August22_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Photos - L-R - A view looking south from Highway 3 near Cawston BC. This is a section Rocky Ridge Vineyard with a view of Similkameen River in background to the right.

Looking north along Highway 3 at a cut around a dirt and rock embankment beside Similkameen River.

Several horses have come down to the Similkameen River water's edge for some refreshment.

Photos - Frames left and right: Flowers at Spotted Lake beside Highway 3 in Richter Pass. On the left is a stand of Lupinus Polyphyllus (Large Leaved Lupin) This familiar perennial herb has palmately compound leaves with 10 to 17 leaflets, blue to violet, pea-like flowers in dense clusters on an erect spike. This plant likes moist to wet, open habitats and disturbed sites in low to middle elevations. Mutations can occur spontaneously in populations of organisms, or induced artificially via chemicals or radiation. White-flowered mutants are relatively common in flowers with anthocyanin pigmens (such as blue-eyed Mary or Lupines) but are more rare in yellow flowered plants. On the right is Erigeron Filifolius var. filifolius (Thread-leaved Daisy) is a taprooted perennial with branched, woody stem base. The leaves are recognizably linear and threadlike with finely appressed hairs which makes this plant easily recognized and separated from other members of the daisy family. The flowers are daisy-like with bluish, or pinkish, or sometimes white, ray flowers and yellow disk flowers. This plant is scattered but locally common the Thompson and Okanagan basins in dry areas of shrub grasslands and dry open forest.

Center frame: A pretty yellow blossom on Opuntia Fragilis (Brittle Prickly Pear) cactus. Although bothersome and painful if one treads on it, this is really an interesting species of cactus indigenous to our climate. This is a low-lying, thick, rounded, jointed, fleshy, perennial herb that is indigenous in the dryer, open ground areas in the British Columbia Southern Interior (also grows in Alberta, south to New Mexico). Prickly-pear Cactus leaves were widely used by native tribes as a food source - the spines were peeled or burned off, eaten raw or dried for later consumption. Settlers boiled the leaves to remove stems, then fried the interior of the leaf like a pan fry. When cattle forage was limited, herders would burn off the spines and feed them to livestock.

Photos - The jewel of Highway 3 at Richter Pass: Spotted Lake about 9 kilometers South of Osoyoos BC.

Legends of "Kliluk, the Spotted Lake" are woven into the Native Indian heritage of the Okanagan Valley. The Indians soaked away aches and ailments in the healing mud and waters. One story cites a truce in a battle to allow both warring tribes to tend to their wounded in the Spotted Lake, "Kliluk". Spotted Lake is visible from the road, 8.8 kms (5.5 miles) west of Osoyoos on Hwy. 3 ....a rare and unique natural phenomenon covering 15.2 hectares (38 acres). It contains one of the worlds highest concentrations of minerals: magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), calcium and sodium sulphates, plus eight other minerals and traces of four more, including silver and titanium. The therapeutic value of Spotted Lake has always proved interesting, however other uses were found for the minerals. During WWI, Chinese laborers were employed skimming the salts from the surface of the lake. The product was then shipped to Eastern American munitions factories. Yield is said to have reached a ton per day.
In the hot sun of summer, the water of Spotted Lake evaporates and crystallizes the minerals, forming many white-rimmed circles: shallow pools that reflect the mineral content of the water in shades of blues and greens

Click here for more photos of Scenery along Highway 3 for this day.