I spent a couple of hours today at the Burnt Lands Alvar, north of Almonte, ON, looking for lily beetles on the wood lilies there. Wood lily, Lilium philadelphicum, is a good food plant for the lily beetle in the lab, but does not seem to be attacked in nature. I have been looking for beetles on the plants at the Burnt Lands for several years now and have not even seen any damage that resembles lily beetle feeding. It is a mystery why the lily beetles have not colonized this large population of native lilies.
Wood lilies rival any variety of Asiatic garden lily for their beauty:
Wood lilies rival any variety of Asiatic garden lily for their beauty:
The population of lilies at the Burnt Lands seemed especially healthy this year, with hundreds of individuals in bloom. Many stems had two, three, four and even up to five flowers.
Also in bloom today were wild roses (Rosa acicularis)....
...as well as starry false Solomon's seal, which I see from the USDA Plants database I need to start calling starry false lily of the valley (Maianthemum stellata; used to be Smilacina stellata):
It was good to see that certain parcels of the alvar are now a Provincial Park, and are protected by a barrier to vehicles. Hopefully, this will help put a stop to the poaching of wildflowers. I did notice some fresh ATV tracks though, so people are still managing to abuse this sensitive natural area despite the barriers.
RSS Feed
