Category Archives: wildflowers

  Come early November, I am often wont to offer an encomium to the western larch. Sometimes the tree is shown covering the mountainside, this time only a portion of an individual appears. The western larch grows only on the … Continue reading →

  The Giant Helleborine is a wild orchid that grows in western North America. It is found in a small portion of southern British Columbia, yet it is not particularly common. Indeed, it takes some effort to locate even a single … Continue reading →

  The mountain lady’s slipper is the third species of wild orchid found in Kokanee Creek Park this year. The earlier two were the fairy slipper and the striped coralroot. A lone mountain lady’s slipper sits in the forest.  

  The striped coralroot is a wild orchid that is both uncommon and widespread. Favouring the deep forest floor that little sunlight reaches, it obtains its energy, not as a result of photosynthesis, but through fungi. Indeed, the plant lacks … Continue reading →

  Each July and August, I keep an eye out for Indian pipe, a flower also known as the ghost plant. Only now and then will I encounter the strange plant that lacks chlorophyll. It has carved out an ecological … Continue reading →

  At this time of year, mountain meadows are awash with wildflowers. Here are four of the myriad species. The pearly everlasting gains its name both from its appearance, and from the ease with which it can be dried for … Continue reading →

  The season of indian pipe is upon us again. That it has appeared this early in the summer may be a result of our recent rain and cloud. Although it looks like a fungus, indian pipe is indeed a … Continue reading →

  This is the third wild orchid found in the last few weeks. The first was the fairy slipper; second was the striped coralroot; this time it is the mountain lady’s slipper. Two mountain lady’s slippers in the forest.