Alberta Wanderings

[Lori S.]

Onion, you had it right all along! 

[cohan]

thanks uli and lori for the input: i corrected the original message and the file name of the photo to reflect the correct name;
what i should have been looking for all along were the the large sterile flowers on the outside of the flower cluster of the V. opulus...
here are a couple of more images-- the flower cluster a bit more mature, and an overview of the self planted grouping at the edge of my yard--Viburnum, Ribes, etc; the tallest stems--supported by the poplar trunk are no more than 2m, probably less;
 if your eyes are sharp, you may see the back end of a cat to the right of the photo...

[Lori S.]

Cohan, that's the problem with the books that show one picture of the flower and minimal to no description... what do you do if it's not in flower?  (Drives me crazy!  )  So, anyway... V. edule and V. opulus, when not in flower, are distingished by the depth of lobing of the leaves (deeply lobed on most of the leaves on V. opulus), and that V. opulus has stipules at the base of the petioles.  Also, apparently, (something I'll have to look for), V. edule has 1 pair of leaves on the inflorescence branch, while V. opulus has 2 pairs.

A book I'd recommend, since it is readily available (though not comprehensive), is Plants of Kananaskis Country by Hallworth and Chinnappa.

[cohan]

i'll watch for that book, i haven't seen it around here, but that doesnt mean i wont run into it somewhere..

it would be nice to have one book with good images of leaves AND  flowers, lets throw in seedpods, and maybe preflowering rosettes, while we are at it and  ALL  species, please...lol

i had originally said opulus, because the leaves in my photo DID  seem more lobed than those in the photo of edule; just the natural variation, i guess--and i was just id'ing it now from my photos, not last summer from the plants: i didnt have even this book yet then! (i had a few old books: a 'rocky mountain wildflowers' with drawings/paintings, a waterton lakes book etc, but havent found my 'alberta wildflowers' from the old days...)

[Lori S.]

I'd love to have that book too... though it would hardly be a field guide, LOL!  (More like something you'd need a dolly to lug around... even given the relatively few species we have compared to elsewhere in the world.) 
Flora of Alberta is the best reference and is only verbal description... and can be pretty heavy-going - I have to refer to the glossary for every second or third word, LOL!

[cohan]

Flora of Alberta is the best reference and is only verbal description... and can be pretty heavy-going - I have to refer to the glossary for every second or third word, LOL!

good education..lol---useful to learn all the technical characters..of course, i am far from that...

[David Nicholson]

Cohan, I enjoy your wanderings very much indeed thanks for taking the time and the trouble to post them.

[Gerdk]

Cohan,
Just returned from a 10 days trip to Spain and found your ' happy weed'  - thank you!

Gerd

[cohan]

tks, gerd and david, glad you are enjoying..much more to come-
including, gerd, Viola canadensis, our largest violet! hope you had a great time in spain!
now, to get ready for work

[cohan]

still around the edges of my yard, end of may, 08;
Mertensia paniculata
a super common plant here, one of the earliest colonisers of open areas-maybe not out in baking sun (though we really only have that in cultivated areas/fields or roads) , but certainly around edges of woodlands, dry or wet, roadsides among grasses and other forbs etc....in bloom for most of the summer, though probably not the same plants

[cohan]

the foliage of
Maianthemum canadense
a really decorative species at all times! leaves are very pretty as they unroll in spring, then the foliage is very shiny, and there can be large patches of it--from deep shade(where it flowers less) to roadsides where it flowers a lot even though foliage can look a bit faded; then later in the summerberries are pretty too, though it seems not that many flowers fertilised; i think locally the berries are mostly red with some speckles, populations i have seen in the foothills/mountains seem to have more green with red speckles.
Rubus pubescens
one of our several raspberry species, i think this is the right id for this one; longish creeping stems in open woods, not very showy flowers, and not too many fruit produced, unlike the regular raspberry bushes which are superabundant here and produce quite a lot of fruit
Viola canadensis
our largest violet with white flowers tinged pink or purple, and flowering later than adunca and renifolia; these plants can be 20-60cm tall according to my book..probably usually around 30cm here, and they can form nice patches in rather open woods..

[Gerdk]

Interesting Viola canadense - never saw such a pink form.
Cohan, has your Rubus upright woody stems or is it more like Rubus arcticus ?

Gerd

[cohan]

Interesting Viola canadense - never saw such a pink form.
Cohan, has your Rubus upright woody stems or is it more like Rubus arcticus ?
Gerd

i think, gerd, that i may have just happened to take these photos when the flowers had first opened and appeared pinkest, though there is some variaton anyway...

this rubus is much lower than the regular bush raspberries (which have biennial stems, upright, but weak), but has more conspicuous sprawling stems than R arcticus, and of course not nearly such nice flowers as arcticus;
my reference says 'stems 10-30cm tall, trailing stems 10-100cm, base becoming semi-woody' sounds about right; it has generally weak, thin trailing stems, and is fairly common, but does not form very dense stands

[Gerdk]

Thanks for the information Cohan! I don't know why, but I like the smaller Rubus species - especially when they are suited as a grownd cover.

Gerd

[cohan]

Thanks for the information Cohan! I don't know why, but I like the smaller Rubus species - especially when they are suited as a grownd cover.Gerd

i especially agree on R arcticus--big deep pink flowers, really pretty leaves, and it can form nice dense clumps; its one that i definitely intend to introduce to the garden and see what it will do for me..
here it grows mostly in damp areas, on raised hummocks in wet spots, or just next to wet ground; similar to Vaccinium, Ledum etc, though i think it prefers, or at least tolerates, more sun..
are you growing any small rubus, gerd?