I think columbine flowers are gorgeous and the leaves are pretty, too. The flowers have five petals and five sepals in decorator color contrasts.   The sepals are ovate and the petals are fused into conical shapes.   The plants have three lobed leaves,   grouped in threes themselves.   …

Labrador Tea Family: Ericaceae Habitat: Leaves: Inflorescence: Flowers: (one of 32) (also note the superior ovary) Petals: (5 per individual flower) Stamens: (7 per flower, total of 224 on flower bunch collected) Pistal:

Nasturtium is my favorite cultivated flower.   Easy going, tasty, beautiful, and fast growing. I use the leaves in sandwiches and pesto. The leaves are entire, peltate, smooth with L-O-N-G petioles that attach to the middle of each leaf.   The petioles and stems are almost juicy/succulent. The showy, single …

My second dissection was of a twinflower (Linnea borealis  L.).  I hesitated in picking this species to dissect because it’s so small and delicate, but I was pleasantly surprised  at the relative ease in dissecting it and zooming in on the small features.    

Arnica angustifolia Vahl. Arnica angustifolia usually blooms in late June in interior Alaska. I see it along roadsides and highways and trails in spruce/hardwood forests. Its bright yellow color is eye-catching and its form is daisy-like. It grows on a long (about 12-15 inches) slender stem with alternate, lanceolate leaves …

As I wrap up each of my four plant dissections, I’ll post them indivudally to the class website.  These dissections were fun to do, and a good challenge to use the new terms we used in class.   My first dissection was of fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium  (L.) Holub.  This was …

Because I fractured my wrist on June 7, I picked a rather large flower to dissect one handed: the yellow pond lily. It was an interesting plant.    The sepals are in two rows.   On each solitary flower, the outer row has 2 small, tough, thick, and leathery green …

I thought this assignment was pretty fun, except for the fact that after I had completed 3 of my dissections my phone, with all my pictures, gave out on me. Luckily I had quite a bit of down time while I was in Point Lay and was able to the …

Family: Asphodeaceae/Hemerocalidoides Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus L. (Buttered Popcorn) 6 Petals 4-5 cm L X 2 cm W 6 stamen: 4-5 cm L Pistil- 5-6 cm L Pedicels: 1-1.5 cm Throat of calyx/corolla: 2.5 cm Bracts at each node. Pistil divided into a cross-section and longitudinal section, showing the receptacle. Final dissection …

Yucca glauca in it’s “natural” habitat. Although this particular plant seems to have been planted as an ornamental outside of a community garden. Where I grew up in Western Nebraska, they grow everywhere! When we would drive the cattle up for summer grazing, the cattle always loved to strip the …

Iris setosa, Pall. Iris setosa can be found throughout interior Alaska. These specimens from my neighborhood grew in disturbed soil along the roadside and bordering a spruce/hardwood forest. The plants can be very tall, up to a meter in height, with lanceolate leaves that have parallel venation and are alternately …

Cornus canadensis  Dissection: Cornaceae Habitat Adaxial leaf Abaxial leaf Inflorescence 4 Bracts 22 Flowers 4 stamens Pistil

Rhododendron groenlandicum Dissection: Ericaceae Habitat Adaxial leaf Abaxial leaf Inflorescence (22 flowers) Single flower 5 petals 10 stamens pistil

Chamaenerion angustifolium  Dissection: Onagraceae Habitat Adaxial leaf Abaxial leaf inflorescence 4 petals 5 sepals 8 stamens pistil: 1 style with 4 stigmas