Red Elderberry
Sambucus racemosa
Description:Shrub to a small tree, grows to 6m tall with soft, pithy twigs; bark is warty. Opposite, deciduous leaves are divided into 5-7 lance-shaped leaflets that are pointed and slightly hairy underneath. Characteristic odour. Flowers are creamy white, numerous, in pyramidal like cluster. Produces bright red berries in clusters.
Ecology: Grows on stream banks, swampy thickets, moist clearings and open forests, from sea level to middle elevations. Common.
Notes: This one was found growing in a clearcut in Sechelt, top picture is in flower, bottom picture is from the same patch a few weeks later when it was in berry.
Black Twinberry
Lonicera involucrata
Description: A scraggly shrub 0.5 to 3m tall, twigs are 4-angled in cross section; leaves are opposite elliptically lance shaped, pointed and hairy underneath. Tubular yellow flowers in pairs with large green or purplish bracts. Produces twin shiny black berries cupped by maroon coloured bracts, not edible.
Ecology: Found in moist forests, streambanks, swamps and thickets from low to subalpine elevations.
Notes: This one was on the edge of a creek below a beaver dam at Carlson Lake at middle elevation, June 30, 2001.
Salal
Gaultheria shallon
Description: Creeping or erect shrub that spreads by layering and suckering, its height is quite variable from 0.2-5m tall but is generally 1m or so. Hairy branched stems with alternate thick, leathery, shiny evergreen 5-10cm long egg shaped leaves. Flowers are white or pinkish, urn shaped 7-10mm long in bunches of 5-15 placed along branch ends.
Ecology: A very common shrub at low to middle elevations in coniferous forests, and rocky bluffs, grows to the sea shore.
Notes: This is a widepsread shrub in forested areas of our region, being found on roadsides in backyards and coastal areas. These ones were growing on a bluff by the sea, they were in flower May 2001. Coastal peoples used to harvest the berries as a food source, and they are still occasionally eaten today, mostly in jams.
Baldhip Rose
Rosa gymnocarpa
Description: A spindly shrub growing to 1.5m tall, with numerous straight soft prickles which may be absent on younger branches. Alternate deciduous compound leaves 1-4cm long with 5-9 toothed leaflets. Pale pink to rose coloured flowers 1-2cm across, smaller than Nootka Rose, borne singly at the ends of branches.
Ecology: Found in open or wooded habitats that are moist or dry at low to middle elevations.
Notes: This one was found in Chapman Creek at low elevation, summer 2002.
Nootka Rose
Rosa nutkana
Description: Spindly shrub that grows to 3m tall with a large pair of prickles at each leaf base. Alternate deciduous leaves are compound in 5 or 7 toothed leaflets with rounded tips. 4-8cm wide flowers are borne singly at branch tips.
Ecology: In open habitats at low to middle elevations; shorelines, streamsides, thickets, roadsides, clearings, etc.
Notes: This one was found on the beach in Sechelt Inlet, June 2001. The hips at the far left were from Dakota Bowl, Fall 2006. I harvested a few hips to use that winter for winter colds.
Ocean Spray
Holodiscus discolor
Description: Erect shrub with several main stems, grows 3-4m tall. Alternate deciduous dull green hairy egg shaped leaves are lobed or coarsely toothed. White or cream coloured flowers are small but occur in 10-18cm long lilac-like clusters that turn brown and remain on the plant throughout the seasons.
Ecology: Common at low and middle elevations in dry or moist open sites such as open woods, coastal rock bluffs, logged areas, thickets, etc.
Notes: This one was growing on a rocky bluff in Sechelt, BC, July 2, 2001.
Pacific Ninebark
Physocarpus capitatus
Description: An erect or spreading shrub that grows to 4m tall on arching angled branches with bark that shreds as it matures. Its leaves are alternate and deciduous with 3-5 toothed lobes that are deeply veined, they are shiny green above lighter and hairy below. Its flowers are very small but are abundant in terminal rounded clusters.
Ecology: Found in wet, open sites at low to middle elevations. Often found on streambanks, thickets, coastal marshes, lake margins and the edges of moist woods.
Notes: This one was found on the beach shoreline growing at the edge of the forest.
Saskatoon Berry
Amelanchier alnifolia
Description: Shrub to a small tree, grows to 5m tall. Smooth stem with large white showy flowers in short drooping to erect clusters of 3-20. Fruits are dull red, becoming purple to nearly black when ripe. Edible and tasty. Leaves are alternate, deciduous and are thin and round to oval and regularly toothed on the top half.
Ecology: Grows on rocky shorelines, bluffs, talus slopes, meadows, thickets, forest edges, and roadsides in well drained soils; scattered at low to middle elevations.
Notes: This one was found at the edge of the forest, on a roadside next to a rocky beach in Sechelt.
Mock Orange
Philadelphus lewisii
Description: Erect loosely branched shrub to 3m tall with brown often flaking bark. Has light green opposite deciduous leaves that are oval to egg shaped 3-5cm long; it has smooth margins with 3 major veins from the leaf base. Beautiful fragrant white flowers 2-3cm across have 4 petals, numerous stamens and appear in clusters of 3-15 flowers at the end of lateral branches.
Ecology: Found in open forests and forest edges, moist rich open sites as well as on dry rocky soils from low to middle elevation only at the most southern coastal areas of BC.
Notes: The wood of Mock Orange is strong and hard and was widely used by natives for bows and arrows and combs. The leaves and flowers were used for cleansing as they produce a lather when bruised. This one was found growing near the sea shore in Egmont, BC, June 2005 photo.
White Flowered Rhododendron
Rhododendron albiforum
Description: Erect slender branched shrub, 1-2.5m tall with peeling bark. Young twigs covered with reddish hairs, leaves are alternate, deciduous in clusters along branches but especially at branch tips. Leaves are oblong to lance shaped 4-9cm long and are covered with fine rusty hairs on the upper surface, midvein does not protrude at leaf tip (distinguishing it from False Azalea which have sticky leaves and protruding midveins). White or creamy flowers are large, showy and cup shaped in clusters of 2-4 on previous year’s growth, petals are fused at their base. Produces dry oval capsules.
Ecology: Found in moist coniferous forests, wet glades and stream edges, occasionally on drier sites as well. Common mostly at high elevations in subalpine forests.
Notes: This one was photographed July 15, 2006 on the edge of a small subalpine lake in the Tetrahedron, BC. It is also commonly found in the Lyon Lakes area of the Caren Range Mountains.
High Bush Cranberry
Viburnum edule
Description: Erect or straggling shrub 0.5-3.5m tall with smooth reddish or greyish bark. Leaves are opposite, shallowly 3 lobed, sharply toothed, hairy beneath; they turn bright crimson red in the fall. Small white flowers form in small clusters on short stems with a pair of leaves, 1-3cm wide. Produces clusters of 2-5 red or orange 1 seeded berry-like drupes with large flattened stones, they are juicy and edible but tart.
Ecology: Found in moist forests and forest edges, rocky slopes, edges of wetlands, streambanks at low to middle elevation.
Notes: This one was found at middle elevation in the Dakota Bowl area Sept 9, 2006. It was in a tiny old growth forest remnant patch on the edge of a boggy lake area.
Devil's Club
Oplopanax horridus
Description: An erect or often sprawling shrub 1-3m tall with thick crooked stems that are armed abundantly with yellowish 1cm long spines that tend to hurt even after they have been removed from your skin. Alternate deciduous leaves are very large (to 35cm across) and strongly resemble maple leaves with 7-9 toothed lobes, its underside is also covered with spines. It produces pyramidal terminal clusters of small greenish white flowers, and later pyramidal clusters of bright red berries that are eaten by bears but not humans.
Ecology: Prefers moist or wet sites in forests and along streambanks; while it prefers wet sites drainage must be adequate so that it is not in standing water. It is often found growing at low elevation along streambanks in mixed woods.
Notes: This one was found near the edge of Wakefield Creek in West Sechelt, it was growing in mixed deciduous and coniferous woods.
While the Devils's Club may be feared for its spikes it is a very powerful plant that deserves respect. Native peoples believed that the plant had magical powers to help ward off evil and often made amulets or protective totems with the sweet smelling wood. Its inner root and stem bark is also a very strong and powerful medicine, with a wide range of uses. Mostly it was used for coughs and colds, rheumatism and pain, but it had many other uses as well; its charcoal was even used for ceremonial face painting and tattooing. More recently Devils' Club has been studied for its powerful anti-microbial properties and has recently been studied in the treatment of tuberculosis and other viral diseases.
The Devils' Club is under severe pressure to the south of the border, pressure that is steadily pushing north, as its medicinal uses grow because unethical harvesters are going out and destroying the plants to get at their valuable root bark. If you harvest any of the plant try to use the stem bark rather than the root bark and replant the crown when you are done and it may grow into a new plant. Or collect from an area that is about to be cleared.
Cascara
Rhamnus purshiana
Description: An erect tall shrub or small tree growing to 10m tall. Its bark is silver gray and tastes so bitter it will numb your tongue if you taste it. Alternate deciduous oblong or egg shaped leaves are a dark shiny green with strong furrowed veins. Small umbrella shaped clusters of tiny greenish yellow flowers form in the leaf axils.
Ecology: Found at low and middle elevations in dryish to wet conditions, often an understory tree or shrub growing in mixed woods.
Notes: The bark of the Cascara was and still is used by native peoples and westerners alike as a very strong laxative, it was also used to clean wounds and sores, but it was never taken fresh as it is extremely bitter and may cause nausea.
False Azalea AKA
Fool's Huckleberry
Menziasia ferruginea
Description: An erect or spreading shrub to 3m tall; bark on older twigs is scaly and fraying but on young twigs it is sticky-hairy. The leaves are light blue-green elliptic shaped and in clusters; they smell skunky when crushed. The strong mid-vein protrudes slightly at the leaf tip. It produces pinkish urn shaped drooping flowers in terminal clusters that resemble those of the huckleberry, hence its other common name.
Ecology: Found in shady or open coniferous woods, preferring acidic moist sites in montane and subalpine forests, though it is found down to sea level up north.
Notes: This one was found on a mossy lakeshore at Carlson Lake at middle elevation, August 2001.
Hardhack
Spiraea douglassi ssp. douglassi
Description:A branched erect shrub that grows to 2m tall, its alternate deciduous leaves are oblong or oval 3-10cm long and are toothed on their upper half, they are dark green above and woolly below. Its pink or rose coloured flowers are tiny but abundant in narrow, long, compact clusters.
Ecology: Found at low or middle elevations on streambanks, swamps, fens, and lake margins.
Notes: This one was found growing beneath the power lines in West Sechelt on the edge of a low, swampy area, July 2001.
Subalpine Spiraea
Spiraea densiflora
Description: A smaller shrub than hardhack, growing to 80cm tall with flat-topped terminal clusters of pink flowers. Its leaves are also oblong to oval and are also toothed on their upper half.
Ecology: Found at middle to subalpine elevations in southwestern BC, it grows in thickets, on streambanks, meadows and rocky slopes, prefers moist sites.
Notes: This one was found on the edge of Carlson Lake at middle elevation.
Sweet Gale
Myrica gale
Description: A beautifully aromatic wetland shrub that may grow up to 1.5m tall but is generally just under 1m or less. Alternate deciduous lance-shaped leaves are coarsely toothed on the upper 1/3 of the leaf but not below, 2-5cm long, whitish underneath and dotted on both sides with yellow wax glands. Waxy yellow-greenish catkins appear before the leaves with male (to 2cm long) and female (1cm long) catkins on separate plants. Fruits are greenish brown cone-like spikes.
Ecology: Common in wetland habitats such as bogs, swamps, fens, lake margins and the edges of salt marshes, found mostly at lower elevation but also at middle elevation.
Notes: These ones were found on a floating cedar log bog in Klein Lake at low elevation near Egmont, BC.
Harry Manzanita
Arctostaphylos columbiana
Description: An erect to spreading evergreen shrub grows to 3m tall with reddish brown bark that flakes and peels. Greyish green leaves are egg or lance-shaped, alternate, 2-5cm long and hairy all over, especially underneath. White to pinkish urn shaped flowers are small and found in clusters at branch ends. Blackish red berries are 6-8mm across, edible but not especially tasty.
Ecology: Found at low elevations, not much farther north than the Sunshine Coast of BC, found in dry sunny spots, rocky slopes and outcrops.
Notes: This one was found in a dryish fir forest on the edge of Sechelt Inlet, BC, July 2003.
