I have been at the lake for a few days, organizing myself for the upcoming field season and helping my parents set up the gardens. Today, I was working a bit less and so took the opportunity to take a walk and enjoy the weather.
I took quite a few photos, but the real surprise for me was discovering Claytonia borealis (common name: bluebead lily). While I'm familiar with the plant, this is the first time I've seen it blooming in person (probably because it blooms right in the middle of the bug season and I usually make it my business to have business elsewhere than the woods at this time of year). It's more familiar to me as a plant with metallic blue berries toward the end of July or the beginning of August.
Clintonia borealis whole view
This lovely little plant is at least 12 years old, as it takes at least a dozen years for an individual to establish itself sufficiently to bloom [1]. This plant was actually here alone, though this species is commonly colonial [2] , as it can reproduce through rhizomes (spreading root stalks) [1]. Once it flowers, it can either self-pollinate or outcross (receive pollen from other individuals) [1]. Because it is so slow to reproduce, this species is particularly vulnerable to disturbance such as excessive deer herbivory [1]. If you have this species on your property, please do not cut the flowers or disturb the plants, if at all possible; despite their small stature, flowering individuals are quite old and the next generation will only replace them very slowly.
C. borealis is found in boreal forests in eastern North America (range map here) and is exclusively found in wooded/shaded areas [1,3] . In the more southern parts of its range, it is restricted to mountainous areas with appropriately cool, shaded habitat. This lovely little plant is endangered in Indiana and Ohio, threatened in Maryland, and of special concern in Tennessee [4]. Unfortunately, the Plants of Canada database is currently down so I can't easily access information about its legal status up here. One Ontario source lists the plant as common, however, suggesting that at least in this province the plant isn't at any particular risk [5].
C. borealis is a member of the Lilaceae (lily family), and displays the 6-partite character of that family in the flowers, as shown in the picture below. The flower has 6 tepals (not petals, which only occur when there are also sepals).
C. borealis flower, close view
There appears to be some disagreement between sources about whether or not the berries are safe to eat. One source lists them as poisonous and posing a potentially fatal risk to children who cannot reliably distinguish between these berries and blueberries [5]. In my experience, C. borealis can grow in the shade of blueberry bushes and it does take some care to make sure to only collect blueberries when out foraging. That said, I've never accidentally consumed one of these and I was actively foraging for berries quite young. Another source, however, asserts that the berries are not toxic, merely extremely unpalatable [6]. I have always known it as a poisonous plant, but not through direct experience or any particularly definitive source. That said, I would recommend against ingestion of the fruit and that some care be taken to ensure that the berries aren't accidentally collected and consumed with blueberries.
I was only able to go out and truly enjoy the weather because the bugs were less severe today. We're just hitting the tail end of bug season; even yesterday, things were bad enough that my mother was frequently singing The Blackfly, sometimes cheerfully and sometimes more resignedly. Since it's a hilarious and delightful song, I've embedded the video below; the animation is a real treat, too, done by the National Film Board (of Canada). Enjoy!
I'm finding that there are far fewer easy guides to aquatic plants in the region. I was very lucky to stumble on the identification of this plant. I present: water smartweed (fr: renouée amphibie), Persicaria amphibia.
P. amphibia inflorescence
I found this to be quite a lovely flower, with very long ovoid leaves. The flower stalk rose out of the water about eight to twelve inches and the pink flower stalks were each growing off a single branch of the plant.
J'ai été au chalet d'une amie durant la fin de semaine, sur une rivière près de Lac Simon. La rivière diffère beaucoups du lac où je reste d'habitude, particulièrement du côté faune et flore. La diversité d'espèces de libellule, par exemple, était absolument extraordinaire. J'ai pris beaucoups de soleil en sortant sur la rivière en kayak et je suis devenue très bronze. C'est chanceux que je ne brûle pas facilement! Ci-dessous se trouvent des photos de l'iris versicolore (autrement: clajeux), Iris versicolor. Ceci est la fleure-emblème du Québec. Pour moi, qui passe mon temps au Québec sur les lacs et les rivières, cette fleure est associée à la beauté du Québec et à ses eaux claires et vertes.
I. versicolor inflorescence, lateral view
I went to a friend's cottage on a river near Lac Simon (Quebec). I found it to be a gorgeous place. One of the most wonderful things about the river, as compared with the lake where I usually conduct my explorations, as the diversity of flora and fauna. The variety of dragonfly types was particularly stunning. Above is the blue flag iris, iris versicolor, which I associate with Quebec's beautiful waters. This was a particularly fine specimen, glistening with dew and richly coloured.
I. versicolor inflorescence, top view
Here's a blue flag iris from above. In the photograph below, the path toward the nectaries between the lower and upper portions is visible.
Iris versicolor
Indeed, if we look at the next photograph the place where the nectar is, as well as the pistil (the hard ridge curving over the top of the opening), is visible. The pollen gets spread over the surface leading down to the nectar, which would of course ensure that any pollinators seeking nectar at this flower would pick up plenty of pollen as well. A good system. I like that the dew on the petals is visible and sparkling in this shot.
I. versicolor pistil (centre)
And, just because this flower is incredibly beautiful, here's a shot of it from below:
I. versicolor inflorescence, bottom view
I got particularly damp and muddy taking this shot, as the blue flag iris likes to grow in marshy areas. Lying down under one (they're not very tall, either) therefore meant getting quite mucky.
This is another introduced species - I'm starting to feel like most of the wildflowers I like seeing at the lake are introduced species, actually. Anyway, cinqfoil (fr: potentille), potentilla recta, is a rather unassuming and undramatic flower at least where I've seen it, likely because growing conditions are very harsh at the lake.
P. recta inflorescence
For perspective, this flower is less than 1cm across. Tiny thing, really. They don't bloom or grow particularly profusely at the lake, either, so they're rather easy to miss. The fun of this flower is getting closer to it and starting to see the small details, like the wedge shape of the petals and the way they don't touch each other, forming a sort of inverse star, an asterisk of negative space. And the shaky-looking dots of the anthers on the near-invisible filaments, or the slightly fuzzy-looking pistil. I like the base five form of this plant a lot.
P. recta inflorescence after pollination
The petals have fallen off of this blossom, likely because it's been pollinated. The base five shape is still very much in evidence, with the base five sepals (leaves under the petals) visible. The anthers are more clearly visible here against a greener background. I like the subtle gradation of yellow to green from the centre of the flower outward along the sepals. The rather spiky appearance of p. recta's leaves is visible in this shot. I really like the foliage of this plant; angular and slightly aggressive but still lacy and delicate.
I find myself daydreaming about childhood today...
Le silène enflé (silene vulgaris), ci-dessous, est comestible (les feuilles). On peut les mettre dans une salade ou les sauter. Moi, je les manges crus cueuillis directement du sol, parce que je m'amuse à goûter aux plantes comestibles quand je me promène dans les bois. Un très bon goût jeune, devient amer quand mature.
S. vulgaris inflorescence
The bladder campion, silene vulgaris, is edible. The young shoots are tender and sweetish, but it gets bitter as the plant matures. A rather tasty plant early in the season, though I don't sample it more than two or three times in the season. It's quite a peculiar-looking flower, with its large bulbous shape topped by those delicate, almost frilly petals. But when you get close you can see that it has some beautiful, subtle colour gradation in the filaments and anthers, giving this light hint of purple colour. The central flower in this photograph has been damaged (missing stamens), but because of that you can clearly see the purple tips on the bulbous part of the flower. The bulb itself surrounds the part that, once fertilized, develops into a seed. I like it's stained-glass appearance. The bladder campion is usually considered a weed in North America (it's native to Europe), but I quite like it regardless.
This evening I'm going to unwind a bit in the garden. I have to thin my radishes a bit and the tomatoes need to be pruned and trained; they're developing suckers that need to be removed. My eggplants are suffering; the weather has been unseasonably cold and it just hasn't been good for them. Ditto the peppers. I'm hoping for some better weather. I bought some endive seeds to replace my lettuces once it got too hot to grow them, but so far that hasn't happened at all. I suppose one can't dictate the weather. At least the brussels sprouts are happy.
I took this photo of orange hawkweed (hieracium aurentiacum) at the lake. From a distance, it's a rather small and unassuming plant. It's only when you get closer that its drama becomes more evident. Where this photo was taken orange hawkweed is rather rare, so this was a nice find.
Yellow Hawkweed (H. pratense) flower buds
Yellow hawkweed (hieracium pratense) is more common in the area than orange hawkweed. It's a reasonably frequent find in the area. What I like about the closed ones is the visibility of the spikes on the flower buds. All those spines make it look quite forbidding up close.
I'm snuggling with my Molly cat on the couch with a pot of bee balm tea while I try to plan out my day. E is going to be working out of town for the next two months, so we'll only be able to see each other on weekends until I start my vacation mid-August. Since we will essentially no longer be living together for a bit, I'm trying to figure out how to organize household management around the gap. It's slightly depressing work, especially since E will be taking Molly with him starting next week (after she gets her rabies shot). Still, it isn't all bad; we'll still see each other on weekends, and I enjoy having the run of the household, too. We'll manage.
This is my specimen photo of cow vetch (fr. vesce craque, pois à crapauds), vicia cracca. It is a very hardy, invasive plant, considered a weed where it isn't native. Though it isn't native to Canada, in this environment it isn't particularly problematic. Cow vetch, being a meadow flower, has limited scope in a mostly wooded area like the one where I photographed this plant. It can be problematic as an invasive plant, but it is an excellent fixer of nitrogen, so it's not entirely bad, either. The difficulty with this plant is in its tendency to spread aggressively, choking and eventually squeezing out other plants.
V. cracca flower stalk
I love the shape of the flower; it looks a bit like a rabbit's head to me. I love the way the deeper purple veins in the upper petals are clearly visible here, in their double-loop pattern. Cow vetch is particularly attractive to bees and butterflies, so sticking around these for a while results in quite a show.
I took a stroll this morning with my father to identify two shrubs, the berries of which seem to be particularly attractive to birds; yesterday, we spotted a cedar waxwing on one of them. This area is mostly too dense and forested for cedar waxwings, so it was a nice sight. The plant that attracted it was a red elderberry (fr. sureau rouge), sambucus racemosa.
Also, my parents adopted kittens recently. They're brothers, and close to 4 months old now. Here's a picture of them spooning. Just for the cute.
