Comox Valley Nature

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on September 7.

We are at a fruitful time of year…Alison M. has kindly passed on these photos of a variety of berries from the subalpine (some edible, some not). Enjoy!

Alison’s notes

In alphabetical order [click photo to enlarge]:

Arctostapyhylos uva-ursi – kinnikinik – mealy

Clintonia unifora –  Queen’s cup (though the photo does not bring out the blue of the berry) –inedible

Cornus canadensis  – bunchberry  – mealy

Empetrum nigrum  – crowberry – very large this year after the June rain, though bitter

Gaultheria ovatifolia – western teaberry – sweet & tasty

Geocaulon lividum – bastard toadflax  – abundant at McKenzie Lake;  inedible

Rubus pedatus  – five-leaved bramble – always tasty, but very small

Streptopus amplexifolius – clasping twisted stalk – edible, but bland

Viburnum edule – highbush cranberry – tart, but excellent

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on September 4.

As a change-up from the mountain flora…here are a few of the special plants that grow along the sandy shores/dune habitat of Tree Island Provincial Park (also known as Sandy Island).

For a bit of background information, see this page from the BC Parks website.

[Click a photo to enlarge it.]

Note how these island Douglas-fir trees have their own unique character!

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on September 2.

Here’s an update from Randal M. on the Strathcona Park lichen project. I highly recommend checking out the link…a whole gallery of beautiful, diverse lichens!

Randal’s notes

The summer Strathcona Park Lichen project is coming to a close. Powered mainly by Loys Maingon and Dan Tucker, we kicked up 151 species of lichens in the park. Here are photos and credits of the most intriguing amongst them. [Click photos to enlarge.]

1. Blue-listed Wahlenberg’s goblin lights lichen/Tundra lemon (Catolechia wahlenbergii) from the Elk River area by Loys Maingon.

2. Chocolate chip lichen (Solarina crocea), a limestone lover from Marble Meadows. Photo by Brian Starzomski.

3. Yellow specklebelly (Pseudocyphellaria citrina) from the trees along Buttle Lake. 

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on August 29.

Summer is drawing to a close, which means it is time to fit in a few more mountain hikes!

Here are a few photos [click to enlarge] from a hike up Crest Mountain in Strathcona Park. On the hike my brother Julian was telling me about the famous German philosopher Nietzsche, who abandoned a cushy position as a tenured professor to pursue the rigours of Swiss mountain hiking. In the mountains, he found new meaning in his life and produced some of his best work. If this sounds interesting, check out this link which has an excerpt from John Kaag’s book Hiking with Nietzsche .

Nietzsche said “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” which we can all remember as we slog uphill in search of interesting plants.

Scenics

1.  View of Kings Peak.

2. Small lake near the lookout.

3. Cloud shadows on distant valleys.

Botany

4. Slime mould (genus Hemitrichia??) in the forest duff.

5. Coast Range lomatium (Lomatium martindalei).

6. Western sweet-vetch (Hedysarum occidentale).

7. Pacific stonecrop (Sedum divergens).

8. Nodding arnica (Arnica parryi). There is a patch about 3/4 of the way up. It was in bloom and I meant to photograph it on the way down, but of course I blew right past it. This is a photo from my last hike up Crest in 2016. 

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on August 26.

Here are a few photos from John B. (with notes) which demonstrate the amazing diversity of plant and fungi species that are all around us.

John’s notes

I thought it might be fun to  share a few pics which emphasize amazing textures in our flora worthy of our attention [click photos to enlarge]:

1. Worm-leaved stonecrop, Sedum stenopetalum, at Pipers Lagoon.

2. Purple club coral, Alloclavaria purpurea, at Morte Lake.

Two from the wet areas at Ships Point:

3. Hedgehog dogtail, Cynosurus echinatus.

4. Slough sedge, Carex opnupta.

5. And finally, exquisite young leaves contrasting with crusty berries on common juniper, Juniperis communis, at Mt. Arrowsmith.

Lots of floral delight.

From an email by Jocie to the Botany Group on August 22.

Alison M. passed along some lovely photos of plants from Strathcona Park (click photo to enlarge).

Alison’s notes 

Here are a few photos of subalpine slopes and meadows….from Arnica Lake and the slopes around the Moat Lake to Castlecrag Trail. In various locations in the Park we have visited this summer there was a very obvious contrast between the less frequented trails and those of easy access such as Paradise Meadows and the trails on the Plateau.

The rain in June and early July contributed to the splendid expanses of flowering plants, waist-high in places  –  arnica, columbine, cow-parsnip, daisies, false hellebore, lupins, paintbrush,  penstemons, and the list goes on.

We also found a few unusual plants:  

1. Snow bramble (Rubus nivalis)  which appeared near the start of the trail up to Arnica Lake (we have also seen it at similar low elevations on the Myra Falls trail).

2. Quillwort (Isoetes bolanderi ?)  in a small pond at ~1200 m  on the rocky high point of a ridge that runs from above Harris Lake toward the route up to Sunrise Lake and Jutland.  

3. Bog St. John’s wort (Hypericum anagalloides), with its tiny, but rich yellow flower – one of my favourites – in amongst Drosera rotundifolia.  It is prolific in the wetlands both around McKenzie Lake and the small lake above Divers.