UNUSUAL PLANT REPORTED: by J. Dan MCAskill . 
     
    
   
   
    
     When an alternate leafed plant with non-toothed leaves and succulent appearing 
     
     black berries was delivered to the office by Wendell Profit in August, it was time to 
     
     dust off the plant identification keys again. This specimen came from the Routes for 
     
     Nature and Health in West Royalty. As happens quite often when such a plant is 
     
     brought in for identification, another example was brought in from near the old jail 
     
     in Charlottetown only a few days later. Perhaps the large blueberry like berries 
     
     attracted the eye! 
     
    

    
     Diagnostic features included a simple (single rather than multiple) leaf 
     
     structure with veins parallel and curving near the margin to follow the leaf edge. 
     
     Leaves were arranged in a sub-alternate (not quite opposite) pattern. The leaves 
     
     were 5 to 7.5 cm long (2" to 3"). The unripe berries were red and they became juicy 
     
     blue-black when ripe. Each berry contained three large, laterally flattened, 
     
     ungrooved seeds. The berries, approximately 8 mm (1/3") in diameter, were arranged 
     
     on short stems (pedicels) attached at the leaf junctions. There was a light coating 
     
     of hairs on the fine branches (thus termed pubescent) and lenticels were common. Ben 
     
     Hoteling's drawing on the cover brings the plant to life. 
     
    

    
     For those who have worked with plant keys, the helpfulness of having flowers 
     
     is understated. As it was in the berry stage and I had no keys operating strictly on 
     
     berries and the leaf keys I had access to gave conflicting information, it was time 
     
     to go back to the route of plant descriptions. Britton and Brown's An Illustrated 
     
     Flora of the Northern United States and Canada provided sufficient detail to confirm 
     
     the plant to be a buckthorn. This was one that caused lots of confusion as various 
     
     keys provided quite different descriptions for key features including the presence of 
     
     teeth on the leaves, the number of seeds, features of the seeds, and the height. It 
     
     appears that the plant is Rhamnus Frangula, the European Buckthorn. The genus to 
     
     which this plant belongs is listed as producing plants that cause explosive (intense) 
     
     diarrhoea and cramps. The specimen has been sent away for confirmation of the 
     
     identification. 
     
    
   
   
    
     (Editor’s note: Thanks to Ben Hoteling, Katherine Clough, and Diane Griffin for 
     
     assisting with this puzzle) . 
     
    
   
   
    
     TEE BAIN BIRD COUNT: Compiled by J. Dan McAskill 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
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     The Bain Bird Count on Saturday, \ lzu/NU fist.) J 
     
     May 25th this year was a cold affair before    
     
     the day ended. Several teams spent time in 4>/fi;T‘J4J/fl/IQM’¢“6WH 
     
     the field and 126 species were recorded. ‘, "  “In/Md  ‘ 
     
     Jean Watts and Gerald MacDonald spent their \ fig /5; -2»”gs§t Ifi‘ 
     
    

    
     time in Eastern Prince Edward Island and 'M ¢€“*“’ ’IV' A 
     
    
   
   
    
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     recorded 64 species. The Birds and Breakfast 
     
     groups recorded 30 species. Ray Cooke, Bill 
     
     Bowerbank, and I spent the night and 
     
     continued to the following evening exploring 
     
     the Island from Charlottetown to East Point 
     
     and back. By 6 pm, the three of us had 
     
     recorded 109 species. Bill and I continued 
     
     through until 8:45 pm and achieved a day .-- 
     
     total of 120 species while covering 315.6 km. ~u-F? > 
     
     The counters seen the following species: Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Gannet, 1 
     
     Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, American Bittern, Canada 1 
     
     Goose, Mallard, Black Duck, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Green—winged Teal, Blue-winged 
     
     Teal, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Common Eider, White-winged I 
     
     Scoter, Black Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Sharp—shinned Hawk, Rough—legged Hawk, ‘ 
     
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     Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Kestrel, Ruffed Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse, 
     
     Virginia Rail, Sora, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Black—bellied 
     
     Plover, American Woodcock, Common Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Greater 
     
     Yellowlegs, White-rumped Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, 
     
     Sanderling, Iceland Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring—billed Gull, 
     
    
   
   
    
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