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Transcript
A Beginner’s Guide to BURNS BOG FLORA by Richard Sterndale-Bennett Table of Contents Western Hemlock Western Redcedar Shore Pine Sitka Spruce Sitka Mountain Ash Red Osier Dogwood Red Alder Red Elderberry Common Snowberry Bog Cranberry Red Huckleberry Salmonberry Cloudberry Canadian Bunchberry Thimbleberry Salal Labrador Tea False Azalea 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Western Sword Fern Bracken Fern Lady Fern Spiny Wood Fern Deer Fern Liquorice Fern Step Moss Skunk Cabbage Round-leaved Sundew False Lily-of-the-valley Fireweed Small-flowered Bulrushes Hardhack Sweet Gale Large-leaved Avens Northern Starflower Western Bog Laurel Bog Rosemary 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Western Hemlock Tsuga heterophylla Western Hemlock is very common in the Delta Nature Reserve, and it’s also one of the easiest trees to identify. Its flat needles form a broad sheet along the branch and have dark green tops with a silvery underside. The edible needles smell like grapefruit when crushed, and the lighter green new growth is tasty, sour, and rich in vitamin C. Western hemlock’s droopy head is quite obvious when the branches don’t block it out, and the tree has surprisingly small cones which can usually be found abundantly littered around the base of the trunk. It grows up to 60 m tall. Bark Cones 2 Western Redcedar Thuja plicata Western redcedar is the mainstay of the Cedar Grove, along the second half of the outer loop of Wally’s Walk. Cedar foliage has a distinctive scaly appearance and a unique cedar smell when crushed. The tree’s bark often comes off in long, papery strips when pulled. When shaded the bark remains a roan red colour, but exposed to sunlight it takes on a silvery grey hue. Cedar’s cones are small like hemlock’s but less abundant, much woodier, and with thicker scales. Like western hemlock, this species can grow up to 60 m tall, and its foliage will often be out of reach for identification. View from the bottom Bark 3 Shore Pine Pinus contorta, variation contorta Shore pine grows close to the wettest parts of the Delta Nature Reserve, along the beginning of the outer loop of Wally’s Walk. Pine bark is distinctively crumbly and chunky compared to the other trees of Burns Bog, and the long needles, which grow up to 7 cm in length, distinguish it from other bog evergreens. The paired needles can be used to help tell it apart from other pine species, and the persistent pollen cones and large pine cones also make the tree fairly easy to identify. It is shorter than the other bog evergreens, with a maximum height around 20 m. Pollen cones Paired needles 4 Sitka Spruce Picea sitchensis Sitka spruce is the tallest tree on Burns Bog, with a maximum height of 70 m. It has flat, woody bark that flakes off in large scales as the tree grows large. Its needles, which grow up to 3 cm long, have four edges along their length, and are very stiff, growing from persistent pegs that can be seen after the needles die away. One simple test for a spruce is to shake hands with the old growth on one of the branches—the sharp spines will hurt your hand when you grasp them. Spruce cones are much larger than hemlock or cedar cones and much softer and narrower than pine cones. Cones Needles on persistent pegs Sitka Mountain Ash 5 Sorbus sitchensis Sitka mountain ash is one of the shrubs found in Burns Bog, with a maximum height of around 4 m. It’s a deciduous plant, losing its characteristic toothed leaves in the winter. In mid-summer this plant bears bright scarlet to red-orange berries which grow in fat clusters. Although the berries are edible, they’re very sour and bitter and best left to the birds. In the Delta Nature Reserve, Sitka mountain ash is commonly found along the boardwalks close to where they meet with Davies Creek. Berries Leaves Red Osier Dogwood 6 Cornus stolonifera Red osier dogwood is a relative of the Pacific dogwood, BC’s provincial flower. This shrub is named after its distinctive reddish stems, though they start green when newly-grown. While the plant bears white berries that ripen around the beginning of August, they are bitter and not fit for human consumption. Its glossy leaves, which grow up to 10 cm long, have prominent veins that run along their length. Growing up to 6 m tall, it’s most common along the gravel path that runs the length of Davies Creek. The plant’s white flowers can bloom throughout the summer. Berries Flowers 7 Red Alder Alnus rubra Red alder is an important stream-side tree in British Columbia and is very common along the edge of Davies Creek. Tall for the creekside at up to 25 m, it provides essential shade and protection for salmon where it grows, and the leaf litter from its fallen deciduous leaves attracts insect life. Its bark is very thin and silvery grey, often supporting lichen growth. Red alder produces crumbly cones about 2 cm in length that can be found clinging to old branches or scattered on the ground under the trees. The tree’s leaves grow up to 10 cm long and are deeply veined with toothed edges. Cones Bark 8 Red Elderberry Sambucus racemosa subspecies pubens variation arborescens Elderberry has long oval leaves that taper into a sharp point. When rubbed, the leaves have a tell-tale peanut butter smell that makes them very easy to distinguish from the other shrubs on the bog. In the summer, elderberry bears clusters of smallish, bright red berries whose flesh, though edible, may cause nausea unless cooked—all other parts of the plant including the seeds are poisonous if consumed. Elderberry grows up to 6 m tall and generally grows next to the path along Davies Creek. Berries Leaves Common Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus 9 also known as waxberry, corpseberry, snake’s berry Snowberry bears fat, lumpy, white berries that are fun to squeeze and pop, but beware—its berries are poisonous! First Nations people variably called them corpseberry or snake’s berry for this reason, and it’s worth noting that none of the white berries that grow on Burns Bog are suitable for human consumption. Snowberry grows up to 2 m tall and has deciduous, roundish oval leaves that vary greatly in size even when fully grown. The stems are spindly and greyish brown. Snowberry shrub Different-sized round leaves Bog Cranberry 10 Oxycoccus oxycoccos Bog cranberry grows as woody vine-like stems up to 40 cm tall that tend to cling close to the sphagnum moss in which they nestle. This plant is most commonly found along the first quarter of the outside loop of Wally’s Walk, clearly visible growing in the sphagnum along the edge of the boardwalk. The alternating centimetre-long leaves are glossy and deep green, with a central vein and a pointy tip. The plant bears edible berries up to a centimetre in diameter which rest suspended above the main stem of the plant. Leaves with dew 11 Red Huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium Red huckleberry has attractive, bright red berries in the early summer that are tasty though often very tart. Its delicate, deciduous, oval leaves grow up to 3 cm long, and the spindly stems of the plant grow in jagged lines. Red huckleberry loves the dappled shade of coniferous forests, and in the Delta Nature Reserve it’s most commonly found in the Cedar Grove. Foliage Berry 12 Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis Probably the most common Pacific Northwest berry after salal, salmonberry is found along Davies Creek and the more open parts of the forest in the Delta Nature Reserve. Though it can grow up to 4 m tall, it rarely reaches higher than 2 m in the bog. Its bright pink flowers bloom in late spring and are followed soon after by tasty berries that can be eaten as soon as they’re soft and arguably taste better when still yellow. The distinctive leaves come in clusters of three and look like a beard and moustache when held with the centre-point down. Slight, sparse thorns line the plant’s stems. Leaves Near-ripe berry 13 Cloudberry Rubus chamæmorus also known as knottberry Cloudberry is only found in bogs, and is an oddity among berry plants in that it is sexed—individual plants are either male or female and pollen from the males must be carried to the females to produce berries. Consequently, it’s much rarer to see a cloudberry fruit than a fruit from the other bog berries, though they’re said to taste like baked apples if you do find one. This plant grows on slender stems extending from the sphagnum moss and tends to cluster into herds. It can be found in the wetter parts of the bog along the edge of the boardwalk. Its white flowers bloom in June. Cloudberry flower Stem extending from sphagnum moss Canadian Bunchberry Cornus canadensis 14 also known as dwarf dogwood, creeping dogwood Bunchberry grows (usually in clusters of separate plants) in the wetter parts of the bog, often rubbing shoulders with starflower or cloudberry along the boardwalk’s edge. It is a close relative of Pacific dogwood, BC’s provincial flower; the showy white bracts are not actually the flowers, however. The heads of the flowers are the black dots suspended above the white “petals” which are actually bracts (modified leaves like those that wrap the bottom of a rose’s bloom). In any case, in August the plants bear bright red fruits that taste like baked apples and have a satisfyingly crunchy central seed. Flowers and bracts Berries 15 Thimbleberry Rubus parviflorus With what are possibly the tastiest berries in the bog, thimbleberry plants can grow up to 3 m tall, are thornless, and have fuzzy maple-like leaves. This plant grows along with salmonberry and red osier dogwood along Davies Creek and the more open parts of the forest in the Delta Nature Reserve. Its delicate, seedy berries are tart, sweet, and juicy, and worth looking for in July. Thimbleberry flowers are large, floppy, and white, and can be seen starting in June. The soft, broad leaves have earned it the nickname “Nature’s toilet paper” as it makes a great substitute when out in the woods. Leaf Flower 16 Salal Gaultheria shallon Salal is the quintessential Pacific Northwest shrub. In Burns Bog, it’s especially successful along the first section of the outer boardwalk, though it can be found throughout the Delta Nature Reserve. Most salal bushes are less than a metre tall, but the plants can grow to chest height or higher. In the early summer salal has white bell-like flowers that develop into juicy purple-black, hairy berries that taste like grainy blueberries. It has tough, leathery leaves that help it conserve water during the rainless summer months, and its twigs, which start out green and pliable, age into grey-brown brittle twigs. Berries Flowers 17 Labrador Tea Ledum grœnlandicum Labrador tea grows in the wetter, peatier parts of the bog, especially in amongst salal along the outer boardwalk. Labrador tea is so-called as its leaves can be dried and made into tea. To this end, t’s important to tell it apart from its two poisonous look-alikes, bog laurel and bog rosemary. Labrador tea’s leaves, which grow to 4 cm long, are dull (not lustrous) on top and have white or rusty orange fuzz on the underside. When rubbed or crushed, the leaves have a strong herbal smell. The plant grows up to 50 cm tall and has brittle grey-brown stems. It bears clusters of white flowers in the early summer. Fuzz under leaf Full plant 18 False Azalea Menziesia ferruginea also known as fool’s huckleberry False azalea grows in the dappled shade of the Cedar Grove. Its unevenly-sized leaves form distinctive starbust clusters on the branch. This plant is poisonous if consumed. Growing up to 3 m tall, it has flaky, grey-brown bark when mature, and its stems become quite stiff and woody with age. The leaves, flower pods, and flowering stems are covered in fine hairs. Leaves Unripe flower pods Western Sword Fern 19 Polystichum munitum Western sword fern is a commonly-used landscaping plant in BC, and it’s an important plant for erosion control because of its extensive root ball. Its fronds can grow up to 1.5 m long and cascade out from a central base to form a thick bunch. The leaflets feel tough and papery and have an eggshell lustre. The underside of each leaflet will bear rusty orange spore clusters when mature, and each leaflet attaches to the central stem of the frond by only a narrow hilt—hence the “sword” in the name. Western sword fern is found throughout the Cedar Grove. Sori (spore clusters) Frond Bracken Fern 20 Pteridium aquilinum Bracken fern is a forest species common throughout the northern hemisphere. It looks almost like a miniature tree, growing as a single stem, never in clusters like lady, sword, and spiny wood ferns. The stem is quite stiff and resilient and will bend much less than a normal fern stem when tested—they often break rather than arc. Bracken fern tolerates much more sun than the other ferns on the bog and can be seen mingling with the salal and pine trees at the beginning of the outer boardwalk as well as in the sunnier parts of the Cedar Grove. Central stem Underside without obvious spore clusters 21 Lady Fern Athyrium filix-femina Lady fern is common in the Cedar Grove and in the wet bog-side of the path along Davies Creek. It strongly prefers shade and becomes yellow and stringy when growing in direct sunlight. The fronds sprout from a central base, as with sword, deer, and spiny wood ferns. This fern is easily confusable with spiny wood fern—both share a similar light green colour and similar feathery fronds on flexible stems. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at the silhouette of the fronds: lady fern’s leaflets form a diamond shape along the length of the frond and the leaflets extend down to the base. Immature sori (spore clusters) Frond 22 Spiny Wood Fern Dryopteris expansa Like lady fern, spiny wood fern strongly prefers shade. It grows in the damp forested parts of the Delta Nature Reserve. Its fronds extend from a central clump like with lady and sword ferns, and its light green colour is much yellower than that of deer or sword fern. This plant is easily confusible with lady fern, and two features help distinguish it from that look-alike. First, spiny wood fern’s fronds have a Christmas tree silhouette; this is due to the second important feature, that the base of each frond is bare of leaflets. As with most ferns, clusters of spores are found on the underside of mature leaflets. Base of fronds Frond 23 Deer Fern Blechnum spicant Deer fern, the story goes, is so-called because deer crushed the fronds against the stubs of their recently-shed antlers to help heal the sores. This fern is similar to western sword fern, but with a few key differences. Its fronds are glossier and smoother to the touch; its leaflets are skinnier, more tightly-spaced, and attached along their entire width to the central stem of the frond; and the new growth tends to stand straight up, while the older fronds rest on the ground in a crown around the plant. Deer fern favours the wetter forested parts of the bog and the area near the Sunken Tractor. Leaflets along main stem Frond 24 Liquorice Fern Polypodium glycyrrhiza Liquorice fern is pretty easy to overlook as it looks a lot like a young sword fern. On Burns Bog, it grows almost exclusively epiphytically—sprouting from plant litter perched on trees or logs. Like bracken fern, this fern also sprouts single fronds rather than having many from a central clump. It can be told apart from sword fern by the attachments of its leaflets to the central stem of the frond: liquroice fern’s leaflets attach along their entire width rather than by a hilt-like sliver as with sword fern. This fern’s name comes from the flavour of its rhizome, which tastes like black liquorice. Leaflets along main stem Single stalk emerging from litter 25 Step Moss Hylocomium splendens Step moss, which can grow into staircases up to 20 cm long, forms shag-carpet-like mats on the forest floor of the Cedar Grove. It’s named after its growth habit: each year the plant forms a fan-like platform. Then the next year it sprouts another vertical stem and forms a new “step” and so on, until after a few years it looks like a staircase. Of all the individual moss species on Burns Bog, this is one of the easiest to identify, which is why it’s included in this guide. Side view of “steps” Top view of a “step” Skunk Cabbage Lysichiton americanum 26 also known as swamp lantern Skunk cabbage is very common in the Pacific Northwest, and when it finds itself in favourable conditions it forms thickets like the Delta Nature Reserve’s own Skunk Cabbage Meadow. This plant requires very wet conditions and at least partial sun, though many shrimpier individuals can be found in the Cedar Grove. Skunk cabbage leaves are poisonous if consumed, to the extent that black bears use them as a laxative in the spring after denning. Both its names result from the plant’s flower, a large, bright yellow spike that gives off a rotting flesh smell. Its leaves can get enormous—up to 1.8 m long. Individual plant Leaves trampled at end of season Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia 27 also known as common sundew No bog is complete without a carnivorous plant, and round-leaved sundew is Burns Bog’s. This wee plant sprouts modified leaves crowned in hairs with sticky red sap—the sap traps insects which then decompose, and the sundew absorbs their nutrients. Sundews bear flower buds on long, slender stalks in the summertime, but these won’t bloom unless exposed to direct sunlight. This plant, often shown at great magnification, often underwhelms people in person: the main leafy cluster of the plant grows to a maximum of 7 cm tall. Sundews favour the wetter parts of the bog. Flowers that failed to bloom Sundew cluster base False Lily-of-the-valley 28 Mainanthemum dilatatum False lily-of-the-valley has single or paired roughly heart-shaped leaves with deep veins that run parallel to the leaf’s edge. In late spring, this plant bears spikes of small white flowers. Forming communities in the dappled shade under evergreens, it’s easiest to find along the middle of the outer boardwalk of Wally’s Walk, where the bog transitions from wetter to drier conditions. Flowers Leaf shape Fireweed Epilobium angustifolium 29 also known as Rosebay willowherb Fireweed is one of the first plants to return after a forest fire, which explains its name. This plant is easily identifiable by its dagger-like leaves: long, slender, and coming to a sharp point. Fireweed bears spikes of floppy pink flowers with sparse but showy petals. Fireweed is also identifiable once the flowers have gone to seed—the plant’s seeds are borne by a soft, fuzzy cotton not unlike cottonwood’s. Fireweed was an important source of textile fibres for the First Nations peoples as the outside fibres of the dried stems are long and tough like flax. Leaves Flowers 30 Small-flowered Bulrushes Scirpus microcarpus Of all the aquatic plants on the bog, this is one of the most common and easiest to identify. Its leaves are long, sharp, and yellowish-green with a W cross-section. The namesake flowers are raised above the leaves by a three-cornered stalk. The leaves and stalks of small-flowered bulrushes (as with all sedges) can easily slice open the hand that tries to pick them, so it’s safer to leave these be... or to pull with caution. It lives on the wettest sections along Davies Creek and near the Sunken Tractor. Flowers Leaf cross section 31 Hardhack Spirea douglasii subspecies douglasii Hardhack is one of the two shrubs that grows in the wettest, peatiest sections of Burns Bog. Along with sweet gale, hardhack forms dense thickets, one of which the outer boardwalk of Wally’s Walk cuts through. Hardhack can be identified by its flexible, long leaves which are toothed at the tip and don’t have an obvious strong scent when crushed. Hardhack’s flowers, which bloom in summer, are also a dead giveaway—the tall, pink clusters typically grow 10–15 cm tall, atop plants up to 2 m tall. Flower clusters, fresh and spent Leaves Sweet Gale 32 Myrica gale Sweet gale grows with hardhack in the wettest, peatiest parts of the bog. This plant’s leaves give off a strong smell when crushed—similar to cloves or allspice. The leaves are similar to hardhack’s, but more slender at the base and covered with tiny yellow pores. Sweet gale’s flowers look more like mace spikes, are they’re bright yellow when ripe in the summer. The leaves of sweet gale are used to flavour mead. This shrub grows up to 1.5 m tall, a little shorter than hardhack. Flowers Hardhack (L), and sweet gale (R) leaves Large-leaved Avens 33 Geum macrophyllum This unassuming flower is easily mistaken for some exotic form of buttercup, but it’s actually a native species. The namesake leaves can grow as big as an adult man’s hand, and the stalks leading down to the cluster’s centre are lined with miniature versions of the large leaf on the stalks’ ends. Yellow flowers up to 1.5 cm across group in clusters at the end of a central stem, and the flowers, once pollinated, develop into seed burrs that catch on animals’ fur when they pass. It grows in full and partial sun, especially along Davies Creek and in the sunnier parts of the Cedar Grove. Flowers and immature seed burr Size of large leaf Northern Starflower 34 Trientalis arctica Tucked away into the nooks and crevices of the wetter, peatier parts of the bog, northern starflower blooms at the end of May or beginning of June. It emerges from the sphagnum moss (or leaf litter under hardhack and sweet gale) on a long, spindly main stem, and has oval leaves up to 7 cm long that come to a rounded point. Its flower is a white starburst shape with 5–7 petals which are fused at the base and curve upward into a parabola along their length. The entire plant is up to 25 cm tall. Stem and leaves Western Bog Laurel Kalmia macrophylla subspecies occidentalis 35 also known as swamp laurel This plant is easily confused with western Labrador tea, which is problematic as all parts of bog laurel are poisonous if consumed. Luckily, bog laurel lacks the white or orange fuzz that Labrador tea has on the undersides of its leaves, and bog laurel is also glossier on top of its leaves, leaves whichare smoother than Labrador tea’s with no scaly texture. Bog laurel has small but showy pink flowers in May and June, and it grows mixed in with the pine, salal, and Labrador tea along the sides of the first half of the outer boardwalk. Bog laurel grows up to 50 cm tall. Bare undersides Flowers 36 Bog Rosemary Andromeda polifolia This plant is easily confused with western Labrador tea, and unfortunately, as with bog laurel all parts of bog rosemary are poisonous if consumed. Like bog laurel, bog rosemary lacks the white or orange fuzz that Labrador tea has on the undersides of its leaves, and bog rosemary’s leaves, at a maximum of 3 cm, are much smaller than Labrador tea’s. Bog rosemary has small, pink, lantern-shaped flowers similar to blueberry flowers, and it grows mixed in with the pine, salal, and Labrador tea along the sides of the first half of the outer boardwalk. Bog rosemary grows up to 80 cm tall. Size comparison Bog rosemary in the mix