Taylor Lake - Panorama Meadows, Banff N. P., July 27/09

[Lori S.]

A brief account of our hike on Monday...
It was a hot day for Banff National Park (26 deg C) with unusually high humidity, as given evidence by the low clouds snagged on the peaks as we drove to the trailhead.... very muggy out on the trail, which is an old firefighting road that was pushed through by cat many decades ago.  There are no peak views along the way but it is a pleasant (though incredibly sweaty, that day!) walk on a wide switch-backing trail through the forest, which was fresh and lush after a rain.  
1) From trailside in the lower spruce forest, tall white orchid, Plantanthera dilatata.
2) Thanks to the trail opening, there is enough sunshine for a rich growth of Linnaea borealis, and all its usual associates, and lots of bloom...
3) From among the masses of it, a perfect little grouping of Cornus canadensis.
4) Moneses uniflora, and the other wintergreens, were in bloom, or already finished, at different elevations along the trial.
5) Pyrola asarifolia...
6) Pyrola elliptica...
7) The timing was just right to see Rhododendron albiflorum in abundant bloom along the upper trail.
8, 9, 10) And getting to the upper parts of the trail, a grove of Veratrum eschscholtzii (or V. viride ssp. eschscholtzii) thriving in a sunny, wettish opening.

[Lori S.]

And...
1) Taylor Lake itself, where there is a tiny campground with a few sites (3-4?), a pole to hang your food bag from (to foil the bears), and an outhouse... and a spectacular view of sheer rock walls, scree slopes, and a couple of waterfalls at the far end.
A bald eagle was circling the lake as we approached; the lake was stocked with cutthroat trout in the past (stocking ended in recent years), though unfortunately with "imported" western slope cutthroats, to the detriment of the native eastern slope cutthroats, which, due to interbreeding with stocked fish, are now rare and endangered... an example of the national parks trying to serve too many masters (e.g. recreation, rather than conservation).  
2)  The boggy outflow of the lake into Taylor Creek and the open meadow alongside the lake were filled with subalpine flowers!
3, 4, 5) Continuing up past the campground into the flower-filled meadows under Panorama Ridge... with the spires of alpine firs (Abies lasiocarpa) giving way shortly to the predominantly-larch (Larix lyallii) forest just under tree-line;
6) Cotton grass, Eriophorum spp., in the wet spot in the meadow;
7) Valeriana sitchensis, Castilleja spp., Potentilla spp., Pedicularis bracteosa, etc. in rich bloom in the meadow...
8 ) A sidestream that drains the upper snowmelt and joins the outflow from Taylor Lake further down the trail;
9) Growing on rocks in the tumbling stream, Epilobium spp..  (I didn't key it out, either, though I have rather pointlessly developed the habit of dragging Flora of Alberta along on hikes, despite its not-inconsiderable weight.  )
10) And, up to the head of the stream.

[Paul T]

Lori,

So that Rhododendron produces flowers directly off old wood?  Never heard of that before.

[Lori S.]

Moss & Packer in Flora of Alberta say of Rhododendron albiflorum: "flowers white, nodding, 1-3 in the axils of previous year's leaves and lateral on the stems", so, yes, it appears that way.   I haven't grown it, and have only rarely seen it offered (Fraser's Thimble Farms on Saltspring Island, B. C., offered it once in my recollection) so I don't know beyond that.

[johnw]

Lori - Fraser's Thimble Farm had Rhododendron albiflorum this year, beautiful plants and I got one, cheap for the size. It is considered to be very difficult to grow.  I killed one many years by a mistaken application of fertilizer. Seems to be allergic to fertilizer and hot humid summers.

johnw

[Lori S.]

Ah, I see, John... useful info, thanks.  We don't have hot and humid summers, but I expect it wouldn't care much for the alkaline soil down here in the lowlands, on the other hand.... ?  Although this is a confusing point for me... it wasn't growing in areas with rocky outcrops (which are overwhelmingly carbonate rocks here) so I assume the turfy buildup may have provided acid conditions...?  

Another thing... in its natural habitat here, it gets good snow cover - and in your area too, I presume.  It certainly wouldn't where I live, so I think it might very well be doomed in even the best of my "tender loving care"  .

[Paul T]

Thanks for the info.  I didn't realise that there were Rhodos that flowered that way.  Certainly is different to the "normal" ones, isn't it?  Great to learn new things.

[cohan]

looks like a beautiful spot, lori...

some nice flowers--the woodland species are just a little behind here..
Platanthera is nice---these days we mostly have green orchids of this form (used to see ladies tresses, but havent recently), still trying to figure out if there is more than one species..
love the Rhodo... would like to try it myself sometime..
Veratrum is interesting, not familiar with it..
i was trying to find Moneses locally to photograph, its around here, but not as common as some of the other wintergreens, havent managed to find any this year.. another fave..

i really like the epilobium too, we have a species with very similar flowers, but its a tall plant, so the flowers are lost..the best feature is overwintering rosettes (i'm assuming biennial ) which tend to red and recurved leaves....


interesting thoughts on the rhodo soils.... here, we have 'grey wooded' soil-rather clayey stuff, except in wetter areas, where the soil becomes blacker and or peaty... that's where Rhodo/Ledum groenlandicum grows, along with some of the Vacciniums, others grow anywhere..

[Rodger Whitlock]

meadow IMG_7775.JPG makes the point that Mother Nature gardens on a far grander scale than any mere human ever does. You couldn't buy that kind of garden scene for all the tea in China, even if you were the Emperor of the Known Universe.

And she often achieves her most splendiferous effects with the simplest of means. It makes our own gardens look like fussy, overly complicated dogs' breakfasts affairs in comparison.

About moneses and pyrola: aren't these suspected of being hemi-parasitic?

[Lori S.]

1, 2) And on to the talus slopes and meadows above...
3) Kalmia microphylla, with Cassiope tetragona and Saxifraga spp, etc.;
4) And, here's me, rooting frantically through my pack, saying, "Where's that *&^@$% insect repellent!?!"  
For the first time in 14 total years of hiking in this region, this is the absolute first time I have experienced blood-sucking or flesh-chomping bugs anything like in the boreal forest of Saskatchewan!  Mosquitoes in legion, biting stable flies, squadrons of horse flies...  (Stuart remarked that, only in 1994, in northern Jasper, hiking along boggy willow-grown creek trails did he recollect the bugs being that bad in the mountains.  Well, living here for so long, it is true that we have lost our tolerance for both air-borne pests and heat... so again, I suppose it's probably sort of relative re. the abundance of bugs!)  Oh, and the insect-repellent wipes, which we normally carry but almost never need to use, were left at home in the little fanny packs we used some time ago....    This realization prompted much gnashing of teeth, LOL!
5) So, driven both by ravenous hordes of bugs and by rolling thunder, we headed down... more flowery sights on our return;
6) Pedicularis bracteosa
7) A coyote that we surprised along the way... it might possibly have been hunting squirrels, which we heard giving their warning calls from that area as we approached.  It seemed to have one ear bent down, which might make it a distinctive individual.
8 ) And out of the subalpine and into the forest descent... Aquilegia flavescens, many showing some orangey-pinky tones on the sepals.   Strangely enough, the bugs were only bad in the open, mostly sunny meadows above... by rights, they should have been rampant in the shaded, still forest, especially with the drizzle on the way down... most odd!
9) Many beautiful lichens visible along the trail...
10) And, by way of an ending, here's the cool, mossy forest floor near the trailhead again.

[Lori S.]

interesting thoughts on the rhodo soils.... here, we have 'grey wooded' soil-rather clayey stuff, except in wetter areas, where the soil becomes blacker and or peaty... that's where Rhodo/Ledum groenlandicum grows, along with some of the Vacciniums, others grow anywhere..

Rhododendron albiflorum seems to be very common within a certain elevation band in Banff (have not noticed it at the hikes we do in Kananaskis, where conditions are generally drier... though that is surely just a function of the places we go).  It doesn't seem to be associated at all with any noticeably boggier conditions, and occurs in close association with false huckleberry (Menziesia ferruginea), which continues down to lower elevations.  Moss & Packer describe the habitat as "moist montane and subalpine forests".  So, I'm not sure if it requires acid soil or not... ?

[cohan]

interesting thoughts on the rhodo soils.... here, we have 'grey wooded' soil-rather clayey stuff, except in wetter areas, where the soil becomes blacker and or peaty... that's where Rhodo/Ledum groenlandicum grows, along with some of the Vacciniums, others grow anywhere..

Rhododendron albiflorum seems to be very common within a certain elevation band in Banff (have not noticed it at the hikes we do in Kananaskis, where conditions are generally drier... though that is surely just a function of the places we go).  It doesn't seem to be associated at all with any noticeably boggier conditions, and occurs in close association with false huckleberry (Menziesia ferruginea), which continues down to lower elevations.  Moss & Packer describe the habitat as "moist montane and subalpine forests".  So, I'm not sure if it requires acid soil or not... ?

no opinion on that, though it would be worth some testing..of course hard to separate reaction to soils from climatic issues!
re: moist forests--there are a number of plants occurring here that are listed as occurring in 'moist forests' in royer dickinson, and i consider our forests to be moist only in those parts that are right next to a low wet area, or in wet years! so i guess 'moist forest' is relative..this year, even wet areas (apart from open water, and that is much smaller in extent) are barely  moist, and i am walking freely where i carefully picked my way on hummocks through standing water the last two summers...

i really like the kalmia!
odd about the bugs..i really wonder why they are not more common in the mountains? though i did actually experience some mosquitoes at out stop after columbia icefields, in the trees....here, you really cant stand still outdoors in peak season, especially in the trees, and near dusk or when its cloudy....one advantage of the dry year, they have diminished, not gone though!

[Lori S.]

There are no bugs here to speak of either, as I mentioned in that earlier thread... (at which point everyone in buggier areas offered to send me theirs!    Hey, I'm not complaining, but it is odd!  Well, likely explained by the aridity and lack of standing water here.)

1) One I had not noticed before, pink form of Agoseris aurantiaca, quite a few of them in these wet meadows.  These appeared to be fresh flowers, not aged ones.  Edit: This plant was known as Agoseris lackschewitzii, now as Agoseris aurantiaca var. aurantiaca, according to The Plant List.
2) Rocks in the subalpine stream covered in lush growths of Senecio, possibly S. pseudaureus(?)...
3) ... and also Mitella and Phyllodoce empetriformis...
4, 5) "Jigsaw" rock with geometrically intersecting lichen growths.
6) A photo from last year that sums up the beauty of this area better than any I took on Monday.


 

[cohan]

There are no bugs here to speak of either, as I mentioned in that earlier thread... (at which point everyone in buggier areas offered to send me theirs!    Hey, I'm not complaining, but it is odd!  Well, likely explained by the aridity and lack of standing water here.)

1) One I had not noticed before, pink form of Agoseris aurantiaca, quite a few of them in these wet meadows.  These appeared to be fresh flowers, not aged ones.
2) Rocks in the subalpine stream covered in lush growths of Senecio, possibly S. pseudaureus(?)...
3) ... and also Mitella and Phyllodoce empetriformis...
4, 5) "Jigsaw" rock with geometrically intersecting lichen growths.
6) A photo from last year that sums up the beauty of this area better than any I took on Monday.

re: aridity, when i was in toronto, i just happened to have a client who was in town visiting, lived in calgary but originally from red deer (less than a couple of hours driving from calgary), and he found he was having dry skin problems since moving to calgary--'its like a desert' he said...lol

i like the pink agoseris! even orange would be cool..the yellow is a pretty plant, if it werent for looking a bit too much like some of those darned european weeds

[Paddy Tobin]

Lori,

What a beautiful place, wonderful views and the veratrum is simply stunning, the highlight, for me, of the series of shots.

Paddy