Field course in Algonquin - Part 2

The remainder of the field course involved a lecture every evening, so that the students can utilize the daytime to work on their field projects.  I took these photos around the research station when I wasn't busy helping out the students.

Fiddleheads, if I remember correctly.  I took it because it reminds me of a person doing the love pose.

Blue-bead Lily (Clintonia borealis)




Unidentified Yellojacket

A Syrphid fly that looks like a Yellowjacket (Temnostoma alternans)

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), a member of the Dogwood (Cornaceae) family.

As you can see, there are multiple flowers in a cyme.  The flower(s) is also called the "pop flower" because of its ballistic pollination mechanism.  There is a hairlike appendage in the centre of the flower, and when triggered by insects, stored elastic energy sends pollen grains high up into the air.  Don't believe me?  Check out this amazing video.

A bumblebee visiting the flowers.  One group of students compared the size of the white bracts (for attraction), the number of flowers in a cyme (for reproduction), and the stigmatic pollen load found on randomly chosen flowers.

Male moss gametophytes (ones with "cups" at the top) surrounded by many females (those without).

Bluet damselfly.

Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) in the Ginseng (Araliaceae) family.  This is a male plant (note the stamens).

While supervising a student working on her project, I saw this Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis) visiting Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis).  I was pretty excited to see a pollinator in action and so I followed it for quite a while.




It was not afraid of me at all, and I got a few close-up shots.


Including this one.  Look at the proboscis!

In the afternoon, I went to the field with the Medeola group and took more photos of the Indian cucumber-root.  Such a cool-looking flower.