Little green hearts of White Camas

This was one of the plant species we saw while exploring the land at the Rusty Bucket Ranch. I love the small, individual flowers, with the tiny, heart-shaped, green glands on each petal.

"White camas (Anticlea elegans) is a native perennial herb that grows from a bulb. The plant can be found across most of Canada from British Columbia to New Brunswick and in parts of northwestern Canada. The plant contains several steroidal alkaloids, including zygacine, which can poison livestock and humans. White camas has caused poisoning in sheep and may have been involved in poisoning cattle. Ingesting the bulbs can also cause poisoning. This plant is considered to be about seven times less toxic than death camas (Zigadenus venenosus)."

"It is not a grass (though its leaves are grass-like), but belongs to the trillium family, Melanthiaceae. It has white lily-like flowers and two-pronged, greenish-yellow glands on each petal (the shape of which can help in distinguishing it from other members of the genus)." From Wikipedia.

On 14 July 2017, it was a hot day, but our bio-blitz of the Rusty Bucket Ranch, west of Calgary, started at 8:00 am, to catch the coolest part of the day. This was the first time we had been there and we had such a great morning. What a beautiful place and area! Thirteen of us gathered to explore part of the land belonging to Liz and Alan Breakey - 160 acres, mostly wooded, with many streams feeding into Bragg Creek.

The gorgeous garden itself was full of bright, healthy plants. Once we were in the forest, we came across all sorts of wildflower species and even a few fungi and slime molds. We all met the challenges of small, hidden logs along the trails, lying in wait to trip anyone who was not paying careful attention. One of the last areas was a bog, where the small, partly hidden pools of water were difficult or impossible to avoid - I nearly lost a shoe in there, lol! On the final stretch back to the house, we caught sight of a distant buck with its new growth of antlers; also, a few of the sheep that the Breakey family raises. A really fun walk for us all, with all sorts of things of interest. Many thanks to Liz and Alan for inviting us to the Rusty Bucket Ranch to explore and list all species seen! Thank you, too, for the very warm welcome you gave us, and for the muffins, delicious lemon drink, and coffee!

After the morning's hike, we all returned to the city and thoroughly enjoyed a BBQ lunch put on by our botany/birding friends, Dorothy and Stephen. I hadn't had a burger in years - and this one was so good! Thanks so much, Dorothy and Stephen, for all the time and effort you put into this. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon, chatting with friends and eating all sorts of 'goodies'. Happy to see the tiny Hummingbird that has been visiting your garden, and lovely to see the bright yellow American Goldfinch. It was quite windy, too, which felt wonderful on a hot day.