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With hundreds of species of plants that can be found near you, it’s helpful to be able to identify them. This project is an on-going photographic collection of various range plants and weeds that are primarily found in Alberta, Canada. The information provided here is to help you not only distinguish various species, but also learn about where they are found, and what uses they may have for medicine, food, and culture.

Plants have always been a source of myth and legend, of simple mention in stories passed down for generations. Their primary purpose has been medicine first, food second.

The chemical and biological properties plants hold in their grasp have always been keys to help both humans and animals satisfy many needs. Plants help quench nutritional cravings mysteriously innately sensed by the body and its trillions of cells and bacteria, and possess healing properties for a wide variety of ailments from rheumatism to war wounds.

Other plants, however, have chemical (and biological) qualities that are much more sinister and dangerous. Ingesting, or even touching, the poison they exude from their leaves, roots, or stems may render someone to become terribly ill, lose their minds completely, or succumb to a horrifying death. 

Plants are the most interesting and amazing living organisms on this planet. They deserve the utmost reverence and respect. Much have they contributed to! As such, they are the true essence of Mother Nature.

Particular plant species can tell us a lot about the landscape of a specific location. The landscape itself thereby determines what plants can grow there. Climate, soil type, slope and hillside aspect to the hottest, sunniest part of the day ultimately tells us what flora will grow there. Management also plays a significant role. Assessing what is at our feet often leads to understanding why those plants are even there. It also helps us to see what other life it can support, or if some change to the way the land is managed is desperately needed.