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Broad-leaved
arrowhead
Perennial
Flower: White; 2-4
cm wide; 3 white petals and 3 green sepals; bract <1 cm long; 2-8
whorls of 3; July-October.
Leaves:
Distinctive arrow-shaped, up to 40 cm long. See
following photo.
Stem: Smooth
Height: 0.2-0.8 m.
Habitat: Occurs in
shallow standing water.
Interest: The
plant is considered by some to be emblematic of war.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002.
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Broad-leaved
arrowhead leaves.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002.
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Broad-leaved
arrowhead flower stalk.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 12, 2007
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Stiff
arrowhead
Flower: White; 3
white petals and 3 green sepals; in whorls of 3; throughout summer.
Leaves: Mostly
lance-shaped or linear.
Height: 10-90 cm
Other: The leaf
shape may vary due to changing water depths.
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Flower of stiff arrowhead.
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Floating
arrowhead
Flower: White; 2-3
cm wide; a 1 cm-long bract occurs at the base of the flower stalk; in
whorls of 3; summer.
Leaves: Floating, arrow-shaped.
Height: Floating,
although an emergent form does exist.
Location: Burwash
Date: July 14, 2001.
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Common
burreed
Leaves: Flat; 6-12
mm wide.
Height: Less than
30 cm tall.
Flowers: Male
flower heads sit above bur-like female heads (1-2 cm thick);
greenish-yellow; beaks greater than 2 mm long; mid- to late-summer.
Habitat: Shallow
water (less than 1 m deep) in marshes, rivers, lakes and ponds.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 26, 2000
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Flowering heads of
Common burreed. The stigmas are white, while the 6 male heads are
yellowish "balls" above the female heads.
Other similar plants:
- Large-fruited
burreed (Sparganium eurycarpum)
has a split, two-branched stigma and has 10-40 males heads on the
main branch.
- Common burreed (Sparganium
emersum) has 1 stigma. Has some female flower heads along the
stem above the bracts. Has many less male flower heads on the main
flower stem compared to the Large-fruited burreed. Has an
inflorescence composed of one main branch.
- American burreed (Sparganium
americanum) has 1 stigma. The female flowers occur in the axil
of the leafy bract and stem. The American burreed has many less male
flower heads on the main flower stem compared to the Large-fruited
burreed. The American burreed often has branched inflorescence, with
1 or 2 minor branches towards the base of the main flowering branch.
Information
Source: Susan J. Meades, Biologist, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 10, 2002.
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Fragrant
white water lily
Flower: White,
showy, fragrant, 7-20 cm wide; many petals; 4 green sepals; floats on
water surface; open from mid-morning to early afternoon; throughout
summer. See
following photo.
Leaves: Floating,
7-30 cm wide, rounded with narrow "V-shaped" spilt.
Other: Stalk is
rounded with 4 air passages used to pump oxygen to roots.
Language of the
Flower: Water lily means "coldness" or "purity of
heart". The name of the water lily, Nymphea, is derived
from the Greek word nymphe, meaning female deities associated
with trees or water and represented as beautiful, young virgins. The
virginity of the deities is the likely origin of the flower's
association with coldness.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 10, 2002
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Fragrant white
water lily flower.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002
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Yellow
pond lily; also known as Bullhead lily.
Family: Water lily
Aquatic perennial herb.
Flower: Yellow;
glossy; 4-6 cm wide, floating on or raised above the water; 6 showy
yellow, petal-like sepals and many small yellow petals; yellow
antlers; throughout summer.
Leaves: Floating,
veined, heart-shaped with rounded lobes; 10-25 cm long; floating when mature.
Habitat: Lakes,
ponds, shallow and slow-moving rivers.
Interest: The
stalks of Yellow Pond Lily are attached to an underground stem
with roots called a rhizome. Rhizomes are buried in the mud below the
water surface. The rhizomes grow quickly to form large colonies.
Ojibwe First
Nation Knowledge: Wounds can be cleaned by placing thinly sliced
pieces of the root of the Yellow Pond Lily on to the wound. Source:
Chief Eli Moonias, Marten Falls First Nation.
Location: Highway 144
Date: June 10, 2005
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Yellow pond lily
flower head.
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Yellow pond lily
growing in a shallow beaver pond.
Location: South of
Killarney Highway.
Date: May 26, 2012 |
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Water
arum or wild calla; native perennial.
Family: Arum
Flower: Tiny;
whitish or yellowish colour; lack petals, in dense cluster on a
fleshy spike above and hooded by a white oval bract; late May - early July.
Leaves: Basal
leaves are heart-shaped, 5-10 cm long.
Fruit: Red, fleshy
berries in dense heads. The fruit contains calcium
oxalate crystals that are very poisonous.
Height: 10-30 cm.
Habitat: Wild
calla grows near the water's edge of quiet ponds and lake margins.
Location: Recollet
Falls, French River rest area
Date: August 1, 2010
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Red fruit of the
wild calla.
Location: Recollet
Falls, French River rest area
Date: August 1, 2010
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Pickerelweed
Flower: Violet;
funnel-like, 5-10 mm long; on stalked spike; July-September.
Leaves: Single
leaf from spreading rhizomes; parallel veins, lance- to egg-shaped,
5-25 cm long, 2-15 cm wide; long sheathing stalks.
Height: 30-60 cm.
Habitat: Grows in
water < 1 m deep.
Interest:
Pickerelweed forms dense colonies. Some people suggest that the name
"Pickerelweed" reflects the habitat that this plant grows
in is the same as the fish known as "pickerel".
Location: Burwash
Date: August 4, 2002.
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Pickerelweed seed
pod, after flowering.
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Pickerelweed flower.
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Swamp
smartweed
Flower: Tiny, pink
flowers; 4 mm long; slender, spike-like clusters 4-17 cm long; 5
parted calyx, lacks petals; July-September.
Leaves:
Lanceolate, tapering at both ends; 5-20 cm long; may be floating; may
encircle the stem where leaf joins stem.
Height: 60-90 cm.
Other: May be
Pennsylvania smartweed polygonum pensylvanicum); grows on moist shores.
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Water
smartweed; perennial, floating aquatic form.
Flower: Pink; in
dense, elongated clusters at tip of stem; 4-5 mm wide; 5 sepals; July-August.
Leaves: Alternate,
short-stalked or stalkless, often reddish; oval shape, 2-15 cm long,
blunt tip, float on water.
Height: floating form.
Habitat: Shallow
lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and marshes and on wet shorelines.
Other: This is the
aquatic form of the water smartweed.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002
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Cluster of Water
Smartweed growing in quiet backwater of river.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002
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Floating-leaved
burreed; perennial.
Leaves: Elongated,
flat, 2-10 mm wide, 20-100 cm long, floating.
Flowers: Male
flower heads sit above bur-like female heads (1-2 cm thick).
Stems: Floating,
up to 1 metre long.
Habitat: Marshes,
rivers, creeks, ponds.
Location: McVittie
Dam area, off Secord Road
Date: September
16, 2007
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Floating-leaved
burreed flower. Female flower heads are bur-like, while the male
flowers are smaller and sit above the female flowers.
Location: Elbow Lake
Date: August 9 2002.
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Floating-leaved
pondweed
Leaves: Leaf form
can be quite variable; floating leaves are elliptical to oval in
shape, stalked, leathery, waxy upper surface, many parallel veins,
stalk joins at the base or of each leaf; submerged leaves are
bladeless, stalkless, 10-40 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, 3-5 veined.
Flowers: Small,
2-5 cm long spikes of flower clusters at stem tip; mid-summer.
Habitat: Shallow
lakes and ponds, growing from organic-rich bottoms.
Similar plant:
Floating-leaved pondweed is distinguished from Water shield by the
junction of the stalk at the base of the leaf for floating-leaved
pondweed vs. at the centre of each floating leaf for water shield.
Information
Source: Susan J. Meades, Biologist, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
Location: Paddy
Creek, off Secord road
Date: August 8, 2002.
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Floating-leaved pondweed.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002.
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Water
Shield; perennial, aquatic herb
Leaves: Oval and
not split; 4-10 cm long; floating; underside is very slimy; stem is
attached to the centre of the leaf.
Stem: Submerged,
slimy, attached to the centre of the leaf.
Flowers: Dull
purple-red colour; 3-parted with 3 petals and 3 similar sepals; sits
slightly above the water surface on stalks; June-August.
Habitat: Quiet,
shallow lakes and ponds.
Location: Elbow lake
Date: August 9, 2002.
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Water shield flower.
Location: Elbow lake
Date: August 9, 2002.
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Water shield
leaves growing on a beaver pond.
Location: South of
Killarney Highway
Date: May 26, 2012. |
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Ribbon-leaved
pondweed; perennial
Flowers: 2-4 mm
wide; 4 sepal-like bracts in narrow whorled clusters that resemble
spikes; grow from leaf axils; mid-summer.
Leaves: Alternate,
with leaf-like bracts and parallel veins; floating leaves are 3-8 cm
long, oval to linear, stalked.
Stems: Long and
flexible; 1-2 mm thick, up to 2 m long.
Habitat: In
shallow ponds, lakes, stagnant water such as ponds created by water crossings.
Location: McVittie
Dam railroad area
Date: September
16, 2007
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Floating
Bulrush; aquatic; perennial sedge; also known as Mermaids Hair.
Flowers: Single,
stalkless spiklets up to 13 mm long; raised slightly above the water
surface; mid-summer.
Leaves: Submerged,
weak, grass-like; often forms large mats.
Stems: Weak; up to
100 cm long; floating or submerged.
Location: Elbow Lake
Date: August 9, 2002.
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Lesser
Duckweed
Free-floating plant.
Leaves: This type
of plant is not differentiated into a leaf and stem. Small green
flattened oval or rounded "leaf". Less than 6 mm across.
Other: Has thin
root hanging below the "leaf", under the water. May occur
as a single plant or in colonies of plants. Ducks eat these plants.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 27, 2000
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Common
bladderwort; perennial herd, free floating.
Flower: Yellow;
1-2 cm long; 2 equal lips; lower lip is spurred; occurs above the
water on a stalk up to 10 cm tall; July-August.
Height: Flower
stalk up to 10 cm tall.
Leaves: Up to 5 cm
long, finely divided with many bladder-like "bulbs"
scattered among the leaflets.
Habitat: Quiet
waters in lakes and rivers.
Other: The
bladders trap prey that brush against them. This is how the plant
supplements its nutritional intake.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002
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Cluster of Horned
Bladderwort growing along a crack and depression in a rock.
This variety is similar to Common Bladderwort except that Horned
Bladderwort is characterized by a distinctive spur at the base of the flower.
Location:
Killarney lighthouse
Date: July 10, 2005
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Water
lobelia; perennial herb; aquatic.
Flower: Violet or
white; tubular; 1-2 cm long; occurs towards top of stem tip; July-August
Leaves: Submerged;
linear; generally not obvious from surface.
Stem: Stems up to
1 m tall, but most of the stem is below the water surface.
Height: a few cm
above the water surface.
Habitat: Lake
shoes and in up to 50 cm of water; nutrient-poor acidic lakes.
Location: Elbow Lake
Date: August 9, 2002
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Common
cattail; perennial; spreads from rhizomes.
Family: Cattail
Flower: Male spike
at top of stem, touching female spike on bottom; female flower spike
consists of a dense mass of tiny flowers; the male upper portion of
the flower spike disappears after the female portion, on the bottom,
is pollinated; female spike is 10-20 cm long; July.
Leaves: Flat,
10-25 mm wide; spongy but very strong; olive green colour; parallel
veined; up to 30 cm in length, but the lower portion occurs as a
sheath around the flower stalk.
Flower stalk:
Central cylindrical stem; surrounded by basal leaves.
Height: up to 2.5 m.
Habitat: Occurs in
ditches, shallow rivers, lakes, and marshes; prefers standing water.
See photo below.
Location: Killarney
Date: July 7, 2002.
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Cattail in seed.
The wind easily distributes the fluffy masses of seeds.
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Hardstem
bulrush; Perennial sedge.
Leaves: Inconspicuous.
Stem: Flowering,
rounded, olive green, hard core.
Flower clusters:
Clusters of spiklets that seem to grow from the side of the stem;
spiklets are 5-10 mm long; brownish scales.
Height: 1-3 m
Habitat: Grows in
shallow water or on shores of lakes and quiet bays.
Other: Its hard
stem distinguishes it from the softstem bulrush.
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Hardstem bulrush
flower cluster growing out of the side of the the stem.
Location: Elbow Lake
Date: July 13, 2002
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Softstem
bulrush; Perennial sedge.
Leaves: Inconspicuous.
Stem: Flowering,
rounded, light blue-green colour; soft and easily crushed by your fingers.
Flower clusters:
In spikelet form; clusters that seem to grow from the side of the
stem; spiklets are 5-10 mm long; orange-brown scales.
Height: 1-3 m
Other: Its soft
stem distinguishes it from the Hardstem bulrush.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002.
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Detail of spikelet
of flower clusters of Softstem Bulrush.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002.
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Small-fruited
Bulrush; perennial sedge
Family: Sedge
Leaves: Inconspicuous.
Stem: Triangular
in shape; multiple stems emerge from rhizome; up to 2 m tall;
flowering stems loosely tufted with red-coloured nodes; coarse,
grass-like leaves that emerge from the stem and base.
Flower clusters:
Non-wooly spiklets that are up to 10 mm in length; looks like an umbrel.
Height: Up to 2 m
Habitat: Grows in
marshes, ditches and wet meadows.
Location: Burwash
Date: July 1, 2005
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Small-fruited
bulrush flower head.
Location: Burwash
Date: July 1, 2005
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Marsh
cinquefoil
Leaves: Pinnately
compound; 5-7 toothed leaflets, each 5-10 cm long and 1-3 cm wide.
Flowers: Few, red
or purple, 5 parts; petals shorter and narrower than sepals; 2 cm
wide; summer. See following photo.
Fruit: Achenes, 1
mm long; red-brown.
Stem: Red, erect,
woody, long.
Height: 20-60 cm.
Interest:
During the Middle Ages, cinquefoil was commonly included in love potions.
Location:
Paddy Creek area
Date: July 13, 2003
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Marsh cinquefoil flower.
Location:
Killarney Highway
Date: July 3, 2004.
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Water
plantain
Flower: White; up
to 8 mm wide; 3 sepals, 3 petals on 1-4 cm long stalks; summer.
Leaves: Basal, up
to 15 cm long, oval to elliptical, long stalked with parallel veins.
Stem: Leafless
flowering stalk.
Height: 30 - 100 cm.
Habitat: Marshes,
lakes, streams, ditches.
Other: The species name
(plantago-aquatica) means "plantain-leaved
water plant" to distinguish from the land-based common plantain.
Location: Sudbury
ditch; also see in Killarney (August 4, 2001)
Date: July 22, 2001
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Pipewort
Flower: White;
single long-stalked, button-shaped flower head, 4-6 mm in diameter on
stalk that is 3-20 cm tall; usually raised above water; minute
flowers; hairy sepals and basal bracts; late-July to September.
Leaves: 2-5 mm
wide; 2-10 cm long; parallel veins; basal rosettes.
Stem: Leafless
flowering stalk, 3-20 cm tall; taller in water.
Height: up to 20 cm.
Habitat: Acidic
lakes, on floating fen mats, muddy shoreline; may form dense turfs in
shallow water.
Other: Perennial,
aquatic herb.
Interest: Eriocaulon
is derived from the Greek word "erion", which means
"wool", and kaulos, which means "plant
stem"; hence "wooly stem". Aquaticum
comes from the Latin, aquaticus, which means living, growing,
or found in, or by, the water.
Location: Britt area
Date: August 1, 2010
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Water
horsetail; aquatic perennial; lack flowers and true leaves.
Spore cluster:
Yellow or brown cones at the tip of stem, 2-5 cm long; rounded tip;
all summer.
Leaves: Whorled
scales at stem and branch nodes.
Stem: Consists of
soft, hollow segments up to 5 cm long; notable ridges on stem;
branches may be absent; stem nodes or sheaths are dark brown and have
15-20 teeth.
Rhizomes: The
plant reproduces by spores and by underground rhizomes. The rhizomes
send up two different types of shoots at different times of the year.
In the spring, the shoots are brown-coloured, unbranched, hollow, and
jointed. At the tip of the spring shoot is the brown-coloured
spore-producing cone. After the spore-shoots die, the second green
shoot emerges. These have whorls of green-coloured branches (not illustrated).
Height: Stems up
to 1 m and 1 cm in diameter.
Habitat: In dense
colonies in shallow water at edges of lakes, fens, marshes, streams,
swamps, and ditches.
Other: Horsetails
are the direct descendents of the giant horsetails that formed
primeval forests 300 million years ago. Horsetails were used by both
Europeans and First Nation folks to scour, sand, and file items, such
as pots, because the stems contain an high silica content.
Horsetails contain an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1 (thiamine).
Horsetails have caused deaths in livestock. Horsetails can also
affect humans.
Location: Paddy Creek
Date: August 8, 2002
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Small
yellow water crowfoot; perennial; aquatic.
Flower: Yellow;
5-8 petals, 4-8 mm long; 5 sepals; clusters of 1 to 4 flowers at the
terminal parts of each stem; June to July.
Leaves: Few
long-petioled basal leaves; upper leaves are commonly floating on
submersed plants; flat blades deeply 3-lobed or dissected; the
divisions are forked 2-3 times; usually 0.8 - 2 cm long and 1.5 - 2.5
cm wide.
Stem: Elongate
stems float on water or creep along muddy shore lines; rooting at the
nodes, floating when submersed, sparsely branched, 1-50 cm long.
Height: up to 5 cm
above the water surface.
Habitat: Clear,
cold ponds, shores, or meadows in areas where there is not forest cover.
Location: Highway
144, 17 km south of intersection with Highway 101
Date: June 27, 2003
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Small yellow water
crowfoot leaves.
Location: Highway
144, 17 km south of intersection with Highway 101
Date: June 27, 2003
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Patch of small
yellow water crowfoot leaves growing in a ditch.
Location: Highway
144, 17 km south of intersection with Highway 101
Date: June 27, 2003
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Northern
Water Milfoil; native; rooted or floating submerged herb.
Flower: Axils on
upper leaves that are raised about the water surface; blooms
throughout the summer.
Leaves:
Feather-like and in whorls around the stem; 1-5 cm long; dark green;
divided into as many as 12 segments; stem is white or pink coloured.
Stem: White or
pink coloured.
Habitat: Lakes,
ponds, streams; generally prefers clear water.
Interest: There
are several varieties of milfoils that are difficult to identify. The
European Milfoil was introduced and is a serious problem in many
lakes. Milfoil is an important food for moose. Ducks eat the foliage
and fruit. Beds of milfoil provide cover for fish and water insects.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 29, 2002
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Northern water
milfoil flower.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 29, 2002
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