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Category Archives: wildflowers
Glacier lily
One of the first flowers to grow in the spring is the glacier lily. It is often to be seen growing on the edge of a retreating band of snow where the ground becomes very moist. It is mainly … Continue reading
Posted in wildflowers
4 Comments
Round-leaf Orchid
Karen Pidcock guided me to a group of these orchids high on a mossy bank above the Kaslo river. I believe they are large round-leaf rein orchids, Platanthera orbiculata. (The small round leaf orchid is a different plant.) This … Continue reading
Posted in wildflowers
8 Comments
Local tigers
Almost simultaneously, the tigers have arrived. They are: a tiger beetle, a tiger butterfly, and a tiger lily. I have commented previously, somewhat whimsically, on our rather odd naming conventions for species: butter sipping (on butterflies and buttercups); horned … Continue reading
Posted in bugs, wildflowers
7 Comments
Two June orchids
Since mid-May, I have been watching for the appearance of the mountain lady’s slipper. I had already posted images of two earlier local wild orchids: fairy slippers, and striped coralroots. But, the mountain lady’s slipper had yet to appear. … Continue reading
Posted in wildflowers
4 Comments
Butter sipping
I am sure the participants did not appreciate the etymological niceties of their situation as a butterfly sipped nutrients from a buttercup. The names of each species seem to have been of imitative origin, and resulted from their yellowish … Continue reading
Posted in bugs, wildflowers
2 Comments
Two wild orchids
I have been watching for, what I expected would be, the second wild orchid of the season. However, the mountain lady’s slipper has yet to appear. Instead, I found two others. This month opened with pictures of the fairy … Continue reading
Posted in wildflowers
2 Comments
Orchid season
Wild orchid season begins in May and, spanning a number of species, seems to run through July. Indeed, on May 1st there appeared the particularly early-season orchid, the Fairy Slipper. And it appeared in surprisingly great numbers (last year … Continue reading
Posted in wildflowers
7 Comments
Bombylius, Not Bombus
With the advent of sunny spring, I noticed my first lawn flower of the year, a chionodoxa, a tiny bluish flower with a whitish centre. It is sometimes known as the glory of the snow. Abruptly, the flower was … Continue reading
Posted in bugs, wildflowers
4 Comments
Western larch
Come early November, I am often wont to offer an encomium to the western larch. Sometimes the tree is shown covering the mountainside, this time only a portion of an individual appears. The western larch grows only on the … Continue reading
Posted in wildflowers
3 Comments
Gibson errors
We drove to Gibson Lake. Gibson Lake is one of the many satellite alpine lakes that hang over Kootenay Lake. On the way there, I was asked two questions: Might we see Indian Paintbrush? Might we see a Hoary … Continue reading
Posted in mammals, wildflowers
5 Comments