Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Stephenb on August 03, 2009, 12:25:33 PM
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This weekend I escaped from the garden and joined a small group of amateur and professional botanists carrying out a botanical mapping survey of our kommune (municipality), Malvik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvik). The method being used is to register all higher plants (e.g., not mosses, lichens and fungi) found in 1x1 km square areas, of which there are over 200 in Malvik. The kommune is mostly relatively low level reaching just over 500m at the highest point, just above the tree line. The forest is mostly Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Spruce (Picea abies). There are numerous small lakes and bogs, the latter harbouring the highest diversity. These weekends are always very rewarding and I come away realizing how little I know about the local flora (hopefully I’ll retain some of the information to next year – posting this on the web will help, I hope!). Although it’s now way past the main flowering season, there is nevertheless a lot to see. Therefore, I thought I’d share with you some of the photos I took at the weekend. Being out in the field all weekend, there inevitably turns up some interesting insects and I’ll post a few of these here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3720.msg104173#msg104173 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3720.msg104173#msg104173)
As far as birds are concerned, it was pretty quiet, the highlight being a couple of Cranes (Grus grus) which flew over while we were eating lunch on the Saturday.
Here’s the first batch of photos. It’s berry picking season, but there wasn’t much time for more than a nibble:
1) Rubus saxatilis (Stone Bramble)
2) Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) is the most common “blueberry” here.
3) Vaccinium uliginosum (Bog Bilberry) is picked alongside common bilberry.
4) Cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) are worshipped here in Norway and for most Norwegians an essential part of Xmas celebrations. An acquired taste – I’ve grown fonder of them the longer I’ve lived in Norway….
5) Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) – I’ve found several garden worthy plants on these weekends such as the variegated Valerian that I found last year (see http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3909.0 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3909.0)). This long-berried form of wild strawberry is now in my garden!
6) Cornus suecica (Dwarf Cornel) – I refuse to use its “new” name Chamaeperyclimenum suecica – I can’t even pronounce it…. Although edible, it has a bland taste, but can be mixed with other berries, being rich in pectin.
7) Oxycoccus palustris (Stor tranebær in Norwegian, translates as Large Craneberry, but nowhere near as large as the North American Cranberry). We also saw Oxycoccus microcarpus (Small Craneberry) which is separated at this stage by its hairless flower stalk, or was it the other way round?
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What a great project to be part of Stephen - thanks for posting your photos of findings - here the Vaccinium myrtillus is prevalent in the forest and I have had the first delicious pickings (a local woman makes fantastic wild berry jams) Also great to see Cloudberries - we ate these as youngsters on fishing holidays in Norway and I quite liked them!
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Stephen your Cloudberry looks like the Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis that grows in some old gardens over here
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Stephen your Cloudberry looks like the Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis that grows in some old gardens over here
Had never really thought about that (I have spectabilis in my garden) as they are such radically different plants, the cloudberry a ground hugger and the salmonberry like a raspberry, but yes they do look similar. The taste is very different though.
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Stephen it brings back memories of delicious Cloudberry Jam brought back from a cruise up to the North Cape!
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This weekend I escaped from the garden and joined a small group of amateur and professional botanists carrying out a botanical mapping survey of our kommune (municipality), Malvik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvik). The method being used is to register all higher plants (e.g., not mosses, lichens and fungi) found in 1x1 km square areas, of which there are over 200 in Malvik. The kommune is mostly relatively low level reaching just over 500m at the highest point, just above the tree line. The forest is mostly Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Spruce (Picea abies). There are numerous small lakes and bogs, the latter harbouring the highest diversity. These weekends are always very rewarding and I come away realizing how little I know about the local flora (hopefully I’ll retain some of the information to next year – posting this on the web will help, I hope!). Although it’s now way past the main flowering season, there is nevertheless a lot to see. Therefore, I thought I’d share with you some of the photos I took at the weekend. Being out in the field all weekend, there inevitably turns up some interesting insects and I’ll post a few of these here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3720.msg104173#msg104173 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3720.msg104173#msg104173)
As far as birds are concerned, it was pretty quiet, the highlight being a couple of Cranes (Grus grus) which flew over while we were eating lunch on the Saturday.
Here’s the first batch of photos. It’s berry picking season, but there wasn’t much time for more than a nibble:
1) Rubus saxatilis (Stone Bramble)
2) Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) is the most common “blueberry” here.
3) Vaccinium uliginosum (Bog Bilberry) is picked alongside common bilberry.
4) Cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) is worshipped here in Norway and for most Norwegians an essential part of Xmas celebrations. An acquired taste – I’ve grown fonder of it the longer I’ve lived in Norway….
5) Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) – I’ve found several garden worthy plants on these weekends such as the variegated Valerian that I found last year (see http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3909.0 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3909.0)). This long-berried form of wild strawberry is now in my garden!
6) Cornus suecica (Dwarf Cornel) – I refuse to use its “new” name Chamaeperyclimenum suecica – I can’t even pronounce it…. Although edible, it has a bland taste, but can be mixed with other berries, being rich in pectin.
7) Oxycoccus palustris (Stor tranebær in Norwegian, translates as Large Craneberry, but nowhere near as large as the North American Cranberry). We also saw Oxycoccus microcarpus (Small Craneberry) which is separated at this stage by its hairless flower stalk, or was it the other way round?
great project! i'd love to see something similar in my area! till then i just carry on alone in a far less comprehensive manner ;)
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Stephen it brings back memories of delicious Cloudberry Jam brought back from a cruise up to the North Cape!
Next time - give me a shout. My office overlooks the coastal steamer and cruise ships in Trondheim...
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Next batch of plants found in boggy areas:
1. A typical view of a lake with Pine trees
2-3. We have two common sundews - first Drosera longifolia, the long-leaved sundew
4. Drosera rotundifolia, the round-leaved sundew
5-6. I learned (again) several of the cotton grasses, here Eriophorum latifolium, the broad-leaved bog cotton
7. Eriophorum angustifolium, tall cotton grass, also widespread in North America and used as survival food (roots and stem bases), medicine and for its fiber by native americans.
8. Trichophorum alpinum, the Alpine cotton-grass or Alpine bulrush in North America. We also saw a couple of other species too.
9. View of a cabin garden
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What a great setting by the lake Stephen - Both of the Drosera are really lovely with the dew drops on them - you can see where they got their name from!
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some similarities to some of the landscapes around here...we do have the cotton grasses, along with many other kinds of sedges and rushes around here...
the drosera are really nice, they are in alberta somewhere too, but i have never seen them in person here..
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Some more plants of damp environments:
1. Along with the sundews, we found another flesh eater, an Utricularia spp (bladderwort)
2-3. Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) is near the eastern edge of its range with us.
4. Potamogeton natans (Broad-leaved pondweed)
5. Saussurea alpina (Alpine saw-wort) is quite common; make sure you have a sniff too as it has a pleasant vanilla-like aroma…
6. Cirsium heterophyllum (Melancholy Thistle), source of the Melancholy Artichoke, renowned bog food – very labour intensive to prepare a decent serving (definitely makes one melancholy..), probably would command a price alongside truffles with a bit of marketing…
7. Grass of Parnassus, also known as Bog-Stars (or Stars of the Bog) or Parnassia palustris is found in richer, less acid, bogs. I’ve always wondered how it got its name? Is there perhaps a different species of Parnassia on Mt. Parnassos in Greece?
8. We found the hybrid birch Betula nana x pubescens on the edge of one bog, but despite searching we didn’t see the Dwarf Birch, Betula nana itself (commoner at higher elevations).
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Stephen your Cloudberry looks like the Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis that grows in some old gardens over here
Incidentally, I read yesterday that Cloudberries have crossed spontaneously and artificially with raspberries, Rubus idaeus (see http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/CropFactSheets/cloud_berry.html) but the resultant plants have been sterile.... You could imagine the salmonberry being the result of such a cross.
I also have the cultivar "Olympic Double" - is it that one or the species that you find in old gardens over there? They're a bit invasive, so they will persist in a garden when neglected.
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some similarities to some of the landscapes around here...we do have the cotton grasses, along with many other kinds of sedges and rushes around here...
the drosera are really nice, they are in alberta somewhere too, but i have never seen them in person here..
A lot of the plants I'm showing are circumpolar, so I'm sure you have some of the same species or close relations.
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Inspired by Rafa's seed collecting in another thread, here's another cloudberry look-alike from my garden (well, the colour is similar) what I call the Apricot-Raspberry (my own selection), together with the strangely little grown Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) and a common but tasty red raspberry which I found in the neglected old railway station garden here):
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Oooo they look delicious ;D
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Yes, they were delicious....
Just found this picture of Cloudberry in flower from the Lofoten Islands in early June:
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nice flowers and shot...it looks like cloudberry has a range just slightly to the north of me.... i will have to try to find some sometime...
we have lots of R arcticus and pubescens? the latter of which produced far more flowers than usual this year, and more berries also, though the berries are small in this sp...
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Very nice postings, Stephen. Excellent photos, and fun to read the comments about our native plants.
I just came beack from the mountain cabin with 29 kilos of cloudberries. Luckily I could use a row boat to get to the car. :)
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I just came beack from the mountain cabin with 29 kilos of cloudberries. Luckily I could use a row boat to get to the car. :)
Magnar - You would be declared worthy of sainthood in Newfoundland. Many Newfoundlanders make the long trek to Labrador via boat and car to collect cloudberries when in season.
johnw
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Very nice postings, Stephen. Excellent photos, and fun to read the comments about our native plants.
I just came beack from the mountain cabin with 29 kilos of cloudberries. Luckily I could use a row boat to get to the car. :)
Impressive! I can vouch for the fact that the Aspaker household has no shortage of the orange berry. Both times I have visited I have been offered cloudberries! The last time, in June this year, I arrived at 8 a.m. as I had to catch a plane south at 11. Magnar's wife spoon fed me with berries as we wandered around the garden so that I wouldn't waste plant watching time (I hadn't had time for breakfast) - many years since I was last spoon-fed.
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Impressive! I can vouch for the fact that the Aspaker household has no shortage of the orange berry. Both times I have visited I have been offered cloudberries! The last time, in June this year, I arrived at 8 a.m. as I had to catch a plane south at 11. Magnar's wife spoon fed me with berries as we wandered around the garden so that I wouldn't waste plant watching time (I hadn't had time for breakfast) - many years since I was last spoon-fed.
now THAT is impressive! that is some serious 'guestfriendliness'! ;)
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Another batch, starting with some larger herbs:
1. Cicerbita alpina (Blue Sow Thistle) is one of Norway’s more garden-worthy plants. I noticed that Simon showed a nice plant yesterday from Bulgaria I think (it’s range is Scandinavia, the Alps and a few others - see here http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/astera/cicer/cicealpv.jpg (http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/astera/cicer/cicealpv.jpg)). It grows in richer woodland habitats and can spread to cover large areas where it is happy (the first picture was taken in Northern Norway in June). It was formerly an important vegetable to the sami people (lapps), but has a rather strong taste to the modern palate. Maybe it’s less strong when fermented in a reindeer stomach – let me know if you have a go!
2-3. Fantastic in flower, particularly when seen en masse.
4. This curious Cicerbita turned up on the Saturday, lacking the flower stalk.
5. We found the latter in woodland next to this remote farm. We botanised in the fields hoping that there might be some unusual meadow plants as we were told by the farmer that they hadn’t used much fertilizer on part of the land. However, we didn’t find much of note.
6. Angelica sylvestris (Wild Angelica) is the commonest of our two species (Angelica archangelica is commoner in the mountains)
7. Blechnum spicant (the Hard Fern or Deer Fern)
Now, a few smaller flowers:
8. Pyrola minor (Common wintergreen) is one of several species in the Pyrolaceae in our area. The Sidebells Wintergreen (Orthilia secunda) is the commonest.
9. The orchid flowering season is mostly over. The most interesting find at the weekend was a Dark Red Helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens). The one in this picture is much more difficult to spot and photograph due to its size, although it’s not rare, a Lesser Twayblade, Listera cordata.
10. The Eyebrights (Euphrasia spp) are a difficult group to identify – we collected material for an Eyebright specialist to look at.
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This is the last group of pictures showing some of the fungi/lichens that we saw.
1. Reindeer Moss (Cladonia stellaris)
2. One of the Coral fungi (difficult to identify in the field)
3. Amanita regalis, the Brown Fly Agaric
4. Porcini (Boletus edulis) – one of my favourite wild fungi; in a good year I can collect more of this than Magnar’s cloudberry haul… I dry them so that I have a supply until the next good year; we had an Italian girl with us at the weekend and she couldn’t resist - this is her haul (incidentally I was just reading that nowadays almost all commercial porcini in Italy comes from abroad (notably China and eastern Europe), but is sold as Italian Porcini!
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grr..i typed a message and it was lost...lol
i am enjoying seeing the similarities and differences in our flora, stephen..
nothing quite like the Cicerbita here; quite true that modern/western palates are rather more delicate it seems, certainly in the case of strong tasting greens/vegetables, and i bet north americans even much worse than europeans!
here the most common wintergreen (very very common) is P asarifolia; Orthillia is common, but still a distant second, with other species much less common...
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Wow, that haul of Porcini mushrooms looks tempting ;)
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Another batch, starting with some larger herbs:
1. Cicerbita alpina (Blue Sow Thistle) is one of Norway’s more garden-worthy plants. I noticed that Simon showed a nice plant yesterday from Bulgaria I think (it’s range is Scandinavia, the Alps and a few others - see here http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/astera/cicer/cicealpv.jpg (http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/astera/cicer/cicealpv.jpg)). It grows in richer woodland habitats and can spread to cover large areas where it is happy (the first picture was taken in Northern Norway in June). It was formerly an important vegetable to the sami people (lapps), but has a rather strong taste to the modern palate. Maybe it’s less strong when fermented in a reindeer stomach – let me know if you have a go!
2-3. Fantastic in flower, particularly when seen en masse.
4. This curious Cicerbita turned up on the Saturday, lacking the flower stalk.
5. We found the latter in woodland next to this remote farm. We botanised in the fields hoping that there might be some unusual meadow plants as we were told by the farmer that they hadn’t used much fertilizer on part of the land. However, we didn’t find much of note.
I notice that Cicerbita macrophyla still grows in what is left of the meadow where the new nursing home (Randolph Hill) on the Perth Road, Dunblane is built. They have left a metre or so of uncultivated ground between a few alder trees and the boundary wall for about 50 metres and it is still there. :) It is called the 'Common Blue Sow thistle', but is anything but common.