix spp.
4, 5, 6) Among the taller grasses and yarrows on the steep coaly slope (scaled so as to avoid the much steeper rock face on the front side), Eriogonium umbellatum var. subalpinum
7) Heuchera cylindrica clinging to the steep slope.
8 ) Sedum lanceolatum
9) And at the top, jumbled piles and columns of conglomerate - heavily lichen-covered in olive green and black.
10) Among the blocky boulders, a pretty rock garden of Saxifraga bronchialis, tiny Solidago multiradiata(?) and compatriots.
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Lori, I do like the heuchera cylindrica against the rock - the leaf rosette is set so low with the tall stem rising and the simple wand of creamy white flowers - delightful :)
The landscape slope shot is fabulous and it's interesting to see in the last photo a wild mix that is so pretty and something similar to an effect I'm trying to create in part of my rockery!
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more great stuff, lori!
a lovely place with great plants..
a few faves--
claytonia is wonderful; castilleja--we have a number of colours here, but i dont think we have this true pink; sedum is an old fave;
i agree with the alien landing strip theory, its the most logical conclusion ;)
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Cohan, I agree - it's the simplest explanation and therefore the most likely. ;D
1) Townsendia parryi(?) condensata (?), up top in the rocks and on the turfy ridges.
2) A much more substantial Erigeron aureus than I usually see.
3, 4, 5) I believe this is Minuartia obtusiloba... a Caryophyllaceae, 3 styles, etc.?
6) Sibbaldia procumbens
7) Bedding planes in conglomerate with great growths of lichen (indicating stability, at least)...
8 ) And rocky jumbles...
9) A little fellow who dwells in the rocks - pika (Ochotona princeps).
10) Antennaria spp. in a turfy swale.
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1) Rocks and tiny plants... a fascinating combination!
2) An attractive Salix spp.
3) More Myosotis alpestris
4, 5, 6) And the interesting juxtaposition of ferns and sun and dry rocks... (I'm hopeless with ferns - suggestions for IDs would be most welcome!)
7) Asplenium viride...?
8 ) Erigeron spp.
9) And another very sweet little one...
10) And heading down again through the moister swale, wild chives, Allium schoenprasum..
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In the mid-level woods...
1) ?? Pathfinder or trail plant, Adenocaulon bicolor...
2) and Pyrola chlorantha
3) Rest spot... :)
In the forest openings near river level...
5) Castilleja miniata...
6) Mertensia paniculata
On the river floodplain...
8 ) Epilobium latifolium; (also seen in one spot up in the rocks, second photo - not so dry as it looked right there!)
9) Saxifraga aizoides
10) And as a finale to a most interesting hike, a little colony of one of our insectivorous plants, butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris.
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lots more great stuff--
the flower to foliage ratio on the Townsendia is unbelievable!
the totally different colour on the immature Erig flower is very cool too, i haven't seen anything like that!
your E aureus looks quite different from what i was calling that, in terms of foliage...though royer and dickinson do show a reddish stem which mine has, and mention variable leaf shape...
can't help with the ferns, haven't figured out the few which have 'suddenly' turned up here...lol; i did see one in drumheller in a dry place, though partly shaded, at least the base; i like the small species that appear in sometimes dry and sunny places..first noticed them when looking at pictures of mexican crassulaceae succulents, many growing with miniature ferns!
love to see the Ping--this is very high on the list of natives i'd like to see and grow! you prob know there are tons of tender species in the genus grown as houseplants/greenhouse plants...
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Lori (and Cohan): Thanks for showing the pictures from your area(s) - you seem to have all our wild plants (Pyrola chlorantha, Sibbaldia, Dryas etc) and a whole load more too... I've been fortunate (thanks to work trips) to do some botanising on the west coast (Sierra Nevada in California and Mt. Rainier (Seattle)...
By the way, is Allium schoenoprasum a native over there or is it introduced? If so, do you know if it is var sibiricum (the same as we have in Northern Norway)?
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Lori (and Cohan): Thanks for showing the pictures from your area(s) - you seem to have all our wild plants (Pyrola chlorantha, Sibbaldia, Dryas etc) and a whole load more too... I've been fortunate (thanks to work trips) to do some botanising on the west coast (Sierra Nevada in California and Mt. Rainier (Seattle)...
By the way, is Allium schoenoprasum a native over there or is it introduced? If so, do you know if it is var sibiricum (the same as we have in Northern Norway)?
the coast has another whole bunch of great things!
lori has better books than me, so she might be able to add more--the book i have lists it as 'Allium schoenoprasum also called A sibiricum'; i havent run into it myself...
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Rocks and tiny plants... a fascinating combination!
Wonderful rock and plant shots, Lori, Erigerons are very cute - does Erigeron in 8250 start off buttery and then turn white or is it a different plant?
Erigeron aureus is a gorgeous colour...I love these little things commanding the scene so boldly:)
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Enjoying every step of the way, Lori 8)..... I'm not even getting tired feet! ;D ::)
Rocks and tiny plants... a fascinating combination!
Yes, that says it all, doesn't it! 8)
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Sorry but I just realized there were a couple of questions I had not answered...
By the way, is Allium schoenoprasum a native over there or is it introduced? If so, do you know if it is var sibiricum (the same as we have in Northern Norway)?
Wild chives is native here (and circumpolar), and ours is indeed "var. sibiricum".
does Erigeron in 8250 start off buttery and then turn white or is it a different plant?
I couldn't say with any certainty, Robin, but I thought it looked like a fresh flower (rather than an aged one), so I expect it lightens with time... ? I'll have to try to figure out the species (it's rather daunting to see how many possibilities there are!), and maybe that will help to answer it.
Thanks, all, for your comments!