Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: seed head

Another smoky day here in Calgary, so it has to be another day at home with windows closed. The air quality today is expected to reach High Risk. I really hope that rain will arrive soon to help the firefighters in British Columbia and in Alberta, too! So much devastation. Six days ago, on 14 July 2017, it was a hot day, but our bio-blitz of the Rusty Bucket Ranch, west of Calgary, started at 8:00 am, to catch the coolest part of the day. This was the first time we had been there and we had such a great morning. What a beautiful place and area! Thirteen of us gathered to explore part of the land belonging to Liz and Alan Breakey - 160 acres, mostly wooded, with many streams feeding into Bragg Creek. The gorgeous garden itself was full of bright, healthy plants. Once we were in the forest, we came across all sorts of wildflower species and even a few fungi and slime molds. We all met the challenges of small, hidden logs along the trail, lying in wait to trip anyone who was not paying careful attention. One of the last areas was a bog, where the small, partly hidden pools of water were difficult or impossible to avoid - I nearly lost a shoe in there, lol! On the final stretch back to the house, we caught sight of a distant buck with its new growth of antlers; also, a few of the sheep that the Breakeys raise. A really fun walk for us all, with all sorts of things of interest. Many thanks to Liz and Alan for inviting us to the Rusty Bucket Ranch to explore and list all species seen! Thank you, too, for the very warm welcome you gave us, and for the muffins, delicious lemon drink, and coffee! "Geum rivale, the water avens, is a flowering plant of the family Rosaceae. Other names for the plant are nodding avens, drooping avens, cure-all, water flower and indian chocolate. It is native to much of Europe, with the exception of Mediterranean areas, as well as some parts of Central Asia and North America. In North America, it is known as purple avens. It grows in bogs and damp meadows, and produces nodding red flowers from May to September." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geum_rivale After the morning's hike, we all returned to the city and thoroughly enjoyed a BBQ lunch put on by our botany/birding friends, Dorothy and Stephen. I hadn't had a burger in years - and this one was so good! Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for all the time and effort you put into this. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon, chatting with friends and eating all sorts of 'goodies'. Happy to see the tiny Hummingbird that has been visiting your garden, and lovely to see the bright yellow American Goldfinch. It was quite windy, too, which felt wonderful on a hot day.

In the afternoon of Day 6 of our trip to Trinidad & Tobago, 18 March 2017, my friends and I visited the Nariva Swamp on the east coast of Trinidad, which is mainly agricultural habitats with some wetlands. We had some good birding there and last night I posted photos of a few more of the birds we saw. We also saw a few interesting plants, especially the Sacred Lotus. This is one of my favourite things to photograph in the Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. "The lotus was of great significance to many ancient cultures, and in particular to the Eastern religions. From ancestral times, the lotus regularly appears as a symbol of purity, peace, transcendence, enlightenment, rebirth, beauty, and fertility. In India, the lotus flower is considered to be of divine origin and is viewed as sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists. Buddha was said to sleep on a lotus six months of the year, and Shambala (Buddhist heaven) is sometimes represented as a field of flowering sacred lotuses." Taken from the first link below. www.holisticaroma.co.uk/shp/TheSacredLotus.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera "The pods/seed heads contain the Lotus seeds within little circular chambers on the flat surface of the top of the pod. These circles appeared to cradle the seeds, which are round, within the pod until fully ripe. Both the chamber of each seed and the seed itself get larger and larger until the pod bends over to finally release the seeds into the water." www.flowersociety.org/lotus-plant-study.htm "The Nariva Swamp is the largest freshwater wetland in Trinidad and Tobago and has been designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. The swamp is located on the east coast of Trinidad, immediately inland from the Manzanilla Bay through Biche and covers over 60 square kilometres (23 mi). The Nariva Swamp is extremely biodiverse. It is home to 45 mammal species, 39 reptile species, 33 fish species, 204 bird species, 19 frog species, 213 insect species and 15 mollusc species. All this contained in just 60 square kilometers. The area provides important habitat for waterfowl and is key habitat for the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), caimans, anacondas, boa constrictors, red howler monkeys, white-fronted capuchin monkeys, numerous species of parrots, including both the blue-and-gold macaw and red-bellied macaws, as well as many wetland and savanna birds. Four major wetland vegetation types occur in the Nariva Swamp - mangrove swamp forest, palm forest, swamp wood, and freshwater marsh." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nariva_Swamp www.destinationtnt.com/nariva-swamp/ This is a video that I found on YouTube, taken by Rigdon Currie and Trish Johnson, at many of the same places we visited on Trinidad and Tobago. Not my video, but it made me feel like I was right there still. Posting the link here again, so that I won't lose it. youtu.be/BBifhf99f_M This afternoon, I also came across the following 27-minute YouTube video of the flora and fauna of Trinidad, filmed by John Patrick Smith in February 2015. youtu.be/6HHBm9MIxnk

This plant was seen on 13 August 2015, when I spent about three hours with three friends at Heritage Park in Calgary. One of them is a volunteer at the Park and she had very kindly invited us to visit. The temperature got up to 33°C or 34°C for our visit!! We started our visit at 9:45 am, so it was still cooler than that, but as the heat increased in the afternoon, it became unbearable. Fortunately, I had a dentist appointment mid-afternoon, so I knew I would have maybe an hour and a half in air-conditioning before returning to my home that felt like an oven. Our walk at Heritage Park was a combination of looking at the various old buildings and also checking on plants. There is a small native plant garden within the Hudson Bay Fort and we talked to a volunteer there, who I think may have learned a few new things from talking with us : ) www.heritagepark.ca/ www.heritagepark.ca/plan-your-visit/interactive-park-map.... We had been told before our visit that the Prohibited Noxious weed, Spotted Knapweed, had been seen at the Park, and we did find it, growing along a gravel road that led down by the Glenmore Reservoir. This species is a prolific seed producer and is very difficult to control. Along the edge of this road, we also saw this Groundsel plant, showing one tiny flower that had gone to seed. I think it is probably Common Groundsel / Senecio vulgaris, a common weed in Alberta. This small plant was introduced from Europe and grows in gardens, fields and waste areas. Apparently, the Pilgrims brought Common Groundsel to North America to treat the early stages of cholera. Despite the heat, we had a very enjoyable visit. Heritage Park is a place I always intend to go to, but somehow I rarely make it. This was a treat, so thanks so much, Susan!

Last fall, on 28 September 2014, was the first time I had been to the Calgary Zoo since before the Alberta Flood of the Century in June 2013. I had been photographing wild things over the summer and just never made it as far as the Zoo. The west parking lot and Zoo entrance are now being kept closed for the winter, and I dread the drive home from the north entrance, so I don't get to the Zoo very often any more. There were so many people everywhere at the Zoo that day. Normally, I wouldn’t go on a Sunday, but I thought it might be a good idea to drive the dreaded Deerfoot Trail on my way home on a slightly quieter day. I usually avoid Deerfoot at all cost, as it’s a dangerous road to be on. Couldn't resist taking a quick shot of this fading Echinacea flower, with its spiky seedhead. This is one of my favourite garden flowers, beautiful at all stages of its life. "Echinacea /ˌɛkɨˈneɪʃⁱə/ is a genus, or group of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (echino), meaning "sea urchin," due to the spiny central disk. Some species are used in herbal medicines and some are cultivated in gardens for their showy flowers. A few species are of conservation concern." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea

The Nodding/Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) is my favourite kind of thistle, especially at the stage before the stage shown in my photo, when the pinky purple flower has died and the beautiful pattern of the spiny bracts can be seen more clearly. Flower head is 4-6 cm in diameter. Photographed at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area on July 27th, when I called in for a short walk after my afternoon volunteer shift. There were a lot more of these plants this year, so I guess this invasive weed really does spread! The Government is offering very good rebates to people who replace their central heating furnace for an energy efficient one, but the offer is only for a limited time. My furnace is extremely old and I think it was maybe five years ago that the furnaces in several neighbours' units developed cracks and had to be replaced. We all had to have our furnaces checked for obvious safety reasons. I was told that mine might last another couple of years - and it has been five, so I feel I'm pushing my luck. The question is - do I really want to add more stress and mess to the upcoming stress and mess of having to have my front and patio doors, all my windows, and the roof replaced??? It would be so much more expensive to replace it next year. Also, it will be a nightmare getting to the furnace and working around it, as my basement is now worse than ever, now that I have the contents of the 12 boxes from England (containing so many wonderful sentimental belongings of my parents and my brother) strewn all over the basement floor. I think I might just have to swallow my pride and ask a furnace guy to please close his eyes and not notice the mess, ha. Impossible! Couldn't fall sleep last night, thinking about this, and ended up in my basement in the early hours of the morning, moving a handful of things. Anyone got one of those magic wands I could borrow, lol??? Or maybe even Mary Poppins might be available? Sigh ....

This is the beautiful seedhead of Yellow Clematis - unfortunately, this vine is an introduced, invasive and highly destructive weed, capable of strangling and killing large Spruce trees. Photographed on November 15th, during a walk from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park. Please do not purchase the plant or seeds of Yellow Clematis - having this plant in your garden only makes the invasive situation worse than ever.

Goat's-beard is a noxious weed that overtakes native plants. Unfortunately, it does have quite an attractive yellow flower and a beautiful seedhead when opened, a little like that of the dandelion, but larger.