Find a Trail
British Columbian Wilderness
Have ambitions of being an expert botanist -- the next Wade Davis or Agnes Arber? Then consider this the first step on a long and exciting journey. This resource won't delve deep into plant physiology, genetics or the like. However, at the very least you'll be be able to wander through the forests and backcountry of Vancouver and surrounding areas with the confidence to identify familiar trees and plant life. Your unbeknownst friends and family will look at you with awe and amazement as you can point out Western Red Cedars, Arbutus trees and sword ferns like an expert Mountain Guru.
What you'll learn from this resource:
- How to identify common Metro Vancouver trees like the Western Red Cedar, Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Arbutus, Paper Birch, Bigleaf Maple and Red Alder
- How to identify common Metro Vancouver plants including wildflowers, ferns and berries
Vancouver uniquely divides two mountainous ranges: the Cascade Mountains spanning all the way south to northern California, and the Coast Mountains range including the local North Shore and Garibaldi mountains, extending all the way north into the Yukon and Alaska. The Fraser River divides the two ranges from Vancouver all the way up the river to Mount Robson. Theoretically, if you were to stand in the middle at the bottom of the Fraser River, you could have each hand touching a different piece of the continent.
Vancouver is also Canada's only major city that is located in a temperate rainforest and only one of three across North America. Unlike a tropical rainforest where evergreen trees are king, Vancouver has a rich mix of both evergreen (often coniferous) and deciduous trees such as birch, maple, alder and oak. As well, there is a thriving ecosystem of undergrowth including Pacific Dogwood flowers, dandelion, bluebells and ferns to name a few.
Evergreen Trees around Vancouver
Evergreens are trees that retain leaves throughout the year. Their foliage stays green regardless of climate or season. These are the typical backdrop for most mountains throughout the Metro Vancouver area -- and probably the type of tree you first scribbled down with a crayon as a kid. They tend to have a tall, straight trunk with a pointed crown and horizontal or drooping branches.
Many evergreen trees are coniferous and have small, needle like leaves. Coniferous trees reproduce by distributing their seeds through protective cones that eventually drop to the forest floor below.
Douglas Fir
Reaching heights comparable to many downtown Vancouver office towers, the Douglas Fir is the dominant evergreen tree in most of the south coastal areas of British Columbia.
Identify a Douglas Fir by it's long, straight and exposed trunk with greyish cracked bark and long, extending branches. Soft and bright green needles extrude out in all directions from bark colored twigs.
Gigantic Douglas Fir Tree
Western Red Cedar
Known for it's fragrant scent and being the smell of closet balls everywhere, red cedar has a rich tie to the history and culture of the coastal aboriginal peoples of British Columbia. It has been key in nearly every aspect of their lives from housing, canoes, equipment to clothing.
Identify a red cedar tree by it's towering and often wide trunk, with long, vertical and stringy segments of bark. The leaves appear like flat, miniature upside-down versions of a typical tree shape -- wider towards the base and tapering off at the tip.
Western Red Cedar Trees A group of Western Red Cedar trees among an undergrowth of lichen and ferns
Hemlock
The runt of the coniferous litter. Reaching heights typically around half of it's Douglas Fir and Red Cedar relatives, the Western Hemlock is a rather slim and modest tree with soft, light green needles and scaly bark. With a more shallow rooting system by comparison, the Hemlock is more vulnerable to wind storms and can often be found laying on the forest floor playing host to budding plants and young saplings.
Western White Pine
More common in the drier areas around the south coast, it is rarely seen above ascending higher than 450 meters and has a similar profile as the Western Hemlock but reaching heights closer to the Red Cedar and Douglas Fir.
Arbutus
Arbutus trees tend to congregate in areas that are dry and well exposed to sunlight -- such as the rocky bluffs along the coastal mountains in West Vancouver. The trees are popular Instagram stars known for their thin, flaking red bark and contorted, mostly bare branches. Years back, they were at the center of a debate between local environmentalists and developers threatening their habitat as part of the Sea to Sky expansion leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Deciduous Trees around Vancouver
Deciduous trees are the typical fall or autumn visual -- with leaves that turn yellow, orange and red. Their leaves eventually fall to the ground leaving bare branches throughout the colder seasons.
Deciduous trees often have rounded crowns and winding branches that reach out in every direction. They reproduce by bearing fruits or nuts that are eventually consumed by animals and eventually excreted.
Paper Birch
Popular as tea-light holders in gift shops all around the Lower Mainland, the Paper Birch is much less common on the south coast, except in floodplain and bog areas such as Ladner. You'll recognize it's thin, peeling white and papery bark.
Bigleaf Maple
Ahh yes, the maple tree -- the tree that is synonymous with everything Canadian. It's leaves our national symbol and it's sap our national pancake topping. Predominantly, maple syrup is derived from the sap of maple trees in eastern Canada. Although syrup can be derived from the sap of the Bigleaf Maple, the sugar content is much lower. Rather than being known for it's syrup, the Bigleaf boasts the largest leaves and heights of any Canadian maple species.
During the Fall, recognize the Bigleaf Maple by the red and orange hued five-lobed leaves that seem to blanket every laneway around Vancouver. In the backcountry, these trees find great company with evergreen Douglas Fir, cedars and hemlock. They thrive along rivers and other areas with moist soils.
Red Alder
The Red Alder is the west coast's decidious tree with an inferiority complex. While not the tallest in woods, put Red Alder in a crowd and it will fight for attention -- often dominating and over-shading it's neighbors.
Recognize the Red Alder by it's large oval crown of branches extending out of a long, narrow and greyish trunk. The leaves are palm-sized ovals, with pleated lines and crinkle-cut looking edges.
Garry Oak
As the namesake of one of Vancouver's major arterial roads, one might think that the oak trees lined every neighbourhood, park and mountainside. In fact, the Garry Oak is actually quite rare. Once abundant throughout the Lower Mainland after the ice age, it's population has significantly reduced due to a warming climate and logging.
Garry Oak trees prefer well drained soil and lots of sun. In the event that you're in the ideal habitat, recognize the Garry Oak tree by it's moderate height reaching up to 20 meters, the wide and round crown of branches, and greyish brown cracked bark that resembles images of a drought laden desert floor.
Plant and Wildflower Species around Vancouver
Deer Fern among Wood Ferns Bright yellow green Deer Ferns at various stages of maturity are shown. Notice their thin and narrow fronds growing from a center clump. Wood Ferns with their triangle shaped fronds surround it.
Ferns
Ferns -- the lawn of the coastal rainforest. Almost anywhere you hike throughout the Lower Mainland, you're likely to find bunches upon bunches of ferns under a canopy of evergreen trees. These modest, shallow plants love moisture and shade. As they mature, their fronds unfurl into large feather shapes -- not too dissimilar to that of a palm tree.
Around the south coast, common species are the lady fern, ostrich fern, sword fern male fern, deer fern, rattlesnake, bracken fern and fragile fern. Before the lady or ostrich ferns fronds unfurl, the "fiddleheads" are edible and often foraged for. Mountain Guru recommends a fiddlehead fried in a pan with a little salt and butter. Mmm.
Sword Fern and Lady Ferns In the foreground are two Sword Fern plants in the final stages of unfurling. In the background are Lady ferns. Easily identify them with diamond shaped leaflets that are widest in the middle.
Wildflowers
British Columbia is home to countless native species of wildflowers such as Foxglove, Blue Bell and Pacific Dogwood to name a few. Recognize the Foxglove with it's familiar purple bells dangling out from a talk stalk.
Pink Foxglove A patch of pink foxglove in an exposed area of the Quarry Rock trail. The entire plant from seed to stem and petals contains a toxic drug that can cause vomiting, nausea and diarrhea potentially leading to tremors, seizures and death.
Invasive wildflowers intentionally -- or accidentally brought over from Europe and Asia are widespread across the province. Baby's Breath and Oxeye Daisy in particular, are two invasive species that often line many sunny hillside trails. Local conservationists are constantly challenged with curbing the growth of invasive flowers and other plants. Due to a lack of native predators, they can out-compete their native counterparts, devastating regions, disrupting the local ecosystem and biodiversity.
Dandelions, the bane of the modern lawn caretaker, is in fact an edible and delicious plant and flower with roots (pun intended) in Europe, originally finding it's way to British Columbia at the turn of the 19th century.
Skunk Cabbage, the fabricator of the potent springtime aroma found around swamps and wet lands across British Columbia. These stalky plants have giant vertical unfurling leaves that reveal equally giant -- and somewhat alien egg-shaped yellow to green petals. Their leaves have served many functions for the local First Nations, from storing or wrapping food to medicinal purposes.
Shrubs and Berries
Familiar edible shrub fruits such as wild or woodland strawberries, salmonberry, trailing blackberries and salal berries (a relative of the blueberry) grow abundantly throughout the southern coast of British Columbia.
Salmonberry A close up view of a salmonberry. These berries are found in moist coastal forests and mature to a golden red colour.
Bearberry is a commonly found evergreen shrub with small spherical red berries. The dried leaves are known to be used in teas and have a history of being smoked by First Nations combined with tobacco, called Kinnikinnick. Although not poisonous, the bearberry does contain hydroquinone which can be toxic to the liver in large doses.
Probably the most descriptively named shrub is the Creeping Dogwood (also known as Bunchberry). This evergreen shrub accurately tends to creep out several feet into large bunches that hug the ground. It is easily recognizable by the four white flower petals in clusters of six leaves (somewhat similar to the old Province of Ontario logo). Resting in the center of the flower are a bunch of edible and nutritious small red berries with a taste similar to apples.
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