Alberta Wanderings 2010

[cohan]

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#

[cohan]

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...

[cohan]

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!

[cohan]

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

[cohan]

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

[cohan]

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..

[cohan]

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....

[cohan]

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!!

[cohan]

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)

[christian pfalz]

cohan,
great pictures....fantastic more please...
cheers
chris

[cohan]

thanks, chris i have a little pile of seed packets set aside for you (and wim, among others..lol) , i'll be sending soon!

[christian pfalz]

thats great cohan.....i´m happy about 
have a good day
cheers
chris

[cohan]

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  

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

[cohan]

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

[cohan]

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