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.
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| 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...
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| Oxytropis campestris |
Nearby, in the garden of a friend, her Globe Centaurea was just starting to bloom.
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| 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.
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| Silene cucubalus |
In the middle of last week my wife and I headed out to go camping and exploring in south-western Nova Scotia.
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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.
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| Ragged Fringed Orchid, Platanthera lacera |
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| White Fringed Orchid, Platanthera blephariglottis |
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| Grass Pink, Calopogon tuberosus |
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| Rose Pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
How many seals can you count among the rocks?
