Summer blooms

 Seen in passing: wildflowers, water lovers.

Fireweed, near the beaver pond.

Goldenrod, on the edge of a small pond near McCreight Lake.

Hedgenettle, on the shore of Roberts Lake.

Hedgenettle again. Find the butterfly!

Queen Anne's lace, producing seed. Baikie Island.

More Queen Anne's Lace, unopened flower head.

Water horsetail, Equisetum fluviatile. They produce spore-bearing cones. In the beaver pond.

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Algunas flores silvestres. Casi siempre se hallan cerca del agua.

1. Aquí la llamamos hierba de fuego. Epilobio, Chamaenerion angustifolium.
2. Solidago canadensis. Vara de oro. Aquí está en la orilla de una laguna llena de lirios acuáticos.
3. Stachys sp. Al lado del Lago Roberts.
4. Y la misma planta, pero con una mariposa. ¿La ves?
5. Zanahoria silvestre, Daucus carota. Aquí la llamamos Encaje de la Reina Ana. Esta está llena de semillas.
6. Otra, con las flores todavía sin abrirse. En la isla Baikie.
7. Y Equisitum fluviatile, Cola de caballo de rio. Los conos de esta planta producen esporas. Crece en aguas no muy profundas. Estas están el la laguna de los castores. 

 

June flowers, Take Two

 And here's the second batch of June flowers.

Labrador tea, Rhododendron groenlandicum. A wetlands plant; I found these in Sundew Bog. Last May.

Another lab tea, with ant.

Mock orange. Possibly our native Philadelphus lewisii. The sweet rocket, Hesperis matronalis, is a volunteer, one of the earliest spring flowers; these are the last blossoms for this year.

Peony. Beautiful, big flowers, but short-lived, especially in the rain.

Queen Anne's Lace. They're everywhere, but these were out by Echo Lake.

Miniature rose. So far, not eaten by the deer; they're waylayed by my scarlet runner beans.

Sweet William. This was a volunteer, years ago; it comes back every year.

Next; Dragon- and damsel-flies. Or maybe ... The cat just brought me a buzzing Ten-lined June beetle. Maybe she — she's female — will pose for a portrait.

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Esta es la segunda mitad de mis fotos de flores de junio.

1. Té de Labrador, Rhododendron groenlandicum. Es una planta de humedales; estas las vi en el Pantano de los Rocíos del Sol. En mayo.
2. Otras flores del mismo sitio. Estas, con una hormiga.
3. Un filadelfo, posiblemente nuestra planta indígena, Philadelphus lewisii. Las flores color de rosa son las julianas, Hesperis matronalis. Estas aparecieron sin necesidad de sembrarlas, y son del las primeras flores de la primavera. Las que se ven aquí son las últimas de la temporada.
4. Peonía. Flores grandes, llamativas, pero que duran poco tiempo, especialmente cuando llueve.
5. "Encaje de la Reina Ana", la zanahoria silvestre, Daucus carota. Ahora, se ven por todas partes; estas las vi cerca del Lago Echo.
6. Una de mis rosas miniaturas; hasta ahora no las han comido los venados; están  muy ocupados comiendo mis frijoles.
7. El clavel del poeta, Dianthus sp. En inglés, "Dulce Guillermo". Otra planta voluntaria; regresa cada año.

Mañana, tengo planeadas fotos de libélulas. Pero tal vez no. ... La gata me acaba de traer un escarabajo rayado (hembra) bastante enojada. A ver si me permite sacarle unas fotos ...

Meadow plants under snow

It's slow going, walking through new snow. Especially when last summer's flowers keep making me stop. Like walking through an art gallery; stop, stare, go on to the next, repeat...

Queen Anne's lace and grasses in the Oyster Bay meadow.

Yarrow among the logs.

Gumweed (on the right) and yarrow.

The same Queen Anne's lace, from a different angle.

Yarrow with hats

And yet more hatted yarrow.

It's 9° below zero tonight. The snow on the ground is crispy; it crunches underfoot.

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Las hierbas que en verano cubrían la pradera y las dunas de Oyster Bay, ahora en invierno me hacen detenerme para admirarlas contra la nieve virgen.

1. Zanahoria silvestre, Daucus carota. Aquí se conoce como "Encaje de la Reina Ana".
2. Milenrama, Achillea millefolium.
3. Grindelia integrifolia, aquí conocida como hierba goma. Y, a la izquierda, más milenrama.
4. La misma planta de zanahoria silvestre, vista desde otro ángulo.
5. Milenrama con sombreritos de nieve.
6. Y más milenrama.

Esta noche estamos a 9 grados bajo cero. La nieve por encima lleva una capa de hielo, crujiente bajo mis botas.

Shimmery Yellow Velvet

 I can't resist a patch of Queen Anne's Lace. Nor can assorted bugs and beetles. In this patch, on the edge of the forest at Eve River, every fully open flower head I looked at carried tidy little brown beetles with black heads. And on one flower centre, I found a new lifer for me, the Yellow Velvet Beetle, Lepturobosca chrysocoma.

Here, with a few of the little brownies.

Google image search is amazing. I posted this photo, and in seconds, I had a screen full of matches. On iNaturalist, then, I found the name and species, and a photo of one taken near where I found this one. But the beetles, (also called the Golden-haired Flower Longhorn) live from Canada to the north of Mexico. One posted to iNaturalist was found in the Northwest Territories, near the Great Slave Lake.

The adults eat flower pollen; the larvae feed on dead wood.

The name, chrysocoma, according to BugGuide, means "gold hair". And it really shines in the sunlight.

The beetle measures up to 2 cm. long. Not counting the antennae.

Queen Anne's Lace, still unopened. No beetles here. Yet.

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No puedo pasar un grupo de las flores de zanahoria silvestre (que aquí llamamos Encaje de la Reina Ana) sin detenerme para mirarlas. Y no solo yo; atraen también a gran número de bichos, abejas, moscas y escarabajos. En los bordes del bosque cerca del rio Eve, cada flor abierta llevaba muchos escarabajitos cafés con cabezas negras. Y en el centro de un capítulo floral, se encontró este escarabajo dorado; es la primera vez que veo uno de estos. Es Lepturobosca chrysocoma, el Escarabajo de Terciopelo Amarillo.

Foto: El escarabajo en las flores de zanahoria silvestre, con varios escarabajitos.

La búsqueda por imágenes de Google es asombroso. Apenas subí esta foto, y en segundos, me presentó con una pantalla entera de ejemplares. Entre ellos, encontré en iNaturalist, uno de estos animalitos que se halló cerca del mismo lugar. Pero estos escarabajos viven desde el norte de México hasta Canada. En el mapa de iNaturalist, el registro más al norte está en Northwest Territories, cerca del lago Great Slave. (61.84°N)

Los adultos comen el polen de las flores, y las larvas comen madera muerta.

El nombre científico, chrysocoma, se traduce como "pelo dorado". Y de veras, brilla como oro cuando le alumbra el sol.

Fotos: 

• Otra vista del mismo. Mide hasta 2 cm. de largo, sin contar las antenas.
• Una cabeza de zanahoria silvestre, todavía sin abrir. Y sin escarabajos.

Browsing

 An ant browsing on Queen Anne's lace.

Actually, there are two ants, but the second one is too far away.

The central flower of a Queen Anne's lace umbel is commonly a dark purple. But the black spot here is too big, and probably includes another insect.

Zooming in.

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Una hormiga entre flores de zanahoria silvestre.

La florecita central de una umbela de esta planta normalmente es de un color mora oscuro. Pero en este caso, la mancha probablemente incluye también otro insecto.

Nests full of seeds

It's a "weed" (which essentially means a plant that grows without help from us). We let it grow along roadsides, in untended fields, in vacant lots. It deserves better.*

The flowers are beautiful; white with pink detailing, attracting and sustaining a variety of pollinators. But I love it best when it has gone to seed.

Queen Anne's lace, Daucus carota, flowers and seed "nests" among grasses beside the shore.

The seed head turns in on itself, forming a bird's nest shape.

Underside of a "nest".

Top view.

*We owe it a lot: it's the ancestor to our common garden carrot, which still shares the same species name, Daucus carota. And it's also edible, flowers, leaves, seeds, and even the roots while they're still young. (Even the garden carrot will get woody and tough if left too long in the ground.)

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La llamamos una hierba mala — que quiere decir, en verdad, una planta cualquiera que crece sin cultivo — y la dejamos crecer al lado de caminos, en campos abandonados, en los espacios vacíos de nuestras ciudades. Pero merece mejor trato.*

Las flores son hermosas, blancas con detalles en color de rosa; atraen y dan sostén a una variedad de insectos polinizadores. Pero me encanta cuando llegan a producir semillas.

Fotos: Zanahoria silvestre, Daucus carota, al lado de la playa, formando sus "nidos de pájaro" característicos.

* Le debemos mucho. Es la forma ancestral de nuestras zanahorias de jardín, las cuales siguen usando el mismo nombre de especie, Daucus carota. Y sigue siendo comestible, tanto las flores como las hojas, las semillas, y hasta las raices, mientras son nuevas. Y nuestra zanahoria, la que cultivamos en el jardín, se hace dura y leñosa si la dejamos demasiado tiempo en el suelo.

Another pollinator

This one is not a bee.

Syrphid fly on Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus carota.

The syrphids, or hover flies, sometimes mimic bees and wasps, but their antennae are short and stubby. A bee's antennae are longer, and elbowed. And, in proportion, the flies' eyes are larger than the bee's.

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Y este no es una abeja. Es una mosca de los sírfidos, que comunmente se confunden con las abejas y avispas. Pero las antenas de las moscas, incluyendo los sírfidos, son muy cortas, sin ángulos. Las antenas de las abejas son más largas, y tienen una articulación muy obvia. Y, con respeto a su tamaño, los ojos de la tribu de las moscas son más grandes que los de las abejas.

Esta mosca está buscando su alimento en las flores de zanahoria silvestre, Daucus carota, conocida en inglés como "encaje de la Reina Ana".

Queen Anne's bird nests

Queen Anne's Lace, going to seed.

Daucus carota, making a "birds' nest".

It's a wasteground, parking lot, roadside flower, blooming in late summer. This group is in an empty field in the Strathcona Dam campground.

The flowers are white, except for the one in the centre, which may be pink or purple; as the seed heads mature, they turn pink, then brown. The now-dried and brown nests persist through the winter.

These, and our domestic carrot, are both derived from the same species, the black carrot. Like the carrots we grow in our gardens, they are edible when young. (You really don't want to eat our cultivated carrots from a 2-year-old plant, either.) The young leaves can be added to soups or stews, whether they're from Queen Anne's Lace or our garden carrots. And I should try this:

The flower clusters can be french-fried for a carrot-flavored gourmet’s treat. Aromatic seeds good for flavoring soups and stews. (Eattheweeds)

But: If you're going to try eating Queen Anne's Lace, be careful! The extremely poisonous Poison Hemlock is a look-alike and grows in the same locations. How to tell them apart:

Both are in the Apiaceae family and have hollow stems, but poison hemlock's stem is hairless and has purple blotches. Even a very young poison hemlock will display the purple blotching. On the other hand, the stem of Queen Anne's lace doesn't have purple blotches and is hairy.
Also the umbrella shape of Queen Anne's lace is flat-topped, while the poison hemlock umbel is more rounded.
... the leaves of Queen Anne's lace, similar to the stems, will also have hairs on their undersides.
Queen Anne's lace has 3-pronged bracts appearing at both the base of the flowers and the main umbel. It's actually the only member of the Apaiceae family that has this feature. ... you'll see that poison hemlock is absent of the long bracts.
(Raven's Roots Naturalist School)

Look at the top photo, above, to see the distinctive bracts. The poison hemlock bracts are small, and lance-shaped.

Carrot carrot

aka Daucus carota (literal translation), Queen Anne's Lace.

Seed pods, looking like miniature hairbrushes. Each pod contains two seeds.

The flowers are white, on pinkish stems, but the central flower is often a deep purple. Here, with a busy ant, out of focus.

Another flower head. No purple centre flower, another ant.

Found at Eve River Rest Area, south of Woss.

Persisting

Some plants just won't give up. On Tyee Spit, the rosebushes are bare sticks, the Queen Anne's lace is reduced to dry, brown heads on empty stalks. Only the grass is green; the blades will stay green, even sleeping under a snow coverlet, although there will be no new flowering heads until next year. But the gumweed is stubborn. Winter? Freezing nights? No light? So what?

You never know! A bee just might come by: we're ready for him!

Three new flower heads on the way.

Grasses and yarrow, sleeping.

Lacy nests

As summer ends, the flowers that brighten our waste spaces droop, wither, and fall into a soggy brown mass, rotting in the rain. One, Queen Anne's lace, perseveres, as beautiful in her winter outfit as she was in her summer whites.

Tall grasses and Queen Anne's lace, Tyee Spit. There are still a few white flowers left on these stalks.

As the seeds develop, the flower closes down into a cup or birds' nest shape.

Each large umbel is composed of many small umbellets. Each umbellet contains many flowers, each on their own stalk. Each flower produces two seeds, encased in a spiky pod.

The outer seed pods will split open and scatter their seeds. A few will remain all winter in the protected centre, like eggs in a bird's nest.

Queen Anne's lace is the ancestor of our common carrot, and all parts of the plant are edible.

Using first year Queen Anne’s lace plants are recommended. Roots are long, pale, woody, and are finger-thin and are used in soups, stews and in making tea. First year leaves can be chopped and tossed into a salad. Flower clusters can be ‘french-fried’ or fresh flowers can be tossed into a salad. The aromatic seed is used as a flavoring in stews and soups. (ediblewildfood . com)

There is one caveat: Queen Anne's lace looks very much like the poison hemlock, so it is essential to be able to identify each one. The simplest clue is in the flower head; Queen Anne's lace usually has one tiny purple flower in the centre of the white umbel. But since this is a biennial plant, and no flowers are produced the first year, I think I'll pass on the salad and root stews. The seeds will be safe enough, if I've seen the flower heads already.

I found a blog, Raven's Roots, with a post showing very clearly (with photos and text), how to identify poison hemlock vs. QAL. Worth bookmarking.

Also worth seeing is a photo exploration of QAL, from its earliest flowers to microscopic photos of seeds. Here.

All three photos taken on the western bank of Tyee Spit.

Serendipity

I had taken a wrong turn and was tangled in streets that curved away from where I wanted to be, and then dead-ended, when I passed a small sign at an opening into a brushy, weedy, dark ravine. "Al Cleaver Park," the sign said. It didn't look park-like, nor inviting, but I was fed up with driving in circles. I parked and went in.

Well. An old trail led along the edge of the ravine, down a hill, past weeds and trash, and ended up underneath the road I had been looking for. And there, where I never would have seen it in years of hurrying home, was a bright crop of Queen Anne's lace, dancing in the breeze.

With bugs, to boot.

Flower head, opening up. With soldier beetle.

Common aerial yellowjacket, Dolichovespula arenaria, I think.

Harmless Syrphid fly, pretending to be a big, bad yellowjacket.

Pair of soldier beetles doing what soldier beetles do.

"Hi, friends! Mind if I join you?"

The busy pair ignored him, and he wandered off alone.

I took too many photos, and I still haven't sorted them. I've still got a bunch of critters from the Serpentine Fens, etc. And I'm due a visit to the beach to collect hermit treats. I'll catch up one of these days!

Queen Anne with mulberry topping

On Tyee Spit, in the much-disturbed ground around the tip, Queen Anne's lace, Daucus carota, dances in the wind.

Flowering umbels and "bird's nest" seed heads.

See that dark spot in the centre of the flowering disk? There was one in each head we looked at.

And they're all this colour.

All this time, and I'd never noticed that before!

Checking my book, I found, under Wild carrot/Queen Anne's lace;

FLOWERS: White or yellowish (but the central flower of the umbel commonly purple or pink.)

But is that purple? Or pink? Or halfway in between? So I went to Crayola crayon colors for a better match, and found Mulberry. The lighter bit in the centre would be Cerise. (Scroll down; they're in alphabetical order.) Must be accurate about these details!

Closed to visiting bees. Seed production time.

The seeds are prickly, brown when ripe.

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Only five more days until  Rock Flipping Day, next Sunday, September 9th. Have you selected your rock(s) yet?

 Instructions, history, etc.