SPECIES INFORMATION FOR
SELECTED TREES OF PACIFIC SPIRIT REGIONAL PARK
VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA
Taken from E-Flora BC (http://www.eflora.bc.ca/) and
The Illustrated Flora of B.C.
(Douglas, G.W., D.V. Meidinger, and J. Pojar (editors). 1998-2002)
Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don
western red cedar
Cupressaceae
SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Large tree, up to about 60 m tall; mature trees generally fluted and buttressed at the base; branches tend to spread, or droop slightly and then upturn; the branchlets spray-like, strongly flattened horizontally; bark ridged and fissured, readily tearing Leaves: Scalelike, somewhat overlapping, closely pressed to stem, in opposite pairs; glossy yellowish-green, turning brown and shedding with age. Cones: Seed cones green when immature, brown, egg-shaped, and 8-10 mm long when mature; pollen cones minute and reddish, numerous. Notes: This is the provincial tree of BC.
Very common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco
Douglas-fir
Pinaceaee
SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Tree up to 70 (occasionally to 90) m tall; rounded to flattened crown when older, young trees with pyramidal crown; bark very thick, rough, dark brown. Leaves: Needles (1.5) 2-3 (3.5) cm long, spreading around twig or turned upward, obtuse to abruptly sharp-pointed tip; color varies from yellow-green to dark-green in var. menziesii to blue-green in var. glauca, lower surface with two longitudinal bands of white stomata. Cones: Seed cones drooping, yellowish- to purplish-green when young, turning reddish-brown, soon deciduous; 6-10 cm long in var. menziesii, 4-7 cm in var. glauca; scales with 3-lobed tip, the centre one the longest; pollen cones yellow to reddish, 6-10 mm long. Notes: Two varieties are recognized in BC 1. Cones mostly 6-10 cm long, the bracts straight and appressed toward the cone tip; leaves deep (yellowish) green; primarily coastal var. menziesii (coast Douglas-fir) 1. Cones mostly 4-7 cm long, the bracts appressed to spreading or reflexed; leaves more bluish-green; primarily interior var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco (Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir)
Very common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.
western hemlock
Pinaceaee SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Tree to 50 (60) m tall; narrow crown, with noticeably drooping leader (growing tip); young twigs covered with mix of short hairs and longer hairs; bark rough and scaly, strongly furrowed and ridged in older trees, dark brown to reddish-brown. Leaves: Needles somewhat flattened, rounded at tip, 8-20 (25) mm long and characteristically unequal in length, spread unevenly at right angles to the branches to form feathery, flat sprays; glossy and yellow-green on upper surface, almost entirely white-stomatiferous on the lower. Cones: Seed cones maturing from green to brown, 1.5-2.5 cm long, oblong-egg-shaped; pollen cones yellow, 3-4 mm long. Notes: Hybrids with T. mertensiana have been reported (T. x jeffreyi [Henry] Henry) but are considered rare; some reports may be at upper elevations of its range where T. heterophylla may take on some characteristics of T. mertensiana, e.g., leaves less 2-ranked and stomatal bands on the lower leaf surfaces less distinct.
Very common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.
Sitka spruce
Pinaceaee
SPECIES INFORMATION General: Tall tree, up to 90 m tall; bark greyish-brown to purplish, scaly, thin; young twigs glabrous; main branches of tree noticably long and horizontal with drooping branchlets. Leaves: Needles sharp, flattened; standing out in all directions; pungent. Cones: Seed cones 5-9 cm long, reddish-brown to yellowish-brown, scales rounded and finely irregularly toothed at tip; pollen cones red. Notes: Hybridizes with P. glauca and P. engelmannii (see notes under P. glauca and P. engelmannii).
Not common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Abies grandis (Dougl. ex D. Don) Lindl.
grand fir
Pinaceaee
SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Tall, straight tree, up to 80 m tall; bark greyish to light brown, with resin blisters, smooth to shallowly ridged, becoming flaky; branches flattened and spray-like. Leaves: Needles flat, rounded and usually notched at the tip; dark green and shallowly grooved above, having two distinct whitish bands of stomata below; definitely spreading horizontally, 2-4 (5) cm long. Cones: Seed cones erect, yellowish-green to green, 6-11 cm long, 3.5-4 cm thick, the bracts deciduous; pollen cones yellowish.
Rare in Pacific Spirit Park
Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa L.
(Populus balsamifera)
black cottonwood
Salicaceae
SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Dioecious tree up to 50 m tall; not colonial; branches brown the first year, turning grey later; twigs smooth or sparsely hairy. Leaves: Alternate, deciduous, simple, narrowly to broadly egg-shaped or lanceolate, 5-20 cm long, 3-12 cm wide, the bases tapered to heart-shaped or squared-off smooth, finely toothed and hairy on the margins, the teeth often tipped with a callous gland, lower side whitish or pale green and brownish; leaf stalks 2-10 cm long, often with a pair of glands near the blade; buds finely hairy with fringed scales. Flowers: Borne in catkins; male catkins 2-3 (5) cm long, soon deciduous, with 8-60 stamens; female catkins 8-20 cm long. Fruits: Capsules, broadly egg-shaped, carpels 2-3, smooth or hairy, nearly unstalked. Notes: Two subspecies occur in BC. The hybrids P. angustifolia James x P. balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa (P. x brayshawii Boivin) and P. balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa x P. nigra L. var. italica DuRoi are rare in BC 1. Ovaries and capsules smooth; leaves pale green and brownish beneath ssp. balsamifera1. Ovaries and young capsules hairy; leaves whitish beneath ssp. trichocarpa (T. & G.) Brayshaw
Common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Alnus rubra Bong.
red alder
Betulaceae
SPECIES INFORMATION General: Deciduous shrub or tree, up to 25 m tall; axillary buds with stalks; bark scaly, often lichen-covered, yellowish-brown or grey-splotched with white. Leaves: Alternate, deciduous, smooth, coarsely to irregularly toothed, the teeth pointing outwards, leaf margins rolled under, brownish in the fall. Flowers: Inflorescence of male and female catkins which open before the leaves enlarge; male catkins with stalks. Fruits: Small nutlets, with narrow-winged margins; female cones 1.5-2.5 cm long, egg-shaped.
Very common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Acer macrophyllum Pursh
bigleaf maple; Oregon maple
Aceraceaeae
SPECIES INFORMATION General: Large, deciduous, spreading tree up to 30 m tall; branches greenish barked, smooth; older bark greyish-brown, ridged and often covered with lichens and mosses. Leaves: Opposite, 10-30 cm wide, deeply 5-lobed, tips abruptly sharp-pointed, dark green above and paler green below, turning yellow in fall, stalks with milky juice when cut. Flowers: Inflorescence racemose with male and female flowers on the same plant; numerous on short stalks, appearing with or before the leaves; petals greenish-white, Fruits: Winged, in pairs, 3-6 cm long, yellowish-brown, hairy, pairs attached in a V-shape.
Common in Pacific Spirit
Park
Prunus emarginata (Dougl.) Walp.
bitter cherry
Rosaceae
SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Shrub or small tree, 2-15 m tall, sometimes thicket-forming, smooth to densely hairy throughout; bark reddish-brown or grey, with horizontal lenticels. Leaves: Alternate, deciduous, elliptic to egg-shaped or lanceolate, 3-8 cm long, finely round-toothed, rounded or blunt to sometimes sharp-pointed at the tip, wedge-shaped to pointed at the base, densely hairy (at least below) to smooth; leaf stalks 5-12 mm long, usually lacking small glands at the top. Flowers: Inflorescences short, rounded to flat-topped clusters, at the ends of short spur-shoots, of 3 to 10 stalked flowers; corollas white, saucer-shaped, the petals 5, egg-shaped, 5-7 mm long, often hairy on the lower surface; calyces smooth to coarse-hairy, 5-lobed, the oblong lobes about 2 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens about 20. Fruits: Fleshy drupes with a large ellipsoid stone (cherries), egg- to globe-shaped, 8-12 mm long, bright red to purple; seeds 1. Notes: The more typical tree-like plants from coastal areas have been given the varietal name mollis (Dougl.) Brew.
Sporadic in Pacific Spirit
Park
Rhamnus purshiana DC. cascara
Rhamnaceae
SPECIES INFORMATION
General: Deciduous shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall with yellow- to brownish hairs, bark silvery-grey. Leaves: Alternate, egg-shaped to broadly elliptic, the blades 6-13 cm long, finely toothed with 10-12 conspicuous pairs of parallel veins, the veins short-hairy; stalks 5-23 mm long; stipules lacking. Flowers: Inflorescence an axillary, stalked cluster of 8-25 male and/or female flowers; petals 5, greenish, hooded, 3-4 mm long; hypanthium lined with a thin disc; calyces 5-lobed, the lobes triangular, finely hairy. Fruits: Berries, 6-10 mm long, black to purplish-black; seeds 3. vol4_6
Sporadic in Pacific Spirit
Park
