Luta and I frequent the riverside at Peenaquim Park. There are steep coulees to run up and down and she has been working on her coyote-jumping technique in mouse hunting. These pictures were taken on mostly south-facing slopes not far from the high running Oldman River.
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narrow-leaved milkvetch
a member of the pea family, or the Leguminosae, producing two types of fruit, both legumes and loments. legumes, you may recall, are important contributors to healthy soil, using swollen nodules in their roots they work with bacteria to replenish the nitrogen content. |
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seinfoin
the species name, viciifolia, means "vetch-leaved"
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sagebrush
the best way to experience this plant is to run your fingers through the soft leaves and then smell your hands.
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buffalobean (also known as golden bean)
these were the first to flower en masse all over the local coulee. spring-yellows everywhere, vibrant and glowing. historically, a dye was made from the buffalobean to colour skin bags and arrows of the blackfoot tribes in the region. it is also important to note that these gorgeous little jewels are extremely poisonous and eating any part of this plant can cause respiratory paralysis.
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perhaps few-flowered milkvetch |
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wormwood
an invasive species introduced in settler's gardens. this plant is used to make absinthe among other medicinal tonics. this picture is a dried-out plant from last year and these little bushes are all over the coulees.
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leafy spurge
like the wormwood, leafy spurge is an invasive species brought to north america as a garden plant. it is poisonous to cows, but not sheep and goats who can help mitigate the damage by grazing it. with roots that can grow over ten meters long, it is a difficult plant to remove.
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first flowers of the season, their furry ear-like leaves poke out of the snow "listening for the first sounds of spring," as the story goes.
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