Monday, June 11, 2007

Spring Flower Blogging

A few miscellaneous shots from Spring rides in the Don.


White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). From Sherwood Park forest.


Red Trillium (Trillium erectum). Also found in Sherwood Park.


Found in Sherwood Park forest. I am not sure what it is but it was spilling out of a nearby garden so it is likely a garden escapee, rather than a native variety.

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum). Glendon Forest



Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), just about to flower, in Glendon Forest


Toothwort (Dentaria diphylla), beside Wilket Creek, just south of Edwards Gardens


Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), also beside Wilket Creek

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The trilliums look amazing.

Marnie said...

Northern Bluebells (Mertensia paniculata), maybe? If so, it's native!

Anonymous said...

or Virginia Bluebells? Mertensia virginica

check the image at
http://www.evergreen.ca/nativeplants/search/view-plant.php?ID=00431&query=%20AND%20common_name%20LIKE%20%27%24virginia%20bluebells%24%27%20%20AND%20%28%20province%20LIKE%20%27%24ON%24%27%20%29%20%20AND%20invasive%20LIKE%20%27%240%24%27%20:0

if so, native & species-at-risk.

w/ a caveat / some skepticism - i'll tell you why:

i like to hike through my share of Ontario spring woodland ephemerals, but, i've never seen this one in the wild.

however,

the past 5 or so years this has been a very common sight at just about every 'garden centre' i happen to be at. because, Epic Plants Company -- a large scale nursery op. near St. Catharines -- has been reproducing this species (from seed stock BTW according to the company) and retailing them inexpensively too, e.g .$2 at Loblaws.

sounds great so far, right, but, things is, i don't know *where* Epic get their Virginia Bluebell seed from.

for their "native" plants, Epic uses seed stock from throughout the eastern US as well as Ontario. = native, but, some are very particular sub-species nothing like anything you'd find in Ontario. (e.g. their White Wood Aster Eurybia divaricata is from the southeastern US apparently according to Claire @ the Brick Works. coincidentally, she had written a thesis on the species.)

the problem of course w/ a far-flung "native" vs. local / indigenous stock is that the plant doesn't fulfill its ecological roles in its new habitat. or could be too aggressive too and displace other species from the same ecosystem, etc.

so... maybe a native, but, maybe, a sub-species that's escaped a garden...

any botanists in the house?

michou