Over two months ago, at the end of May, I went down to Comox, looking for
Claytonia plants for seed, and posted a few photos
here and
here. There were more, but I learned that I had misidentified some of the plants, and left the rest aside until I could sort them out.
A mistake. I'm still confused, and the photos of these beautiful plants have been languishing on my hard drive. So here they are;
Claytonias all, but different species.
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| At the base of a log. The stem leaves are in pairs, joined like a collar around the seed clusters. |
On Twitter, a botanist and
Claytonia lover,
Tommy Stoughton, was very helpful. There are two different shapes of the stem leaves, he said: linear or spatulate (spoon-like). The basal leaves may be linear or egg-shaped (this is from E-Flora).
In different species of
Claytonia, the stem leaves may be paired and fused along both margins (e.g.
C. perfiolata), paired and half-fused (
C. exigua), or completely separate (
C. sibirica, aka Siberian miner's lettuce).
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| These basal leaves are egg-shaped. The stem leaves underneath the seed clusters seem to be paired, but separate. |
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| A tiny plant, definitely identified as C. exigua. The leaves are more elongated, and separate. |
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| The common C. perfiolata? I don't see basal leaves, but the stem leaves are round, and joined to form a cup around the seeds. |
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| So very pink! Round stem leaves, separate. Egg-shaped basal leaves. |
Now, I just have to wait until next spring to find some more, earlier so that I find flowers. And then, look more closely.
You are always on the hunt for interesting things. By the way, the twirling bird feeder was doing well until the rain the other night. The bottom filled with water and all the seeds swelled up. I found a pie pan that is will try to make into a "roof" and cut some drain holes in the bottom for any water to drain out. Also, the birds don't get to the seeds in the bottom so I am going to look for something to put down there to hold the seeds up near the mouth openings. With more raining weather coming it will be a good time to test before I take the feeders down for the really wet months. - Margy
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