Spring flowers in Nova Scotia

It was a fabulous long weekend and there was time for so much more than usual  - a long hike, extra work, bike riding, a walk to the waterfront and lazing in the sun …

Some of the blooms we saw on our weekend walk/hike were painted trillium, pink lady’s slipper, rhodora, clintonia (blue bead lily), and northern starflower.

Even though these flowers bloom in the spring, they are not strictly speaking “spring ephemerals”. The Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society explains why. The bloom may be ephemeral but the plant itself is not so quick to fade.  Perhaps next time out we will see some real spring ephemerals, but being ephemeral…

Our hike along the Pot Lake Loop of the Bluff Wilderness Trail was just grand. Besides all the blooms, there were great views from high points on the trail. We stopped for lunch  on a granite rock above Pot Lake.  As we absorbed the quiet, a loon swam in the lake.  The trail climbs up to the edge of a watershed and is somewhat rigorous. It is located in a wilderness area that is easily accessible from the HRM BLT trail, very close to Halifax. The Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization supports this trail. They have done a great job and their website has excellent information about the trail, its natural environment and why they felt a trail would be a good thing.

If you drive to the area, parking is indicated on my map.

Pennant Point and Sundew Plants

As we walked out to Pennant Point a few weeks ago we traversed some spots with great panoramic views.

Close-up views are fascinating too.  An assortment of different plants grow along the trail.  The soil is typically poor and in some spots tiny sundew plants thrive.

 These carnivorous plants have leaves modified with sticky hairs that trap small insects.  The nutrients provided by the insect make up for the poor soils where these little plants grow.

 The sticky hairs trap the insect and the leaf wraps around the insect.

More pictures of sundew plants.

Black knot on wild cherry

Wild cherry species such as chokecherry sometimes fall prey to black knot.  Any walk over old fields or in woods taking over an old field may take you past a tree with this infection.  The black galls typical of this infection are caused by a fungus.  It is very, very easy to identify.

Sometimes a tree has been infected for a long time and the galls may even have other fungi or lichen colonizing the original gall.

Black knot is visible along trails like the Cole Harbour Heritage Park trails that we walked this past Sunday.  This disease also occurs in cultivated trees of the Prunus spp.     Manitoba Agriculture has some great information.