Flowers of the Waskahegan Trail
Since 2016, two Waskahegan members have been photographing and researching the ground flora species on the diverse terrain of this unique trail. The result of their work is the Flower Project.
The team tries to ensure that the botanical descriptions are from established, reliable sources. As much as possible, the photos on these pages are of actual plants found on the trail. We hope that the “Waskahegan Field Notes” that accompany each plant description will either educate or entertain you in what these plants mean to us locally.
As work continues on the curation of the photos and the botanical descriptions, more species will be added to the collection.
Have you seen an interesting plant on the trail?
The Flower Project team would like to hear from you. Email your photo and your “Field Notes”—including the date (or approximate time frame), the section of trail, and anything you find interesting about the plant (e.g., its habitat, what it means to you, etc.). Send it to flowerproject@waskahegantrail.ca.
Our Beardtongues
Alberta has at least twelve species of beardtongues (Pentstemon) in various colours, sizes, and range. The Slender Blue Beardtongue (Pentstemon nitidus) is a 4 to 12 inch plant that features bands of densely-packed tiny flowers bright blue in colour with a tinge of purple at the stem end. Up close, the tubular flowers look like … Read more
Wild Bergamot
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) has showy mauve to purple-pink tubular flowers clustered on heads at the top of 50-120 cm tall stems. Blooming in July to August, the flower is a favourite of butterflies and hummingbirds. The grey-green lanced-shaped leaves are fragrant with the scent of peppermint and oregano combined. It’s reminiscent of the scent … Read more
High Bush Cranberry
High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum opulus var. americanum) is native throughout Alberta and much of North America. It is actually not a cranberry but a member of the Honeysuckle family, though its fruit, or “drupes” as they are known taxonomically, strongly resemble cranberries in both appearance and taste (umaine.edu). This deciduous shrub grows up to 4 … Read more
Chokecherry
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana) Shrub grows between 1 and 6 m tall. The leaves are elliptic and pointed at tips, darker above than below, hairless but edges have fine sharp teeth. It blooms in many-flowered, bottlebrush-like clusters at end of branches from May to June. Fruits are shiny purple to black cherries around 8mm across, … Read more
Our Violets
Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) is a common perennial that grows 10 – 40 cm tall, depending on surrounding plant growth. The plant arises from short, thick rhizomes, often with slender creeping runners that can be seen if you gently brush away dead leaves. The heart-shaped leaves (sharply pointed tips and saw-toothed edges) and the white … Read more
Spotted Coral Root Orchid
Spotted Coral Root Orchid (Corallorhizea maculata) is a saprophyte, a plant that roots in dead material, symbiotically sharing its substrate with fungi. “Coral root” refers to the stubby roots looking like branched coral (Gadd 302). [lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”] Coral roots are sometimes referred to as ‘chicken-toes’ (Parish 282). Saprophytes cannot be cultivated. Because … Read more
Prickly Rose
Prickly Rose (Rosa acicularis), the floral emblem of Alberta, is one of three wild rose species that grow in our region. The common or thorny wild rose (Rosa woodsii) and the dwarf prairie rose (Rosa akansana), found mainly in the Waterton Park area, are the other two. In our region, the three species may grow … Read more
Wild White Geranium
Wild White Geranium (Geranium richardsonii) is a perennial, 40–80 cm tall, easily recognizable as a geranium by its FIVE main but up to seven irregularly lobed and “deeply divided, lightly hairy leaves” (Parish 263, Gadd 291). [lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”] This species of the Geranium family “was named for Sir John Richardson (1787–1865), the … Read more
Showy Milkweed
Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) has large rounded clusters of star-shaped pink or purplish flowers atop stems with lance-shaped leaves showing distinctive white veining. Softly greyish-hairy throughout; hollow stems with milky juice. The plant ontains “poisonous resinoids and cardiac glycosides” (Parish 249) Oval-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia) is a related species—smaller, with more oval leaf shape and … Read more
Bunchberry
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is a carpet-like mat, circumpolar, ground flora in forests. The creeping roots from which the upper plants spring are up to 7.5 cm deep in the tree litter. [lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”] As the snow melts away, short stems of the bunchberry clone bearing six leaves with prominent veins somewhat parallel … Read more