Alumroot: Saskatchewan Prairie and Parkland Wild Flower

Close-up Alumroot    © SB 

Okay, so Alumroot is not the most stunningly gorgeous Prairie wildflower — instead, it falls into the "look carefully, or you won't even realize this is a flower" category.

But there is a strange, almost ethereal beauty to these purplish-green spikes.

And, a satisfaction in figuring out that these tiny husks, gently swaying in the breeze, are in fact rhe flowers of a native prairie plant.

As well as by its flowers, Alumroot can be identified by its large, leathery, dark green basal leaves.

Royer and Dickinson say that Alumroot's habitat is in moist grassland sites —  and that's where I saw these plants, growing among grasses and other wildflowers in a wet hollow at the edge of the road.  

Alumroot flower spike   © SB 

Alumroot in field, with large basal leaves  © SB 

Prairie Wildflower: Alumroot 
Location:  Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Photo Dates: July 13 and 14, 2014. 

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