Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Paskapoo Slopes

THIS IS NOT MY MAIN PHOTO TODAY!!! Flickr is messing things up again, showing my photos in the wrong order when (some) people view them!!!! Happened to come across this photo last night and, as it has been a long time since I posted a fungus photo, thought I would add it this morning. I was with a group of botany friends when we came across this naturally decorated branch. We were walking at Paskapoo Slopes in the city on 19th August 2009. Fungus, licken and Red Tree Brain fungus - all things I enjoy photographing. "The Paskapoo Slopes are a significant natural, environmental and cultural feature on the western side of Calgary, Alberta. They have a high visual impact and are a prominent landmark along the Trans Canada Highway, Calgary's western gateway from the Rockies. The slopes include a set of six forested benches that were carved by Glacial Lake Calgary during the Pleistocene epoch, and they are incised by a series of twelve ravines. They rise up to 155 metres (510 ft) above the highway along the edge of the Paskapoo Escarpment and the Coach Hill Uplands. The Paskapoo Slopes extend for four kilometres along the south side of the Trans Canada Highway from Sarcee Trail to the Coach Hill/Patterson Heights area of Calgary, and include Canada Olympic Park. The Paskapoo Slopes Preservation Society was founded by Hugh Magill in 1993 to preserve the park and to protect the environmentally sensitive escarpment as well as significant archeological sites – including the historic buffalo jump. The City of Calgary's Park Development and Operations has identified large portions of Paskapoo Slopes as environmentally significant and has been extensively studying the area since 1991. The escarpment is characterised by an abundance of natural features including steep ravines and gullies, streams and springs, unique stands of aspen and balsam poplar, dense dogwood, riverine tall shrub communities, and a large glacial erratic (in the south- central portion of the ASP area). The slopes are also known to be habitat for deer, small mammals, and a large variety of migratory and breeding birds. The Paskapoo Slopes are comparable to the Nose Hill natural areas in terms of environmental significance. Increasing competition for use of the Paskapoo Slopes land highlights the need for protection of the Environmental Reserve (ER). The City of Calgary has undertaken a number of studies out of concerns about encroachments into the Paskapoo Slopes." From Wikipedia. www.facebook.com/savepaskapooslopes/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paskapoo_Slopes

I'm not sure of the proper, full name of this plant, but I think Centaurea is one of the names. I love the colour, and the patterns below the petals (bracts?). We saw this on a walk at Paskapoo Slopes in the city a few days ago. Part of the walk was down the hillside, through some kind of forested retreat, so there were garden plants near the top of the area, too. A lovely place to walk. Thanks, Doug, for the ID, Centauria macrocephala, 'Golden Globe' - much appreciated, as always!

This is an introduced plant from Europe. The leaves are interesting, as they have a row of sharp, yellowish spines along the underside mid-rib. Grows along roadsides and in waste areas and gardens, flowering June -September. Also called the Compass-plant, as its leaves often point east and west.

This was such a dainty little group of mushrooms, on the path through the Retreat at Paskapoo Slopes (in the city). I am suffering so badly from mushroom withdrawal - thank goodness for photos in my "archives", LOL.

A beautiful Scaber Stalk mushroom and what is presumably a new one just starting out : ) Seen on a walk at Paskapoo Slopes, here in the city, but just over a month ago, not recently.

This introduced, non-native plant is called Creeping Bellflower, and this particular plant was growing at Paskapoo Slopes (in the city). "Most of the ornamentals plants we enjoy growing in our gardens are not native to North America or are cultivars of of non-natives. Many of the traits we admire in some ornamentals - vigorous, very hardy, self-sows, naturalizes - are the very same characteristics of an invasive plant. Very few introduced plants become invasive - only about 10% - but those that do, harm our natural areas, reduce forage for wildlife & livestock, and cost agricultural producers & land managers money every year for control efforts. Some of these plants came with European settlers as beloved reminders of home. Others were contaminants of crop seed. And as long as humans have been traveling between the continents, plants have gone with them. Some introductions are intended for agriculture, some for medicinal reasons, and many for ornamental purposes.... Its creeping root system and resistance to some herbicides makes Creeping Bellflower extremely difficult to eradicate." From www.invasiveplants.ab.ca/InvasiveOrnamentals .

We came across this native wildflower at Paskapoo Slopes in the city on 19th August. I have just discovered, when I read Wikipedia, that the red parts are the FLOWERS! I always thought they were the fruit! "Strawberry Blite (Chenopodium capitatum, Blitum capitatum) is an edible annual plant, also known as Blite Goosefoot, Strawberry Goosefoot, Strawberry Spinach, Indian Paint, and Indian Ink. It is native to most of North America throughout the United States and Canada, including northern areas. It is considered to be endangered in Ohio. It is also found in parts of Europe and New Zealand. Flowers are small, pulpy, bright red and edible, resembling strawberries. The juice from the flowers was also used as a red dye by natives. The fruits contain small, black, lens-shaped seeds that are 0.7-1.2 mm long. The greens are edible raw or as a potherb, but should be eaten in moderation." From Wikipedia.

A gorgeous Scaber Stalk fungus seen on a walk at Paskapoo Slopes in the city a week ago. We have seen this species of mushroom in a number of different places recently. Always such a bright splash of colour. By the way, I'm posting my "daily three" early today because I am going CANOEING down the Bow River all afternoon! This will be my very first time (though I have been in a canoe once before in my life, but not on the river), and I am both excited and SCARED TO DEATH!!! I have longed to travel down the river for many years. Yesterday, a friend (an experienced canoeist) asked if I still wanted to do it, and so that's what we will be doing. I suspect that my already-painful (from too much mouse-clicking and from struggling to get into my backpack!) shoulders/arms will be excrutiatingly painful by the end of the day, so maybe I won't be able to even raise them to type on my keyboard. If I don't drown, then I will be SOOO relieved. Come and stand on one of the bridges over the river in the city or on the river bank and cheer us on - just kidding, ha!

This cute little cluster of mushrooms was growing along the Nature Retreat trail at Paskapoo Slopes, Calgary, about three weeks ago. Love the way they are all different sizes : )

Another view of these teeny mushrooms that were growing on a small leaf when we walked at Paskapoo Slopes in the city mid-August. Such fragile little things : ) I feel totally exhausted today, in part due to still thinking about the woman's body that was discovered on Monday in one of my main local parks. The woman has been identified, but info on the cause of death is awaiting autopsy results. Three of us went for a morning's walk today, which of all places was in the area right next to the area where the body was discovered. Not a pleasant feeling at all - feel very sad for her family. It has changed how I feel even when stepping off the path by just a few feet (to check that there were no fungi growing on logs!). A very down feeling : (