Tour the nominees for Tree of the Year 2023

The public voting period for Tree of the Year 2023 began April 1. Read the 27 trees’ stories and look at the photos on our nominees page, then plan to visit the trees themselves. We have prepared maps of suggested touring routes which you can access using the links below.

Browse through the nine cycle routes which vary from 5 km to 41 km and which can be easily adjusted to suit your interest or challenge level.

Whatever your mode of travel, do get out and safely tour the trees. The photos do not come close to capturing the feel and grandeur of these trees in their home places. Perhaps one of these routes will lead you to appreciate a natural area you haven’t previously explored. And as suggested by Sky N., the nominator of the Courtenay western white pine, be sure to breathe in those phytoncides emitted by trees which affect and improve human well-being.

Please respect private property boundaries and owner privacy by viewing the trees from public land unless otherwise invited in.

The maps

We have three ways for you to access the route maps using the links in the table below:

  • The route maps were implemented on the PlotARoute website (plotaroute.com) which has multiple viewing options. See some tips below the table.
  • If you would like to have printable information, you can download a PDF version of the plotaroute map.
  • If you like Google maps, some of the routes are shown on one here.

Note that the Gran Tour Circuit route encompasses most of the nominated trees, all of which are also in one or another of the shorter routes.

Tour
Route
Tree Nos.plotaroute.com
(online)
plotaroute.com
(PDF)
On
Google
Map
?
Comox
Circle
4, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18web pagePDFyes
Headquarters
Rd. Circle
1, 17, 20, 21web pagePDFyes
Lerwick
Circle
7, 23, 27web pagePDFyes
Courtenay2, 5 16,
22, 24, 25
web pagePDF
Merville6, 8, 9web pagePDF
Gran Tour
Circuit
[21 of 27
nominees]
web pagePDFyes
Cumberland12, 26web pagePDF
Fanny Bay19web pagePDF
Denman Island3web pagePDF

Tips for viewing the plotaroute maps:

  • Four of the routes (Comox, Headquarters, Lerwick, and Gran Tour) constitute a plotaroute collection and appear on one map. Select the one you want to see in the table below the map.
  • Expand the map to full screen using the crossed arrows at the top right of the map.
  • Play an animation using the play icon at the bottom left of the map.
  • Zoom in or out using the + and – icons at the top left of the map.
  • The length of the route is given in the bottom margin of the map.

We are grateful to TOTY team members Roger Chayer (once again) and I.E. for all their work preparing these maps.

Voting

To vote for your favourite tree, visit our voting page any time between April 1 and May 31.

TOTY team planning a tour route arrive at a nominated tree.
(Photo: Jim Whyte)
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Book review: The Race for What’s Left

CVN member Tony de Castro has shared his review of the book The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources by Michael T. Klare. As a longer-form article the review has its own page on the site. You can read the review here.

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Cumberland Marsh botany highlights

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on May 17. Click a photo to enlarge it.

Last week we took a walk along Cumberland Marsh from Jumbo’s cabin to the coal hills above the old Japanese townsite. Many blooming shrubs and other lovely plants. If anyone has the answer to the “mystery plant” (#11 and #12) let me know.

Thanks to Véronique for the photos!

A few highlights: 

  1. Cascara (Frangula purshiana). The well-defined veins of the leaves give it a “washboard” appearance. Doesn’t have toothed edges like the red alder. Bark used to be stripped and sold for its laxative properties. Old-timers remember harvesting from our area.
  1. Black twinberry (Lonicera involucrata). Twinned yellow flowers develop into twinned black berries (not edible).
  1. Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa). Sprays of white blooms. Bright red non-edible berries coming soon (birds eat them).
  1. Red huckleberry (Rubus parvifolium). Inconspicuous green bell-like flowers.
  1. Vanilla-leaf (Achlys triphylla). Spikes of white flowers are appearing now.
  1. Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).  Likes drier sunny sites, as seen here on the edges of the coal hill.
  1. Marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre). Likes to have its feet wet: look for it in marshes, bogs and along pond edges.
  1. Western yellow pond lily (Nuphar polysepala). I was out in the canoe recently and noticed just how many insects, spiders and birds use lily pads as landing platforms. The lilies support a whole ecosystem above and below the surface.
  1. Western yew (Taxus brevifolia). An often overlooked tree….most that we see are small and scraggly, but in an old-growth forest they are larger and more conspicuous.
  1. Western yew bark: peeling and a reddish mahogany colour, reminiscent of arbutus.
  1. Everyone loves a plant mystery….there are quite a few gone-wild garden plants in the Cumberland marsh area which are remnants from the old townsite. This one had us stumped, maybe some sort of saxifrage??
  1. Mystery plant flower close-up.
Posted in Plants and fungi | Comments Off on Cumberland Marsh botany highlights

Roy Morrison Nature Park walk

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on April 19. Click a photo to enlarge it.

We had a wet and cold walk in Roy Morrison Nature Park on Monday April 17 (should I have canceled?) Nonetheless, 7 intrepid botanists showed up. All the plants looked wonderfully fresh in the rain. The “cabbage patch” was magnificent, and it seems to be a good year for trilliums.

Here are a few highlights. Thanks to Véronique for being our “designated photographer.” No one else wanted to take out their camera in the downpour!

  1. Wet botanists! (but appropriately attired).
  1. Skunk cabbage patch (Lysichiton americanum).
  1. Detail of the small flowers dotting the spadix (central column) of skunk cabbage.
  1. Black gooseberry (Ribes lacustre).
  1. Detail of black gooseberry (note the golden spines all along the stem).
  1. Water purslane (Ludwigia palustris). This semi-aquatic plant likes to hang out in ditches, swamps and pond edges. It is in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae).
  1. Western trillium (Trillium ovatum). After pollination, the white blooms turn pink or maroon coloured.
  1. Catkins of black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) are larger and more purple-toned than red alder. The catkins are packed with male flowers.
  1. Oval-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium ovatifolium). Though more common in the subalpine, blueberry is found sporadically through our lowland forests (and more common further north along the coast). The little white bell-like flowers, which bloom before the leaves, stand out in early to mid-April.
  1. Blueberry flower closeup showing the red twigs that differ from the green twigs of red huckleberry.
  1. Green false hellebore (Veratrum viride). Another plant that’s more common in the subalpine. There is some along the edges of Morrison Creek. Very poisonous!
  1. Stream violet (Viola glabella), likes the floodplains of creeks/rivers.
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Recording for talk on Marine Protected Area targets

Comox Valley Nature members recently attended the following webinar presented by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists:

Title: Canada’s Approach to Achieving Marine Protected Area Targets
Speaker: Isabelle Jubinville (Oceana Canada)
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2023

If you missed this event or would like to see it again, CSEB has made the recording available here. To access it you will need to provide your name and email address.

For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.

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Spring botany notes

Notes and photos by Alison M. distributed to the Botany/Mycology Group on April 13. Click a photo to enlarge it.

Spring is a little slow again this year! A few of our early flowers are reluctantly appearing…

On Tuesday at that tiny little park at Ships Point, which is nicely sheltered from the arctic winds and south-facing, we did find a couple of Erythronium oregonum (photo 1) in bloom, as well as some Berberis aquifolium (photo 2) with part of the flower head open.

(1) Erythronium oregonum
(2) Berberis aquifolium

The Fritillaria affinis – chocolate lily – was still in bud form, but should be out soon. And in the conservation area along the dike, a few Rubus spectabilis (photo 3) were highly visible in the bright sunlight.

(3) Rubus spectabilis

On our stretch of the Tsolum floodplain the Erythronia are still in bud, but the Petasites frigidus – sweet coltsfoot (photo 4) – has just pushed its way through the silt and opened. Some years I have found it in January!

(4) Petrasites frigidus

And on the Sunday walk in Cumberland we passed by the area behind the Japanese townsite where there is a substantial spread of Petasites japonicus – Japanese butter-burr (photo 5), which goes back to the time when the Japanese planted it as one of their early spring greens (fuki). In both species the flower heads appear first, and the leaves develop later, so at this point the leaves are still very small.

(5) Petasites japonicus
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Kitty Coleman botany highlights

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on March 18. Click a photo to enlarge it.

We had a brilliant sunny day for our March 13 walk at Kitty Coleman Beach Provincial Park, and thanks to Robbie we enjoyed a fireside picnic lunch!  The herring spawn was in full swing with gulls and sea lions active on the water. We saw a good mix of things: lichens, fungi, new green leaves appearing, and of course the “big fir.” (Not to mention an ant colony.)

Here are a few highlights. Thanks to Veronique for many of the photos:.

  1. The big Douglas fir is worth a visit!
  1. Dwarf mistletoe on western hemlock. In the genus Arceuthobium (not sure which species).
  1. Siberian miner’s lettuce (Claytonia sibirica) is often found in the woods and at the base of trees.
  1. Farinose cartilage lichen (Ramalina farinacea).
  1. White green-algae coral (Multiclavula mucida) this was one of our more unusual finds of the day!
  1. Nuttall’s toothwort leaves (Cardamine nuttallii).
  1. Pacific sanicle leaves (Sanicula crassicaulis).
  1. Western thatching ant (Formica obscuripes).
  1. Botany group: A good turnout!
  1. Botany group: On the hunt.
  1. Botany group: Post-walk picnic.
Posted in Insects and spiders, Plants and fungi | Comments Off on Kitty Coleman botany highlights

Recording for talk on wrecked and abandoned vessels strategy

Comox Valley Nature, facilitated by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists, recently presented the following webinar:

Title: Update on the National Strategy to address Canada’s wrecked and abandoned vessels
Speaker: Donavan Jacobsen (Transport Canada)
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2023

If you missed this event or would like to see it again, CSEB has made the recording available here. To access it you will need to provide your name and email address.

For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.

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Learn about amphibian populations in old-growth microclimates

Comox Valley Nature is pleased to host the following free online lecture:

Title: Amphibian Populations in the Old-growth Microclimates of British Columbia
Speaker: Mark Thompson
Date: Sunday, April 16, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT

This webinar is facilitated by the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists and is open to the public (see the registration link below).

Globally, amphibians are declining at an alarming rate, yet few are listed. North America has lost over 85% of its wetlands, and agriculture and secondary growth conversion is extensive. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 35 extinct species, 146 possibly extinct species, two extinct in the wild species (known only by living members kept in captivity). Are microclimates saving amphibians? Are remnant patches of old-growth sufficient for their continued survival? The presentation will address these questions.

About the speaker

Mark Thompson is an adjunct professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, a professional biologist, and an ecologist at EcoLogic Consultants Ltd. His expertise lies in herpetology and landscape ecology, with a focus on population concepts. Mark has managed numerous research projects involving amphibians, wetlands, and wildlife generally (e.g., caribou, polar bears, and marmots). He works in both field and office on issues concerning wildlife management in terrestrial and aquatic environments. He is committed to aligning his work with First Nations in conservation science.

Registration

“Seating capacity” for the talk is limited, and you need to register in advance. You can check the computer requirements for attendees here.

Register here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar.

If you are new to Comox Valley Nature, find out more about us here.

Although CVN lectures are free, donations of any size from non-members who attend are always appreciated ($4.00 is suggested).

Posted in Amphibians and reptiles, Conservation, Guest Speakers | Comments Off on Learn about amphibian populations in old-growth microclimates

Read about TOTY 2023 nominees, then visit them and vote

Read about them

The nomination period for Tree of the Year 2023 ended on March 15, and the voting period begins April 1. See photos and descriptions of the nominated trees here.

(Photo is of Cathy Storey, originator of the contest, visiting our first Tree of the Year in 2018.)

Visit them

All the 27 nominated trees have interest and value. We invite everybody to go out and enjoy these trees as part of their nature activities this season.

The descriptions on our nominees page give location details. Even better will be the maps and suggested touring routes that are in the last stages of preparation. Watch for the blog post coming soon that will provide links to the tour maps.

Please respect private property boundaries and owner privacy by viewing the trees from public land unless otherwise invited in.

Vote for one

You can help decide the winner of the Tree of the Year contest by voting for your favourite. You may already know the one you favour, or you may want to visit at least some of them first.

Go to our voting page here.

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