On this day, I decided to explore the countryside north of Oakville. I learned that much of it is suburban development, industrial development or farms.
Tough to find natural areas even on rural side roads. My first discovery was this:
Here is what I found nearby:
My second stop was by a stream where I was able to climb a steep hill into a Sugar Maple forest.
This bird watched me with interest:
Plants on the hill:
My final stop was also by water
beside this road:
A short walk into the woods and some treasures were revealed:
I save the best for last. Claytonia virginica grows in upland forests such as at Sunnybrook Park but it also grows in lowland, even mucky forests such as the one I was in. The forest floor was carpeted in the perfectly named Spring-beauty.
The Latin “Claytonia” comes from botanist John Clayton (1694 – 1774) who was one of the earliest plant collectors in Virginia.
NATURE POETRY
Again the blackbirds sing; the streams
Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams,
And tremble in the April showers
The tassels of the maple flowers. – John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92)
Miles Hearn