Alberta Wanderings 2010

[cohan]

chilly and smokey! i think its rather overcast, though you can't see the clouds, smoke has blown in the last couple of days from fires far away in british columbia! health warnings throughout  much of the province yesterday, supposed to be a bit better in some parts today, but not here--still thick smoke, low visibility and a sting in the throat to breathe it!
a few shots from yesterday, i'll put a couple in august weather thread... the smokiest shots are zoom, the smoke was not thick enough to make driving hazardous, though not too far from it!

[Panu]

Doh, preventing of forest fires is very efficient in Finland. So, ecological restoration is needed. We tried to burn forest at the end of June, but succeeded poorly. Only some of planned area burned somehow :/

[cohan]

Doh, preventing of forest fires is very efficient in Finland. So, ecological restoration is needed. We tried to burn forest at the end of June, but succeeded poorly. Only some of planned area burned somehow :/

this has happened in many areas in canada also: too efficient fire prevention has led to forests not only ecologically limited, but also full of dead trees, duff, and limbs etc so if a fire does start, it is fierce and hot and hard to control.. so controlled burns are done in some areas..
my immediate area is mixed forest, so not really much of a fire risk here, except in spring--between snow and summer rain, there is usually a very dry period, where grass has not started to grow, and grass fires which can spread into brush, coniferous trees and buildings can be very dangerous...right now it would probably burn less than your forest--spruce trees would burn, not the rest...

british columbia currently has several serious issues--low snowfall last winter in many areas, meaning a dry start to summer, high temperatures and dry conditions over the summer, and in some areas a huge amount of dead standing forest due to pine beetle kill; i heard that now douglas firs in some areas are also now being killed by another insect! deadly combination..

today, the smoke has spread all the way across alberta and across the next province, saskatchewan! thats the better part of 2 days driving from the fires....

[cohan]

ok, back to june 16; mostly along the edges of wet meadow habitat (the cornus is mixed woods on the way there..)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010VioletsAndChickweeds#
1 Cornus canadensis
2 Carex sp? one of the showiest sp here, though there are many nice ones..
3,4 Viola sp advice-nephrophylla or palustris?
5-7 Petasites much more visible in seed and full leaf (large glaucous arrows of P sagittatus)
8 Petasites hybrid swarm-leaves from nearly fully palmate form of Petasites frigidus var palmatus to arrow shape of Petasites sagittatus
9 Stellaria longipes? a pretty, delicate thin stemmed sp sprawling/clambering over/through other vegetation

[cohan]

another Viola sp of wettish places--fairly open but amongst grasses/sedges etc..clearly paler flowers than the last one (both have larger flowers than typical adunca here)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010MoreVioletsAndChickweedsPlusMaianthemumEtAl#

[cohan]

in a wooded area in the slough;
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010MoreVioletsAndChickweedsPlusMaianthemumEtAl#
1-3 Maianthemum trifolium will grow on the drier raised hummocks  or right down in the wetter soil (where it wont be stepped on too much by cattle/deer/moose)
4 Geocaulon lividum and
5 Cornus canadensis and
6 Mitella nuda seem to prefer to keep their feet out of the wettest spots
at the wet, grassy, grazed edge, i think this is the european weed
7,8 Scleranthus annuus? though i'm not sure as the leaves seem a bit too broad...
9 Carex sp? another sedge

[Gerdk]

3,4 Viola sp advice-nephrophylla or palustris?

Cohan, Thanks for these interesting pics of wetland violets. I guess it is either nephrophylla or cucullata. Viola palustris has paler flowers than this.
The determination of violets in early states of their growing cycle is complicated because leaves are not fully developed and among other things also the capsules are needed as distinctive features.

Gerd

[Gerdk]

another Viola sp of wettish places--fairly open but amongst grasses/sedges etc..clearly paler flowers than the last one (both have larger flowers than typical adunca here)
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus/June162010MoreVioletsAndChickweedsPlusMaianthemumEtAl#

Cohan, this could be either Viola palustris or epipsila. If the leaves are thinner as usual it is the first one. Viola epipsila has more firm ones.
Without guarantee - see my last answer!
Nevertheless wonderful pics and plants!

Gerd

[cohan]

thanks for the input, gerd; if i am in the same places again,  i will try for photos of mature leaves and see if there are any capsules..
i had not heard of V epipsila, but the book i have is incomplete in genera, and for viola mentions 13 sp in alberta, but only describes 9; usda site does mention the species being present in alberta, but i have not been able to find any specific range..

[Gerdk]

thanks for the input, gerd; if i am in the same places again,  i will try for photos of mature leaves and see if there are any capsules..
i had not heard of V epipsila, but the book i have is incomplete in genera, and for viola mentions 13 sp in alberta, but only describes 9; usda site does mention the species being present in alberta, but i have not been able to find any specific range..

Cohan, You are welcome! If it isn't too much trouble - I would be glad if you could make a list of all violet species which are present in Alberta.
This makes identifikation much easier.

Gerd

I am lacking

[TheOnionMan]

Good photo of Viola epipsila taken in Iceland
http://www.iceland-nh.net/plants/data/Viola-epipsila/y2007d-0127.jpg

Photo of the similar V. palustris, for comparison (also taken in Iceland)
http://www.iceland-nh.net/plants/data/Viola-palustris/y2007d-0491.jpg

Floral design on Royal Copenhagen fine china
http://www.floradanicaonline.com/images/smaller%20pictures/Viola%20Epipsila%20Ledeb.%20%20T%202405.jpg
Many Viola species on Royal Copenhagen fine china
http://www.floradanicaonline.com/flora%20danica%20flower%20list%20U-V.htm

USDA Pront Profile of V. epipsila ssp. repens
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIEP

2 photos from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/species.php?id_plant=VIEPR

http://www.cdhs.us/Flower%20Project/Family%20Index/Violaceae%20Index/V.%20epipsila/V.%20epipsila%20Fset.htm

Gerd, the USDA site displays a list of species on any particular genus with small clickable maps of North America on each, which can at a glance show the geographical areas (States in the USA, Provinces in Canada) that hold those species.  Here's the link for Viola in North America.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIOLA

There is also a watercolor drawing of Viola epipsila in Dorothy Klaber's book on Violets.

[cohan]

thanks for the input, gerd; if i am in the same places again,  i will try for photos of mature leaves and see if there are any capsules..
i had not heard of V epipsila, but the book i have is incomplete in genera, and for viola mentions 13 sp in alberta, but only describes 9; usda site does mention the species being present in alberta, but i have not been able to find any specific range..

Cohan, You are welcome! If it isn't too much trouble - I would be glad if you could make a list of all violet species which are present in Alberta.
This makes identifikation much easier.

Gerd

I am lacking

mark, thanks for the input..
gerd--actually, i am also lacking
mark mentions the usda site, which might yield a list of taxa in alberta, but actually that wouldn't be that useful without distribution maps--since certainly not all of the species will be in my area--that was my frustration with the epipsila mention on the usda site--its in alberta, but where? could be here or hundreds of kilometres from here
similarly, there are some yellow flowered sp in the province, but i have never seen such a thing in person, and none likely in my area..
i'll have to wait till i get the real flora of alberta book, what i have now is something much more casual, and only names 9 of 13 sp the authors recognise...
perhaps tellingly, my search for epipsila did not turn up a google books reference to flora of alberta....

the icelandic flowers mark shows are interesting, though i think i'd need a description along with them to tell me what the differences should be! since just looking at them, i don't see a difference that couldn't be attributed to age or location or simple variation... and the LBJ photos look totally different; the danger of trying to id from photos, of course

[Gerdk]

the danger of trying to id from photos, of course

Mark,
Thank you for your most useful links, especially from usda - kept it to favorites. I came along them when looking for a particular species but didn't imagine that there was a site which contains all (most of) the violets. It's a pity that only the states/provinces were mentioned - for instance Viola clauseniana = Utah grows only in a restricted area of Zion National Park.

Cohan,
You are totally right (see your quote) - there is also another trouble which is that if you read more than one description of a certain species there are a lot of differences between them - especially concerning the European violets. If this wasn't enough there are a lot of hybrids between them which drive one mad.
Nevertheless a fascinating genus (at least for me)!

Gerd

[TheOnionMan]

Gerd, just did some armchair botanizing to dig up interesting links to rare Utah Viola species, including V. clauseniana.  Enjoy!

UtahRarePlants.org site - Utah Rare Plant Guide
http://www.utahrareplants.org/rpg_species.html

Viola clauseniana
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_clauseniana.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35630341/Viola-clauseniana-Utah-Rare-Plants

Viola charlestonensis
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_charlestonensis.pdf
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+2015
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+2014
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0506+2013

Viola frank-smithii
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_frank_smithii.pdf

Viola lithion
http://www.utahrareplants.org/pdf/Viola_lithion.pdf
http://heritage.nv.gov/images/2003/vilipl81.jpg
http://heritage.nv.gov/images/2003/vilipw80.jpg

[Gerdk]

Gerd, just did some armchair botanizing to dig up interesting links to rare Utah Viola species, including V. clauseniana.  Enjoy!

Mark - Really enjoyed it, especially the link to extraordinary Viola lithion which I cultivated for some years (and unfortunately lost). Thank you!

Gerd