Friday, July 27, 2007

Friday Flowers: Manitoulin Wildflowers

Cardinal Flower

I enjoyed finding some new wildflowers when we were vacationing on Manitoulin Island. The growing season was a few weeks behind our home to the south and some flowers were blooming that were finished in southern Ontario in early June.

Iris and Forget-me-not in creek bed

In one dried up creek bed, I saw masses of blue Forget-me-nots and wild Irises accented by spikes of the bright red Cardinal Flower. Behind our cabin there were masses of Jewelweed, another of those special orange wildflowers. The ditches on the nearby road were colourful with flowering Milkweed and Spotted Joe Pye Weed.

Spotted Joe Pye Weed

There is a web site I often visit when trying to identify native plants. Andy's Northern Ontario Wildflowers is an extensive, informative and well organized site featuring flowers of the Sudbury and Manitoulin Island region. Andy is a geologist with an interest in wildflowers. He has posted a presentation on The Flora of Manitoulin Island. He describes how this region has species from 8 of 9 Canadian floristic regions including Arctic, Alpine, Prairie, Boreal, Northern Mixed Forest, Great Lakes/St. Lawrence, Deciduous Forest and Maritime. The only region not represented is Atlantic Plains. Large areas of the island are undisturbed and unusual species can be found at various times of the year. From the rocky heights of the escarpment to the sand dunes along the Lake Huron shoreline, there are several unique environments with their own flora and fauna.
The Hawberry is a type of hawthorn that is said to be found only on Manitoulin Island. (I don't know if that is true!) People who live on the island are called Haweaters and a Haweater festival is held each August. I didn't recognize this bush, but I bought some Hawberry Jelly to try at home.
I have many more pictures of flowers and shrubs to identify from this trip, but that will likely be a winter project.

Touch-me-not or Jewelweed

12 comments:

  1. Very nice photos-What an odd name for a flower-Joe Pye Weed.

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  2. Beautiful flowers and photos Ruth!

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  3. I'm so glad you are continuing Friday Flowers. They are always so pretty. Will you have a Friday theme during the winter months?

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  4. We have tons of Joe Pie Weed and Jewelweed up at Hasty Brook and I'm hoping to get up there this evening for the weekend to see what else is blooming.

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  5. Very nice wildflowers, Ruth. Great photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Anonymous6:40 am GMT-4

    I'm enjoying your writeups of vacation finds!

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  7. Oooo--the cardinal flower is so pretty.
    You outdid yourself on this Friday flowerS--emphasis on the plural.

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  8. Larry- Joe Pye was a person who came up with a medicinal use for this plant.

    Jayne- Wildflowers are weeds to many, but they are beautiful.

    Mary- I have plenty of flower pictures from years of photo taking. Who knows how long Friday Flowers will last? ;-)

    Lynne- Hope you have (had) a good weekend at Hasty Brook. I'd love to see what is blooming in your area.

    MaryC- I am sharing things as I learn about them. That is fun.

    Jennifer- You would love this area!

    KGMom- The Cardinal flower was my favourite, but then I love red.

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  9. I love those cardinal flowers (and so do my hummingbirds). Those are all such nice pictures.

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  10. I saw a number of hummingbirds in the area, but not feeding on the Cardinal flowers. I had never seen this flower before and have found none around home.

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  11. Anonymous8:49 pm GMT-4

    I just love Joe-Pye Weed! I just love Friday Flowers!!

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  12. Monarch- The Monarch butterflies loved Joe Pye Weed too. There were sooo many butterflies this year!

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