Page 46 - Flowers of the Plaster Rock

ISSUE : Issue 36

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1984/6/1

Shrubby Cinquefoil ways there is the cliomsy rough-stemmed dog? wood (8) which seems to flower rarely and to fruit more rarely still; there are shrubs of leathery-leaved shepherdia (9), twin red berries in the axils of its leaves, its stems coated with cinnamon-col? oured fur which helps to protect it from drying in the drought of summer; and there is the shrubby cinquefoil (10) with its large butter-yellow flowers. Not all of these plants are absolutely con? fined to the gyp Slim. Four--the ragwort, fleabane, buttercup and sedge--I have nev? er found except on gypsum; others, such as shepherdia and the dogwoods, will tolerate cliffs of basic rock and even river-bluffs that are not too acid; but others, such as the cinquefoil and yellow lady's-slipper, are found also in open marshes or bogs too acid for most plants to tolerate. In part the reason is that bog-plants must have m'echanisms to reduce evaporation, since few of them can withstand the poisoning of much acid bog-water, and this reduction in waste of water is valuable also on the gyp- simi; the other reason is that these are marginal plants, equipped for economical survival but not for competition. In Eur? ope the most probable places for finding the most primitive of surviving human types are in areas of rough mountain and in the slums of old cities, environments in which complex culture is of least sur? vival value. It is the lack of competition on gypsum that allows the many unexpected survivals that make its botany interesting. Rarities In Roland's Flora of Nova Scotia there is The Gaelic Ctolleqe st.Ann's.N.s Gaelic College ouiyzto Summer School'"'"'" p. 0. Box 9, Baddeck, Nova Scotia Tel: (902) 295-2877 Three 2-Week Courses in Gaelic Language, U Drumming, Bagpipe Music, Leading Professional! and Scottish Highland Dancing Instructors from ' Adult Sessions: July 30 to August 10 Scotland and Canada • ''''. The Great Hall of the Clans & Giant MacAskill Museum College Bookstore with a Good Line of Scottish Books, Tapes, and Records Scottish Entertainment Which Everyone Will Enjoy '5 Throughout July and August The Annual 'Gaelic Mod * August 6 to 11 * Including Competitions ??August 9, 10, 11 THE GAELIC COLLEGE ON THE CABOT TRAIL 1 km. north from Exit 11 on Trans-Canada Highway!

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