Mostly Wild Nova Scotia

A week ago I was hiking at Cape d'Or, doing a bit of birding, a bit of botanizing.  It was a spectacular day.  I happened upon this pink version of the usually blueish Heal-All, a wildflower common in the woods and in people's lawns.

Prunella vulgaris

The usual violet coloured version you can see below, with this pink individual.  I suppose this is how many new varieties of plants arise - out in nature, without our help.

I was on this particular short hike looking for some uncommon Nova Scotia plants.  I found a couple, including this member of the legume family, going to seed...

Oxytropis campestris

Nearby, in the garden of a friend, her Globe Centaurea was just starting to bloom.

Centaurea macrocephala

I love this plant, and must get some seeds from my friend.  We went on a couple field trips, and along the roadway checked out this wildflower, Bladder Campion.

Silene cucubalus

In the middle of last week my wife and I headed out to go camping and exploring in south-western Nova Scotia. 

That chipmunk was one of the local critters that lived around our campsite at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park.  We explored this park, and a few other areas in Queens and Shelburne County.  In the boggy, barren, and woodsy areas there were plenty of native orchids blooming.

Ragged Fringed Orchid, Platanthera lacera

White Fringed Orchid, Platanthera blephariglottis

Grass Pink, Calopogon tuberosus

Rose Pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides

I think this is Blunt-leaved Orchid, Platanthera obtusata

A couple of other small orchids I missed taking pictures of, including a Rattlesnake Plantain.  But I did snap a few shots in some wet places of a bladderwort (not an orchid).  Invisible except when blooming, the rest of the plant is under the mud.  

Utricularia cornuta

Bladderwords are carnivorous, capturing tiny critters in small bladders that suck them in and digest them.  Also saw some very vigorous Poison Ivy.  I don't usually see it vining up a tree like this.  I kept my distance, though I've never had a reaction to it myself.  Better safe than sorry.

Toxicodendron radicans

 

We have one mistletoe in Nova Scotia, Dwarf Mistletoe: very small, very common on spruces along the coast, and very seldom noticed, I'm guessing, by most people.   

Arceuthrobium pusillum

Each plant is not much longer than the Spruce needles they grow among.  Among some dead Spruce branches I saw this lovely lichen growing. 

Speaking of Spruces, how do you like this odd one, below, centre, growing in the wild?  Looks like a strange variety someone would buy at a garden centre for a pretty penny!  If I knew anything about growing cuttings of Spruces, I would have tried to gather a couple shoots.

This post is getting lengthy, so I'll just close with some photos of some of the fauna among the flora.  

How many seals can you count among the rocks?