Popular Wildflowers of South-Central British Columbia

By Neil L. Jennings

A full-colour field guide for the curious amateur naturalist, traveller, or hiker who wishes to learn to identify flowering plants that may be encountered while in the outdoors of South-Central British Columbia during the usual blooming season.

Neil Jennings’s new series of colourful and easy-to-use wildflower guides introduces amateur naturalists to some of the more commonly found wildflowers in western Canada. Along with hundreds of colour photos and informative descriptions containing both common and scientific flower names, the blossoms profiled are arranged by their predominant colour, and the books themselves are designed to be small and lightweight enough to encourage the user to take them into the field.

Whether you are hiking, walking, camping, or adventuring in the great outdoors, these charming books are packed with useful information for anyone interested in enhancing their enjoyment of the natural world by learning about the flora encountered. Indeed, the ability to make an accurate identification of various wild plants is satisfying in and of itself, and the user will also be better equipped to avoid certain plants that should not be tampered with owing to their toxicity, scarcity, or sharp spines or edges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RMB Rocky Mountain Books
• Release date: Apr 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781771603485

Neil L. Jennings

Neil Jennings is an ardent hiker, photographer, and outdoorsman who loves “getting down in the dirt” pursuing his keen interest in wildflowers. For 22 years he was a co-owner of a fly-fishing retail store in Calgary, and he has fly-fished extensively, in both fresh and saltwater, for decades. His angling pursuits usually lead him to wildflower investigations in a variety of venues. He taught fly-fishing-related courses in Calgary for over 20 years, and his photographs and writings on the subject have appeared in a number of outdoor magazines. Neil has previously written several volumes published by Rocky Mountain Books dealing with wildflowers in western Canada, fly fishing, and hiking venues in southern Alberta. Neil lives in Calgary, Alberta, with Linda, his wife of over 40 years. They spend a lot of time outdoors together chasing fish, flowers, and, as often as possible, grandchildren.

Book preview

POPULAR WILDFLOWERS

of South-Central British Columbia

Neil L. Jennings

Rocky Mountain Books logo.

This book is dedicated to my children, Shawn, Jenise, Matthew and Simon, all of whom put up with my wildflower passion, often even aiding and abetting it. Thanks for that. I am enormously proud of each of you.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Territorial Range of Wildflowers

Yellow Flowers

Skunk Cabbage (Yellow Arum)

Oregon Grape

Common Bladderwort

Blazing Star (Giant Blazing Star)

Puccoon (Lemonweed)

Yellow Buckwheat (Umbrella Plant)

Sagebrush Buttercup

Yellow Columbine

Brittle Prickly-Pear Cactus

Narrow-Leaved Desert Parsley (Nine-Leaf Biscuit-Root)

Arrow-Leaved Balsamroot

Brown-Eyed Susan (Gaillardia)

Canada Goldenrod

Curly-Cup Gumweed

Goat’s-Beard (Yellow Salsify)

Heart-Leaved Arnica

Pineapple Weed (Disc Mayweed)

Sow Thistle (Perennial Sow Thistle)

Spear-Head Senecio (Arrow-Leaved Ragwort)

Tansy

Woolly Groundsel (Woolly Ragwort)

Yellow Evening Primrose

Bracted Lousewort (Wood Betony)

Butter and Eggs (Toadflax)

Common Mullein

Yellow Monkeyflower

Yellow Beardtongue (Yellow Penstemon)

Golden Corydalis

Black Twinberry (Bracted Honeysuckle)

Glacier Lily (Yellow Avalanche Lily)

Yellowbell

Douglas Maple (Rocky Mountain Maple)

Golden Draba (Yellow Draba, Golden Whitlow Grass)

Prairie Rocket

Soopolallie (Canadian Buffaloberry)

Wolf Willow (Silverberry)

Yellow Lady’s Slipper

Field Locoweed

Sulphur Lupine

Yellow Hedysarum

Yellow Mountain Avens (Drummond’s Mountain Avens)

Large-Leaved Avens

Shrubby Cinquefoil

Silverweed

Sticky Cinquefoil

Yellow Mountain Saxifrage

Western St. John’s Wort

Lance-Leaved Stonecrop (Spearleaf Stonecrop)

Round-Leaved Violet (Evergreen Violet)

Yellow Wood Violet

Blue and Purple Flowers

Common Butterwort

Alpine Forget-Me-Not

Blueweed (Viper’s Bugloss)

Stickseed

Tall Bluebells (Tall Lungwort)

Blue Clematis

Low Larkspur

Monkshood

Prairie Crocus

Blue Lettuce

Blue Sailors (Chicory)

Showy Aster

Tall Purple Fleabane

Alpine Speedwell (Alpine Veronica)

Fuzzy-Tongued Penstemon (Shrubby Penstemon)

Small-Flowered Penstemon (Slender Beardtongue)

Blue Flax

Northern Gentian

Sticky Purple Geranium

Harebell

Blue-Eyed Grass

Chocolate Lily (Checker Lily)

Early Camas

Marsh Skullcap

Dame’s Rocket (Dame’s Violet)

Bladder Locoweed (Stalked Pod Crazyweed)

Silky Lupine

Jacob’s Ladder (Showy Jacob’s Ladder)

Shooting Star

Marsh Cinquefoil

Purple Saxifrage (Purple Mountain Saxifrage)

Early Blue Violet (Western Long-Spurred Violet)

Silky Phacelia (Silky Scorpionweed)

Thread-Leaved Phacelia (Thread-Leaved Scorpionweed)

Red, Orange and Pink Flowers

Falsebox

Mountain Sorrel

Water Smartweed (Water Knotweed)

Red Columbine (Western Columbine)

Western Meadow Rue

Windflower

Common Burdock

Orange Hawkweed

Black Gooseberry (Swamp Currant)

Flowering Red Currant (Red-Flower Currant)

Spreading Dogbane

Fireweed (Great Willowherb)

River Beauty (Broad-Leaved Willowherb)

Elephant’s Head

Red Monkeyflower (Lewis’s Monkeyflower)

Red Paintbrush

Thin-Leaved Owl’s Clover

Bog Cranberry

False Azalea (Fool’s Huckleberry)

Pine-Drops

Pink Wintergreen

Pipsissewa (Prince’s-Pine)

Red Heather (Pink Mountain Heather)

Swamp Laurel (Western Bog Laurel)

Orange Honeysuckle (Western Trumpet)

Twinflower

Tiger Lily (Columbia Lily)

Nodding Onion

Sagebrush Mariposa Lily

Western Wood Lily

Mountain Hollyhock

Showy Milkweed

Wild Bergamot

Venus Slipper (Fairy Slipper)

Spotted Coralroot (Summer Coralroot)

Scarlet Gilia (Skyrocket)

Bitterroot

Hardhack (Douglas Spirea)

Three-Flowered Avens (Old Man’s Whiskers)

Prickly Rose

Roseroot

White, Green and Brown Flowers

Cushion Buckwheat (Silver-Plant)

Sulphur Buckwheat

Baneberry

Globeflower

Mountain Marsh Marigold

Water Crowfoot (Water Buttercup)

Western Anemone (Chalice Flower)

Western Clematis (White Virgin’s Bower)

Cow Parsnip

Large-Fruited Desert-Parsley

Sharptooth Angelica (Lyall’s Angelica)

Water Hemlock

Hooker’s Thistle

Palmate Coltsfoot

Pathfinder Plant (Trail Plant)

Yarrow

Northern Black Currant (Skunk Currant)

Sticky Currant

Bunchberry (Dwarf Dogwood)

Eyebright

Sickletop Lousewort (Parrot’s Beak)

Beargrass

Queen’s Cup

Three Spot Mariposa Lily (Three Spot Tulip)

Western Trillium (Western Wake Robin)

White Camas

Reflexed Rock Cress

Heart-Leaved Twayblade

Hooded Ladies’ Tresses

Mountain Lady’s Slipper

Round-Leaved Orchid

Sparrow’s-Egg Lady’s Slipper (Franklin’s Lady’s Slipper)

Wild Licorice

Western Spring Beauty

Ocean Spray (Cream Bush)

Partridgefoot (Creeping Spiraea)

Alaska Saxifrage (Rusty Saxifrage)

Bishop’s Cap (Bare-Stemmed Mitrewort)

Red-Stemmed Saxifrage

Spotted Saxifrage

Woodland Star (Small-Flowered Woodland Star)

Glossary

About the Author

Acknowledgements

I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of family members who contributed to this book by their continuous encouragement and support. Particular appreciation goes to my wife, Linda, who accompanied me on many flower outings and allowed me frequent absences from other duties in favour of chasing blooming flowers. My children, and, I am happy to say, their children, all deserve mention as well, given that they were often seconded to tramp around with me and bring me home alive. Thanks also go to many friends who encouraged me in my projects and often went into the field with me, according me a level of patience that was above and beyond the call of duty. I also wish to especially thank (or perhaps blame) the now departed S. Don Cahoon, who often shamed me with my ignorance and convinced me to educate myself about the beauty that resides in fields of wildflowers.

Introduction

This book is intended to be a field guide for the amateur naturalist to the identification of wild flowering plants commonly found in the south central areas of British Columbia. The region covered extends eastward generally from the eastern side of the coastal mountains to the Rocky Mountain trench and includes the northern portions of several of the border states of the USA.

This is not a book for scientists. It is for the curious traveller who wants to become acquainted with the flowers encountered during outings. The book differs from most other field guides in that it makes no assumption that the reader has any background in things botanical. It is also small enough to actually carry in the field and not be a burden. I believe most people want to be able to identify the flowers they encounter, because this enriches their outdoor experience. Some might think it a difficult skill to perfect, but take heart and consider this: you can easily put names and faces together for several hundred family members, friends, acquaintances, movie stars, authors, business and world leaders, sports figures etc. Wildflower recognition is no different, and it need not be complicated.

The book does not cover all of the species of wildflowers and flowering shrubs that exist here, but it does include a large representation of the more common floral communities that might be encountered in a typical day during the blooming season. No book that I am acquainted with covers all species in any region, and indeed if such a source existed, it would be too large to be easily carried. Obviously, space will not permit a discussion of all such species, nor would it be pertinent for the amateur naturalist. The region harbours a vast diversity of habitat. In fact, for its relative size, the region is said to have some of the greatest diversity of plant species of any comparable area in North America.

Do you know what this flower is called? is one of the most often asked questions