Red-osier Dogwood
If you’ve attended any of my wild plant workshops, you’ll have heard me say “don’t eat white berries”. While there is one edible, native,...
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katemacquarrie22
Sep 112 min read
Wild Raisin
Fall and fresh food go hand in hand. PEI’s backyard gardens are full of vegetables, our farm fields are ready for harvest, and wild fruit...
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katemacquarrie22
Sep 42 min read
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
Aug 252 min read
Sea Lavender
PEI’s salt marshes are among our most under-appreciated habitats: they’re wet, smelly, buggy, and have few showy,...
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katemacquarrie22
Aug 182 min read
Swamp Dodder
The beautiful shades of green in PEI’s landscape are thanks to the 99.5% of our plants that photosynthesize – they make their own food...
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katemacquarrie22
Aug 143 min read
Japanese Beetles
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal “Google” for information on all things natural on PEI. Summer is peak season for...
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katemacquarrie22
Aug 112 min read
Soapwort
No soap? No problem! This PEI plant has you covered. Meet Soapwort (aka Bouncing Bet, Saponaria officinalis ). I learn new things about...
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katemacquarrie22
Aug 42 min read
Spotted Water-Hemlock
I’ve been introducing you to members of the Carrot Family (Apiaceae) including the edible Wild Carrot (aka Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 312 min read
Serviceberry
What’s not to like about early August on PEI? There’s sandy beaches and warm water, new potatoes and garden vegetables, and wild fruit...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 242 min read
Pinesap
Every group has its oddballs and plants are no exception. Most are content to follow the crowd and make food from sunlight, but a few...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 212 min read
Spreading Dogbane
You can probably think of examples where a famous and showy family member outshines their equally talented kin. If you’ve heard of...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 172 min read
Beach Wormwood
If you’ve been enjoying PEI’s famous beaches during this hot weather, you may have noticed a distinctive silvery-green plant standing out...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 142 min read
Sweet Fern
Picking my favourite PEI plant would be a near-impossible task, but picking the most aromatic one is easy: that honour goes to Sweet Fern...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 72 min read
Pineapple Weed
Summer on PEI is short and it’s important to take time to stop and smell the flowers. This month I’ll be profiling some Island plants...
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katemacquarrie22
Jul 32 min read
Sea Milkwort
Fields and forests may come to mind when you think about PEI’s wildflowers, but our coastlines have beautiful flowering plants you may...
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katemacquarrie22
Jun 303 min read
Black Locust
There’s a line in E.B. White’s book Stuart Little that I love “…orchards so old they have forgotten where the farmhouse is”. I often...
79 views5 comments
katemacquarrie22
Jun 262 min read
Twinflower
Imagine a plant so lovely that the person who created the global system for naming living things – a person dubbed ‘Princeps botanicorum’...
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katemacquarrie22
Jun 192 min read
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
This month we’re looking at some of PEI’s native wildflowers. So far, we’ve seen showy (Trilliums and Cherries), subtle (Blue-eyed...
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katemacquarrie22
Jun 162 min read
Bunchberry
This month, I’m highlighting some of PEI’s native wildflowers: showy, subtle, strange and – today’s example – sneaky! This is Bunchberry...
157 views0 comments
katemacquarrie22
Jun 122 min read
Chokecherries
PEI’s flowering trees and shrubs are putting on a spectacular display this year. Right now, members of the Rose Family – Apples,...
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