August25_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Photos - Walking along the most interesting part of the Mission Creek Greenway on the last km stretch of trailway before getting to the Layer Cake Mountain Lookout. Frames left and center are looking north toward the opposite side of the Gallaghers Canyon to the Northern rim from the well groomed dirt and gravel path. Frame right looks west toward the curving Mission Creek and the entrance to Gallaghers Canyon.

Photos - The stairs leading to the upper portion of the Layer Cake Lookout hill on the south rim of Gallaghers Canyon (frame left). At the top of the Greenway Trail is a bench of yellow tumble mustard flowers and Artemisia Tridentata (Big Sagebrush) still with green stalks before flowers break out in the spikes at the top of the plant. Common to middle and low elevations throughout the Thompson, Fraser and Okanagan basins - blooming in late summer to early fall. Southern Interior natives used the sagebrush leaves and young branches to make teas for colds and as a sore foot bath. Native Indians and Wiccans use the dried branches and leaves in a cleansing 'smudge' for religious ceremonies. Other Interior tribes sometimes striped the tough bark off the shrub in order to weave mats, bags and clothing.

Photos - Frames left and right: A field with brightly flowered Hypericum Formosum (St John's Wort). Western St. John's Wort has narrow, lance shaped leaves and flower petals. St John's Wort is a Eurasian introduced perennial weed that has naturalized and spread through fields, pastures, waste areas, and roadsides throughout or region. It has been used in medicines since medieval times - usually prescribed for nervous disorders (internally as a tea) or externally as a poultice on exposed nerves. This plant also makes sensitive individuals susceptible to skin burns and dermatitis (phototoxins concentrated in the glandular dots on the leaves, make us light sensitive) It is presently being tested for its ability to inhibit a variety of retro viruses, including AIDS.

Center frame: A first look east along the trailway toward the lookout and Layer Cake Mountain.

Click here for more photos of Mission Creek Greenway for this day.