Alpine flora of the Canadian Rocky MountainsBrown, Stewardson
Science
Alpine flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains
Brown, Stewardson
Mountain plants -- Canadian Rockies (B.C. and Alta.)
Leaves of the caudices ½ an inch or less long, stiff and crowded, but
more or less spreading, the blades narrowly lanceolate to subulate,
ciliate, slender, spine-tipped. Flower-stalks 1½—6 inches tall, nearly
smooth or finely glandular-hairy, bearing several leaves which are
smaller than those of the caudices; sepals ovate, sometimes rather
narrowly so, ⅛ of an inch long, smooth or sparingly ciliate, obtuse;
petals white, usually yellow-spotted, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, ¼ of
an inch or more long, filaments slender; seed pods often nearly ½ an
inch long.
Common everywhere throughout the Rockies at the lower altitudes on bare
rocks and stony slopes, frequently forming mats a foot or more across;
flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Antiphylla oppositifolia= (L.) Fourr. _Purple Saxifrage._]
Plants in dense mats, leaves densely folded together except on the
flower-stalks and sometimes on the elongated stems, 4-ranked, the
blades obovate to spatulate, ¼ of an inch long, ciliate, keeled.
Flower-stalks ½—1 inch long or sometimes shorter when young, leafy;
sepals oblong to ovate, ⅛ of an inch long, ciliate all around; petals
lilac or purple, elliptic or oval, showy, ⅓ of an inch long, each
narrowed into a stout claw.
Usually a high alpine species and not infrequently forming mats of
considerable size; throughout the region, flowering in July.
GROSSULARIACEÆ
_Gooseberry Family_
Shrubs, usually with lobed, petioled leaves and racemose or
subsolitary axillary or lateral flowers, the pedicels bracteolate;
calyx tube attached to the ovary, the limb 4—5-lobed, often coloured;
petals, 4—5, inserted on the throat of the calyx, small, scale-like,
often included; stamens 4—5, inserted with the petals; berry globose or
ovoid, pulpy, the calyx persistent on its summit.
[Sidenote: =Ribes lacustre= (Pers.) Poir. _Swamp Gooseberry._]
Stems prostrate or ascending, 3—4 feet long, very prickly when young,
spines slender and weak, generally clustered. Leaves nearly orbicular,
thin, smooth or hairy along the veins beneath, deeply 5—7 lobed, 1—2
inches broad, the lobes acutish, incised-dentate. Flowers in racemes of
5—9; calyx rotate, ⅙ of an inch broad, spreading, green or purplish;
petals exceeding the calyx; ovary glandular-hispid; berry black.
A very abundant gooseberry throughout the region in cool damp woods and
bogs at the lower elevations; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Ribes setosum= Lindl. _Bristly Gooseberry._]
Stems erect, 3—4 feet high, with numerous stout bristles, especially
on the young wood; axillary spines 1—3 together, rather stout and
spreading. Leaves slender-petioled, more or less finely hairy, at least
when young, ½—1 inch wide, broadly ovate or orbicular, 3—5-lobed, the
lobes incised or coarsely toothed. Flowers 2—3, ¼—½ an inch long on
very short pedicels; calyx tube cylindric, greenish-white or pinkish;
petals white; berries small, purple or blue and very sour.
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