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25th Entry: BC's official tree and flower
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Oct. 19th, 2008 | 01:22 pm
Wow, over one month since my last post! i have neglected my blog for so long because of several reasons - and i realize now these are more so excuses than reasons. One is an apparent lack of interest from my audience (which shouldn't matter because i should be doing this for MYSELF!) and the other excuse is i have just been too busy with my full time job and my UBC application.
With the excuses out of the way, i want to write a bit about two of our province's very important (and therefore official) trees: The western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn) and the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii).
What prompted me to write this blog was my recent realization of just how much i love trees - i have even been considering getting my arborist certification if i am not accepted into UBC this time around.
One of the books i am currently spending a lot of time with is "Trees, Shrubs, & Flowers to know in British Columbia", by C.P. Lyons. It is a conveniently smaller-sized book that i can carry around with me, so its great for reading during my lunch break at work; while consulting the book, i try to identify the various trees that surround me.
According to the book, and confirmed by BC's provincial website, the western red cedar, and the Pacific dogwood's flowers are BC's official tree and floral emblem, respectively. Here is some basic information on these two trees.
1) The western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn)
The gigantic, fluted tree trunks one sees when driving through Stanley Park (the road is designed in a way for drivers to get dramatic views of them) are Western Red cedars.
Red cedars often grow over 150 feet high. Their wood has a red tinge and a nice fragrant scent. Their leaves are feather like (versus needle-like) and some of their foliage dies (and becomes brown) in the autumn.
These are their cones:
First Nations people valued the Red cedar's wood for how easily it can be split into thin boards, and according to Lyons, it was used for making baskets, mats, and even clothes (i don't know how they made clothes out of wood?!).
An entire tree trunk would also be used to make a massive war canoe.
2) The Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii)
Citing Lyons again, the limited range of the Pacific dogwood prevents its general acceptance as the official flower of the province. This dogwood only grows on the Western coast of the BC mainland and the bottom third of Vancouver Island.
Dogwoods grow six to eight metres high, and flower in April and May. In actuality, their flowers are 4-6 white bracts, surrounding a compacted knob of about 40 small green flowers:
In the autumn, these trees are easily identifiable with their clusters of bright red berries and colourful foliage.
p.s.: thank you for anyone who took the time to read this entry - if it was as boring for you to read as my previous posts, and in your mind sums up why this blog receives such a small following - in the very least, the next time you drive through Stanley Park or encounter BC's official flower, you now have some more knowledge about what you're seeing.
With the excuses out of the way, i want to write a bit about two of our province's very important (and therefore official) trees: The western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn) and the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii).
What prompted me to write this blog was my recent realization of just how much i love trees - i have even been considering getting my arborist certification if i am not accepted into UBC this time around.
One of the books i am currently spending a lot of time with is "Trees, Shrubs, & Flowers to know in British Columbia", by C.P. Lyons. It is a conveniently smaller-sized book that i can carry around with me, so its great for reading during my lunch break at work; while consulting the book, i try to identify the various trees that surround me.
According to the book, and confirmed by BC's provincial website, the western red cedar, and the Pacific dogwood's flowers are BC's official tree and floral emblem, respectively. Here is some basic information on these two trees.
1) The western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn)
The gigantic, fluted tree trunks one sees when driving through Stanley Park (the road is designed in a way for drivers to get dramatic views of them) are Western Red cedars.
Red cedars often grow over 150 feet high. Their wood has a red tinge and a nice fragrant scent. Their leaves are feather like (versus needle-like) and some of their foliage dies (and becomes brown) in the autumn.
These are their cones:
First Nations people valued the Red cedar's wood for how easily it can be split into thin boards, and according to Lyons, it was used for making baskets, mats, and even clothes (i don't know how they made clothes out of wood?!).
An entire tree trunk would also be used to make a massive war canoe.
2) The Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii)
Citing Lyons again, the limited range of the Pacific dogwood prevents its general acceptance as the official flower of the province. This dogwood only grows on the Western coast of the BC mainland and the bottom third of Vancouver Island.
Dogwoods grow six to eight metres high, and flower in April and May. In actuality, their flowers are 4-6 white bracts, surrounding a compacted knob of about 40 small green flowers:
In the autumn, these trees are easily identifiable with their clusters of bright red berries and colourful foliage.
p.s.: thank you for anyone who took the time to read this entry - if it was as boring for you to read as my previous posts, and in your mind sums up why this blog receives such a small following - in the very least, the next time you drive through Stanley Park or encounter BC's official flower, you now have some more knowledge about what you're seeing.