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We did one of our favourite hikes, Taylor Lake- Panorama Ridge in Banff N.P. on July 19th and had a splendid day in this beautiful and very floriferous area!
Starting just past Taylor Lake, here is the start of larch-filled valley... soon giving way to mountain vistas and blue tarns:
And wonderful flowers...
Kalmia microphylla was common, dispersed in good number along the boggy lakeshore and streamside, and appearing most spectacular when growing up on a hummocks:
Comments
Mark McDonough
Splendid scenery, looks like
Mon, 07/22/2013 - 6:22amSplendid scenery, looks like a perfect day. The shots of cute Kalmia had me looking through the genus, there is an eastern counterpart to K. microphylla, which is K. polifolia, although that species is found all the way to your area in Alberta as well. Earlier taxonomy had microphylla as a variety of polifolia, the Flora of North America talks about how closely related these two are. A charming plant.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065673
Lori S. (not verified)
Yes, a great day! A couple
Mon, 07/22/2013 - 9:16amYes, a great day! A couple of drizzles later on but wonderful nonetheless! As we were on our way up, we saw fresh bear scat at the beginning of the trail, and at about the halfway point, were told by some folks coming down that they'd seen a couple of juvenile grizzlies at the lake that morning. We kept a sharp eye out but saw no sign of them by the time we got up there. (I guess I mention that because the word "drizzle" reminded me of "grizzle... y"... LOL!)
Flora of Alberta uses K. polifolia for the species that occurs in lowland bogs, and K. microphylla for the alpine species... or at least that was how it looked to the original author, or to the editing author in the mid-eighties, anyway.
Another interesting plant of the boggy lakeside areas, and quite common there, was Anemone richardsonii. It's quite similar to Anemone parviflora, with its little ruff of leaves on the stem, though with yellow flowers.
I noticed one little Viola orbiculata:
Loads of Ranunculus pygmaeus in the wet areas:
A wonderful richness of plants and flowers, overall!
cohan (not verified)
Great spot- good that you are
Mon, 07/22/2013 - 11:39amGreat spot- good that you are finding some good hikes in spite of flood damage.
Esp love the Kalmia and Anemone- so frustrating that seeds of these things are not commercially available- easier to get plants from Colorado or China than from Alberta!
Lori S. (not verified)
Pedicularis contorta, in bud:
Mon, 07/22/2013 - 12:31pmPedicularis contorta, in bud:
And vast expanses of Anemone occidentalis!
... some still in bloom higher up where the snow lingered longest:
Lori S. (not verified)
Saxifraga bronchialis:
Tue, 07/23/2013 - 8:48amSaxifraga bronchialis:
The "heather" (actually Cassiope, along with Phyllodoce) was in full bloom - I don't think we've ever seen it so well:
This appears to be Cassiope tetragona, from the grooves at the back of the leaves:
Caribou moss (lichen) and willows; Dryas octopetala:
Mark McDonough
The Cassiope is a picture
Tue, 07/23/2013 - 9:04amThe Cassiope is a picture perfect little shrublet, have you been able to grow this?
Lori S. (not verified)
No, it's way too dry in my
Tue, 07/23/2013 - 9:07amNo, it's way too dry in my yard for Cassiope and Phyllodoce - I've killed enough of hte poor innocents in trying, LOL!
Lori S. (not verified)
Castilleja:
Wed, 08/14/2013 - 7:07pmCastilleja:
Ranunculus eschscholtzii:
Pedicularis contorta:
Caltha leptosepala:
Mossy pond edge with Cassiope:
Claytonia lanceolata:
Lori S. (not verified)
Stream and meadow:
Wed, 08/14/2013 - 7:19pmStream and meadow:
Pedicularis bracteosa; Rhododendron albiflorus; Veratrum viride ssp. eschscholtzii (x2); and down near the trailhead, Cornus canadensis:
And ending with Icmadophila ericitorum or "fairy puke", possibly my favourite lichen!
Richard T. Rodich
Cool and interesting pics,
Wed, 08/14/2013 - 8:50pmCool and interesting pics, Lori. What is the red "fern" leaves to the front and left of Pedicularis contorta? Another P. contorta?
Oh. I see in your next post, it must be P. bractiosa....
Lori S. (not verified)
Rick, many/most of the
Wed, 08/14/2013 - 9:01pmRick, many/most of the Pedicularis contorta plants had red leaves. The nonblooming plants in that photo were also P. contorta.
P. bracteosa is mainly lower down, in the subalpine meadows, and is a bigger plant, often also with reddish-purplish foliage.
Trond Hoy
Where has this thread been
Thu, 08/15/2013 - 10:39amWhere has this thread been before? I haven't noticed it till now?!
Very interesting Lori! An amazing and floriferous place!!
Lori S. (not verified)
Yes, it certainly is!
Fri, 08/16/2013 - 8:09pmYes, it certainly is!
Trond, I find that by clicking on "Active topics", I can see the threads with new postings. Hope that helps!
Trond Hoy
Lori S. wrote:
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 12:34am[quote=Lori S.]
Yes, it certainly is!
Trond, I find that by clicking on "Active topics", I can see the threads with new postings. Hope that helps!
[/quote]
Yes, thanks Lori.
I have also discovered that all new posts are listed on the bottom of the page when I log in. I have to scroll down the page!
Margaret Young
I only just found this great
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 3:53amI only just found this great thread too.
This new forum is quite infuriating, it is so far from being user-friendly......... sigh! weep!
Mark McDonough
IMYoung wrote:
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 5:03am[quote=IMYoung]
I only just found this great thread too.
This new forum is quite infuriating, it is so far from being user-friendly......... sigh! weep!
[/quote]
If only this forum could implement a "Mark Unread" button as there is on SRGC forum and previous NARGS forum. That simple button, would save messages "as new" until one has time to respond. As it is now, I check new messages, intent on going back to them later when I have time, but then forget about them as they no longer show up as new. I believe it must be programmatically possible to add in this missing feature.
Margaret Young
It may well be possible to do
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 5:18amIt may well be possible to do all sorts of things to this new format Mark - but my own feeling is that the previous forum setup was a very good one and that these "innovations" are pretty ghastly. Certainly it appears that the forum traffic is much reduced- not sure if that is true or not but it is my impression. I think the situation from my point of view as a user of the forum is : it wasn't "broke" why did they try to "fix" it ?
Thanks are due to those courageously continuing to make posts in the circumstances, I reckon - Yay! for Lori! !
Michael J Campbell (not verified)
I agree with Maggi, it is not
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 6:16amI agree with Maggi, it is not user friendly. Like Homer Simpson I just use the ANY key to check for updates.
Mark McDonough
Sorry Lori to distract from
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 8:06amSorry Lori to distract from this fine topic, if only we could split topics into separate ones; maybe we should take Daniel up on his offer to install a plugin that provides that feature.