If you are a plant professional, or interested in becoming one with Gaia College, there are consequences to be aware of. You may soon be looking far too closely at plants everywhere you go; lush, forested backgrounds in swaying exotic trees on inviting travel brochures. You will be trying to identify that awesome palmately compound leaf in the background that would look great in your foyer. 

My love of dogs and plants have combined into a pursuit that has lasted over the twenty years that I have lived in this Southern prairie location. One of my consequences of plant inquiry has been cataloging native plants and lichen colony locations everywhere I hike through the growing months. 

I have two enormously energetic dogs that must run off-leash everyday for  as long as there is breath in my body. Usually, a daily hike means 20 kilometers for them and one or two for me. While they are out looking for whatever it is that dogs are seeking, I am taking photos, environmental notes and sometimes samples of plant material and soil that are indicative of a new or interesting area. 

This practice of cataloging exact locations, plant and soil features, and habitat conditions for species detection is called a Plant Survey. There are often singular reasons for plant surveys, and they can include looking for rare, new, and invasive species, but the one purpose above all is to preserve and protect the habitats where they are found. 

Based on the average of the 20 years I have been doing this in "my" Medicine Hat coulees, I could walk with you from my home to where and when: 

An entire hillside of Delphinium bicolor (low larkspur) will bloom on a South slope the same time as chokecherry shrubs (Prunus virginiana).

And first blooms of Penstemon nitidus (smooth blue beardtongue) will  appear on the East slope in sand texture among rockslides.

This photo has a few treasures: Cymopterus glomeratus (plains cymopterus) is the largest plant with white flowers, and underneath it in the upper right (and throughout the coulees) is a Lycophyte Selaginella densa (lessar spikemoss). In the upper left corner, you can also see the silvery leaves and pink flowers of Cmandra umbellata (bastard toadflax). Comandra is hemiparasitic; it photosynthesises, but on days when it is feeling tired, it can also obtain nutrients from other plants!

This is another of natures' palette that could not have been designed more beautifully. Here we have Erigeron pumilus (shaggy fleabane) with Eriogonus flavum (yellow umbrellaplant). And yes, under it all we have more Selaginella!

The entire plateau of the South coulee is covered in Allium textile (prairie onion - the round ball-shape flower) with the panicles of Penstemon albidus (white beardtongue). This Allium is edible - it is very small, but delicious!

On occasion I will preserve a plant sample by pressing, mounting and labeling it for use in workshops and classes. These are herbarium specimens and can last for decades. 

How can you not love Lichen; how beautiful are these? A Lichen is not a plant. It is a sandwich species made with a fungus (dominant) and an alga. 

My husband (former horticulturist) and I have also named 'our' coulees based on what plant material they boast. When I ask where we are walking today, an answer could be "The Rare Allium Plateau". This is a sarcastic dig on some taxonomy texts that refer to native plant material in our area as 'rare', when in fact we find the specimens completely overtaking some areas. 

Cracking the spine of a new (or new to you) book is a beautiful way to learn new things. But there is no better learning experience than spotting a plant in its natural area that you do not recognize and solving the puzzle of its identity. Using environmental and habitat clues like soil texture, hours of light, wind tolerance, slope and topographic location on a hill, aspect (N, E, S, W) amount of litter (or bare ground), moisture needs, and my favourite - associated plant species (what is growing around it), gives you so much information about what that plant could be (if you do not know). It also gives you a lot of information about what that plant cannot be. 

If this sounds interesting to you, consider signing up for a course and get started on your own consequence of plant inquiry!

Plant survey links to learn more about what's growing in your neighbourhood:

E-flora BC
Alberta Native Plant Council
ABMI

Submitted by Annette Vierling. Annette is a landscape designer and course facilitator of Organic Master Gardener and Ecological Landscape Design. Read Annette's full bio.