365Caws is now in its 16th year of publication. If I am unable to post daily, I hope readers who love the natural world and fiberarts will seize those days to read the older material. Remember that this has been my journey as well, so you may find errors in my identifications of plants. I have tried to correct them as I discover them. Likewise, I have refined fiberarts techniques and have adjusted recipes, so search by tags to find the most current information. And thank you for following me!
Friday, April 29, 2016
Asarum Caudatum, Wild Ginger
Day 198: What began as two friends planning an outing to witness Corallorhiza trifida at a single location developed into a field trip for four and some serious botanizing. Maggie Webster and I had scheduled a short excursion for the morning, but when Yonit and Leon Yogev called to say they were in the area, I suggested that they might like to join us for what could well be a once-in-a-decade observation of the rare Corallorhiza. The trip was rather loosely organized, and Yonit and Leon eventually tracked Maggie and me down at a secondary spot, one at which I had found the species last year but not yet in 2016. By the time they arrived, Maggie and I had located five more specimens. To her delight, Yonit found a sixth we had overlooked. Meanwhile, Leon was engaged in learning about lower-forest trees and how to differentiate spruce from fir by examining the shape and texture of the needles.
The Yogevs left us at that point, and Maggie and I continued up the road (partly on foot) to investigate a report of a washout, clambering through the section of collapsed roadbed and going a little further on. At our turnaround point, we discovered Wild Ginger in bloom. It is one of my favourite wildflowers. The unusual flowers of this low-growing plant are concealed beneath its heart-shaped leaves. Each blossom bears three long "tails," as described in its scientific name, Asarum caudatum.
On the return hike, I was pleased to discover several nice colonies of Pilophorus acicularis (Devil's Matchstick Lichen) near the washout. This find was perhaps the "youngest" incidence of P. acicularis I have spotted to date, colonization having occurred less than 20 years from the time the rock was exposed.
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