Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Ericaceae

Spent an amazing four day (three night) road trip down to SE Alberta with two friends, from 20-23 September 2013. Our furthest destination was Elkwater in the Cypress Hills, but we did a lot of driving all over the SE part of the province. All new territory to me, so I was extremely lucky to get this chance. We were all thrilled to bits to be taken to see these Pinedrops, which none of us had ever seen before, by a delightful young woman. We had met her the previous day, on a trip with people from Medicine Hat College to see and monitor an area of Yucca plants growing in the wild. The tallest Pinedrops plant that we saw was just over 1 metre tall! Unfortunately, we were too late to see the plants in bloom. "The visible portion of Pterospora andromedea is a fleshy, unbranched, reddish to yellowish flower spike (raceme) 30-100 cm in height, though it has been reported to occasionally attain a height of 2 meters. The above-ground stalks (inflorescences) are usually found in small clusters between June and August. The inflorescences are hairy and noticeably sticky to the touch. This is caused by the presence of hairs which exude a sticky substance (glandular hairs). The inflorescences are covered by scale-like structures known as bracts. The upper portion of the inflorescence has a series of yellowish, urn-shaped flowers that face downward. The fruit is a capsule. Like all members of the Monotriopoidiae (see Monotropa), Pterospora andromedea lacks chlorophyll (trace amounts have been identified, but not enough to provide energy for the plant or to color it). Plants exist for most of their life as a mass of brittle, but fleshy, roots. They live in a parasitic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, in which plants derive all their carbon from their associated fungus, but the relationship is not yet well understood. The term for this kind of symbiosis is mycoheterotrophy." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterospora

This plant, a member of the Heath family, was a new plant for me on a recent hike on the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail in Kananaskis. I like these tiny, pink, urn-shaped flowers. They produce bright red berries, which are edible.

This was the first time I had ever seen this wildflower, Common Labrador Tea, so I was delighted to see a new species. We found it growing in a bog, north-west of Calgary. The leaves of this plant can be used to make tea. Grows June-July.

These small flowers hang their heads, but I tipped this one up using a tiny twig. Macro photo of this flower (and two little visitors) taken in the forest at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), Kananaskis, on 10 July 2012. "This is a low, delicate, evergreen perennial from slender, creeping rhizomes; flowering stems simple; growing 3 - 10 cm tall, sometimes up to 15 cm. Flowers - single, nodding atop long, leafless stalk (with 1 or 2 small bracts); white, waxy, fragrant, 1 - 2.5 cm across; 5 spreading petals; 10 stamens; large, prominent, 5-lobed stigma; appearing in mid-summer." www.borealforest.org/herbs/herb25.htm

I tilted this plant back a little, using a small twig, so that I could see the small flowers from underneath, which one normally never sees. Quite a pretty sight : ) Macro photo taken on 10 July 2012 at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail, Kanananaskis. By the way, just in case you didn't know, you should never touch a wildflower, especially a rare species, with your hands. You can leave behind certain oils that attract wildlife, which then eats the plant. A common plant in Alberta. It should never be transplanted, because its roots require a specific fungus. "There are 6 to 15 flowers on a stem, in long loose terminal cluster; usually nodding, 8 - 12 mm across, pale pink to purplish red, bell- or cup-shaped; style long, curved, bends downwards; appearing mid-summer." www.borealforest.org/herbs/herb31.htm

Not sure if I'd ever seen this plant before, but the little pink, bell-shaped flowers look so delicate and pretty. Photographed along the Sarrail Falls trail, along the edge of Upper Kananaskis Lake, in the mountains, when a small group of us went to botanize the area on 8 July 2012. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menziesia_ferruginea

Took this macro photo of Yellow Heather on Plateau Mountain (a long way south of Calgary and south of Highway 40), Kananaskis, on July 17th. It belongs to the Heath family, Ericaceae, and grows in alpine and subalpine meadows. This shrub has evergreen leaves and these beautiful nodding, urn to vase-shaped flowers. plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PHGL6

There are so many wildflowers that I just don't have a photo of, or at least a half-decent photo, lol. Sometimes, I think I neeed to start from scratch, beginning with plants that I see reasonably often when out on a walk. An exciting thought, as that would be enought to last me the rest of my days, ha! Anyway, this is a macro photo of a few of the very small flowers (1 cm in diameter) that are on the stem of a Greenish-flowered Wintergreen. Less easy to spot than the more common Common Pink Wintergreen with its very small pink flowers. Taken on the Mt. Everest trail at Kananaskis Lakes on August 7th.. The name of this trail makes it sound far worse than it really is, lol! www.em.ca/garden/native/nat_Pyrola chlorantha.html

Photographed (macro) at Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis, on July 17th.

We find this little wildflower up in the mountains in alpine and subalpine meadows - this was seen along the Ptarmigan Cirque trail, in Kananaskis (Rocky Mountains) in July. This native plant is in flower June-July.

Also known as Common Bearberry. A very small, low growing wildflower. Seen at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.