Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Purple Spring Sand Dunes

This was a new plant for us to see, back on 27th June, when a few of us visited the Purple Spring Sand Dunes near Taber, way down in southern Alberta. "The Small-flowered Sand-verbena has amazing adaptations that allow it to tolerate its arid environment. For example, its extremely hardy seeds can lie dormant for up to three years while waiting for favourable growing conditions. Each seed has two or three thin, papery wings that carry it on wind and water. As a result, this annual is unlikely to be found in exactly the same spot each year. This plant grows to between 20 and 50 centimetres, and has striking greenish-white flowers that tend to open in the late afternoon. As its name suggests, it favours hard-packed, fine sand on level ground, but can also be spotted on slopes and ridge tops of dunes. A species of Western North America, its range in Canada is almost entirely limited to southeastern Alberta. It has been found at only one site in Saskatchewan, just east of the Alberta border. This endangered plant requires drifting sand. Dune stabilization is therefore robbing it of its habitat. So too are alien invasive weeds and other plants, which are flourishing on dunes because the absence of fire and decreased grazing mean less unstable sand. Cultivation around existing populations of Small-flowered Sand-verbena is decreasing its ability to spread naturally." www.naturecanada.ca/parks_nwa_current_suffield_speciesatr...

Didn't manage to get a good shot of this Plains Garter Snake, but wanted to post the "best" one as this was the first time I had ever seen this species of Garter Snake - I think we only get the Wandering and the Red-sided Garter Snakes in and around Calgary. One of the people who were on a walk at Purple Spring Sand Dunes, near Taber (southern Alberta) yesterday, spotted this snake slithering through the grass. Almost impossible to get my camera to focus on the snake and not the blades of grass : ) Alberta has just these three kinds of Garter Snake, so it's a good feeling to have now seen all three. As you can see, the orange/yellow stripe starts at the head and goes all the way along the back of the snake. It was a three-hour drive down there and three hours back home, plus the driving we did when we were down that way, and of course the walking we did. Much too hot for me! The area doesn't really live up to its beautiful name - basically, it just looks like prairie grassland, though we did see some plant-covered sand. Saw some good plants, including several new ones, though all my photos turned out to be very disappointing. The glaring afternoon sun made it quite a challenge - plus the fact that I was absolutely wilting in the heat! Also, my biggest concern was that I kept an eye on it, to make sure I moved fast if it started slithering in my direction (which it did, once)!

I think I'm right in identifying this plant as Wild Begonia/Sand Dock/Veined Dock (Rumex venosus). It is found along roadsides, dry soil and sand dunes. We wondered what this plant was when we first saw it on our way to Purple Spring Sand Dunes, near Taber, yesterday. It gave such a wonderful colour to the roadsides. "During the fruiting phase, this species resembles a begonia, hence the common name. Wild Begonia is often one of the first plants to establish itself on active sand dunes. The tender young shoots were used as a rhubarb or spinach replacement by early pioneers. The Blackfoot made a burnt orange dye from the peeled roots." From "Plants of Alberta" by France Royer and Richard Dickinson (Lone Pine publication).

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.

This was a new plant for me, seen on a long day trip to south eastern Alberta, to botanize the Purple Spring Sand Dunes on 27th June. This native wildflower, Cleome serrulata, goes by various common names including Beeplant, Spiderflower, Pink Cleome, Rocky Mountain Beeweed, Rocky Mountain Beeplant, Bee Spiderflower, stinking clover, and Navajo spinach. It grows on disturbed prairie and sandy roadsides, and blooms June-July. "It is an annual plant growing to 10-150 cm tall, with spirally arranged leaves. The leaves are trifoliate, with three slender leaflets each 1-7 cm long. The flowers are reddish-purple, pink, or white, with four petals and six long stamens." From Wikipedia. www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CLSE

I very rarely see this unusual wildflower, so it's always a treat when we do come across it. This macro photo was taken on 27th June, when a few of us went down to south eastern Alberta for the day to botanize the Purple Spring Sand Dunes area, near Taber. This native plant grows on prairie grasslands and is in bloom June-August. It is parasitic on the roots of other plants, primarily those of Artemisia frigida (Pasture Sagewort). "The stems are 2-10 cm tall, pinkish or brownish ... the leaves are alternate, scale-like and less than 1 cm long. Flower clusters are solitary or in 3-10-flowered racemes. Flowers are purplish, tube-shaped, irregula, 2-lipped, 2-3 cm long. Sepals 4-5, petals 5, stamens 4, pistils 1." From "Plants of Alberta" by Royer and Dickinson. "As they have no chlorophyll, they are totally dependent on other plants for nutrients. Broomrape seeds remain dormant in the soil, often for many years, until stimulated to germinate by certain compounds produced by living plant roots. Broomrape seedlings put out a root-like growth, which attaches to the roots of nearby hosts. Once attached to a host, the broomrape robs its host of water and nutrients." From Wikipedia.