Beechdrops
Of PEI’s roughly 1,500 species of plants, only seven – less than one half of one percent – have no chlorophyll and can’t make food from...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 283 min
Wild Parsnip
The Carrot Family (Apiaceae) is among the most interesting groups of plants on PEI. It includes commercially important vegetables and...
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katemacquarrie22
May 223 min
Cat-tail Pickles
Springtime on PEI provides an amazing selection of edible wild plants. From tasty greens like Dandelions, Fiddleheads, and Spruce Tips to...
88 views0 comments
katemacquarrie22
May 123 min
Spring Ephemerals
This time of year, PEI’s landscape can look a little drab. It may seem like planted Magnolias, Daffodils, and Tulips are the only showy...
58 views2 comments
katemacquarrie22
May 82 min
Fiddleheads
It’s fiddlehead season on PEI! If you have a favourite spot, now’s the time to check it out. If you’d like some tips on finding,...
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katemacquarrie22
May 52 min
Mullein
If you’ve walked PEI’s roadsides, coastline, or the Confederation Trail lately, you may have spotted rosettes of fuzzy grey-green leaves...
169 views1 comment
katemacquarrie22
Apr 283 min
Mayflowers
Of all the plants on PEI, I think Mayflowers (Epigaea repens) are the ones with which Islanders have the deepest connection. If you...
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katemacquarrie22
Apr 172 min
Wetland Sheen
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal “Google” for information on all things natural on PEI. This time of year, I get a...
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katemacquarrie22
Mar 313 min
Alder Pepper
It’s that time of year when winter wildlife tracking is over, but most spring plants and fungi are still a few weeks away. I’m looking...
233 views1 comment
katemacquarrie22
Mar 63 min
Riparian Zones
Some of PEI’s natural habitats punch well above their weight – their importance far exceeds the area they occupy in the landscape....
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katemacquarrie22
Dec 26, 20232 min
A New Year's Resolution: Nature Literacy
We’ve lost our nature literacy. Here’s why that matters. It wasn’t that long ago that just about every Islander knew how to catch a...
73 views4 comments
katemacquarrie22
Nov 8, 20232 min
Fasciation
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal “Google” for information on all things natural on PEI! One of my favourite things...
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katemacquarrie22
Nov 1, 20232 min
Post-Fiona: Wetland to Sand Dune
Hurricane Fiona brought many changes to our Island landscape: some dramatic, others subtle, and a few that are – paradoxically – both. ...
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katemacquarrie22
Oct 25, 20232 min
Nodding Beggar's-tick
PEI’s wild plants have all sorts of innovative ways to disperse their seeds. Some use wind, others water, and a rare few go with...
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katemacquarrie22
Oct 18, 20232 min
Yellow Ladies'-tresses
July is peak orchid season on PEI, and so I am always pleasantly surprised to run into one of our late-flowering species in fall. I came...
87 views4 comments
katemacquarrie22
Oct 13, 20232 min
Kousa Dogwood
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal ‘Google’ for information on all things wild on PEI! I love getting photos of plants...
3,262 views1 comment
katemacquarrie22
Oct 11, 20232 min
Woodland Agrimony
This time of year, PEI’s wildflowers are busy dispersing their seeds and they’ve come up with many ingenious ways to do this. I've...
70 views0 comments
katemacquarrie22
Oct 4, 20232 min
Autumn Leaf Colour
Hurricane Fiona took many things from PEI last year, including our fall leaf colour. As we move into the shorter, cooler days of...
48 views0 comments
katemacquarrie22
Oct 1, 20232 min
Autumn Asters
On PEI, autumn is for Asters. These beautiful and often colourful flowers can be found in literally every Island habitat right now: sand...
85 views0 comments
katemacquarrie22
Sep 27, 20232 min
Leathery Moonwort
I love finding new populations of PEI’s rarest plants, and ferns are my favourite plant group. So, you can imagine how excited I was to...
35 views0 comments
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