Field trips and meetings Botany field trips are included on the field trips page.
Botany Study Group meets during the summer months. |
Botany Group |
Botany study group meets in the summer months.  Trembling Aspen © Suzanne Visser |
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Plants of Alberta - a book review
The 687-page, Flora of Alberta by E.H. Moss, revised in 1983 by J.G. Packer, (currently again being revised), comes closest to fulfilling that need, describing 1755 of the 2200 known Alberta vascular plants species. However it uses about 1000 technical terms, of which only about 500 are defined in the glossary, making it almost useless for the average plant enthusiast. Furthermore, there are no illustrations. Except for books on the Trees or Mountain plants, most of the remaining books do not adequately cover the other subjects or geographical areas. Each shows and describes only 300-400 species. This leaves large gaps, resulting in many un-named or misidentified plants. Enter a new book on the block: “PLANTS OF ALBERTA, Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, Ferns, Aquatic Plants & Grasses”, with photographs by France Royer, and text by Richard Dickinson. Lone Pine Publishing, 2007. ISBN 13:978-1-55105-283-0. $29.95. This well-bound, soft-cover, 528-page volume, measuring just 14 x 21.5 x 2.5 cm (5.5 x 8.5 x 1 inch), comes closest to meeting the needs of those who want to identify the plants they meet afield. The promotional media release states “Almost 1800 species of plants can be found in Alberta. And now they all find a home in a comprehensive new field guide”. (Bolding and italics are mine). It would seem that you can now leave that wheelbarrow of other books at home. In fact, only 704 primary species are covered, with brief mention of a further 300 species. In the introduction, it states “Many of Alberta’s 1750 plants are ....”. Maybe it is best to keep that wheelbarrow handy for a while yet! The book is illustrated with mostly good photographs, sometimes two per species. Usually two species on a page. Occasionally, a dried herbarium specimen is depicted. One shortcoming of the pictures is the lack of scale: a tiny flower is often greatly enlarged, making it unrecognizable, such as Pygmy-flower, page 296. Because of this, I can foresee Variegated Horsetail (not in the book), being misidentified as Dwarf Scouring Rush (p. 487). In a few cases no leaves are shown, again making it difficult to recognize the plant when found in the field. Thumb-sized photos are effectively used as a visual key at the start of the different groupings, listed in the title, organized by leaf characteristics (alternate, opposite, whorled, basal, etc.), as shown vertically on the edge of the page. Some photos are needless, e.g., the scenic one on p. 30, under the leaves of the Western Cottonwood, while others are needlessly large, such as those used to introduced the different groups, which are repeated again in the species description, or, e.g., that of Russian Thistle, on p. 160, which does not aid in its identification. Wiser use of the space could have allowed for the inclusion of an additional thirty or more species. In some cases, such as Leatherleaf, p. 79, the flower is not shown; only the developing fruit is portrayed - and it is depicted as if growing vertically, when it does so horizontally. The photograph labelled as Sweetgrass, on page 459, is not. The text begins with a brief family description, written from an Alberta perspective (otherwise, it is sometimes misleading, e.g., as on p. 56 where it states that the Rose Family is ... “A large family with over 60 species”, when in fact, there are over 3000 species world-wide). In most cases it does list the number of species (found in Alberta). It concludes with a “QuickId” (quick identification), usually giving the family’s characteristic number of sepals, petals, stamens, and other pertinent identification features. The individual species description usually begins by listing one common English name, occasionally two, rarely three (many of which have now been replaced by a standardized name that will soon make some of those used obsolete). This is followed, thankfully, by the most current scientific name. The text is well covered under several handy headings. It often begins with Also Called, listing scientific synonyms, many of which are obscure, not in present-day usage, so of doubtful value, at least to the beginner. Next is Habitat, offering a concise description of the species’ preferred environment. This is followed by General, usually giving plant characteristics such as height, hairiness, etc. Then under Leaves one finds details of shape and size, followed by Flower Cluster. Under that heading, you find out if it is solitary, a spike or perhaps a raceme. This is immediately followed by Flowers, (Reproductive Structures in the case of coniferous trees and shrubs, and is omitted for the Composites), which provides information on colour, size, number of sepals, petals, stamens, pistils and the flowering period. Next is Fruit, often followed by Similar Species, which briefly describes other unlisted species. The last heading is Interesting Notes. Here are such details as the name’s origin, previous uses by First Nations and other people, etc. These headings are printed in the pastel shades of the colour coding. This makes them difficult to pick out under certain outdoor lighting conditions. They would be easier to see if printed in black and bolded. One of the great features of the book is a thumb-sized map of Alberta, included on the same page as the text, showing the known range of most native species. However, don’t take this as definitive. Some species, which do occur naturally within Calgary, are not shown as being near here. Others found only along valley bottoms are depicted as occupying a broad band along those rivers. The maps don’t show the frequency of occurrence. Introduced species are not mapped; they are most likely to occur near populated centres, but could occur anywhere in suitable habitat. Are there errors? Generally, the species description is accurate. The Introduction would perhaps have benefited if edited by a qualified botanist. The facts are not necessarily wrong, but may lead to some false conclusions. For example, the book begins by stating “Plants are found on every continent and ocean in the world. (Is this referring to the phytoplankton or algae found in seawater?) Since this book is dealing with vascular plants, I visualize that novices will expect that some aquatic plants might be free-floating in the Arctic Ocean. I suspect that the authors had meant to say “... and on most islands in the oceans of the world”. As a result of such unintended statements, I have added or deleted words on many pages of my copy of the book. In addition to the inefficient use of space already mentioned, the book would be of more use to more people if it omitted the less frequently encountered plants, especially from remote, mostly northern regions, e.g., Sweet Gale, p. 45, or those of limited range such as Arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia, p. 114 or Wood Anemone, p 179. Similarly, some introduced agricultural weeds, such as Knawel, p. 170, could also have been left out. This would have allowed room for the inclusion of many of the more common species of the larger families, such as the Buttercups. I have stressed some of the minor negative aspects
of this work in the hope that the obvious short-comings will be
taken into account when it is reprinted. In the meantime, this
certainly is the best one available for those who want to carry
only one book afield. For the first time, it enables you to accurately
identify almost half of the plants found growing wild in Alberta,
without a wheelbarrow full of other books. |
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Until
now, to identify most wild plants in Alberta, one needed a wheelbarrow
to trundle around the two-dozen or more books required. Even then,
some of the species found, still were not be described in any Alberta
plant book.