The little flowers are Manitoulin Gold Blossoms. They’re our rating system for reviews. They’re a lot more appropriate to Manitoulin Island than stars or french fries in my opinion. We rate everything out of a maximum of 10 Manitoulin Gold Blossoms.
Ah, but what is Manitoulin Gold you ask?
Manitoulin Gold
(Hymenoxis acaulis, Actinea acaulis, A. Herbacea, Tetraneuris berbacea) or Stemless Rubberweed is a small perennial with golden yellow flowers from the composite family. It is a native plant of the Great Lakes, with it’s main center of distribution being the dolomite shoreline alvars of Manitoulin Island’s southwest shore. It usually flowers from mid-May to mid-June depending on how late spring is.
For you botanists out there, here’s how to identify Manitoulin Gold :
Hymenoxys acaulis – Perennial with a taproot and branching caudex. Leaves tufted, all basal, narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, about 1-8cm. Long and 1.5-10mm wide, more or less denselt villous or sericeous at least when young, sometimes soon glabrate, often evidently punctate. Scape about 5-25 cm. Tall, villous to strignose or subglabrous. Head solitary, the disk about 8-20mm. Wide; involucre denselt villous or villous tomentose to occasionally subglabrate, the bracts broadly rounded to acute at the apex; rays about 5-20mm. Long.
Our plants are faily robust, with large, soon glanbrate, stongly punctate leaves and broadly rounded involucral bracts, and is known as var. glabra.
And for anyone else, how to identify Manitoulin Gold:
Manitoulin Gold – A short plant, no more than a 6″ to 8″ tall. Large golden yellow flowers that are daisy-like, with 10-30 petals that are 1″ to 1 ½” long. he flower disk is usually 1 ½” to 2″ across. The petals aren’t always the same length or evenly spaced, and often have notches in the ends. The leaves of this plant grow entirely at its base. They are lance-like, have no teeth and are oftern covered with dense white hair.
The main plant that you may confuse for Manitoulin Gold is called Lance-Leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), which has similar flowers. The main points of difference between the plants are : Coreopsis is usually around 3′ tall, has fewer petals, grows inland, and begins its flowering cycle just as the Manitoulin Gold is ending its own.
I hope you enjoy our new ratings system and hunting for this beautiful species of flora on the shores of Manitoulin Island.
– Dylon Whyte