I was SO tired (but happy tired!) after a wonderful day in the mountains yesterday! I don't get out there very often at all, and certainly not as far as we went, so it was an absolute treat! Friend Sandy had found an interesting Liverwort there very recently and wanted to go back to see it at a different stage, hoping it would make ID a little clearer. She asked if I wanted to go with her - ha, yes, you bet! We went past Banff and Lake Louise, as far as Bow Lake (seen in my photo) along Highway 93. They do say that this scenic highway is the most beautiful in the world, and it's easy to believe. I had jokingly said to Sandy when we left Calgary, that what I would really like, please, was blue sky to start with it, then a few puffy white clouds and then maybe even a touch of gey with the white - and that's exactly what we got (plus some rain on the drive back to Calgary).
www.albertawow.com/hikes/bow_falls/bow_falls_hike.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Lake_(Alberta)
Tags: Alberta Canada near British Columbia border Banff National Park Bow Lake Bow Glacier Trail nature scenery landscape view lake mountains reflection breathtaking beauty in nature Icefields Parkway Explore interestingness#343 explore2013August12
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I was SO tired after a wonderful day in the mountains yesterday! I don't get out there very often at all, and certainly not as far as we went, so it was an absolute treat! Friend Sandy had found an interesting, tiny Liverwort there (seen in my supermacro photo) very recently and wanted to go back to see it at a different stage, hoping it would make ID a little clearer. She asked if I wanted to go with her - ha, yes, you bet! We went past Banff and Lake Louise, as far as Bow Lake along Highway 93. They do say that this scenic highway is the most beautiful in the world, and it's easy to believe. Supermacro photo of this specimen, found growing along the edge of the lake, on 10 August 2013.
"The Marchantiophyta i/mɑrˌkæntiˈɒfɨtə/ are a division of non-vascular bryophyte land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information.
It is estimated that there are about 9000 species of liverworts. Some of the more familiar species grow as a flattened leafless thallus, but most species are leafy with a form very much like a flattened moss. Leafy species can be distinguished from the apparently similar mosses on the basis of a number of features, including their single-celled rhizoids. Leafy liverworts also differ from most (but not all) mosses in that their leaves never have a costa (present in many mosses) and may bear marginal cilia (very rare in mosses). Other differences are not universal for all mosses and liverworts, but the occurrence of leaves arranged in three ranks, the presence of deep lobes or segmented leaves, or a lack of clearly differentiated stem and leaves all point to the plant being a liverwort.
Liverworts are typically small, usually from 2–20 mm wide with individual plants less than 10 cm long, and are therefore often overlooked. However, certain species may cover large patches of ground, rocks, trees or any other reasonably firm substrate on which they occur. They are distributed globally in almost every available habitat, most often in humid locations although there are desert and arctic species as well. Some species can be a nuisance in shady green-houses or a weed in gardens." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchantiophyta
Sandy has just let me know the ID and great information for this specimen (collected with a Permit that she has):
"Unfortunately our find was not the rare species I had hoped for, but still a great find. This liverwort is Pressia quadrata, which the BBS (British Bryological Society) calls Narrow Mushroom-headed liverwort. They also mention that the thallus (body of the liverwort) has a distinctively hot taste when nibbled on the tip of the tongue! Well I had to try that and didn't notice any heat. Preissia is named in honour of B. Preiss, a nineteenth century physician from Prague. Quadrata may refer to the 4 cells in each white rounded pore on the thallus surface, that protrude into the pore making a cross-like opening. It may also refer to the usually 4 lobed angular sporophyte."
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Tags: Alberta Canada Banff National Park near BC border Bow Lake Bow Glacier Trail nature macro close-up supermacro Marchantia Liverwort Pressia quadrata Narrow Mushroom-headed liverwort North America Pressia #GreatNature
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I was SO tired after a wonderful day in the mountains yesterday! I don't get out there very often at all, and certainly not as far as we went, so it was an absolute treat! Friend Sandy had found an interesting Liverwort there very recently and wanted to go back to see it at a different stage, hoping it would make ID a little clearer. She asked if I wanted to go with her - ha, yes, you bet! We went past Banff and Lake Louise, as far as Bow Lake along Highway 93. They do say that this scenic highway is the most beautiful in the world, and it's easy to believe.
This photo shows Canada Buffaloberry berries, taken along the edge of the lake. These berries are what Bears eat (see info below). Actually, we were lucky enough to see two Black Bears (from the safety of our car) along one of the roads, a short distance from each other. Not very good views of them, and I was only able to get very poor photos, but will eventually post the "best" one.
"Fruits are extensively collected by some Canadian First Nations peoples such as Nlaka'pamux (Thompson), St'at'imc (Lillooet) and Secwepemc (Shuswap) in the province of British Columbia. The bitter berries are not eaten directly but rather processed as sxusem ("sxushem", also xoosum/"hooshum") or "Indian ice-cream". Branches bearing fruit are hit with a stick and only the very ripe fruits that fall off are collected. A clean mat or tarpaulin is placed below the bush for collection. The berries are later placed into a great bowl that is absolutely free of oil or fat and are mixed with some sweet fruit such as raspberries. The mixture of berries is crushed and vigorously beaten in the manner of whipping cream in order to raise the typical foam of the confection. The berry is sweet and bitter possibly comparable to that encountered in sweetened coffee. The substance is believed by the First Nations peoples who prepare it to have many healthful properties, but the saponin chemicals making up the foam may also cause gastrointestinal irritation if consumed greatly. Native theme restaurants in British Columbia have occasionally had sxusem on the menu in recent years." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherdia_canadensis
"Buffaloberry are somewhat unusual in that there are both male and female plants. The flowers are inconspicuous, looking like small yellow growths that emerge below the new leaves.
In late-July or early-August, the berries begin to ripen. Only the female plants will bear fruit. They are round, approximately 4-6 mm (.25 in) in diametre, and vary from bright red to orange (occasionally yellow) They are also somewhat translucent.
If you learn to identify only one plant in the Canadian Rockies, make it this one. The new millennium brought with it a high incidence of bear encounters throughout the eastern slopes, all because of a bumper crop of buffaloberry. Once the berries ripen, this becomes the most important plant for bears within the northern Rockies. Any trail with an abundance of buffaloberries will also have bears. Try to avoid heavily berried trails in August and September, or at the very least make a lot of noise while hiking in such locales. Remember, an adult grizzly may eat upwards of 200,000 buffaloberries every day during this period. They may also get so engrossed in feeding that they do not hear you approach. Make sure you make lots of noise."
www.mountainnature.com/Plants/PlantsLatinNameResult.asp?ID=69
Tags: Alberta Canada Banff National Park near BC border Bow Lake Bow Glacier Trail nature plant shrub bush Canada Buffaloberry Shepherdia canadensis fruit berries red, yellow, orange leaves food for Bears close-up bokeh #GreatNature
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My friend Sandy and I had such a wonderful (and long) day out in the mountains on 10 August 2013. The scenery is so spectacular the whole journey, but Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway, is said to be the most spectacular scenic route in the world. We drove as far as Bow Lake and hiked slowly, looking for everything of interest. The Bow Glacier Trail runs along the right hand side of the lake and continues to the Falls that are at a much higher elevation. You can see these in the distance from the lake. On the return drive to Calgary, we were thrilled to catch sight of two Black Bears at the far side of the road, a short distance apart. Impossible to get even half-decent photos, but the one above shows the second bear, eating its fill of Canada Buffaloberry berries.
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On 10 August 2013, I went with friend Sandy to Bow Lake, in Banff National Park. It is located along Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway, said to be the most beautiful, scenic road in the world. She had seen a tiny Liverwort (non-vascular plant) maybe a week earlier on a different trip and wanted to go back to check it at a later stage, and asked if I'd like to go with her. How lucky I am! She had hoped that it might be a particular rare species, but as it turned out, it wasn't. Still an interesting species to add to the list of flora and fauna for the area. We walked very slowly along the Bow Glacier Trail, which runs along the right hand edge of the lake, searching for anything of interest and beauty. We went as far as the second rock fall, but didn't hike up to the Bow Glacier Falls. At the first rock fall, we were entertained, while having lunch, by several of these small Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels. They look rather similar to a Chipmunk and are very fast-moving animals, ha. They love a rocky mountain slope like this one - and I was happy when one of them climbed and sat on this brightly coloured, lichen-encrusted boulder.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden-mantled_ground_squirrel
Tags: Alberta Canada Banff National Park Highway 93 near B.C. border Bow Lake Bow Glacier Trail nature animal wild animal Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel Icefields Parkway Callospermophilus lateralis #GreatNature
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