Day 8-9 — Orchids on the “Rock” — Newfoundland — 2013-07-10,11

If you are wondering what happened to Day 8, we spent the day taking the short ferry ride from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Blanc Sablon, Quebec. From there we drove a short distance into Labrador. Walter had not been to Quebec and neither of us had been to Labrador. Once landed, we drove a couple of kilometers west to a viewing station west of Blanc Sablon where, even with the aid of a telescopic viewer, we could barely see Puffins on an island in the distance, and where we met a couple of like-minded travelers from Toronto. Then we set off to Point Amour Lighthouse where we climbed all 132 steps to the top. It’s the tallest lighthouse on the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since we had to catch the afternoon ferry back to St. Barbe, then drive to St. Anthony, we ate lunch and made our way back to the ferry dock. It was an enjoyable detour from our orchid photography vacation.

The next morning, we rose and prepared to meet Diane Allen and her husband, Paul Hines at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park Campground, just 30 minutes from our temporary base in St. Anthony. In a previous email, Diane and Paul had invited us to join them on Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve to see the rare plants and to point out the orchid locations they had previously discovered. This was very welcomed, since much time is usually spent looking for the plants if the location is a new one for you. Having Diane and Paul show us around was great!

Armed with directions to the campground, we packed our gear and headed north. When we arrived at the campground, we told the person at the gate that we were expected and she let us through. We easily found the campsite where they had set up their home-away-from-home. Paul had customized the camper, and had added a number of features that one would expect at home, but usually not available in a camper.

After the “tour”, we followed them out of the campground and stopped on the gravel road just past the gate. Paul walked over to our vehicle and pointed to a roadside ditch at the edge of a spruce woods where he had found a few Corallorhiza trifida or Early Coralroot orchids a few day before. What a nice start to the day. We found about a dozen plants in the ditch and in the woods. Some were past bloom, but most of them looked pretty good:

We continued looking in the woods and soon found a few clumps of Corallorhiza trifida growing next to last year’s seed capsules:

Diane remarked that these plants were more green than they had seen before. It’s common to find this species in a more yellow hue. In any case, I was excited to see these in bloom, because we had already seen them at Philips Garden Trail near Port au Choix, but they were already in seed. Most of these were in very nice condition:

I do not believe that hover fly (above right) is a pollinator. I believe it is just taking a break in a convenient place…

Well, we had a full day ahead of us at Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve, so we packed up our gear and headed north to the town of Raleigh. From there, we headed west a few kilometers to the craggy, limestone barrens of Burnt Cape.

When we arrived, the wind was blowing furiously and it never stopped the entire time we were there. This is common for Burnt Cape, but it did make for challenging photography. Fortunately, the plants were short which made for less sway.

The first stop was at the highest point of the Reserve. We were following Diane and Paul, and they stopped on the gravel road ahead of us. Paul got out and said that we should pull off the road so that others could pass by if necessary. I thought this was funny, because there really wasn’t much of a road — it was all limestone barren with a few scrubby trees and low-lying plants here and there. Anyway, we pulled off and proceeded to follow Diane as she pointed out an orchid species I had never photographed — Coeloglossum viride or Frog orchid. Turns out that this location was the home for Coeloglossum viride forma collectanea, the very short version… Go figure. All of the other plants are short in Newfoundland, and this was no exception. The plants were in great shape, and even though they were small, I was quite excited to be photographing it for the first time:

There were dozens of these growing in areas that appeared to offer some minor protection from the elements, such as under the branches of stunted spruce and juniper. They always seemed to grow on the east side of these little hummocks of vegetation. Since the constant wind came from the west, I suppose the vegetation, although very low itself, offered a modicum of protection.

Soon, Paul walked over and asked if we wanted to see the Amerorchis rotundifolia or Roundleaf orchid. Of course, more color to this palate of greens was quite welcome. We had photographed it several years ago on a Native Orchid Conference trip we made to Alberta, Canada. Again, these plants were growing quite near the short mounds of stunted spruce and juniper:

These flowers, although slightly larger than 3/8 inch (~10 mm), were just stunning in their beauty. Some were even poking through the low-growing spruce branches:

Another orchid we were seeing a lot of is our ubiquitous friend, Platanthera aquilonis or Northern Green Bog orchid:

Before we left this area, Paul pointed out the uber rare wildflower, Bartsia alpina or Velvet Bells:

It is found only in the northernmost reaches of eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Lapland. I felt very fortunate to be able to photograph it in bloom.

Actually, it’s remarkable that I got any kind of shot at all considering the wind blowing in gusts that we figured must have been close to 50 mph!

Now, it’s time to proceed up the Cape toward the northen portion. This is where other rare wildflowers grow, sometimes in the bare limestone scree.

Paul began pointing out one wildflower after another — so fast that I did not have time to record their names properly. So, if I have mislabeled any species, kind reader, please send me a correction via email. Here goes…

There were a number of Saxifraga (whose genus has probably changed) that were scattered about. They were all no more than 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) tall, seemingly barely to exist in this harsh environment. I don’t know how they hold on, particularly since winter temperatures are as low as -10 F (-25 C) on the Cape.

Below is Saxifraga crespitosa or Tufted Saxifrage (which usually has white petals, but they have blown away on this plant):

Next, is Saxifraga paniculata subsp. laestadii or White Mountain Saxifrage:

And finally, we have Saxifraga oppositifolia or Purple Mountain Saxifrage looking a bit worse for wear:

While I was gathering strength from being blown about, I walked over to the edge of the cliff (probably not a smart move) and looked down. It took me a while to figure out what I was seeing along a narrow stretch of beach. Turns out, it is a massive school of Mallotus villosus also known as Capelin or Smelt:

They migrate from the cold waters of Greenland and Iceland and congregate in shallow beaches to spawn. There must have been millions of them. The images do not show the full extent of the population which was stretched out into the ocean.

There were a few other plants Paul wanted to point out, so we walked up to the edge of the cliffs. Here, we found the very tiny Primula laurentiana or Birdeye Primrose. I would be stretching it if I were to say it was 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall — very tiny plant.

Also on the barren scree were some cushion-like plants, some of which were blooming. Paul identified them as Silene acaulis also known as Moss Campion or Cushion Pink. These “cushions” were as large as a 1 foot (30 cm) across, and were quite lovely to see, scattered here and there in the broken limestone:

The common color is that rosy pink, but we also found a much lighter pink one as well as a white one:

Some of my favorite plants are the clubmosses. I’ve photographed just about every one of the species in North America, many of which grow in the northern portions of North Amerca. We located two different-looking species in the shallow limestone crevasses. I think I know the identification of the first one, Huperzia appalachiana or Appalachian clubmoss: [Update: Turns out I am wrong about the identification of this one. It is Huperzia selago or Fir Clubmoss. Thanks go to John Maunder, a native of Newfoundland and an expert on such matters.]

The second one is similar, but I’m not sure it’s the same species. They were growing very close to each other in the same shallow crevasse: [Update: John Maunder also identified this as Huperzia miyoshiana or Pacific Firmoss. Seems that the only other locations for this in North America are along the Pacific coast from Washington state through British Columbia, Canada and along the coast of Alaska. This is quite rare in Newfoundland.]

Nearby to those was the last orchid we would see for the day. I was hoping to find it in bloom, but it was just in bud. It is Neottia (Listera) convallarioides or Broadleaved Twayblade orchid:

Fortunately, we would see it in bloom as we backtracked farther south in the days to come.

Undoubtedly, there was more to see, but it was getting late and I was weary from being blown about by the wind. So, we decided we would meet for supper in St. Anthony at the Lightkeeper’s Seafood Restaurant in St. Anthony. What a great meal we had. I’ll never become tired of eating fresh cod – either in a codburger sandwich or broiled with vegetables on the side — it’s good eating…

This will bring to close the northward-bound portion of our trip. From here on out, we would be retracing our steps and visiting some new places as well as revisiting some previous places in hope of finding plants in bloom that were just in bud. But Diane and Paul had one more location in mind — a secret location that I made an oath not to reveal. Stay tuned for this next adventure…

— Jim