The main reason I took this shot was because there was a ditch across the path where I could stand and take it. I knew I was in for a lot of kneeling and getting down and up again the further we went, so avoided kneeling on the gravel at some inelegant angle this time. These are "just" False Dandelions, but they were growing right where I wanted : ) This was a wonderful hike, even though we didn't go up on to the flat top of the Plateau (way off to the left of the photo). The grassy hillsides were covered in wildflowers, several new ones, too. It is a very long drive from Calgary, though. The rain waited until we were ready to go home and, thankfully, it wasn't a really hot day. Thanks, Moya, for taking us to explore this great place! And thanks to Robin's husband for driving us there and back!
www.albertaparks.ca/media/2741526/plateau_mtn_mgmt_plan.pdf
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta south of Calgary Plateau Mountain nature scenery landscape mountain view mountain scene mountains peaks flora flower flowers wild wildflowers Pale False-dandelion Agoseris glauca cluster native blooms June-August trees hillside image photo digital color image bokeh horizontal beautiful beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ35 DMC-FZ35 FZ35 Lumix point-and-shoot P1110596 FZ35 annkelliott
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HAPPY 4th JULY to all Americans around the world!
Oops, not as sharp as it should have been! Looks worse than it did around 1:00 this morning, ha. This is Alpine Forget-me-not, seen on the long walk up to Plateau Mountain on July 2nd. Always a treat to see such vibrant blue. Just wish it wasn't so very windy up there on the mountain side.
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta Kananaskis Plateau Mountain south of Highway 40 nature flora flower flowers wildflower Forget-me-not Alpine Forget-me-not blue macro close-up bokeh beauty in nature square crop Panasonic DMC-FZ40 DMC-FZ40 FZ40 Lumix point-and-shoot P1100365 FZ40 annkelliott beautiful_expression
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I love coming across Rust Fungus on mustard plants of the Arabis genus. This very small (macro shot) pseudoflower was growing on Silver Rockcress/Alpine Smelowskia at
Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis, way south of Highway 40, on July 2nd.
"Puccinia monoica is a rust fungus of the genus Puccinia that inhibits flowering in its host plants (those of the Arabis genus) and transforms host behavior in order to facilitate sexual reproduction to pass on its genes. Infection occurs when the fungus sends its throughout the stem of the mustard plant, siphoning off some of the nutrients of its host. However, to reproduce, Puccinia monoica must exchange genes with the Puccinia inside another mustard plant. The fungus sterilizes the plant, preventing it from sending up its own flowers. Instead, the fungus forces the infected plant to turn clusters of its leaves into brilliant "flowers" (pseudoflowers)." From Wikipedia.
This image was used on the excellent UBC Botany Photo of the Day website, 21 November 2013.
www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2013/11/puccinia-monoica.php
Something must be up with Flickr today - hardly any activity going on.
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta Kananaskis Plateau Mountain south of Highway 40 nature flora plant Arabis pseudoflower green leaves fungus Rust Fungus Puccinia monoica beauty in nature square format macro Raynox DCR-250 Panasonic DMC-FZ40 DMC-FZ40 FZ40 Lumix point-and-shoot P1100410 FZ40 annkelliott beautiful_expression Leaf Rust Fungus UBC PhotoOfTheDay used 21 November 2013
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Taken on Plateau Mountain (way south of Calgary, and south of Highway 40) on July 31st.
"Sitka valerian is native to western North America, where it is typically a plant of mid- to high-elevations in moist meadows and open subalpine forest." From UBC Botany Photo of the Day.
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta south of Calgary Plateau Mountain nature flora flower flowers wild wildflower Northern Valerian Sitka valerian white white with pink tinge flower head native image digital color image bokeh square crop macro close-up beautiful beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ35 DMC-FZ35 FZ35 Lumix point-and-shoot P1110886 FZ35 annkelliott SuperEco beautiful_expression The Nature Conservancy
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Rather a strange photo of this very tiny wildflower - not sure why, but to me it looks almost as if it's a painting. Sorry again about all the wildflower photos I'm posting - it's just that time of the year. Our short growing season will soon be over.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_acaulis
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta Plateau Mountain south of Highway 40 way south of Calgary nature flora flower flowers wild wildflower small cluster Moss Campion Silene acaulis Silene Caryophyllaceae pink image photo digital color image horizontal macro close-up beautiful beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ35 DMC-FZ35 FZ35 Lumix point-and-shoot P1110676 FZ35 annkelliott SuperShot
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