Dandelion - 100 Species Challenge

7.  Dandelion

     Taraxacum officinale

I wrote about our expedition to discover more about the dandelion in our Outdoor Hour Challenge.  But then I realized that this handy, resilient little plant could serve more than one purpose:  by looking up the official name of this bright fellow, I could bring my 100 Species Challenge list up to the whopping total of 7!

Before doing our study of the dandelion, I already knew about the long, strong taproot which makes the plant virtually ineradicable.  I recognized its leaf shape, knew about the way it chokes neighbouring plants out by shading them, and had watched the flowers go from bud to blossom to seed.

What I didn't know was that the dandelion is actually a composite flower, each head being made up of hundreds of individual florets.  And I knew that the head changed from sunny yellow to white fluff, but didn't realize that the head took several days of opening and closing (morning and night) before it opened fully, and then it would stay closed for a couple of days (I have yet to watch one to see how many) before reopening as the fuzzy white ball that is so much fun to play with.

The plants grow to slightly exceed their neighbouring plants in height.  When on a short grassy lawn they are short themselves, the bloom stalks being only a couple of inches in height.  But when in a grassy field, they grow taller, always outstripping the plants around them.

The leaves on the ones we observed were between 3 and 5 inches in length, slender (only about an inch wide at the widest part), and deeply notched.  They are said to resemble the teeth of a lion (dents de lion), which are quite jagged, apparently.  The flower heads were from 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter when fully open, the buds less than 1/2 of an inch tall and about 1/4 of an inch across.

It was hard for me to follow all the structural information about the dandelion.  Some familiar terms came up (anther-tube, stigma, corolla, etc.), but new terms like involucral bracts, akene, and pappus will take some getting used to.

All the information I gathered about the taraxacus officinale came from Anna Botsford Comstock's fabulous book, Handbook of Nature Study.  I really like the way Comstock talks about the specimens as individuals.  She gives them character and invites us to be friends with them.  What a great way to learn about nature.

White Pine - 100 Species Challenge

6.  White Pine, Eastern White Pine, Northern White Pine

      Pinus strobus.

Sunday was cool after a very warm Saturday (29 degrees Celsius) which ended in high winds and lots of driving rain.  But it was still a nice day to head out for a walk, so we took ourselves to the park near the river.

We played some baseball, then My Girl and I left the boys and went for a short walk to the Bridge To Nowhere.  As we stood atop the bridge I noticed a coniferous tree about a hundred 

feet away that I wanted to take a closer look at.  I could tell, even from that distance, that it had long needles and it was quite a light green.  Recalling a workshop* I had recently attended at the KW home educators' conference about local trees and native species (plant and animal alike), I wondered if it was one of the native trees the speaker had referred to.

The tree's needles were 3-4" in length, 5 per cluster.  Sure enough, it was the White Pine that I had learned a little about!  I was so excited to have been able to identify this tree on my own, without my field guide!

Today, when I looked it up in my National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees, I learned the following:

• The (Eastern) White Pine is the only pine tree in the guide that has 5 needles in each bundle
• White Pines are the largest North Eastern conifers, reaching 100', but my specimen was less than 1/2 the height of the neighbouring tree; it was probably young.
• White Pines add one row of branches each year, so I could probably go back to my specimen and determine an approximate age

I now think that I could accurately identify any White Pine that I come across! I guess I really am learning, one specimen at a time!

*The workshop was "Seeing The (Local) Forest For The Trees" by Karen Buschert

Sedum purpureum - 100 Species Challenge

5. Sedum purpureum. Sedum is found in many gardens in our community, but I've also seen it in the natural parkland (the photo at the bottom, with the bee, is from one of our nature walks, the other three are from our garden). It is a perennial that re-surfaces early in the spring and lasts well into the fall.

It has smooth, waxy leaves with almost invisible veins. The edges are serrated with large scallops, and the tip is slightly rounded. The stem is also smooth and waxy, very thick and sturdy.

The sedum flowers are clusters of tiny buds, giving the plant a pink broccoli-look. Buds are less than 1/4" and light green in colour when they first appear, gradually developing pink tips. The pink spreads as the flower grows, with full flowering coming in late summer and fall. Come late October, the flowers begin to dry on the stems.

Impatiens grandulifera - Indian Touch-Me-Not

As I was roaming the internet looking for more information on Jewel Weed, I came across a terrific blog from BC, called Huckleberry Days. For those of us not living in BC, some of the information about whether a species is invasive or native might not fit, but the author has much that is of interest for anyone with an eye to learning about natural history and biodiversity, not to mention the beautiful photography (check out this post of pictures from the Fraser Delta).

So, I was looking for Jewel Weed becasue in our back alley there is a plant whose flowers look like the Pale Jewel Weed (Impatiens pallida) that I've posted on before, except that they are pink. I think I've been able to determine that this is another variety of the Impatiens grouping.

Here's what I have found:

This photo was taken from Everything You'd Love to Know: Garden. I hope to put my own photo in soon. (The camera battery is recharging after all the caterpillar/chrysialis/butterfly photos!)

4. Impatiens grandulifera

Impatiens glandulifera is known by several common names including Indian Touch-Me-Not, Himalayan Impatiens, Himalyan Balsam, Policeman's Helmut (UK) and Ornamental Jewelweed.

Although in its native range (India and the western Himalayas) this species is frost tolerant and is found at elevations up to 4000 meters, there is speculation here that the number of frost free days and annual winter temperatures may limit its distribution in North America.

From Huckleberry Days: Invasive jewelweeds

If I'm correct in this identification, then it's interesting to note that, according to Huckleberry Days, this is an invasive species (at least in BC). This is the variety that I remember popping when we lived in the Lower Mainland of BC, just a couple of blocks from our home, on an undeveloped lot.

Funny that we've found them in the right-of-way where the children have played off and on all summer, and that no-one has noticed them before. So, here we have Indian Touch-Me-Not (or Himalayan Impatiens which sounds so much more exotic). The cluster of plants we have range in blossom colour from the vibrant pink you see pictured above to a pale, near white-pink.

I actually spent yesterday evening doing a dry-brush illustration of the Indian Touch-Me-Not to include in a get-well card that I'll be mailing off on Monday. If the batteries are up in time, I might just snap a photo before I send it away.

Common Milkweed

3. Asclepias syriaca - Common Milkweed

Our nature walk last week revealed many things that I didn't realize I knew! One was this, the common milkweed. I'm not sure I would have been so quick to recognize it had I not been immersed in milkweed caterpillar readings, but I'm pleased that I did, anyway!

The large pods are quite distinctive, thick and heavy-looking, with spiny protrusions in rows along its sides.

The leaves are broad, flat ovals, with slightly wavy outer edges. They have a reddish mid-rib (some less red, however) and pale green veins coming out almost perpendicularly to the mid-rib. When broken, the leaves produce a sticky, milky-white substance.

The stem is hairy.

Under this leaf we discovered a collection of Milkweed Tussock Moth Larvae.

My guide says that the common milkweed likes sandy soil with lots of light; this one was near a river and stream, sheltered by trees, but not completely enclosed.

Impatiens pallida - Jewelweed

2. Impatiens pallida - Pale Jewelweed or Pale Touch-Me-Not

We saw this flower on a nature walk with dear friends last Thursday. My friend suggested that it might be a Spotted Jewelweed (also known as touch-me-not). My research on the eNature.com (I couldn't find it in my wildflower guidebook) indicates that it is likely an Impatiens pallida, or Pale Jewelweed. The spotted version has a more golden-orange colour than this yellow, and its spotting is much more extensive on the lower petals.

This plant's blossom reminds me of a fluted goblet, the fluting being quite extravagant, yellow with reddish-orange spots on the petals where they direct the attention to the centre of the cup. I suppose that's to draw insects deep inside toward the pollen so they can participate in propagating the plant. Some of the flowers in the images I found online show more separation between the two lower petals, and there seems to be a range from not-at-all-spotted to spotted like the one I have pictured above within the range of Impatiens pallida.

It was in a wet area near a stream, well sheltered by trees. The stem is tall with viney branches supporting multiple leaves.

Now that I've looked at it a bit online and here in my photos, I realize that I've seen this flower along the river when we've gone walking, too. It has the lovely little seed pods that plump up and, when ready, explode when you touch them. (Hence the other name, Pale Touch-Me-Not.) I believe that those ones are even paler, and not spotted, although I'm going on memory here and I should really go check it out to be sure.

Here's what I've learned about it since identifying it. It is sometimes used as a home remedy for poison ivy, but scientific studies have shown no anti-itch properties. Jewelweed also contains the same dye found in Henna that is used for hair colouring and skin colouring in Mehndi.

Here is the plant growing along the path where we walked.

I hope to post lots more photos from that walk - it was a beautiful afternoon! (I might even post an entry from one or more of our nature journals...if I get ambitious.)

Cosmos Bipinnatus

1. Cosmos bipinnatus - a semi-hardy annual that often reappears by way of self-sowing for several years.

Colour range: shades of pink, purple, and white

Leaves are finely segmented, delicate

This is a flower we have in our butterfly garden. We have seen it in other gardens around our neighbourhood. It seems to be a flower of choice for many types of gardens, from the highly structured to the more carefree.

This tall flower is a favourite in our garden. It's delicate colour and tall slender stem make a pretty sight.

Here's an article about the two most common species of cosmos. You might like to scroll down to read the top ten reasons everyone should be growing cosmos (in Texas, true, but much applies to this northern land, too!).

100 Species Challenge

We've decided to join the 100 Species Challenge as part of our Nature Study for this year. So, in addition to keeping our eyes open for insects, we're going to try to accumulate a list of 100 species of plants that grow within walking distance of our home. That we can recognize. I'll put my first identified plant up soon, but for now, can anyone tell me about this one?

It has small blossoms that remind me of apple blossoms (but remember, I'm new to this!), 5 pale pink, almost white, near-circular petals with a yellow centre. The leaves are slender, slightly rounded rather than pointed at the tips. The plant itself was like a bushy flower or small shrub, about 2 feet high. Very delicate-looking flowers. So now I'm curious.

If you're interested in joining the 100 Species Challenge, here is the link to where we first found it, and here are the rules:

1. Participants should include a copy of these rules and a link to this entry in their initial blog post about the challenge.

2. Participants should keep a list of all plant species they can name, either by common or scientific name, that are living within walking distance of the participant’s home. The list should be numbered, and should appear in every blog entry about the challenge, or in a sidebar.

3. Participants are encouraged to give detailed information about the plants they can name in the first post in which that plant appears.

4. Participants are encouraged to make it possible for visitors to their blog to find easily all 100-Species-Challenge blog posts.

5. Participants may post pictures of plants they are unable to identify, or are unable to identify with precision. They should not include these plants in the numbered list until they are able to identify it with relative precision. Each participant shall determine the level of precision that is acceptable to her; however, being able to distinguish between plants that have different common names should be a bare minimum.

6. Different varieties of the same species shall not count as different entries (e.g., Celebrity Tomato and Roma Tomato should not be separate entries); however, different species which share a common name be separate if the participant is able to distinguish between them (e.g., camillia japonica and camillia sassanqua if the participant can distinguish the two–"camillia" if not).

7. Participants may take as long as they like to complete the challenge. You can make it as quick or as detailed a project as you like.

I'd love to hear from you if you plan to join, and even if you're not doing it on a blog, but maybe in a Nature Journal, I'd enjoy hearing about your specimens.

I'm a little obsessive about the formatting on this type of thing, and for some reason I can't get the spacing to work properly in my numbered section. I've tried everything that I can think of to correct it, but it's beyond my http abilities, so aside from completely redoing the post, I'm stuck with the funny spacing. I know, it probably isn't bothering anyone but me, but I had to let you know that I noticed it!! :)