The Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria affinis) is native to Cowichan’s Garry oak meadows although even then they are not common. Loss of habitat is as usual the prime reason for their slow demise. The largest concentration that I have found is at St. Peter’s Anglican parish in Duncan where numerous chocolate lilies grow along with a spectacular field of common camas, numerous fawn lilies and a host of other wildflowers. The chocolate lilies are at their prime in late April amd early May so if you wish to view them you had better head out quickly.
Chocolate lily (Fritillaria affinis) at St Peter's
Continue reading Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria affinis) in the Cowichan
Death Camas
The wildflowers at the Mt. Tzouhalem Ecological Reserve have certainly peaked at this time. While a few species have pretty much gone; shooting stars and fawn lilies, many of the others are at or near their prime. The balsamroot flowers are beautiful at this stage although may only be that way for a few days if the good weather continues. The common camas and death camas are both blooming strongly and should be even better next week! While there are a few chocolate lilies in the area they are close to the end of their blooming season. Carpets of
Continue reading Mt. Tzouhalem Ecological Reserve wildflower update
Western White Trillium (Trillium ovatum)
Trillium Ovatum is also known as Western White Trillium and Western Wake Robin. This flower is the member of family Trilliacea and is found growing in rich and dense forests like those of Western Canada and the Unitred States. Locally it is found growing in northern ranges of Oregon, Eastern Montana, Washington, the southwestern parts of Alberta and many others areas which have fully grown forests. You will usually find these flowers shaded by big trees like Western Red Cedar, Fir and Big Leaf Maple which is why sometimes it is difficult to locate them
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Camas Lily, Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve
The Camas is an exotic species of plants and is part of the lily family. These are beautiful purple colored flowers which can be found flourishing in their primary Garry oak meadow ecosystem of Vancouver Island in the in the late spring. Apart from their primary habitat these stunning flowers can also be located in different ecosystems in Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and California. The flowers are most impressive in late spring. This species of flower is not endangered but near Duncan, BC, the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve contains some of the last preserved abundant fields of this flower.
Continue reading Camas Lilies (Camassia quamash)
Salmonberry flower, Cowichan Valley, British Columbia
The salmonberry is one of the first wildflowers to come into bloom in the Cowichan Valley and throughout Vancouver Island. The plant is native to the west coast of North America from west central Alaska to California. They are commonly found in moist areas and along rivers and streams.
Salmonberries berries are edible and were widely used by the aboriginal people who also ate the tender shoots of the plant. Often eated raw, the berries are also processed into jams, jellies and wine. For something completely different try salmonberry sorbet.
Salmonberry Sorbet:
8 cups Salmonberry
1 cup sugar
1-2
Continue reading Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)
White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum)
The White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum) is one of the most striking wildflowers of early spring in the Cowichan Valley. These flowers are also known as the Easter lily and Trout lily. While large quantities carpet the ground in many areas development has diminished the numbers greatly in the past few decades. As well, the Cowichan has the much rarer Pink Fawn Lily (Erythronium revolutum) in a number of locations.
The peak time for blooms in this area is mid April although with the mild winter we have had this year it might be a little
Continue reading White Fawn Lily – Erythronium oregonum
For those of you that have been following this blog for the past year you may have noticed that I put it upon myself to try and photograph a good portion of the wildflowers that grow in the Cowichan Valley and region. To visit my previous blog post go to Wildflowers of the Cowichan Valley. While I started out with a bang, other commitments slowed me down as summer came around. This year I will attempt to photograph more of the summer wildflowers and publish photographs and stories on this blog. Look for a new wildflower every Monday!
I’ll recommend some
Continue reading Cowichan Wildflowers Update
The Cowichan River in Fall, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
The Cowichan River is one of the more interesting rivers in southern British Columbia, both from a historical standpoint as well as a recreational view. With its source in the mountains above Cowichan Lake, the river wanders through steep canyons and open valleys, finally arriving in Cowichan Bay after a 47km run.
The mood of the river varies with the seasons and rains as was evident a couple weeks ago when we had some massive flooding in the area and the river was roaring. The other extreme is peak summer when a favourite
Continue reading The Cowichan River in Photos
The flooded Cowichan River. Cowichan River Provincial Park, Vancouver Island
We have had an amazing amount of rain the past few weeks and the area even made cross country news as a good portion of Duncan was flooded by the Cowichan River earlier this week. I took advantage of a nice day yesterday to visit the Cowichan River Provincial Park and view the swollen river. Very impressive with trees being ripped from the banks and swept away like twigs.
As usual I took a camera with me and did photograph the river but the lighting wasn’t ideal. I had my macro
Continue reading The Cowichan rain momentarily stopped
Oyster Mushroom, Vancouver Island.
Mushroom season in the Cowichan Valley hits its peak in November as far as photography is concerned. We will likely have mushrooms until late spring but the variety of beautiful fungi seems to peak in late fall. I have been fortunate enough to get out a few times, partly to pick edible mushrooms but also to photograph these amazing plants. Here is a sample of Cowichan mushrooms from last week.
I’ll provide better identification later but don’t have access to my Pacific Northwest Mushroom field guides right now.
Do you enjoy mushroom photos? Take a look at my mushroom gallery for
Continue reading Mushroom season in the Cowichan
