Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: no petals

I haven't heard whether anyone has seen a first Prairie Crocus in bloom yet, this spring. They can be seen as early as mid-March, but more often closer to the end of March, I believe. This image was taken on 26 April 2011, probably at Sandy Beach, Calgary.

There seems to have been quite a lot of wild Blue Clematis (Clematis occidentalis, Clematis columbiana) this spring, twining up twigs and branches or growing closer to the ground in the forest and woodlands. Such a gorgeous blue. This flower was growing in the West Bragg Creek Environmental Studies area on 20th June. This is a native, perennial, woody vine that climbs or creeps along the ground. There are no petals, but there are four blue/purple sepals to each solitary flower. Flowers May-July. Just got home from a day of botanizing south of the city, near Black Diamond, at the Three Point Creek Natural Area. We even had Great Horned Owls flying nearby when we were there - gosh, there are owls everywhere, LOL! A fairly hot day - too hot for me, but at least there was no rain, so we were really lucky. On the way home, we called in at a Bakery and coffee shop in Black Diamond - the coffee tasted SO good! Ralph, if you happen to get on to Flickr and see this - thanks again so much for driving today - much appreciated!

This European Pasque Flower was growing at the Reader Rock Garden recently. Similar to our wildflower, Prairie Crocus.

I thought this clump of Prairie Crocuses (growing at Sandy Beach recently) might serve as a reminder of just how lucky we are to have endless beauty around us, in different forms for each of the seasons of every year. Human beings seem to have a talent for "messing up" the balance of nature in so many ways and mistreating our earth. May we be blessed with enough wisdom to look around around us, to actually SEE how fortunate we are, and to not just know that we need to take much greater care of our planet, but to also do everything we can, before it's too late, to ensure that future generations get the chance to enjoy nature's wonders. Will add Ambre's link up here - thanks, Ambre! Question: How many petals does each flower have? ANSWER: there are NO petals - the purple parts are SEPALS! Sorry, it was a trick question : ) I spent all morning this Earth Day, walking along the Bow River with friends. Straight afterwards, I drove over to the Zoo for a while, mainly to visit the amazing butterflies : ) An hour and a half or two hours of roasting and sweating in tropical humidity and warmth is far from enjoyable, but oh, SO worth it!

This was one of many Prairie Crocus flowers in bloom along the Bow River, between 194th Ave SE and highway 22X bridge about a week ago. "As soon as the snow melts, you will want to start looking for this "harbinger of spring"! The prairie crocus has pale blue or purple flowers arising from the woody rootstock that appear very early in spring. The whole plant is covered with woolly-white hairs. Flowers: The flowers are about 4 cm (1 1/2 in.) in diameter, each with five to seven petal-like sepals, and many pistils and bright yellow stamens. (Like all anemones, prairie crocus does not have true petals. The blue or purple-coloured parts that look like petals are actually modified sepals.) When folded, the outer surface of the sepals appear covered in white woolly hairs. The flowers are open during the day but close at night." plantwatch.fanweb.ca/plant-information/prairie-crocus

Well, the poor Prairie Crocuses looked rather battered and droopy this morning, after the awful snow storm we had two days ago! They were all closed up, with their little fur coats - solar heating, Crocus style! "This furry little perennial is actually not a crocus, which is in the Lily family; it's really an anemone, in the Buttercup family."

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!