Image of the day - 2012

[Hoy]

Cohan, that forest floor looks very alien! But it makes me think of a song by Mike Oldfield: "Moonlight shadow"

[cohan]

It is rather like moonlight, isn't it? The horsetails in this little patch of woods are quite charming at several times of year- it's a very nice effect in green, too.. here are a couple of summer views, not exactly the same spot, but nearby, the second one is a bit farther back where it's wetter, the horsetails are taller...

[Hoy]

Which species of horsetail is it?
The butterbur seems to have a spreading habit but I like the ground covering effect of it. Have you showed the inflorescence somewhere?

[McDonough]

Smilacina racemosa spreads into sizeable colonies, making gorgeous clusters of fruit on cascading stems.  When the berrirs first color up, they are richly speckled.  These photos were taken mid September, a couple weeks ago, now the fruits are blood red.  I pull out lots of seedlings as they spread a bit too easily, but since they're slow to get establish and grow to any significant size, they don't pose any real risk of weediness.



http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MARAR

[RickR]

I really like the speckled stage of the berries.  They were common in the woods where I grew up and survived in the soil between the forks of the root flares of old trees in the yard... With his lawn mower, Dad couldn't get them there!

[McDonough]

I really like the speckled stage of the berries.  They were common in the woods where I grew up and survived in the soil between the forks of the root flares of old trees in the yard... With his lawn mower, Dad couldn't get them there!

Too funny... this species can be considered weedy, and can flourish even in very dry root-ridden shade, but when one considers its overall attributes, it really is a fine plant, one of those that will grow, flower, and fruit in dry shade, conditions that are normally considered hopeless by the general public.

[Hoy]

Smilacina racemosa/Maianthemum racemosum is a favorite of mine! I have two clones but neither get berries Not strange though as on colony has dwindled and not flowered the last years, seems it doesn't like competition from Ichtyoselmis macrantha (Dicentra m.) and Impatiens omeiana.
Maybe I should try to increase the genetic diversity! Anybody who has berries to spare

[cohan]

Trond, no idea of Equisetum species! There may well be a couple in those woods- at least there are the very dwarf woodland ones, and not sure if these larger bodies are related to them or something else, and taller still in the wetter places, but that may just be the conditions....

Nice Smilacina/Maianthemum, Mark, this one occurs in Alberta, but I haven't seen them personally; I have naturally occurring canadense, stellatum and trifolium ( the last I guess being real Maianthemum, and not Smilacina) all on my acreage,they all have nice speckled berries when immature. It would be nice to get some racemosum sometime as well, since the flower clusters are so different..
I did succeed in getting seed of trifolium this year, last year just could not find or missed it- I think Trond wanted some? Anyone else? I could possibly still collect seed of canadense if anyone asks for it, though it would need to be soon... I think stellatum has already dropped berries, though there might be a few around, so speak up now if anyone is interested 

[Hoy]

Cohan, I am interested in all 3 species!

[Hoy]

Here is a picture taken today of the Impatiens omeiana, swamping its neighbours! It is very late flowering and buds have barely formed. Usually they open in October. This year it is very late due to the rainy and cool weather we have had the last months.

[Lori S.]

Symmetry... Carduncellus pinnatus:

[Tim Ingram]

Trond, that Impatiens is a tremendous sight - it seems to be all the while wilting with us. It really doesn't look as though it would be hardy. I have grown Dicentra macrantha fleetingly; it is a very beautiful plant but again needs more moisture than we can give it - its new name makes it sound like a dinosaur!

[cohan]

Trond, I'll stick some bags in my pocket when I go out this afternoon and watch for Maianthemum seeds; Looks like our free ride of a warm dry fall is about to end- Monday 20C, then Tuesday 6C as a high;Thursday morning low of -6, and rain several days, possible snow Wed; I've still been our digging and moving soil and rocks etc, that will have to end very soon as I'll have to get at cutting firewood!
I forgot to answer earlier about the Petasites- as I've mentioned, we have plants that look like sagittatus, plants that look like frigidus v palmatus, and and every variation between the two. The 'pure' sagitattus tend to be in more open (though not always, they still take some shade at times) and wet areas, the 'pure' palmatus are in woodland areas, not really dry spots, but not necessarily wet, and the intermediate forms can be in open wet places through the wetter edges of mesic woods; Flowers of all are similar, though there are variations between plants with more or less female/male flowers, and some plants that have more purple on backs of ligules etc; I haven't clearly tied those flower differences to leaf differences, except that the mesic woodland (palmatus forms) plants don't flower much, just the occasional inflorescence, which is usually more open and less showy than the others...
here are a few photos of flowers, showing some of the variation- some of which is also age of inflorescence of course; these are mostly sagittatus types, still digging for a palmatus inflo..
I'm going to copy this over to a new Petasites thread with more pics...
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1169.new#new

[cohan]

Great foliage on the Impatiens, looking forward to seeing it in flower too..
Lori, nice flat dense rosette on the Carduncellus!

[Hoy]

Symmetry... Carduncellus pinnatus:

Symmetry - and very disadvantageous for the any neighbours

Trond, that Impatiens is a tremendous sight - it seems to be all the while wilting with us. It really doesn't look as though it would be hardy. I have grown Dicentra macrantha fleetingly; it is a very beautiful plant but again needs more moisture than we can give it - its new name makes it sound like a dinosaur!

It is quite hardy but very late flowering! Some years it don't reach to open the flower buds before the onset of winter.
- and Ichtyoselmis sounds very fishy in my opinion!


Cohan, hope you find some
Thank you for the info about the Petasites. I have been afraid of that genus as the species I know get too big and invasive, but your species seems to behave itself!