ATT: Dr. John

[Shortsighted]

From this morning ... what is it?

[Charline]

Did you photograph it in Lynde Shores?


Maybe it's water smartweed.

[Shortsighted]

There's such a thing as water smartweed?  I think I know what it is but I don't wish to spoil it for Dr. John.  BTW, it was photographed at McLaughlin Bay in Oshawa.

[Dr. John]

Not sure.  My first thought was purple loosestrife, but I don't see the leaves and I don't think it grows directly in water as pictured.  It looks a little like pickerel weed, but not as blue/purple and the structure seems not as thick.

[Shortsighted]

I'm of the opinion that this is an example of Swamp Pink.  However, just the mention of pickerel, as you mentioned in pickerel grass, makes me feel good because it brings back memories of fishing in Southern Ontario.  Lakes in cottage country, that is within the Canadian Shield didn't support many pickerel and so we used to refer to walleye as pickerel, even though they are not true pickerel.  Catching a walleye was satisfying enough, but getting a pickerel was rare.  The best place for pickerel is usually the same grassy shallow lakes that also support the much more successful pike.

I really don't come across Swamp pink all that often.  I took a shot of it a few years ago when I found an example somewhere along Duffins Creek.  I don't know why that is.  You know, I have a heavy sack full of things that I don't know about.  Every time I unpack an unknown and research it so that I can eliminate it from the sack, someone sneaks a dozen more things into the sack that remain a mystery to me.  I'm guessing that you don't have any other ideas about the plants I posted before, mostly on your behalf, since the bots on this forum that are trying to get through the gates, like barbarians, have no interest in plants, except maybe planting data bugs for surveillance.  Oh, dose Russians!

[Dr. John]

I've never seen swamp pink before, this is new to me.


Yes, anything I didn't guess on means I don't know.  My wife is much better on the plant ID and I wisely leave it mainly to her.

[Shortsighted]

Here is another one for you from a marshy area.  What is it?  If I don't here from you because you have more pressing concerns then I'll post a possible answer in a few days.

[Dr. John]

I'm not sure.  The flower looks a little mallow-like, but they have 5 petals not 4.  Maybe an isolated flower of a fireweed?

[Shortsighted]

Thank you for your opinion.  I know what you mean by mallow-like.  It does resemble mallow, bindweed or morning glory.  I was in Darlington this morning, walking the trail down to the beach and there were mallow-like blooms everywhere, a symphony of pink horns bobbing to the beat of the wind, like genteel saxophones getting down to group sax.  The most characteristic part of this bloom is the sexual parts, but you didn't hear it from me.  Do an image search for a wildflower called Great Willowherb. 

[Dr. John]

Ah, now that's where I was off course.  I was assuming it was a native flower, not an introduced one.  I have even less knowledge of those except for the common invasives.

[Shortsighted]

I'll photograph anything that looks interesting, whether native or introduced, as long as it catches my attention as it races around the neighbourhood in search of the intriguing subject.  While the bloom does resemble the suggestions as offered, the plant's substantial height may have been what directed my gaze in the first place.

You know, it's getting hard to find something new, especially when I mostly revisit the same local sites.  I only posted it because I felt that you might find it interesting.  Obviously I did.