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 Canadian Railway Images 1     Canada Railway Images 2     Canada Railway Images 3 
The Canadian Rockies Railway #2
British Columbia & Alberta Provinces
Images © W.P. Armstrong October 2008

Other Biological Items Of Interest On This Trip:

  1. A Giant Clam at the Vancouver Aquarium
  2. Pitcher Plants at VanDusen Botanical Garden
  3. Autumn Crocus at VanDusen Botanical Garden
  4. Nepal Poppy at VanDusen Botanical Garden
  5. Unusual Seed-Bearing Aril Of The English Yew
  6. Monkey Puzzle at VanDusen Botanical Garden
  7. Petrified Araucaria Cone At Rock Shop in Banff
  8. Petrified Araucarioxylon At Rock Shop in Banff
  9. The Very Rare Living Fossil Wollemia nobilis
  10. The Cape Gooseberry Served With Our Meals
  11. A Subalpine Clark's Nutcracker At Lake Louise
  12. Bearberry: Bright Red Tasty Berries For Bears
  13. Cross Orb Weaver: A Beautiful Garden Spider
  14. The Infamous and Ubiquitous Canada Goose

1. Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas)

Giant clam (Tridacna gigas), one of the sources of the infamous coconut pearl.

2. Picher Plants (Sarracenia rubra)

Insectivorous pitcher plants (Sarracenia rubra) native to the southeastern U.S.

3. Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale)

Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), source of the alkaloid colchicene.

4. Nepal Poppy (Mecanopsis regia)

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5. English Yew (Taxus baccata)

Fleshy seed-bearing arils of the English yew (Taxus baccata).

6. Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana)

The Ancient monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) native to the Andes of Chile.

7. Jurassic Age Seed Cone (Araucaria mirabilis)

Petrified 170 million-year-old seed cone of Araucaria mirabilis from Patagonia

8. Triassic Age Stems From Petrified Forest National Monument

Petrified 225 million-year-old stems of the "Araucarioxylon" complex from Arizona.  New evidence
indicates that this fascinating deposit of petrified wood represents a broad diversity of conifer species.

9. Wollemi Pine (Wollemi nobilis)

This rare member of the araucaria family (Araucariaceae) was discovered in 1994 by David Noble. Fewer than a hundred trees are known in the wild in rugged Wollemi National Park northwest of Sydney. This rare conifer was thought to be extinct because its last fossil record was dated at about two million years ago.

10. Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana)

Physalis peruviana, a distinctive fruit of the tomato family (Solanaceae) enclosed by a papery calyx. Along with other garden vegetables, it is grown in the rich soils of the Vancouver delta region. It belongs to the genus Physalis, along with ground cherries and Mexican tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa), the source of green salsa. It does not belong to the gooseberry family (Grossulariaceae) or cherry family (Rosaceae). Cape gooseberry is native to tropical South America and was grown by settlers in the Cape of Good Hope region. The Hawaiian name is "Poha." Many of our elegant meals on the Canadian Railway trip were garnished with this tasty fruit.

11. A Clark's Nutracker At Lake Louise

Clark's Nutcracker, a common subalpine bird in the Sierra Nevada of California.

12. Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

One of the many species of manzanita in the heath family (Ericaceae).

13. Cross Orb Weaver (Araneus diadematus)

Another evening surprise in Vancouver: Araneus diadematus!

14. The Infamous Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is common throughout the provinces of Canada.

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