Common tansy (Tancetum vulgare) is also referred to as bitter buttons, garden tansy, cow bitter, and golden buttons. It is native to Europe and Asia, but was introduced to North America in the 1600s for its medicinal uses. It is currently used to treat colds and flus, and as an insect repellent (specifically for mosquitoes and Colorado potato beetles). It has also been used for embalming bodies or packing perishable items as it contains a compound with antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Historically, its medicinal uses include aiding in digestive problems, intestinal worms, and causing abortions within cattle. However, it contains toxic alkaloids and consuming too much tansy can cause illnesses or death in humans and in wildlife. It has also been reported to make the milk of cattle taste bad if consumed by them.

Tansy is commonly found in disturbed areas, like roadsides and pastures, of temperate regions of North America and is pollinated by flies, butterflies and honeybees. This plant is a perennial herb found within the sunflower family, (Asteraceae). It has yellow, button shaped flowers that grow in clusters at the ends of purplish-red stems. Its leaves are serrated and divided with sharp edges, making them fern-like. Additionally, the leaves are dark green and occur in an alternate pattern on the stem. The common tansy is considered an invasive weed as it competes with other plants for water and nutrients, and spreads through creeping rhizomes (horizontal stems). The seeds of the common tansy can remain viable for up to 25 years so preventing it from becoming established is the easiest way to deal with it. However, it can also be dealt with through mowing or herbicide use.

The common tansy is commonly confused with tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), which is poisonous and is also considered a weed. Tansy ragwort is differentiated from common tansy as it has yellow flower petals and lacks the sharp tooth leaves. Instead of planting the common tansy, you could try planting the dune tansy (Tanacetum bipinnatum), a similar species that is native to Alberta, or yarrow (Achillea sp.), which has a similar smell to tansy and also has many medicinal properties.

The hunt’s bumble bee (Bombus huntii) is a species of bumble bee that is native to western North America. They are a medium-sized bee (9-20 mm) with a medium tongue length, which allows it to feed on a variety of flowers. It has a distinctive color pattern, with a yellow face and head, a yellow scutum (the upper part of the thorax), a black inter-allar space (the area between the wings), a yellow scutellum (the posterior part of the thorax). Their abdomen consists of a yellow tergite 1 (the first segment of the abdomen), red-orange tergites 2 and 3, a yellow tergite 4, and a black tergite 5. They are commonly confused with tricoloured bumble bee and orange-rumped bumble bee. However, hunt’s bumble bee has more yellow on its face and head compared to the tricoloured bumble bee and the orange-rumped bumble bee has black and yellow hairs on their face, head and thorax.

The hunt’s bumble bee is a social insect, with a caste system of workers and a queen, and division of labor among the colony members with the queen reproducing and the workers raising the young and finding food. This is similar to the social structure of honeybees. However, bumble bees have an annual life cycle, in which only the newly emerged fertilized queens survive the winter by hibernating underground. This differs from the honeybee who lives for multiple years. In the spring, the queens emerge and search for a suitable nest site.

The queens then lay eggs and rear the first batch of workers, who take over the tasks of foraging, nest maintenance, and brood care. The colony grows throughout the summer, producing more workers and eventually males and new queens. The males and new queens mate, and the old queen and workers die by the end of the season.

The hunt’s bumble bee is an important pollinator, commonly interacting with plants, such as yarrow, Canadian milkvetch, fireweed, purple prairie clover, shrubby cinquefoil, American licorice, prairie sunflower, hairy golden aster, silky lupine, wild bergamot, goldenrods, western snowberry, and smooth aster. They have been developed for commercial pollination of crops, which poses a threat to their survival because this process involves stealing queens from their nests. They are also threatened by the introduction of diseases from honey bees, such as the deformed wing virus, which can infect and harm bumble bees. Though despite these threats the hunt’s bumble bee is commonly observed in Calgary.

This month we are going to do something a bit different for our plant and pollinator walk! I would like to invite you all to contribute to the Rare Plants of Alberta Community Science Project! The walk this upcoming week will be at Eagle Child Tipi Ring Site, located on the Kainai First Nation Reserve.

Saturday August 3, 2024 at 1:00pm - 3:00pm at Eagle Child Tipi Ring Site.

We will meet at Naapi's Garden  and then drive together to Eagle Child Tipi Ring Site (a five minute drive). We will walk around the site, looking for Purple Geranium and recording photos of neighbouring plants to iNaturalist. We will walk around, taking photos of plants, and learning their cultural significance.

All you will need is a smartphone with a camera and a good pair of shoes. The photos you take of any plants can be uploaded to iNaturalist to participate in the Rare Plants of Alberta Project. We suggest downloading iNaturalist, creating an account, and joining the Rare Plants of Alberta iNaturalist project ahead of time.

The data collected during community plant walks will be used in research at the University of Calgary to investigate the relationships between rare plants and their communities in Alberta.

Register through the form here.

Email contact.appc.hub@gmail.com with any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Justine & Tory