Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Crowfoot family

Came across this beautifully coloured flower at the Eagle lookout/viewpoint at Brown-Lowery Park when I went there with a couple of friends on Monday. This was the only plant of this species we could see there. I think I've only ever seen this uncommon plant two or three times before, so it was a welcome find. Low Larkspur is very poisonous and cattle are often poisoned by this plant.

We are all waiting with baited breath for the first Prairie Crocus (also called Pasque-flower) to bloom!!! Such gorgeous, hairy plants! Legend says that the Great Spirit gave this delicate plant a fur coat to keep it warm until spring nights turn warmer. This is a photo taken on 5 May 2006 at Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek Park. Last spring, I photographed my first one on 26 March, but everything will be delayed this year because of our long, hard winter.

I must add straight away that, no, I wasn't lying flat on my stomach or back to get this photo and, no, I didn't pick the flower, LOL!! When I was on a walk with friends on Friday morning, at Sandy Beach, one of us noticed that this Prairie Crocus flower had been broken off, probably by foot or by dog. Of course, I didn't want to see it wasted, so I made sure I took a few photos of it : ) Oh, by the way, it's SNOWING again this evening!

Not the best of photos - much too blurry for my liking - but it's a bit different from the other, more "usual" photos of Prairie Crocuses that I took yesterday. It was a very overcast afternoon and quite windy - not good for photographing thousands of tiny, gold hairs, LOL. However, I had just been to get my Taxes done and this location was nearby, so I wanted to at least try and find a few of these wildflowers. So great to have them finally in bloom! Oh, and by the way, I placed something dark behind the flower head to make it show up against all the tangle of dried grass in the background. I'll post one of those "messy" photos another day : )

My photos of this wild aquatic plant are usually much more distant ones. However, these flowers were growing closer to the edge at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail, Kananaskis. This plant belongs to the Crowfoot or Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is aquatic to semi-aquatic, growing in slow-moving water and ponds. The species name "aquatilis" means "growing in water".

Red Baneberry has a beautiful, white, intricate flower cluster. Sometimes, the plant produces red berries, other times white ones. I love seeing the bright, shiny red ones, as they almost seem to glow in the forest. These ones were growing at Griffith Woods, seen on a walk this afternoon.

Photographed this Red Baneberry when I went to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on Monday with a couple of friends. This member of the Crowfoot or Buttercup family has an attractive, white flower cluster, but its red or white berries are poisonous. Grows in deciduous and mixedwood forests.

This Prairie Crocus was growing in an area full of pther plants at 12 Mile Coulee. A pretty, fresh flower compared to a lot of the Crocuses that are now fading.

This plant was introduced from Japan as an ornamental plant. It climbs around nearby vegetation and does a lot of damage, including strangling and killing trees.

Not much to photograph this morning, so thought I'd zoom in on this Yellow Clematis seedhead! Attractive though this plant is, it is doing damage to trees by "strangling" them. This plant was introduced from Japan as an ornamental plant.

This wildflower was growing at Big Hill Springs Park just outside the city. It is a plant introduced from Europe and grows in moist areas along roads, pastures and open woods.

This Monkshood must have escaped from a nearby garden, as it was growing the other side of the path amongst the bushes and wildflowers. I'm not sure if this is the same as the truly wild species.