Tag Archives: Labrador tea

20170608 Crab spider, Iris, Canada Goose, Bracken fern, Solomon’s Plume, Labrador Tea, Purple Ladyslipper, Pitcher Plant

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Crab spider, Iris, Canada Goose, Bracken fern, Solomon’s Plume, Labrador Tea, Purple Ladyslipper, Pitcher Plant

We went back to Woods Road to check on the Crab Spider that we had seen and photographed last week.  It was still there, on the same flower, which was starting to look a bit overmature.  Have a look at Misumena vatia in this very nice downloadable .pdf Brochure.

After stopping for a treat at Moose Lake Trading Post, we came back on Hwy 529 and saw our first wild irises of the season, Iris versacolor (blue flag, harlequin blue flag, larger blue flag, northern blue flag, and poison flag) …

This lone Canada Goose was surveying its domain…

Twisted Bracken fern fronds unfurling …

Just North of the turn-off to Bayfield Inlet the Labrador Tea is in full bloom in the Tamarack bog …

And, if you look closely you can see Pink Ladyslippers blooming …

Click on “Pink Ladyslippers”  on Walter Muma’s List of Ontario Orchids.  That list includes Hooded Ladies Tresses, a competitor for Canada’s National Flower. (Voting ends on June 30th.)

(Look in the top left third of the above to see the bunch of Ladyslippers)

Still in the bog, but next to a rock outcrop, this blooming Pitcher Plant cluster is visible from the road.  The traps are hidden in the sedges under the Tamarack twig below.   The Pitcher Plant is a good example of Convergent Evolution.

This Solomon’s Plume is showing itself in a ray of sunshine near the Naiscoot River bridge (where the title photo was taken).

 

Mark Berkery has posted some new “macro” photos at his blog.  Neat stuff!

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20170531 Trillium, Cinquefoil, Moose, Cotton Grass, Bunchberry, Dragonfly, Starflower, Snapping turtle, Clintonia, Sheepkill, Labrador tea, Blue-eyed grass, Tamarack

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Trillium, Cinquefoil, Moose, Cotton Grass, Bunchberry, Dragonfly, Starflower, Snapping turtle, Clintonia, Sheepkill, Labrador tea, Blue-eyed grass, Tamarack

We took some detours on our way to and from Parry Sound on the last day of May and saw some nice sights ….

Including this field of maturing Trillium grandiflorum along the bank of Harris Creek along Hwy 529.

When this marsh plant shows it little purple flowers we’ll be able to positively ID it as Potentilla palustris.

New mom with calf  south of Pte au Baril  ….

Cottongrass, probably this one:

Bunchberry, Cornus canadensis, one of the three flowers competing for Canada’s National Flower. Voting closes on June 30, 2017.

Labrador Tea …  easy to identify by the rust-coloured  wooly underside of its mature leaves.

Either a solitary bee or a fly …

Thankfully the Dragonflies have arrived.   Outdoors folks are thankful because of the huge numbers of mosquitoes and black flies they consume.

Starflower:

Keeping a beady eye out for the photographer taking a close up.  Click on the photo to see it really close up…..

This article tells how to pick up a Snapping turtle, if you really need to.  I’ll let someone else do it if required.

Clintonia borealis (commonly blue-bead lily or Clintonia, also Clinton’s lily, corn Lily, cow tongue, yellow beadlily, yellow bluebeadlily, snakeberry, dogberry, and straw lily) are just starting to bloom.  It’s blossoming follows the yellow Trout Lily in deciduous forests  by a week or two.

Kalmia angustifolia contains a poison and is known as ‘lamb-kill’, ‘sheep kill’, ‘calf-kill’, ‘pig laurel’, ‘sheep-laurel’ and ‘sheep-poison’.  It is also known as narrow-leaved laurel and dwarf laurel.   It has a pretty flower and is often in association with leatherleaf, labrador tea, cottongrass, bog rosemary and a variety of sedges … often in tamarack bogs.

Blue-eyed grass holding some rainwater …

Female cone along with several male pollen “cones” along a Tamarack twig .

I just looked at Mark Berkery’s latest post Black and White – I fly.    Very interesting subject from a very interesting man who happens to also be a great photographer.

 

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