~The Natural Province~.....QUEBEC

[olena]

Provincial Floral Emblem

Larger Blueflag
Iris versicolor
Rocky Mountain Iris, Western Blue Iris, Harlequin Blueflag

Description Several violet-blue flowers with attractively veined and yellow-based sepals are on a sturdy stalk among tall sword-like leaves that rise from a basal cluster.
Flowers: 2 1/2-4" (6.3-10 cm) wide; sepals 3, non-bearded; petals 3, narrower, erect; styles 3, 2-lobed, arching over sepals; stamens 3, hidden under styles.
Leaves: 8-32" (20-80 cm) long, 1/2-1" (1.3-2.5 cm) wide; pale green to grayish.
Fruit: bluntly 3-lobed; erect capsule.
Height: 2-3' (60-90 cm).
Flower May-August.
Habitat Swamps, marshes, wet shores.
Range Manitoba to Nova Scotia; south through New England to Virginia; west to western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
Discussion This is a showy native iris of northeastern wetlands. Insects attracted to the sepals must crawl under the tip of a style and brush past a stigma and stamen, thus facilitating pollination. A similar southern wetland species, occurring from Virginia to Florida and Texas, is Southern Blueflag (I. virginica). It is a smaller plant, to 2' (60 cm) tall, with bright green leaves that often lie on the ground or water. A coastal, brackish-water species, Slender Blueflag (I. prismatica) has extremely narrow, grass-like leaves that are less than 1/4" (6 mm) wide; it occurs from Maine to Georgia and Tennessee. The name "flag" is from the middle English flagge, meaning "rush" or "reed."

 

[olena]

Provincial Avian Emblem

Snowy Owl
Nyctea scandiaca


Description 24" (61 cm). W. 4' 7" (1.4 m). A big, round-headed owl, ranging in color from pure white to white with dark spotting or barring. Female is larger and more heavily marked than male.
Voice Usually silent; hoarse croak and shrill whistle on breeding grounds.
Habitat Open country: tundra, dunes, marshes, fields, plains, and airports in winter.
Nesting 5-8 white eggs with a lining of feathers, mosses, and lichens placed on open tundra.
Range Breeds in northern Alaska and in northernmost Canada. Winters south throughout Canada into northern United States, irregularly farther. Also in Eurasia.
Discussion This great white owl is a beautiful sight as it perches upright on a fence post or flies over a marsh. Strictly a bird of open country, it is practically never seen in a tree; it sits on the ground, a rooftop, or other exposed resting place. In the Far North where it breeds, it depends largely on lemmings for food. The size of the lemming population periodically changes (due to population explosions and subsequent epidemics), and when lemming numbers decrease the owls must migrate southward to avoid starvation. In southern latitudes, the owls prey on rabbits, waterfowl, and other game, or on dead fish on ocean beaches. They prey on Norway rats in large refuse dumps.

 

[olena]

Provincial Tree

Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis


Description Large, aromatic tree with broad, rounded crown of drooping branches and slight odor of wintergreen in crushed twigs and foliage.
Height: 70-100' (21-30 m).
Diameter: 2 1/2' (0.8 m).
Leaves: 3-5" (7.5-13 cm) long, 1 1/2-2" (4-5 cm) wide. Elliptical, short-pointed or rounded at base; sharply and doubly saw-toothed; mostly with 9-11 veins on each side; hairy when young. Dark dull green above, light yellow-green beneath; turning bright yellow in autumn.
Bark: shiny yellowish or silvery-gray; separating into papery curly strips; becoming reddish-brown and fissured into scaly plates.
Twigs: greenish-brown, slender, hairy.
Flowers: tiny; in early spring. Male yellowish, with 2 stamens, many in long drooping catkins near tip of twigs. Female greenish, in short upright catkins back of tip of same twig.
Cones: 3/4-1 1/4" (2-3 cm) long; oblong; hairy; brownish; upright; nearly stalkless; with many hairy scales and 2-winged nutlets; maturing in autumn.
Habitat Cool moist uplands including mountain ravines; with hardwoods and conifers.
Range Extreme SE. Manitoba east to S. Newfoundland, south to extreme NE. Georgia, and west to NE. Iowa; to 2500' (762 m) in north and 3000-6000' (914-1829 m) or higher in south.
Discussion One of the most valuable birches and one of the largest hardwoods in northeastern North America. Yellow Birch when fairly mature is easily recognized by its distinctive bark. Young specimens, which may be mistaken for Sweet Birch, are most readily identified by their hairy twigs and buds and most persistently hairy leaves with mostly unbranched side veins.

Previous Natural States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Florida
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Hampshire
Ohio
Rhode Island
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia


Previous Natural Provinces
Manitoba
Ontario
Prince Edward Island

 

[oldkicker]

Very nice, Heather - THANK YOU!

 

[Snowwark]

Heather, the Snowy Owl picture is beautiful! I'd love to see one.

Thank you very much for the little trip to Quebec, la belle provine!

 

[olena]

The owl is very stunning. I thought it was a nice winter choice....

 

[TimNDansMom]

Thank you very much, Heather!