May07_2008

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Further examination of Skookumchuk Narrows Park along the Skookumchuk Trail.

Photos - L-R - Gyromitra Esculenta (Conifer False Morel) This brownish, brain-like cap is typical of false Morels. Unlike Morels, this mushroom is poisonous (rule of thumb... if you don't know for sure, don't eat it) This one is deadly poisonous. The cap is usually 1 to 4 inches in diameter in either saddle shape or brain-like shape, yellow, yellow-brown, or chocolate brown above lighter below. The surface is wrinkled or folded but not pitted. The flesh is thin and brittle, interior chambered. The stalk grows to about 2 inches in length and up to an inch in diameter, is creamy white, unbranched but often fluted, scruffy to smooth, hollow with one or two chambers. True morels have honeycombed caps that are hollow but not chambered.

Isothecium Myosuroides (Cat-tail Moss) hanging in a tangled mass from a tree at trailside is one of our most common mosses and can be seen creeping in irregular branched mats on trees at sea level to middle elevations along the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

A large crop of Douglas' Neckera (Neckera Douglasii) This delicate looking type of moss is usually found in montane forest areas where it forms large mats that hang from branches or tree trunks.

Photos - Frames left and right: An interesting totem pole carved by indigenous Chinook natives.

Center frame: a Chainsaw Carving on a Brown Bear across the street from Bathgates Store - The Bathgate General Store, Resort and Marina is located right on Egmont Road as you enter the community coming from Earls Cove. The nice thing about the Bathgate is the well-stocked general store offering an excellent selection of groceries and hard-to-find hardware items. The Bathgate General Store also has a liquor outlet and there is a resort plus a marina for boaters.

Photos - L-R - Bathgates General store overlooking Secret Bay for more than 50 years.

A last look at Skookumchuk Narrows Park Trail before departing for Gibsons.

Viola Sempervirens (Trailing Yellow Violet) in danger of being stepped on beside the trail. The leaves of this plant are variable, heart to kidney shape, thick and leathery, coarsely toothed, with purple blotches underside of leaf (on older plants). Flowers are pale yellow, with the lower three petals marked violet brown on pencil thin lines.

Click here for more photos of Vancouver for this day.