Hi there, this is my first post. I couldn't find anything more specific to Saskatchewan flora. I have started documenting ( just a hobby) all the wildflowers I can find in our forest (Fort a la Corne in NE Sk) and have about 130 identified but am stumped with a few. Here's a sample, if it's ok I'll post others, or could someone direct me to a Sask site? The pic was taken on Oct 12 2004. The entire plant was about 6 inches tall, found on a road. Obviously a tough little guy. Any help is appreciated. Thomas Boysen
Your photo shows corn spurry (Spergula arvensis) of the family Caryophyllaceae. It is an introduced weed in North America. I suppose it is quite uncommon in Canada. Cheers Harri http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/harmaja/index.htm
more sask flowers Here's more since the last one worked really well. the first one was taken on July 8 and was about 5 feet tall. # 2 I found in a fairly shady spot on an old road next to a marsh # 4 was taken early june and I cannot remember where it was. # 5 The Goldenrod is clear enough, but what the pod belongs to, I don't know. Taken August 16 # 6 was taken August 20 on a site that was recently logged. Any help is very much appreciated. Thomas Boysen
# 4 is greyleaf willow Salix glauca, Salicaceae), at least in the wide sense. # 5 is wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum) of the Liliaceae family, showing its single pod. # 6 represents marsh cudweed (aka low cudweed) (Gnaphalium uliginosum) of Asteraceae. They all are native to Canada though the last-named is a bit weedy in its habitat ecology and tends to dwell slightly disturbed, somewhat moist places. Harri
Thank you again Harri! I am embarressed about the wood lily. I should have found that one. It's our provincial flower. Ia am not sure about the goats Beard, Harry. The flowers are yellow. Any answer is appreciated Thomas
Take a look at this image search for Tragopogon dubius. There is a purple species T. porrifolius, and a species with a yellow eye, T. mirus. Not the the above however. T. dubius is the most common species in the Spokane area. Harry
Harry, The dubius species is the one we have here, also, lots of it. I've attached a close-up of the flower. It doesn't look like goat's beard to me. While the leaves are clasping, Goat's beard has parallel veins, while this has a prominent center vein and clasps considerably more. I never thought I would discuss botany on the net, but here I am and I love it. Thomas
I got misplaced as far as your picture numbering goes. My ID applied to Mystery_flower1.jpg. I do appreciate the closeup of #2 though.
Mystery_flower2.jpg My guess would be Asteraceae tribe Lactuceae(Chichorieae) or lettuce tribe, possibly a white form of Cichorium intybus; or chicory. in his description of C. intybus. Harry
Harry, I had been thinking about Blue Lettuce, until I found some of that elsewhere and had to rule that out. The best book on our Saskatchewan Flora seems to be Budd's Wild Flowers of the Prairies, but unfortunately, the only copy our library had, disappeared and I have to contend with an Albertan book by Kathy Tannas, which is good but does not cover the same geography. To make it short, no book I have seems to indicate any other species of lettuce occurring in Sk other than pulchella (blue) and scariola ("lobed prickly" which is yellow). Is the book you quote available on line? Maybe I have a transplant from Washington here? In any case, I will go to the spot again tomorrow and take a very thorough look at the entire plant and report back on this thread. Thanks for the help Thomas
Hi, Actually Chicory and Blue lettuce are pretty similar flowers. Chicory is an intro from Europe and pretty ubiquitous. It has been planted in gardens over many years so can be found almost anywhere. Also hope you realized I was talking about the tribe Latuceae which includes all Asteraceae (compositae) that are radiate (all flowers ray flowers) and with milky sap. Not just Lactuca. As far as the flora I quoted above, it is still in print I believe and used as a textbook in Eastern WA Univ. At least it was the last time I looked which was some time ago. The last printing was in 63. Somewhere I read that WSU was trying to update it and was going to publish a new edition sometime in the future. It also had only those same three Lactuca species yours did. If I were spending money on a Flora I would opt for "Flora of the Pacific NW" by Hitchcock and Cronquist. At least it has pictures (drawings). :) There might be a flora more apropos your location that the UBC crew might be able to suggest. If you are going back to the plant in question you might try and get some pics of the basal leaves. Also check the flowers for a pappus as Chicory has a pappus of 1 or 2-series of short blunt scales, while Lactuca has a 1 or 2-series of fine hairs that fall separately from the flower(seed). Harry Thomas
My knowledge of trees is limited. If a question of identification or care, post a picture in a new thread on the forum and it will probably be picked up by someone who knows a lot more than I do. As far as care goes, the only thing that I have come across here in the Spokane area as far as a problem with them is that they are susceptible to an insect called the birch borer. That might not be the case in Florida. Harry
Thomas, Harry asked me to drop in and say a few words re: floras for Saskatchewan, so here I am. As you are perhaps aware, there is no written, comprehensive Flora of Saskatchewan, though efforts seem to be underway to complete one (Saskatchewan Flora Project). This gap is compounded by the fact that Scoggan's Flora of Manitoba is over seventy years old (if I recall correctly) and riddled with a number of errors (and lack of illustrations) so looking eastward doesn't help. The Flora of Alberta is only nearing thirty years old, so that and Budd's Flora of the Canadian Prairie Provinces are perhaps the most useful paper resources. For particular groups, the few volumes of the Flora of North America project that are available are very helpful, but overkill. In terms of what is available online: Colin Ladyka of Regina has put together a small Virtual Herbarium of Saskatchewan, which is handy because his attention to detail is comprehensive, albeit only for the species he has online. Also helpful is his list of print resources that are handy for Saskatchewan (off of the main page). The Conservation Data Centre of Saskatchewan has a list of vascular plants of Saskatchewan (PDF). Although a list lacks a lot of necessary details, it's a good launching point for tapping into other resources when you've narrowed an identification down to a particular genus or handful of genera. For example, with the possible Lactuca above, I'd plug in the possibilities from the list into the USDA's PLANTS database and give it a go via compare and contrast. (if I may be slightly opinionated for a moment, online plant resources with a national scope is an area where Canada seems to rely on what is available in the US instead of generating its own works - fiscally responsible for Canada, perhaps, but frustrating once Canadians try to seek information that is pre-filtered for Canada) In a way, you are left to cobble together what resources you can. To look at it from a positive perspective, experience with a number of resources gives you "more tools in your toolbox" when presented with a challenge! Lastly, Thomas, be sure to check in on Botany Photo of the Day for Thursday's entry (September 1st).
Hi Thomas, I think I found it or something else you might compare it against. That is Prenanthes aspera. Harry
Hi Harry, prenanthes aspera does look close. Bad weather today, so I'll try tomorrow to look the plant up again. Many thanks to Daniel for all the info. I wasn't aware of the Flora of sask project. I will become a member immediately. Identifying plants in sask, requires me to take up to four different books into the field, quite q drag. Now, if only someone had an idea about my mystery plant # 1. Thanks again Thomas
#1 still looks like T. dubius to me, at least the leaves. I take it the flowers were different? Can't tell by the picture. Harry
Harry, Here is a closer shot of the inflorescence, at least what's left of it. The plant was about 5 feet tall. Leaves are indeed similar to goats beard. Thanks for your persistence. Thomas
Hi, Looks like a Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), one of the Arabis species. I would guess Arabis hirsuta var. glabrata if in the NW, but that would be purely a guess. couldn't find any pictures of it, but the following page has a pretty good description. A. hirsuta is one of the two species of Arabis that grows that tall in the NW and I noted A. hirsuta was on the Saskatchewan flower list that Daniel provided. But a different variety. Couldn't locate any pictures of Arabis hirsuta var. pycnocarpa either, but you might have better luck than I. http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us/science/ps/nature/basin/4petal/must/arabis/hairyrockglab.htm Later I noticed that A. glabra (also on the Gresham site above) is on the Colin Ladyka site. Common name is Tower Mustard and grows to 150 cm while A. hirsuta is listed as only reaching 100 cm. A. glabra is not on the Saskatchewan flora list though. The Gresham site above by Paul Schlichter and his students, is a great source photos and information, but mainly for the NW. Harry
Your Brassicaceae seems indeed to be tower mustard (aka tower rockcress), Arabis glabra (Turritis glabra). It is native in Canada. regards, Harri
Thanks to both of ou Harry and Harri! I think that should be it. Arabis glabra is contained also on a list that I downloaded from the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre. They have a long list but their picture database is, I believe, still under construction. It was a pleasure. Thomas
Supposedly the last unnamed plant of your photos has now been recognized. The Asteraceae plant (#2) seems to be purple (aka glaucous) rattlesnakeroot (Prenanthes racemosa) (rather than P. aspera suggested by Harry). It is a native species and favours somewhat moist places. It is rather variable as to leaf shape, inflorescense density and flower colour. Harri
