The date was 23rd August and that meant it was time to pack up our camp in the Mutnovsky Valley and prepare ourselves for the journey back to Petropavlovsk and civilization.

The first part of our adventure with Silk Road Tours, to the southern part of  Kamchatka, was coming to an end.  Between tours we would have  a window of opportunity in Petropavlovsk to enjoy a proper shower, wash very dirty clothes and, hopefully, have a much needed good night’s sleep – not on the ground in a small tent.  We would then head north for the second half of the tour.

But first, our tents needed to dry out before they could be packed away.  So, after breakfast, we wandered across the small creek that ran along one side of our campsite.  This proved to be a good move because here we found some old friends in plants we had come across before but also several plants not previously seen.  Instead of spending just a few minutes rummaging around, we spent almost an hour finding one plant after another. It was fun.  I hope you enjoy the photos of these plants in nature’s wildflower garden.

Many of these plants aren’t known to me.  However, with the help of Google as well as Rosemary, our botanist tour leader together with some hours scouring a couple of books on identification of plants commonly found in Kamchatka, we have now been able to name them.  However, if you think we have made an identification error, please let us know.  We can easily correct the text.

Gentiana glauca

The statuesque Gentiana glauca has erect, solitary, glabrous stems arising from creeping rootstocks.  The basal rosette leaves are fleshy and elliptic to oval while  the two to four pairs of stem leaves are opposite, smaller and more elongate.  The terminal inflorescence is a cluster of short-stalked blue-green flowers.

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Metallic sheen of the stunningly beautiful buds of Gentiana glauca.

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Bell shaped flowers of Phyllodoce aleutica with orange styles beginning to wither.

There are five species of Phyllodoce, all from the Arctic and a few high mountain areas in eastern Asia and North America.

Phyllodoce aleutica is native to Japan, Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Kuriles and Alaska

and grows on moist to wet alpine slopes.

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Cassiope lycopodioides   Cassiope Clubmoss

Cassiope lycopodioides is a delicate member of the Erica family.  The white petals are fused together, giving the flower a bell shape.  Each flower hangs separately off individual hairless stalks.

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Flowers of Saxifraga merkii   Merk’s Saxifrage

On higher slopes of the volcanoes we had only seen the seed heads of this plant.

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 More delicate flowers of Saxifraga merkii   Merk’s Saxifrage

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Veratrum oxysepalum   White False Hellebore  (close up)

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Veratrum oxysepalum    White False Hellebore

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Castilleja pallida     Pallid Paintbrush

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Veronica grandiflora     Largeflower Speedwell

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A smaller member of the Veronica  or  Speedwell family

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Pedicularis verticullata       Whorled Lousewort

The genera name, Pedicularis, comes from the latin pediculus, meaning a louse.

Legend has it that animals who ate these plants were said to be protected from lice.

The species name, verticillata , comes from the Latin vertere, which means to turn.

This refers to the whorls or circles of flowers along the main stem

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Pedicularis verticullata    Whorled Lousewort

Other English common names for this plant are Whorled Fernweed and Bumblebee Flower.

The flowers are typical of bee pollinated flowers

with landing platforms, abundant nectar, and bright colours.

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Buds of Rhododendron camtschaticum      Kamchatka Rhododendron

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Rhododendron camtschaticum     Kamchatka Rhododendron

This dwarf, very hardy shrub, has large pink flowers up to two inches across.

 In the wild, as here in Mutnosky National Park, large sections of the mountain sides

turn pink with the profusion of this delightful flower..

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Saxifraga calycina   with seed capsules beginning to develop

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Stenotheca tristis    Woolly Hawkweed

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Saussurea sp.  

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Seeds of   Oxyria digyna    Mountain Sorrel

This plant is a member of the buckwheat family.  The name Oxyria comes from the Greek and means “sour”.  The plant grows in wet places and is protected by snow in winter.   It forms dense tufts, with stems 10-20 cm high.  Both flowering stems and leaf stalks are somewhat reddish. The leaves are kidney-shaped and somewhat fleshy.  They have a fresh, acidic, sour taste and are rich in vitamin C.  The flowers are green to begin with, later turning red.  The fruit, seen here, is a small nut, encircled by a broad wing which finally turns red.

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Salix sp.  A type of Willow

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Leaf impaled by sharp pointed leaf of Equisetum hyemale     Scouringrush Horsetail

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Carex koraginensis    Karaginskaya Sedge

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Trollius riederianus   Kamchatka Globeflower

This plant, with its bright sunshine yellow flowers, is deciduous.

It belongs to the Ranunculaceae or Buttercup Family.

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Geranium erianthum    Northern Geranium

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Geranium erianthum    Northern Geranium

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 Polemonium acutiflorum growing by the stream.

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Polemonium acutiflorum has a stunningly beautiful flower.

If we could watch one of these flowers over the course of a couple of days, we would see that the anthers (the male parts) deliver the pollen for a day or two before the style (the female part) bends upwards, the corolla opens, the anthers shrivel, and the stigma ( the pollen receptor) opens.

It is interesting to learn that the blue part of the corolla and part of the white reflect ultraviolet light while the other part of the white base absorbs ultraviolet light.  It is therefore seen by its pollinatore, bumblebees and medium sized insects, as being 3 coloured rather than the 2 colours we see.  Nature is fascinating is it not?

{ Notes for this flower come from http://www.flora.dempstercountry.org – a well credentialled flora site; well worth a look.}

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Time was fast running out for our flora foray.  I had worked my way back down to the stream that was dotted with the white fluffy heads of Eriophorum polystachion, Tall Cotton Grass.

Iris setosa    Wild Flag also grew in abundance alongside the stream.

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Gulya came to gather us up to get ready to move on.  She must have realised that I have sap in my veins and that I take great delight in flower hunting and photography, so she took this photo of the photographer!

It was wonderful to find that, in just this one small patch of wilderness, there were so many different flowering plants.  Nature is truly amazing.   While my horticultural career has been mainly about garden plants, it is from wildflowers such as these that so many of our garden plants derive.   I think I would have enjoyed being a plant hunter back in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Now, I use a camera instead of collecting specimens and seeds. The National Park rule now applies to us all – leave only footprints, take only photos!

I wonder which of these wildflowers is your favourite.  Difficult, isn’t it?

David

All Photography Copyright ©  David Young  of jtdytravels

with the exception of P1050042 courtesy of Gulya Shevstova

Reference book:  Plants of Kamchatka

We have many stories and photos of flowers and gardens of the world on:

www.jtdytravels.com

Other nature and flowering plant stories from Australia are on our site:

www.jtlifesgood.wordpress.com

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