I can't tell what is going on with this Apiaceae growing in just one spot next to Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. Are these purple things flowers? Will they open? Did they open and these are persistent calyx tubes - are there such things on Apiaceae? I would expect to see flowers opened flat, but there were none. These are not fruits, are they? And what is this plant? It was around 1 meter tall. And no, I did get any photos that were better than these, and I took lots. It wasn't even windy.
Thank you. I don't know. I don't see any evidence in any of my photos of the involucres of narrow leafy bracts below the umbels that are shown in the first photo at American Water Parsley, Pacific Water-dropwort, Pacific Water Parsley, Water-parsley, Water Parsley: Oenanthe sarmentosa Here is a photo of that species with green things that are pink in my photo, but red stems: http://swbiodiversity.org/imglib/se...2/Oenanthe_sarmentosa_Rothrock_1580613806.jpg And I read somewhere that the leaves should be double compound, as is shown in the above photo, whereas I think my leaves are (mostly) single compound, though I could easily be confused about what comprises one leaf. But I think that photo I linked to shows leaves once-more compound. I see on a page for Oenanthe aquatica, which has more finely-cut leaves, photos of (green) fruits, which look like what the red things are here. Oenanthe aquatica - Fine-leaved Water-dropwort -- Discover Life I will go check on those involucral bracts. I'm getting tired now, but here is a page I want to check out further, on Oenanthe javanica, growing in Illinois. It gives some distinctions between that and O. sarmentosa. Water Celery (Oenanthe javanica) Garden Works has carried a variegated one: O. javanica 'Flamingo'. Maybe it's a seedling of one of those? Flamingo Variegated Water Celery (Oenanthe javanica 'Flamingo') in Vancouver Victoria Burnaby Penticton Coquitlam British Columbia BC at GardenWorks
OK, we have involucral bracts - I don't know how I could have missed them. Ha! Yes, I do. First, you have to know to look for them - it's not like they are visible or anything. In the third photo, the umbels at the upper left have only the bracts. The E-Flora BC Atlas Page description is "involucel of numerous, small, narrow bractlets". That Illinois Wildflowers page at Water Celery (Oenanthe javanica) distinguishes Oenanthe sarmentosa (Pacific Water Parsley) from O. aquatica (Water Celery): Water Celery (Oenanthe javanica) can be distinguished from Pacific Water Parsley by its broader rachises that are flattened along their upper sides, and its broadly ellipsoid fruits have sides that are more curved. Pacific Water Parsley, in contrast, has more narrow rachises that are convexly curved along their upper sides, and its oblongoid fruits have sides that are more straight.I'm not so convinced on the rachis description, except that the rachis on the one here is much slimmer. It does seem flat on top to me, or even concave, but maybe you can't have everything. It seems clear to me now that I have missed the flowering. The red things are the fruits (there is a drawing on the E-Flora BC page), and they are straight-sided. Here is a photo from E-Flora BC that looks just like this: E-Flora BC Photo Gallery: Photo Details I'm convinced, Oenanthe sarmentosa, native to this region and not at risk. Thanks, @Ron B . I can move this to Pac NW Native Plants.
