Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: west of Head-Smashed-in

This was a new plant for us, seen when we botanized the absolutely beautiful rolling hills belonging to Raymond and Diana Nadeau on 11th June. This location is a short way west of Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump, way down south from Calgary, heading towards the US border. Always a thrill when one sees something new, no matter what it is : ) This plant is native and grows on dry, open grasslands and hillsides. The tube-shaped flowers are red to purple and have an enlarged, hairy throat. Sepals 5, petals 5, 5 stamens, four of which are fertile and the fifth is a hairy staminode. Blooms June-July. "Crested Beardtongue is included in Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre's (ANHIC) "tracking list" - plants that have elements of high priority because they are rare, endemic, disjunct, in peril or special in some other way." albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlands/whaleback/features

We saw this little guy on a botanizing day on Raymond Nadeau's ranchland, west of Head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump, way down south towards the US/Canada border just over a month ago. I still haven't been able to find it on Google - if I ever get time, I need to post it on one of the Bug websites. It was such a beautiful colour. Later: many thanks to Dr. Ted Pike (Calgary) for the ID - a Sawfly larva. "Sawflies are a relative of bees and wasps. There are three or four families of these things which feed on leaves just like this one. I can't tell you more without an adult specimen to key out.". ID much appreciated. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawfly

On 6th June, a few of us did a day's hike to see the northernmost limit recorded for Balsamroot , Balsamorhiza sagittata. Then, on 11th June, we went down south towards the US border to just west of the Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump area and were delighted to see hillsides covered in these bright yellow flowers. We could see them from the car - we didn't have to take one single step to find them - so much easier than our long day of hiking to see them, LOL. When we pulled into one ranch driveway to see if we had the right address, we saw these two Mule Deer amongst the Balsamroot. Just looked so pretty. "Balsamroots are native to western North America. There are about twelve species plus many common hybrids.... Native Americans used the sticky sap of this plant as a topical antiseptic for minor wounds. The large taproots produced by Balsamorhiza sagittata are edible and were harvested, dried, and ground into a starchy flour by Native Americans when other food plants were scarce. The entire plant is edible and nutritious, but not necessarily enjoyable because it contains a bitter, strongly pine-scented sap. The plants large taproots are reported to be very palatable and far less bitter than the above ground parts of the plant. The plant grows on dry hillsides and dry open meadows throughout the Mountain West of North America." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsamorhiza