Take a walk on the wild side.....

Discussion in 'How's It Growing?' started by pmurphy, May 29, 2020.

  1. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,789
    Likes Received:
    2,225
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    I hope these are distance shots. :)
     
  2. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    981
    Likes Received:
    792
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    For a "point and shoot" camera she has a pretty good zoom on it but sometimes you just get lucky......it also helps when its not hunting season as the wildlife seems to know :)
     
  3. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    2,531
    Likes Received:
    1,335
    Location:
    Nanoose Bay, BC Canada
    I went on such an interesting walk today, specifically to see some unusual plants - 2 saprophytic Coralroots; Corallorhiza maculata and Corallorhiza mertensiana plus one parasitic plant; Allotropa virgata (Candystick). None of them produce any chlorophyll but only the Candystick is parasitic.

    The Coralroots utilize mycorrhizal fungi to feed on decaying organic matter while the Candystick is parasitic on the specific mycorrhiza fungus, Tricholoma magnivelare, which is associated with a tree host (Douglas fir in this case). As you may know, Tricholoma magnivelare produces the famous White Matsutake -Pine Mushrooms - in autumn.

    Allotropa virgata
     

    Attached Files:

    Nik, Daniel Mosquin and pmurphy like this.
  4. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,789
    Likes Received:
    2,225
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    I'm impressed that you can just decide you want to see these and go out where you think they will be and there they are. I would be so excited.
     
  5. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    981
    Likes Received:
    792
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I used to take the dogs out to Hayward Lake near Ruskin every weekend and do the complete circuit (Stave Falls along the Railway trail to the Ruskin dam and then back along the South trail for a total of about 26 km) and there was one particular area along the South trail where Monotropa uniflora - ghost plant - would grow. It was always one of the highlights of that hike that I would see year after year.
    But that was also well over 20 years ago (long before they did the "upgrades" to the trail) so I doubt they are still there.
     
  6. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    2,531
    Likes Received:
    1,335
    Location:
    Nanoose Bay, BC Canada
    Invasive Pests and Biosecurity - Province of British Columbia

    I can only imagine how beautiful and peaceful that walk must have been! I hope that the ghost plants survived the 'upgrades'. Reading about Allotropa virgata yesterday, I came across information about Monotropa uniflora (Indian-pipe) too and was interested to learn that it, like Candystripe, is not only parasitic on tree micorrhiza but is in the Ericaceae family. It's hard to see what it has in common with heathers and rhododendrons! I hope one day I'll see it in person.

    [​IMG]
    from Wikipedia
     
    Nik and Daniel Mosquin like this.
  7. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    2,531
    Likes Received:
    1,335
    Location:
    Nanoose Bay, BC Canada
    Every time I go outside today, it starts to rain so I thought I'd send a few more photos from the interesting walk I went on yesterday with a friend. You need someone who knows where they're going in the vast 1000 acres or so of 'managed logging property' and DND land. The pictures below are from an area where there was once a homestead . . . probably at least 100 years ago. All signs of the house are gone and the land is being taken over by broom and gorse but there are a few remnants of human occupation - 2 or 3 old apple and pear trees and a most amazing Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). You can tell from the multiple leaders inside the Fir that it must have been topped and pruned back from when it was still quite young and so has grown into a most cultivated-looking form, unlike other Firs in the area. The apple trees are close by, so beautifully gnarled but clinging to life. They must all have been near the house.
     

    Attached Files:

    Nik, wcutler and Acerholic like this.
  8. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    If the trees could talk !!!!!!! The stories we would hear. Don't you just love old trees !! So much character. My wife and I enjoyed this post Margot. Thanks.
    D
     
  9. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    Good morning, these were growing wild on our walk this morning. Common Privet (Ligusttrum Vulgare), a heady scent. Convolvulus Sepium (Bindweed), Wild Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus). Convolvulus ( Field bindweed). Unknown wild miniature rose. And finaly Dandelion being allowed to grow on traditionally cut verges, allowing for more bees and insects to flourish. At last councils are learning.

    D
     

    Attached Files:

    Nik and Margot like this.
  10. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    981
    Likes Received:
    792
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    The rains and storms have stopped so my mother was able to get out for a quick walk. And she sent me a few more photos taken on the property.
    She says the indian paintbrush is starting to come up and will take photos when it does.

    I believe this would be Clematis occidentalis var. grosseserrata (these are even harder to find than the yellow ones)
    Aquilegia formosa
    Cornus canadensis
    Not sure if this yellow one is a wild flower or not, any thoughts?
    Final photo is an area near her house that they try to keep clear of brush and trees, but every spring the wild flowers return.
     

    Attached Files:

    Margot, Nik and Acerholic like this.
  11. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    Hi @pmurphy, lovely evening photos after the rain. Is the yellow, 'Arnica cordifolia'. Looks very similar to the one in my plant book.

    D
     
  12. Nik

    Nik Contributor

    Messages:
    843
    Likes Received:
    1,172
    Location:
    NA
    Hi Margot,
    I have many of these Monotropa uniflora showing up in my yard every summer. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo from previous years. When they appear this year, I will make sure to take some and post them here. Sometimes they are slightly pinkish. Amazing plant! I believe it is mildly poisonous.
     
  13. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    981
    Likes Received:
    792
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I think it could be.
    My mother does like to take pictures and is into nature but she is more of a garden center gardener - buying annuals and trying to find "colorful things" that will grow in zone 3. And although she can identify the common plants found on her property she isn't into wild plants that much except to say "it's pretty", "it grows like a weed here" (a classic) and (my favorite when trying to describe a trailing or climbing plant) "that hangy down thing". :)
     
  14. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

    Messages:
    21,250
    Likes Received:
    786
    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    The abnormal density of the Douglas fir is due to genetic variation rather than it having been brutalized.
     
  15. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    981
    Likes Received:
    792
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    My mother sent me some more photos...summer has apparently finally arrived because the paint brush is starting to appear.

    Aquilegia formosa - columbine
    Rosa sp. - wild roses
    Lupinus polyphyllus ? - lupine
    Castilleja miniata - Indian paintbrush
    Not sure what the yellow ones are...
     

    Attached Files:

    Nik, Margot, wcutler and 1 other person like this.
  16. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    Lovely and wild once again @pmurphy, the yellow is possibly a Calendula stellata.
    Looks like a Silver fox in photo 10. Canadian Tiger Swallowtail butterfly in photo 9.
    Great selection of flora and fauna by your Mum.
     
  17. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

    Messages:
    2,531
    Likes Received:
    1,335
    Location:
    Nanoose Bay, BC Canada
    I think the yellow flowers shown with lupines in DSCF4121.JPG are different than the single one in DSCF4123.JPG.
    Those look like Arnica to me but I'm not sure which species; there are several.

    Thank you for sharing your mother's lovely pictures with us.
     
  18. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,574
    Likes Received:
    615
    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  19. Nik

    Nik Contributor

    Messages:
    843
    Likes Received:
    1,172
    Location:
    NA
    Can anyone ID this wildflower/weed?
     

    Attached Files:

  20. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    Possibly and I say possibly lol. Lysimachia quadrifolia, member of the Primula family I believe.
     
    Arlette and Nik like this.
  21. Nik

    Nik Contributor

    Messages:
    843
    Likes Received:
    1,172
    Location:
    NA
    Thank you, D! Yes, this seems correct!
     
  22. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    My wife and I went for our morning walk today, dodging the heavy showers, then we saw all on it's own in a mass of green near to the farmers boundary fence, one lovely Brown Napweed, Centaurea jacea.
    It's photo had to be taken to share with you all.
     

    Attached Files:

    Nik likes this.
  23. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    Good afternoon, another couple from our walk this morning, the first is so delicate, 'Enchanters Nightshade' Circaea lutetiana and 'Common Mallow' Malva sylvestris.
     

    Attached Files:

    pmurphy and Nik like this.
  24. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

    Messages:
    15,598
    Likes Received:
    13,023
    Location:
    Hampshire England Zone 8b UK
    These are a couple of nice ones along the river bank this morning in Hampshire. Not a lot of new flowers to see as we are in Summer.
    Photo one is Melilotus indicus or Annual yellow sweet clover. And photo two is Lythrum salicaria or Spiked Loosestrife.
     

    Attached Files:

  25. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,789
    Likes Received:
    2,225
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    There seemed to be so much hype in that common name that I had to look it up. The enchanter was Circe. Nice leaves. There's a North American species too, and hybrids of the two. Fruits are burrs that cling to clothing; the hybrid is sterile. Onagraceae, same family as Oenothera and Fuchsia.
     

Share This Page