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Dr.Brenda Beckwith Dr.Brenda Beckwith is currently the Senior Laboratory Instructor for the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. She has been studying plant ecology and ethobotany for almost 20 years and she recently visited Gabriola at the invitation of GaLTT to discuss the results of her doctoral research on the ethnoecology of the blue camas lily. She has kindly provided the following list of plants she saw while on Gabriola together with some brief comments. |
Select Plants at Drumbeg Provincial Park |
(Click on photo for larger image) |
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| Common camas | Camassia quamash | Nice expanse of common camas on site and no doubt more will be discovered as the invasive shrubs are removed. Population is threatened by trampling. Remember to identify this species by its withering “frizzy looking” petals and exposed ovaries. |  |
| Common forget-me-not | Myosotis discolor | I think I called this little plant “small-flowered forget-me-not” (M. laxa) when I was there, but if it has both yellow and blue flowers, then it’s the introduced common variety. I suspect it is. Forget-me-nots have flowers that uncoil like a scorpion’s tail. |  |
| Common salsify or oyster plant | Tragopogon porrifolius | Found along trail heading back to parking lot. Its cousin, yellow salsify (T. dubius) is considered an invasive species the region, and this one would likely be as well. |  |
| Dwarf owl’s clover | Orthocarpus pusillus (=Triphysaria pusilla) | Cute little plant with purplish tint. |  |
| English plantain | Plantago lanceolata | Introduced weed common throughout the area. It had greenish flowers that I showed some how to shoot across the meadow. |  |
| Field chickweed | Cerastium arvense | This is a native perennial chickweed and a nice unexpected addition to the meadow. |  |
| Garry oak | Quercus garryana | There were several small oaks in the area with recently cut broom. Protect these trees by fencing or establishing plastic tubes around them and mulching them. |  |
| Himalayan blackberry | Rubus discolor (change) Rubus armeniacus | The large patch of blackberry is problematic. There are likely other plants suppressed by the blackberry trying to grow underneath. Do we sacrifice them by piling broom on top? If broom is piled on the blackberry it may suppress the blackberry but might result in a localized ecological black hole in the area for some time. |  |
| Pacific sanicle | Sanicula crassicaulis | One of the most successful native forbs; not very showy, but highly adaptable and tolerant of disturbance. |  |
| Purple dead-nettle | Lamium purpureum | Common weed, but easy to pull out. This the one with the square stems, indicating that it’s in the Mint Family (but not edible). |  |
| Scotch broom | Cytisus scoparius | A tremendous job cutting broom has already been done on site! In terms of the timing of management, larger broom should be cut at or below ground level just after flowering in the Summer, and smaller broom plants can be pulled in the Fall when the risk of soil disturbance is reduced. If possible, the broom should be removed from the site |  |
| Spring gold | Lomatium utriculatum | Low-growing plants with concave, beautiful umbels of little yellow flowers. It’s doing quite well after its release from the broom, but could be easily trampled. |  |
| Tomcat clover | Trifolium willdenowii | A showy little native clover. Sometimes mistaken for the perennial springbank clover (T. wormskjoldii), but this one is an annual. Enjoy while it lasts. |  |
| Wild onions | Allium sp. 1. A. acuminatum (Hooker’s onion) 2. A. cernuum (nodding onion) |
Was unable to determine species as plants still in bud. Looked like a widespread population. Susceptible to trampling; as the meadow is further developed (and revealed) may want to explore some possibilities to keep people out (esp. at critical times of the year). |   |
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