March 2017 Plant hunt summary

The spring started roughly two weeks ahead of normal flowering times with the earliest flowering date records for Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) to date, documented on March 2nd.  Bouts of colder weather , however, have now delayed spring considerably.

Only a total of 11 species were recorded, falling short of the all time record set in March, 2012 with 80 species.

One new record was documented for Elgin county - Yellow Woodland Anemone (Anemone ranunculoides), which brought the total number of vascular plant species documented by EARTHQUEST staff, volunteers and students, for Elgin up to 803 taxa.

To view the monthly summary for March simply go to this link March 2017 summary

Help celebrate the 150th birthday of Canada by joining courses, ecotours, guided hikes, or workshops.  This ad will appear in the Rondeau Provincial Park 2017 Information Guide.

I am pleased to announce that Talia Plaskett has returned in 2017 to gain field botany skills through the Field Botany Mentorship Program.  I greatly look forward to working with her again as we explore the Bruce Trail, and some other EARTHQUEST projects cataloguing the unique flora of the region.