Canadian Alpine Journal/Volume 1/Number 1/The Mountain Wildflowers of Western Canada

by Julia W. Henshaw

THE MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS OF
WESTERN CANADA

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By Julia W. Henshaw

There is a region in Western Canada where the most exquisite wildflowers in the whole world bloom above the clouds; not singly or in groups, but in beds and banks these blossoms of every hue, and size, and form flourish with a rich luxuriance in the alpine meadows of the Rocky and Selkirk ranges, that recalls those tropical gardens only to be found on the irrigated fringe of the desert. Yet how much more ethereal in texture and coloring are these hardy alpine plants, growing at an altitude of from 3000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea, than their fellow-flowers which grace the sultry lands of the Orient.

In the Western mountain ranges lies the real Garden of Nature in Canada. It is a wild garden, and wild are its surroundings, a beautiful wilderness of wilding bloom, fragrant with the breath of Heliotropes and Violets, and glorified by the sheen of scarlet Indian Paint-brushes, yellow Arnicas, and purple Phacelias.

Among the mountains there are plants peculiar to each particular locality, though there are also hundreds of species which abound equally in all the various districts. At Banff, in the Rockies, the wildflowers are within the reach of all; for there they grace the low-lying meadows in every direction, are found in the thick forests, and out upon the dry stony slopes of the hillsides. At this spot it is quite unnecessary to climb in search of them, as is more or less the case at Lake Louise and Glacier, for they seem to cover the whole locality with a richly colored profusion, which rivals the flower-beds in cultivated gardens.

The Banff Hotel stands on the cliff, high above the confluence of the Spray and the Bow rivers; steep banks broken by large rocky prominences sweep down from its wide verandas to the boiling torrents below, and here in sheltered nooks and crannies grow the curiously-branched Coral-roots (Corallorhiza innata), while the tendrils of the white and purple Vetches trail over the stones, and the Wild Clematis (Clematis Columbiana) winds its leaf-stalks around the branches of adjacent bushes. Lower down you will find huge clumps of the Service-berry (Amelanchier alnifolia), an attractive shrub bearing many clusters of snow-white blossoms amid its pale green foliage, and farther on the Fireweeds flare and flash like torches burning in the long grass.

Along the banks of the Bow river stretch flat meadows where conifers grow sparsely, and the pungent scent of pine and balsam fills the air with subtle sweetness. The ground is covered with dry moss and a tangle of short green growths, above which tower tasselled rushes. Here flourish the exquisite white blossoms of the One-flowered Wintergreen (Moneses uniflora), which has been so aptly named the "Single Delight," its waxen-petalled cups bent downwards close to the soil, and its delicate fragrance floating forth on the July breeze.

The roads which thread the forests and lead to those hot sulphur springs which gush forth out of the mountain-sides in copious streams, are fringed by the small plant-like shrubs of the Birch-leaved Spiræa (Spiraea lucida), crowned in August by big clusters of creamy blossoms faintly tinged with pink, which smell extremely sweet, and are particularly attractive to the eye of the traveller. Just where the road ends and the trail, which leads to the crest of Sulphur mountain surmounted by the Government Observatory, begins, you will find vast beds of the White Dryas (Dryas octopetala) growing in dry soil and exposed to the full glare of the sun, its silver-backed foliage carpeting the earth, and each large white corolla holding up a heart of gold.

Then, should you leave the open road and seek to follow the narrow trail as it winds upward towards the eternal snows, what a wealth of bloom you will encounter on every side. Great orange lilies flaming out from a bank of ferns, the yellow-flecked magenta Calypso (Calypso borealis) growing in its solitary beauty from a single bulb with a single leaf at the base of its slender stem, Columbines, Garlics, Monks-hoods, Anemones—there is no end to the floral treasures that spring to life at every step. Or should a happy inspiration seize you to visit the Cave and Basin, where one of the hot sulphur springs has been utilized to supply the magnificent swimming baths, and an ancient geyser, now extinct, has hollowed out a marvelous cave of eccentric formation, you will be rewarded by the sight of quite a different set of plants; for there the warm overflow of the water gushing down the hillside, nourishes wonderful clumps of bright blue Lobelia, huge azure Gentians, Asters, Sunflowers, purple Mints, Butterworts, and sweetest and most fascinating of all, the large showy spikes of the Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes Romanzoffiana), and the pale pink clusters of the Fly-spotted Orchis (Orchis rotundifolia).

Banff is by no means the only locality in the Rocky mountains where flowers abound. In the vicinity of Lake Louise the Western Anemone (Anemone occidentalis), with its white translucent cups, veined and tinged with purple, covers the higher slopes of the

Photo, Julia W. Henshaw

YELLOW ADDER'S TONGUE
(Erythronium Giganteum)

hills, following up the retreating line of the melting snows, in springtime and, later on, decorating the mountains with its fine feathery seed-heads. Here, too, the Wild Heliotrope (Valeriana sitchensis) grows in profusion, the pink Swamp Laurel (Kalmia glauca) and the White Mountain Rhododendron; Heaths and Heathers, red, rose, and white, carpet the earth beneath the Lyalls Larches, and are among the last vegetation seen at "tree-line"; the Globe Flower (Trollius laxus), a great white bloom with a heart of gold, pushes its way up through the icy coverlet of winter, and the Romanzoffia, with its petals of pure velvet, nestles in the crevices of the rocks at an elevation of 8000 feet.

Field is the place where you will find the large Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium pubescens) in all its rare perfection. On a long moraine which stretches up from Emerald lake to the foot of the Yoho valley, these huge orchids grow in thick clumps in the month of July. They are weird, uncanny flowers with big yellow pouches and long spiral petals, and very strange does it seem to find there, flourishing on alpine heights, those plants that we are accustomed to associate with South African jungles and tropical surroundings.

As if in contradistinction to the exotic growth of these giant Orchids, you will also find at Feld the hardy Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum), the white Canada Violet, the Ragworts, the Honeysuckles, the Cow Parsnips, and the Harebells, rioting all over the meadows, and clothing the earth with a coat of many colors.

At Glacier the Yellow Adders Tongue (Erythronium giganteum) is, perhaps, the most attractive plant to travellers. I have seen these pale yellow blossoms, amid their pallid green leaves, glimmer at dusk with a lambent light beneath the shining star-sown fields of heaven, and at dawn have seen the whole mountainside break into bloom with exquisite odorous flowers, as if a manntle had been flung about the shoulders of the slopes, while at each step one had perforce to crush them under foot, so closely clustered did they grow among their smooth, spear-like shoots.

To the true lover of nature there is no greater pleasure than to stand where the snow-crowned mountains tower up to heaven, where the thin blue tint of the sky is stretched out over stony bastions, rising above the tall green conifers, and the alpine streams, ice-born in the heart of the sparkling glaciers, form a silvery network enmeshing myriads of bright-hued blossoms which bud and blow at the bidding of the summer sun. Such is the Garden of Nature where the mountain wildflowers of Canada grow

"'Twixt the green and the azure sphere."

When you leave the Châlet Hotel at Lake Louise to follow the trail which leads into the Valley of the Ten Peaks, you begin the long slow ascent that ends on the shoulder of Mt. Temple, from whence you obtain an exquisite view of Moraine lake. Here you enter the wonderful flower-fields of the valley, where blossoms of every hue sweep in great waves of color from "tree-line" down into the depths, 3000 feet below. Here the Indian Paint-brushes (Castilleia septentrionalis) and Painted-cups (Castilleia miniata) are to be found in all their glory, scarlet, red, pink, white, yellow and orange they abound on every hand. Mingled with them grow golden-silvery Hairy Hawkweeds (Hieracium Scouleri), Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia), Phacelias (Phacelia sericea), cherry-tipped Eriogonums (Eriogonum umbellatum), blue-eyed Speedwells (Veronica alpina) and a dozen different species of Vetch, Saxifrage and Rock-cress.

An alpine meadow is a spot of supreme beauty, where the Wild Clematis (Clematis Columbiana) and Macoun's Gentians (Gentiana Macounii) are blue as

Photo, Julia W. Henshaw

GREAT-FLOWERED GAILLARDIA
(Gaillardia Aristata)

the sky overhead, while the Yellow Columbines (Aquilegia flavescens) toss their heads in the passing breeze and a thousand flowers spangle the grass, their star-like faces upturned to meet the smile of the sun. These alpine gardens, held close in the curved arms of the hills, or set like jewels on the bare breast of the stone bastions, are one of the great marvels wrought by Nature in the recesses of the Western mountains, the contrast between the beauty of the blossoms and their barren surroundings being as vivid as it is enchanting.

The Bunch-berry (Cornus Canadensis) is a dweller in the dense forests, where its white cruciform flowers and scarlet fruits are familiar to all travellers. So also is the Queen-cup (Clintonia uniflora), so named by me in English in 1903, the name being now adopted in the Canadian nomenclature of plants; for queen it certainly is of all the lovely flower-cups which grow in the mountain valleys, its pure white petals forming a chalice fit for the First Lady in our land, and its large pale green leaves constituting a fitting background for so ethereal a bloom.

On the dry sunny flats at an elevation of from 4000 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea, the Giant Sunflowers (Helianthus giganteus), Great-flowered Gaillardias (Gaillardia aristata), full-fringed Golden-rods (Solidago Canadensis, S. decumbens) and Heart-leaf Arnicas (Arnica cordifolia) flaunt their gay golden petals; tall and handsome plants they are and very attractive. Close beside them grows the frail little Wild Flax (Linum Lewisii), which droops as soon as it is gathered and withers at a touch, the humble Narrow-leaved Puccoon (Lithospermum angustifolium), the Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus Crisis-galli), Tall Lungwort (Mertensia paniculata) and Loco-weed (Oxytropis Lamberti), bushes covered with softly-blushing Prickly Roses (Rosa acicularis), flanked by flocks of Pink Everlastings (Antennaria parvifolia var. rosea) and warm-scented Clovers (Trifolium pratense), realms of rose where the calm of green things growing tempers the lure of the coral and carmine, and the grasses are gossiping as the migrant hosts of the Dandelions march on through Summer's wide-set door, with all their golden banners unfurled to the southern wind.

Close beside the alpine lakes upon whose bosoms float flat lily-pads, and along the margin of those streams where wet-loving water-weeds wind their tendrils about the drooping, dripping willow wands and Blue-eyed Grasses (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) twinkle like azure stars in the green firmament of the moss, the pale globular blossoms of the Small Wintergreen (Pyrola Minor) hang in pearls upon each juicy stalk and myriads of Red Monkey-flowers (Mimulus Lewisii) glimmer like lamps in the gloom of the thickets.

Very early in the Spring the Pasque Flowers (Anemone Nuttalliana) appear in the land, their purple cups with silvery linings opening wide long before the fringed fern-like foliage develops about the thick downy stems. Very high up on some tiny plateau held in a hollow amongst the hills, some play-ground of the sun, where a patch of verdure is laid in the earth's brown lap, dew-drenched at dusk, ripened to sapphire by the sun at noon, wind-wrinkled by the gales that blow crisply off the glaciers, these large leaf-whorled Pasque Flowers spread in purpling waves across the waste, and turn the plateau into a paradise of flowers from whose violet rim runs the warm wine of loveliness.

To the traveller the wildflowers of the Rocky and Selkirk mountains are a wonderful revelation of the prodigality and color-painting of Nature in these alpine regions; while to the botanist they are a constant source of interest and delight. There is no more beautiful, rich or varied alpine flora in the world than that of the British Empire, and it is the proud boast of Canada that within her Western borders grow the choicest specimens of many mountain wildflowers.

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Editorial Note.

The foregoing article by Julia W. Henshaw, author of "Mountain Wild Flowers of Canada," published by William Briggs, of Toronto (price $2.00), was originally written for the "Standard" of Montreal. It is now republished by permission of that paper, with amplifications, for the information of our members.

No visitor to the Canadian Rockies should come without Mrs. Henshaw's book. Written in a most delightful and artistic manner, it furnishes a text that, while appealing to the layman in the simplicity of its language, does not neglect the scientific aspect of the subject. It is designed with the purpose of enabling the traveller to identify the various species seen and it fulfils its mission well.