INaturalist Biol3850 Field Botany and Ecology Observations

Observed May 26, 2018
VIOLACEAE
Viola nuttallii Pursh
Nuttall's violet, Yellow prairie violet : Plants caulescent, but sometimes appearing acaulescent, the leafy stems arising from a stout ascending rootstock; leaves 2-7 cm long, usually narrowly lanceolate and acute at apex, the base cuneate and tapering into a long margined petiole, the leaf-margin entire to repand-denticulate, the surface more or less pubescent, especially on the margins and veins; petals bright yellow, purple-veined at base and often reddish purple on outside, 8-12 mm long, the spur short; stigma bearded; cleistogamous flowers from the upper leaf-axils. 2n=12*, 24*, 36, 48*
(Flora of Alberta)

The flowers are on stems about the same length as the leaves, so the entire plant is about four inches tall. The flowers bloom from April through June. This species, like most other violets, produces some flowers that are cleistogamous, which self fertilize and produce seed without ever opening. The leaves are lanced shaped.

Nuttall’s violet ranges from southern Canada south through Idaho and Minnesota to New Mexico. It is a threatened species in Minnesota, where it is at the eastern edge of its distribution. It can be found from the eastern Great Plains into the montane zone of the mountains. It will inhabit dry prairie, open grasslands, bluffs, and woodlands, often in rocky situations.

The leaves and flowers of Nuttall’s violet are edible, and are high in vitamins A and C. The rhizomes , fruits, and seeds are said to be poisonous, high in saponins.

Nuttall’s violet tolerates, and may require, some grazing in mixed grass prairies. Grazing will keep vegetation from over-topping this short-statured plant.

James Nuttall, for whom Nuttall’s violet was named, was a Harvard Professor of Natural History. He also was an explorer, botanist, ornithologist, and ecologist of the western United States in the early 1800’s.

Violets are distinct enough to be in a family of their own: the Violaceae. There are 125 recognized species of the genus Viola in North America. Although it is usually simple to recognize violets, separating species can be quite difficult among certain groups within the genus.
(USDA Forest Service)

Alberta, Lethbridge

East of Lethbridge College within Six-mile coulee, dry praire grassland, west facing eroded slope, silty clay loam chernozemic soils.
Nearby species: Bouteloua gracilis, Achillea millefolium, Opntia polycantha.
Lat/long or GPS: 49.66016319 -112.8136075

INaturalist Observation #6
Observed June 2, 2018:
RANUNCULACEAE

Clematis occidentalis (Hornem.) DC.
Purple clematis: Low vine, trailing or climbing, up to 2 m long; leaflets 3, long-stalked, thin, ovate, cordate at base, acute or acuminate, usually entire; flowers solitary, usually on long peduncles; sepals 4, purple or blue, 3-5 cm long, sharp-pointed, softly villose; petals absent, but staminodia between the sepals and numerous fertile stamens; styles erect, filiform; achenes villose, in a dense head, the persisten styles flexuous, plumose, 3-5 cm long. 2n=16*.

Site description: Porcupine Hills, mixed forest of deciduous and conifers. Southwest facing slope. Dense vegetation lower slope. Well drained regolosolic soils.

Plant description: Creeping plant, purple flower, low lying, intertwined with adjacent vegetation.

Nearby species: Pinophyta spp., betulaceae spp., Orchidaceae spp.,

Inaturalist observation #10.

Observed June 2, 2018

ORCHIDACEAE
Habenaria viridis (L.) R. Br
Bracted Orchid

Stems 1.5-5 dm tall, very leafy up to the inflorescence; leaves 4-12 cm long, oblanceolate to lanceolate; inflorescence at first compact becoming more open, 2-20 cm long, the bracts foliaceous, lanceolate, the lowest up to 5 cm long; flowers greenish; sepals ovate, spreading; petals narrowly lanceolate; lip narrowly oblong or somewhat spatulate, 6-8 mm long, the truncate apex 2-3 toothed; spur shorter than the lop, saccate. 2n=40,42.
Moist meadows and woods.

Site Description: Porcupine Hills, East of Highway 22, South of Road 520, Alpine meadow plateau, Southwest facing slope. Mixed forest of conifers and deciduous trees, Well drained regosolic soils.

Nearby species: Poaceae spp., Clematis occidentalis, Fragaria virginiana, Asteraceae spp. (Annual sunflower), Pinophyta spp., Populus tremuloides.

INaturalist observation 5.
Observed June 6, 2018:
POLYGONACEAE
Eriogonum flavum Nutt.
Yellow Umbrellaplant: Caudex stout and compact, usually multiple, the branches short; leaves basal, petioled, thick, 3-5 cm long, oblong to oblanceolate, densely white-pubescent, greenish in age above; stems scape like, 1-3 dm tall, white tomentose; inflorescence usually umbellate, subtended by large leaf like brats; involucres 5-toothed; flowers yellowish or rose-tinged, pubescent, 4-5 mm long; achenes villose, about 4 mm long. 2n=38,76*-80. Dry plains and rocky outcrops.

Alberta, Lethbridge

West Lethbridge, East of University of Lethbridge Parking Lot N. Southeast coulee slope, arid grassland with native forms and grasses.

Nearby species: Bouteloua gracilis, Agropyron cristatim, asteraceae spp.

Lat/long or GPS: 49.682878° -112.860849°

INaturalist observation #14.

Observed on June 9, 2018

RUBIACEAE
Galium boreale L.
Northern Bedstraw

Erect perennial with slender rootstocks; stems erect, 3-6 dm high, branching leafy, square mostly smooth; leaves in whorls of 4, linear-lanceolate, 2-5 cm long, 3-nerved, obtuse; flowers faintly fragrant, numerous, in a fairly dense, repeatedly 3-forked cluster; corolla white, about 2 mm long; fruits in pairs about 2 mm long, densely hairy. 2n=22, 44, 55, 66.

Site description: Waterton Provincial Park, Northwest of Alberta Highway 6, North shoulder of highway, Mixed forest of conifers and deciduous. Hilly terrain. Moderately well drained soils. Possibly brunosolic soils.

Nearby species: Pinophyta spp., Betulaceae spp., Salix spp., Populus tremuloides, Orchidaceae spp., Heracleum maximum.

INaturalist Observation #2.
Observed Saturday June 9, 2018
Corallorhiza maculata Raf.
Spotted Coral-root
scape (with raceme) 2-5 dm tall, stout, purplish or yellow-brown; raceme 5-20 cm long, 10-40 flowered; sepals and petals 6-9 mm long, linear-lanceolate, whitish, usually spotted with purple or red; lip 6-8 mm long, white, blotched with purple, bearing 2 lateral lobes and 2 short ridges ont he face; spur prominent, yellowish. 2n=42/

Site description: Waterton provincial park, Highway 6 northeast of Highway within shoulder. Mixed forest deciduous and conifers.
Adjacent wetland area.
Undulating terrain, poorly dained gleysolic soils.

Nearby species: Conifers, salix spp., Apiaceae app. (Cowparsnip)

INaturalist observation 13.

Observed June 9, 2018.

ORCHIDACEAE
Cypripedium passerinum Richards
Stems 1-2.5 cdm tall, often retrorsely villose; leaves oval to lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, more or less viscid-pubescent; flowers 1-3; sepals 1-1.5 cm long; the lower one slightly 2-cleft; petals oblong, obtuse about 1.5 cm long; lip obovate; white or pink, with purple spots inside, about 1.5 cm long. 2n=20.

Site description: Waterton Provincial Park, Northwest of Alberta Highway 6, Alpine meadow, never burnt by wildfire in recorded history, 8% slope to the southeast, downslope is a wetland.

Nearby species: Salix spp., Apiaceae spp. (Heracleum maximum), Populus tremuloides.

INaturalist Observation #3.
Observed June 9, 2018:
IRIDACEAE
Sisyrinchium monantun
Strict blue eyed grass

Tufted, erect plant; stems 1-5 dm tall, simple, stif, 1-4 mm wide, distinctly flattened and winged; leaves 1-3.5 mm wide; bracts of spathe very unequal, the outer 2-6 cm long and twice as long as the inner, pale green or purplish; flowers about 1 cm long; perianth blue-violet; capsule 3-6 mm high. 2n=96* Moist open areas.

Waterton provincial park
Alpine meadow adjacent wetland waterbody.
Chernozemic soils, poorly drained.

Nearby species: Salix spp., Orchidaceae spp., Achilleum milliefolium, Horsetail,

INaturalist observation #12.
Observed Saturday June 9, 2018

CARYOPHYLLACEAE
Dianthus plumarius L.
Garden Pink

Perennial, generally glaucous; stems simple, 1-4 dm tall; leaves 2-8 cm long, 1.5-3.0 mm wide, linear, 3-nerved; inflorescence open, 1-(5)-flowered; calyx 15-20 mm long, 40-nerved; petals white or pink, blade 1-2 cm long, obovate, divided to about the middle, hairy above; capsule slightly longer than the calyx. 2n=30,60,90. Introduced.

Site description: Waterton Provincial Park, Northeast of Highway 6, Alpine meadow, never burnt by fire in recorded history, mixed forest bind the site. 8% hillside slope to the east/southeast. Wetland located downslope to the southeast.

Nearby species: Orchidaceae spp., Asteraceae spp., Iridaceae spp. (Purple eyed grass).

INaturalist Observation #1.
Observed Saturday June 9, 2018:
APIACEAE
Heracleum lanatum
Cow Parsnip

Coarse perennial herb, 1-2 m tall, pubescent or somewhat tomentose; leaves large, ternate, rarely pinnate, the few leaflets 1-3 dm broad, cordate at base, variously lobed and toothed; petioles with dialated sheaths;; umbel large, compound, the primary rays unequal, the bracts lanceolate, deciduous; corolla white, usually irregular, larger in the outer flowers of the umbel; stylopodium present; fruit flat, obovate to obcordate, about 1 cm long, winged on the edges, puberulent, marked on the faces by narrow ribs and dark lines (oil-tubes) extending from the summit about half-way to the base. 2n=22.

Alpine meadow adjacent Highway 6 within Waterton Provincial Park.
Mixed forest deciduous and confiers, well shaded from nearby trees.

Nearby species: Orchidaceae spp. Asteracea spp. Poaceae spp.(Bromus inermis - smooth brome)

INaturalist observation #9
Observed June 9, 2018

CORNACEAE
Cornus stolonifera Michx.
Red Osier Dogwood
Shrubs, 1-3 m high, the lower branches prostrate and often rooting, the twigs deep red, sometimes greenish or purplish, pubescent or nearly glabrous; leaves deep red to ovate-lanceolate, acutre to acuminate, entire, glaucous; and appressed hairy beneath; inflorescence a rather flat-topped cyme, minutely appressed pubescent; petals white, 2-3 mm long, fruit white or tinged with blue, nearly globose, about 5 mm wide, juicy, not edible. 2n=22* Moist woods, riverbanks

Site description: Waterton Provincial Park, Alberta Highway 6, northeast of highway on shoulder. Moist poorly drained soils. Significantly shaded and overgrown with vegetation.

Nearby species: Amelanchier alnifolia, Salix spp., Betulaceae, Trembling aspen.

INaturalist observation #4.
Oberved Saturday June 9, 2018
ORCHIDACEAE
Corallorhiza striata Lindl.
Striped Coral-root

Scape (with raceme) 1.5-4 dm tall, stout, purplish or yellow-brown, rarely pale yellow; raceme 5-15 cm long, 10-25 flowered; sepals and petals 8-16 mm long, yellowish or purplish with 3 conspicuous purple stripes; lip 8-12 m long, white usually purple-striate, tongue-shaped, declined, entire or somewhat undulate; spur non. 2n=42.

Waterton Provincial Park, southwest of Alberta Highway 6 within the highway shoulder.
Adjacent wetland, within mixed forest of deciduous and conifers

Nearby species: Orchidaceae spp., Apiaceae spp. Heracleum maximum, Pinophyta spp.,

INaturalist observation #11

Observed June 9, 2018

ASTERACEAE
Erigeron compositus Pursh
Cut-leaf Fleabane

Perennial with simple or banched stout caudex; stems 5-15 cm tall, scape-like; leaves crowded at the base, ternately lobed or dissected, the divisions linear or narrowly oblong, more or less glandular and with at least a few spreading hairs; cauline leaves few and reduced, mostly entire; heads solitary; involucres 5-10 mm high, more or less glandular and hirsute, the bracts unequal, purplish at least at the tips; rays white, pink or blue, up to 12 mm long but usually quite short and sometimes absent; pappus simple, of 12-20 coarse bristles. 2n=18, 54*.

Site description: Waterton Provincial Park, Adjacent Highway 6, Southwest shoulder of highway.

Plant description: Small white ray florets surrounding yellow disc florets.

Nearby species: Asteraceae spp., Galium boreale, Orchidaceae spp., Ranunculus acris acris, Salix spp.

INaturalist observation #8.
Observed June 11, 2018
CACTACEAE
Coryphantha vivipara (Nutt.) Britt & Rose
Cushion or ball Cactus

Plants globose, single or tufted, seldom over 5 cm high, the body covered with spine-tipped tubercles; leaves absent; flowers arising between the tubercles, 3-4 cm long, bright purplish-red; hypanthium tubular above the ovary; fruit pale green, becoming brown when ripe, edible, sweet. 2n=22.

Site description: Lethbridge Bull Trail, Arid prairie coulees, southeast and south facing slopes. Well drained chernozemic soils, silty clay loam to sandy clay loam.

Plant description: Low lying cactus, globular stem structure, cactus spines distributed across the stem structure. Brilliant purple pink flowers

Nearby species: Bouteloua gracilis, agropyron cristatum, asteraceae spp., allium textile.

INaturalist observation #15

Observed July 9, 2018

BRASSICACEAE
Lepidium latifolium L.

Tall perennial, 5-10 dm high, with thick branched rootstock and spreading roots; stems and leaves glabrous or nearly so; leaves entire to dentate, the basal petiolate as much as 3 dm long, the upper nearly sessile, ovate to lanceolate, much reduced, racemes dense, numerous in a large panicled cluster; pedicels slender, much longer than the fruits; sepals broadly white-margined, pilose; petals white, about 1.5 mm long; silicles ovate-orbicular, 2 mm long, with no or very slight apical notch, tipped by stigma, the style very short. 2n=24*

Site description: East of Enchant, North of Lost Lake irrigation reservoir, adjacent irrigation canal that drains into Lost Lake. Historically disturbed soils, Poorly drained/saturated chernozemic soils.

Nearby species: Bromus inermis, Agropyron cristatum, Typha latifolia, Kochia scoparia.