Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Figwort family

This was such a beautifully dense cluster of Elephant's Head, only maybe 4 or 5 feet across. Noticed late yesterday afternoon from my car, growing at my favourite little wetland SW of the city. At the last minute, I decided I would have to get out of the house yesterday. I just couldn't take being in an "oven" any more. Not complaining about the hot, sunny weather we are having at the moment, but my house turns into an oven and then tends to stay that way for many days or weeks afterwards. I had planned on leaving the house earlier than I did (10;00 a.m.) and drove NW of the city and NW of Cochrane. Hadn't been that way for a long time and wanted to see if I could find an owl of some sort, especially a Great Gray Owl. No luck, and in fact it seemed like all wildlife was in hiding, except for four Deer. My morning's finds included a patch of beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers (deep pink, yellow, green and peach colours) Also a noisy little Wren that I saw when I pulled over to take a look down a hillside to see if I could see the Red Fox that had just run across the road ahead of me - no luck. The next sightings were a lone Deer - forgot to check its tail, but judging by the enormous size of its ears, it had to have been a Mule Deer - and a Tree Swallow that was perched on its bright orange nesting "box". I wonder who chose the colour of the box this year; he or his mate, lol. Nearby, there were several Swallowtail butterflies down in the mud along the edge of the road. Before I could get there, a car came along in the opposite direction and of flew every single one. By the time I had photographed a few wildflowers, one butterfly did return, so I was able to get a few shots. Deciding to return to Highway 1a the same way as I came, I passed a couple of horses that always seem to be in the same place. I'm never sure about the health of these two, and they never seem "happy" animals, though maybe they are just getting very old. When I reached the road I wanted to check out (including for a possible owl), I found that it had just been oiled ready for a new surface to be laid, so that plan went out the window. Wanting to stay away from my unpleasantly hot house for as long as possible, I came home via Bragg Creek and some of the backroads that I love, SW of the city. Brown-Lowery Provincial Park was my first stop - and it has the wonderful, added benefit of washrooms in the parking lot - the first ones I'd seen all day! I checked out the area near the parking lot and then went maybe a hundred feet into the forest. After checking for any fungi (none), I heard a very loud cracking of branches and eventually spotted a huge, very dark shape through the trees. From that angle, it looked horribly like a Bear, but when it lifted its head from feeding, I was so relieved to see that it was "only" a Moose! A young couple were coming along the trail towards me and I said they must have seen it even closer. My voice was heard by the animal and unfortunately it moved quickly away. I like to think that a Bear or Cougar would react in the same way, lol! From Brown-Lowery, I passed my favourite little wetland and found the Snipe standing, as usual, on a fence post. Sorry, everyone, you might just get fed up of Snipe photos - if you aren't already! Got home around 6;00 p.m., feeling content that, even though the morning had been pretty disappointing, the day was a a good one. Would love to get in my car and go out again today, but I have things to get done and I don't want to overdo the driving, in case I make my shoulders any worse.

On a short walk in North Weaselhead on 10 June 2014, a fellow botany lover and I saw several of these beautiful Smooth Bue Beardtongue flowers, but most were growing on rather dry, crumbly slopes. Especially as I'm taking a half dose of muscle relaxant pills (for my painful shoulders), I was not about to do any risky climbing, so this was the flower I ended up with. Thought I would post it, just in case I don't get to see them again this season. The flowers are such a gorgeous shade of blue. A previously posted macro shot of an individual flower is in a comment box below.

I know, it's "just" Paintbrush, but I saw a lot of it today, when I drove into the mountains along the Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66). It sure brightened everywhere, with its variations in colour. Drove right to the end of the highway, to Forgetmenot Pond, and then called in along the Ing's Mine Road, which is where I took this photo, on the way home.

This wild plant was growing along the Gunnery Pass Trail in Kananaskis (off Highway 40) when we went for an all-day hike on Saturday. Usually, when I see this plant, most of the flowers are not yet open. It is a member of the Figwort family, is native, and grows June-August on moist montane slopes.

I know RED is your colour, Rebecca : ) Also, red is considered a lucky colour, so thought I'd use this Indian Paintbrush to go with my very best wishes for tomorrow and the recovery time afterwards. Good Luck! I took this photo when I was out west of the city yesterday afternoon, at Maclean Pond. Sorry to hear about your extremely high temperatures! Created with fd's Flickr Toys

White Beardtongue (Penstemon albidus) was one of the new plants we saw yesterday on a full day's trip to Purple Spring Sand Dunes near Taber, in south eastern Alberta. The white or light violet, tube-shaped flowers of this native wildflower are about three-quarters of an inch long and arranged as clusters on the upper four inches of the plant. Grows on dry, open grasslands and hillsides and blooms May-June.

Just had to shoot these Indian Paintbrush flowers, as they were such an intense, vibrant colour. Somehow, it's hard to resist photographing Paintbrush flowers, as they vary so much in colour : ) These ones were growing along the Gunnery Pass trail that I did with a couple of friends on 18th July.

American Brooklime, also called Speedwell, is a native wildflower which grows in marshy ground and along stream banks. The tiny flowers are blue to pale violet or white. This plant was growing at Pearce Estate.

This red Paintbrush seemed to glow in amongst the small trees and bushes. Seen near the parking lot at Ing's Mine Road, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66). The irregularly lobed bracts are red and the flower is the narrow, yellow part. So easy to forget that the red parts are not petals.

Smooth Blue Beardtongue adds beautiful colour to hillsides here. Sometimes, you see a plant that has a lot more pink/purple, but this is a very blue one. It gets its name from the sterile stamen (staminode) which is covered in hairs.

Can't remember off-hand where I photographed this particular Paintbrush. I love seeing them in this colour. I'm trying to think if the tiny bug on the flower is called a Tarnished Plant bug (has a tiny white heart shape close to the head end).

Taken 10th September 2006 in the wildflower garden at Fort Calgary. Common Mullein was introduced from Greece as a medicinal plant. It was used as an agent for fish control in the mid 1700s.

Yellow Rattle is a member of the Figwort family. The common name refers to the seeds that rattle in the capsule and papery calyx when shaken. There are two species of Rhinanthus in the world and only this species grows in Alberta.

Introduced from Europe as a garden plant, this plant is now an aggressive weed.