- a wildflower walk - boreal forest to rocky …...mar 22/06 sudbury naturalists - a. fyon 2 journey...

- A Wildflower Walk -Boreal Forest to Rocky Mountain

Foothills to the Alpine ZoneFrom a Cultural and Naturalist’s Perspective

Andy Fyonontariowildflower.com

Sudbury, Ontario

Mar 22/06 Sudbury Naturalists - A. Fyon 2

Journey• Geology• Culture – Far

North First Nations

• Boreal forest– Fort Hope,

Kasabonika Lake• Rocky Mountains

– Kananaskis Country to Waterton Lake National Park


Disclaimer

• I am:– Not a biologist– Not an horticulturist– a geologist

• Wildflowers are my hobby

Prefer not to discuss medicinal or some culinary uses of plants

Mar 22/06

Geology in Our Lives• We eat minerals• We grow food in

geological materials• We get drinking

water from the Earth• Rocks are a source

of energy


Geology in Our Lives• Construction material

– Roads, bricks, facing– Buildings

• Metals– Cars, trains, planes,

boats• Horticulture materials

– Ornamental stone– Fertilizer


Geology in Our Lives• We depend on geological materials

from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep

• So do plants

Warm rock, Iqaluit


Ontario Bedrock Geology


Glaciers Over Ontario


Fort Hope – Eabametoong First Nation

Several cultural slides have been removed from the web version, but were used to discuss some cultural aspect of this First Nation.


Fort HopeEabametoong First Nation


European Influence

Catholic Church Anglican Church


Boreal Forest - Landscape


Iceberg Tracks

Mar 22/06 14

Boreal Forest ShrubBearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Rocky areas

Ground cover


Boreal Forest ShrubBush Honeysuckle – (Diervilla Ionicera)

Dry rocky areas

Ornamental shrub


Boreal Forest ShrubPipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata)

Perennial evergreen

Dry conifer forest

“Treat stabbing wounds to the chest”


Boreal Forest ShrubPincherry – (Prunus pensylvanica)

Sunny areas

Fruit food for birds

Red dye


Boreal ForestBunchberry (Cornus canadensis)

“Itchy beard berry” (hairs on fruit)

Red food colouring

Shady woodlands

Mar 22/06

Boreal Forest - Clintonia or Blue Bead Lily (Clintonia borealis)

Woodland forest

“True” blue berries

Named: De Witt Clinton, governor of New York State, early 1800’s


Boreal – Wild Lily-of-the-Valley or Canada Mayflower - (Maianthemum canadense)

Moist woods

Fruit food for wildlife


Boreal – Wild Iris or Northern Blue Flag (Iris versicolor)

Quebec’s Provincial flower

Lakeshore

“Versicolor” = rainbow or various colours

Water garden


Ontario Bedrock Geology


Grass of Parnassus(Parnassia palustris)

• Moist calcareous Soil• Evergreen• Parnassia: Greek,

Parnassos - "of Mount Parnassus“; mountain in central Greece

• palustris: Latin, paluster, "boggy, marshy"


Large Yellow Lady’s Slipper(Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens)

• Forest, bogs, open swamps, alongside streams

• Calcareous soil

• Never transplant


Northern Green Bog-orchid / Leafy Green Orchid(Platanthera aquilonis)

• Moist calcareous soil

• Common orchid

• Never transplant


Kasabonika Lake First Nation


Kasabonika


Kasabonika Lake First Nation

Several cultural slides have been removed from the web version, but were used to discuss some cultural aspect of this First Nation.


Northern Limits of Boreal


Bog - Geology• Depressions in

sand and gravel left by glaciers or rock

• Isolated, no connection to rivers or other lakes


Bog - Conditions• Acidic• Low nutrients - not in

plant friendly form– Little nitrogen,

phosphorus, and potassium

• Isolated from sources of mineralized water

• Dominated by peat moss above water

• Organic deposits below peat mosses

Boreal - Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus)

Bake-apple, Headberry, salmonberry

Bogs

Delicious fruit


Large Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)

Coniferous bog

Edible – commercial cranberry cultivated from this wild species


Bog – Flowering Plant Survival Tactics

• Carnivorous: trap and digest insects• Non-carnivorous

– work with soil fungi (mycorrhizal association) to:• pull in nutrients• change nutrients to form used by plant

– fungus may penetrate plant root– What’s in it for the fungus?

• receives sugars and other products from the plant

Flowering Carnivorous PlantPitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)

Attract insects using bold coloured patterns and nectar secretions


Flowering Carnivorous PlantPitcher Plant

• Leaves contain water “soup”

• Hairs stop insect from exiting

• Drowned insect releases nutrients


Flowering Carnivorous PlantsSpoon-leaved Sundew (Drosera intermedia)


Flowering Carnivorous PlantsSpoon-leaved Sundew

• Sticky, sweet secretions attract and trap insects

• Insect digested• Nutrients

absorbed


Bog - Non-carnivorous Plants Symbiosis with soil fungi

• Plant receives nutrients from fungi that change organic nitrogen to plant-friendly amino acids

• Fungus receives plant derived carbon compound

• Fungi block plant uptake of metal poisons, like zinc, copper, aluminum

40

Boreal - Non-carnivorous PlantsLeatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata)

Bog

Early blooming

Early established in bog

Mar 22/06

Bog - Flowering Non-carnivorous PlantsLabrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

• Retains leaves– plants efficiently

use scarce nutrients to make leaves

– keep nutrients stored in leaves


Flowering Non-carnivorous PlantBog Rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla)

Flowers on new growth

Poisonous


Sheep Laurel(Kalmia angustifolia)

Flowers on old growth.

Poisonous, hence the name sheep-laurel or lamb-kill.

The nectar contains the toxin that results in toxic honey.


Kananaskis Country to Waterton Lakes National Park


Mountains

• Alpine• Subalpine• Montane• Foothills

–Plant adaptation


How Mountains Form• Plate tectonics• Large pieces (plates) of the Earth

collide against each other


Parkland to Foothills• <2400 m

(<1700 ft);• Rolling hills

grade into prairie;

• Mix of grassy slopes and open aspen forest


FoothillsCalypso Orchid (Calypso bulbosa)

Canada Violet (Viola canadensis)


Foothills – Blue Clematis (Clematis occidentalis)

Foothills Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum)


Foothills – Larkspur (Delphinium nelsonii)


Foothills – Cliff Anenome (Anemone multifida)


Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)


Montane and Boreal Foothills• 2400 – 3000 m

(1700 – 5100 ft)• Open stands of

forest at low elevations become more dense toward subalpine

• Lodgepole pine, white spruce, aspen


Mule Deer


Montane – Monkey Flower (Mimulus lewisii)

Moist to wet conditions


Montane - Heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)


Montane – Scorpion Weed (Phacelia sericea)


Montane – Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax)


Subalpine

• 3000 – 3500 m (5100 – 7000 ft)

• Ends where trees end

• Moisture is high (snow + rain)


Ground Squirrel – High Pass


Subalpine – Yellow Columbine (Aquilegia flavescens)


Subalpine - Yellow glacier-lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)

Subalpine

Alpine Forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris)

Globeflower (Trollius laxus)


Subalpine – Elephant-head (Pedicularis groenlandica)

Subalpine – Siberian Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

Subalpine – AlpineWestern Pasqueflower or Anemone (Anemone

occidentalis)

Early to flower

“Shaggy seed head (“Hippie on a stick”)


Subalpine – White and Yellow Mountain Aven (Dryas octopetala and Dryas drummondii)


Subalpine cirque – formed by glacier

Subalpine

Mountain Gentian (Gentiana calycosa)

Mountain Sorrel (Oxyria digyna)


Alpine (Tundra)

• >3500 m (7000 ft)• Treeline to end of

vegetation• Cold, windy, snow or

bare, dry• Small, low-growing,

rapid growth• Arctic plants• No trees• Pika


Rocky Mountain Sheep

Geological mineral “salt lick”


Alpine - Moss campion (Silene acaulis)

Alpine

Alpine Buttercup (Ranunculus eschscholtzii)

Alpine Sawwort

(Saussurea densa)


Alpine – Alpine Rock Jasmine(Androsace chamaejasme)


Alpine – Shrubby Penstemon(Penstemon fruticsus)


Alpine – King’s Crown(Rhodiola integrifolia)


Spotted Saxifrage (Saxifraga bronchialis)


Red Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)

The EndAndy Fyon

[email protected]

www.ontariowildflower.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ontariowildflower.com/

- a wildflower walk - boreal forest to rocky …...mar 22/06 sudbury naturalists - a. fyon 2 journey...

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