August27_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Photos - The last few days I have been showing pictures of Gallaghers Canyon from the southern rim at Layer Cake Mountain lookout. These photos are from the northern rim of Gallagers canyon from Gallaghers Canyon Road. This section of road leading down into Gallaghers Canyon looks much like it did back in the 1960s thanks to the Westbank First Nations people who now caretake this land.

Photos - L-R - A gnarly old tree that has fallen and started a lovely crop of Letharia Vulpina (Wolf Lichen). Wolf Lichen is a medium sized, upright shrub lichen with bright greenish sulfur yellow branches usually found on tree branches or stumps common at all forested elevations. Interior natives used this lichen for the yellow dye to color fur, moccasins, feathers, wood and a variety of other artistic instances such as face and body paint. Coastal and Alaskan groups would often trade with interior tribes to obtain the lichen. The lichen contains a poisonous substance - vulpinic acid.

Phacelia Linearis (Thread-leaved Phacelia) is a long stem annual with leaves that have a pair of lateral lobes somewhat deeper near the base of the plant. The flowers are bright lavender to blue in a broad funnel shape with stamens that are as long as the petals in small clusters near the top of the stem. It is found scattered and locally common in low elevations in the Fraser, Thompson and Okanagan basins in dry open forest grasslands with sage and alkaline flats.

Pterostichus Spp (Common Ground Beetle) scurrying along the dirt and gravel beside the road. This beetle has a shiny black, elongate body with antennae, down turned sides of elytra reddish brown in color. The head narrows behind the eyes and is found in rocky areas and logs in gardens, moist woods and sometimes grain fields through out North America. It likes to eat soft insects and caterpillars and is one of the only beetle species that is found from coast to coast on our continent.

Photos - L-R - A lovely two-tone yellow flower spike of Linaria Genistifolia Ssp. dalmatica (Toadflax) and is an introduced European Native of low to mid elevations, particularly sandy soils - common at roadsides and disturbed areas. The blossom looks a bit like snapdragon but isn't related.

A spiky tangle of Opuntia Fragilis (Brittle Prickly Pear). This is a low-lying, thick, rounded, jointed, fleshy, perennial herb (one of two varieties of Prickly-pear Cactus) 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.

This interesting looking plant is Prunella Vulgaris (Self Heal, Heal-all) showing a flower head with leaves. It is recognized by it's beautiful purple flowers, Self Heal plants are usually found at roadsides clearings, fields, lawns and forest edges from low to middle elevations. Some coastal natives boiled the whole plant for a tea to be used to aid heart ailments. Others used the plant in a poultice for boils and other skin ailments such as skin inflammations. Traditionally, this plant was used to help heal cuts and sharp implement wounds.

Click here for more photos of Gallaghers Canyon for this day.