Life on the Outer Coast

Reverie. This evenings walk home through the forest was really quite lovely. The rain was soft, the world quite green and the thrushes were singing. Alot of people think that it is a bit extreme having to commute by skiff, but the walk home through the woods is worth every bit of hassle. It is very easy to get lost in pleasant and perhaps fantastical thoughts when surrounded by such beauty. I'm fairly certain that it wasn't just the glass of wine. By the house, the bed of Cornus unalaschkensis almost glowed in the twilight. Despite all of this gushiness, when I looked at the almost open flowers, all I could think of was that I wanted to squish the developing anthers in hopes of counting chromosomes. It would be nice to confirm that they are tetraploids.

I saw alot of Cornus along the Cross trail today and thought it was time for a species review. This species is recognized by its bicolored petals (top purple, base white), while Cornus canadensis has cream colored petals and C. suecica entirely purple . petals. Murrell's paper aslo talks about rounded sepals on C. canadensis and acute ones on C. suecica. Hopefully, I'll be able to allow time to look a little closer at the ones I see on the trail.