Comox Valley Nature

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on August 6.

Here are a few interesting flower photos and notes from John B.

As a side note, there is some marsh cinquefoil at Cumberland Marsh, and I’ve also seen it at the Puntledge Bog. It’s probably finished blooming now, but has a neat, chocolate-coloured flower. It often grows right in the water!

John’s notes:

Once, eons ago, I found marsh cinquefoil at Poum Lake (Buckley Bay system). They had the road open so I braved the interminable dusty grind last weekend, and lo and behold it was in exactly the same spot. On the way down I had my eyes glued to the road looking for the blue-listed white-lip rein orchid. Found three groups! That is the orchid which we considered doing a trail diversion for in Rosewall Creek last year. So now I can give Marta and co. exact GPS data for their records. I have no idea how the poor little orchid survives right on the edge of a baking hot logging road, plastered with dust. Managed to get some pics of the remaining dirty flowers (going to seed).

Marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre)

White-lip rein orchid (Platanthera ephermerantha). For those of you who are thrown off by name changes, this was formerly known as Piperia candida. The common name on iNaturalist (just to make things more confusing) is whiteflower rein orchid.

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on July 31.

The last day of July….sigh…what a great month it is for plants! Here are some fun photos from John B: “Plants which like to show off their frilly costumes. All local, and I am sure well known to all who like to slop around in marshes.”

Though exotic looking, all of these are quite common in Paradise Meadows and similar habitats. Buckbean is aquatic, growing in the ponds, deer cabbage is widespread in the meadows, and fringed grass-of-Parnassus is often found along the edges of subalpine streams.

Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata).

Deer cabbage (Nephrophyllidium crista-galli)

Fringed grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia fimbriata)