Ditch Botany in Renfrew

While in Pembroke this spring I went for a drive toward the Westmeath Bog just to check it out.  On my short visit it turned out to be a difficult spot to appreciate from the roadside and I carried on back to Pembroke.  Driving along Beachburg Road and admiring the views of the Ottawa River, a flash of white blooms on a rocky area at the roadside grabbed my attention. 

I hopped out an was pleased to find that it was a big patch of Early Saxifrage (Micranthes virginiensis).  This species is often found growing on rocky outcrops, shallow mineral soils and alvars.

 

 

The stems are densely covered in sticky hairs which keep non-winged insects from crawling up the stem to pollinate the flowers.  Apparently this is an adaptation which gives preference for pollination by bees, flies and other airborne insects.

There was also lots of the naturalized exotic Mossy Stonecrop (Sedum acre) among the rocky fragments.  When in bloom, this species sets the ditches ablaze in yellow.