From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on October 24.
I was over on the west coast last weekend, which was almost as wet as this weekend! While wandering the Wickaninnish beach dunes, I was surprised to see that several dune plants were still in bloom. Of course it is further south than it is here, and balmier, but still…. And while some were still in bloom, others had strewn their seeds about. Not often does one get to observe blooms and seeds at the same time!
Seaside dune habitats are quite rare on the east side of Vancouver Island, having been mostly destroyed by development. There are dune remnants at Goose spit, Point Holmes, Airforce Beach and Tree Island (also known as Sandy Island) in our area, and most of these species can be seen in these places. [Click a photo to enlarge it.]
- Yellow sand verbena (Abronia latifolia)
- Black knotweed (Polygonum paronychia)
- Beach-carrot or beach glehnia (Glehnia littoralis)
- Corky seeds of beach-carrot
- American sea rocket (Cakile edentula)
- Seeds of sea rocket
- Sea sandwort (Honkenya peploides)
- Kinnikinnick berries (Arctostapholos uva-ursi)
- A neat mushroom growing out of the kinnikinnick, looks like a scaber stalk in the genus Leccinum, possibly the manzanita bolete (Leccinum manzanitae)
- Large-headed sedge (Carex macrocephala)
- Dune view
