Plant ID - BC Common Species Quiz 1

Western Red Cedar - Thuja plicata

conifer, common to BC. High material value. Highly susceptible to drought. Striped bark, scaled needles.

Western hemlock - Tsuga heterophylla

conifer with "furry" and bushy needles, needles are uneven in length, uniform green colour. Scaled/shingled bark.

Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

conifer with Long, thin needles in a 270 degree formation, flat on bottom. Medium sized cones with hiding "mice". Deeply furrowed bark

Grand Fir - Abies grandis

Conifer, upright, "smooth" scaled cones. deeply furrowed bark. Resin blisters when young. Thin, midsized needles, horizontally arranged (tops and bottoms of branches are visible)

Sitka Spruce - Picea sitchensis

"squared" shingling on bark. Thin, wavy, downwards hanging cones. Stiff, sharp lightly coloured needles, four sided around branches and bushy.

Red Alder - Alnus rubra

Ovate, serrated leaves with prominent veining and midrib. Margins roll under, alternating, simple arrangement. Develops cones and catkins. Bark is white/grey, patchy. Inner bark rusty red when cut .

Bigleaf Maple - Acer macrophyllum

Large, dinner plate sized palmate leaves that yellow in autumn. cylindrical hanging flower clusters. produces "helicopter" seeds. Furrowed with vertical patterning and slight scaling.

Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera)

Deeply furrowed, dark grey bark. Develops catkins and seeds that split revealing white fluffy hairs. alternating, Ovate to heart shaped leaves, waxy and thick. Margins have small lobes. midrib prominent.

Pacific Crabapple (Malus fusca)

Small, apple shaped red to yellow fruit. Flowers are white in clusters, with 5 round petals. Leaves are ovate, with serrated edges, and a papery appearance. veining prominent above and below. Midrib is greyish in colour. Bark is without scales, dark brown/grey in colour, with lighter spotting.

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

White, peely bark with horizontal lining/notches. Produces small bumpy catkins. Ovate leaves with a sharply pointed tip. Doubly serrated, with parallel veining and a prominent midrib. Leaves have a papery, delicate texture.

Cascara (Rhamnus purshiana)

small tree/shrub. Pockmarked, light grey bark. Leaves are long and ovate, with parallel veining and a prominent brown midrib. Smooth and wavy margins. Fruit are round and purple/black. Flowers are yellow green, small buds, in a "snowflake" arrangement.

Vine Maple (Acer circinatum)

Shrub/small tree. Small maple leaves with 7-9 lobes in opposite arrangement. Leaves are green and become gold or red. pale green to dull brown stem. small winged "helicopter" fruit pods.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Leaves ovate, with pointed tips. Waxy, "puffy" areas between veins, smooth margins. Stems green. Fruit red to dark blue/black (blueberry-esque) with red stems, flowers "urn" shaped and white.

False Azalea (Menziesia ferruginea)

fuzzy, ovate "mint shaped" leaves. Prominent indented midribs and veining. Alternating arrangement. Drooping, bell shaped flowers. Pink to white colour in small clusters. Midrib protrudes past the point of the margins ending.

Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana)

red berried with protruding stems (pomegranate shaped), pink flowers with splotching (darker pink to white). leaves ovate, alternate, with serrated edges and prominent, narrow parallel veining

hardhack (Spiraea douglasii)

Pink, fluffy blooms arranged in pyramidal shapes at the tops of stems, turn brown in the fall. Stalks are tall and singular, leaves are alternating, long and ovate with serrated edges, indented midrib. Woody brown stem.

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

"colonel sanders" leaves, small ovate leaves branching under larger leading leaf. All doubly serrated with prominent veining. Upper growth is thorned, lower growth is not. Berries are yellow to red in colour with a "fanned" collar. Berries are raspberry shaped.

Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)

large, palmate leaves (fuzzy) with prominent veining. clustered, red berries in circular globular arrangement. Flowers are clustered with 5 white petals and a yellow green central core and a brown surrounding ring encompassing the sexual organs.

Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)

Lanceolate leaves with serrated margins. Waxy with a prominent midrib, and a woody stem. berries are red, and globular in large clusters. Flowers are small and white in pyramidal shapes with small, "starburst" formations.

Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium)

Small, bipinite leaves. Hairless, with a prominent midrib. stems are green. Berries are orange/red, globular growing speckled among the leaves. Leaves smooth with smooth margins.

red-osier dogwood

Cornus sericea

Red barked shrub, white, waxy globular berries with black points, grow in clusters. Flowers are white with 4 small triangular prongs and yellow sexual organs. Leaves ovate with curving, parallel veining. Yellow midrib, prominent as well as veining on over and underside.

Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum)

Bushy, common fern. Dark green in colour, with a shiny appearance. Pinna are serrated, with an "elbow" at the base of each pinna. Sori lines in parallel lines on the underside of each pinna, spores are rusty red.

Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant)

Two types of blades produces, one sterile one fertile. Low growing. central blades are scraggly and skinny. Outer/lower blades are fuller. Blades have smooth margins. Pinna appear to grow parallel along the midrib. Blades are diamond/ pen plume shaped.

Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina)

Blades have doubly serrated margins, pinna are small, and almost rounded at the tips. grow in a diamond arrangement. (compared to spiney wood fern - triangular).Sori grow in fluffy "taco" shapes.

Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

grow in single blades. halfway up stipe pinna develop. Pinna are rounded and and short, growing in triangular formations. sori are rarely seen.

spiney wood fern

doubly serrated pinna. grow in triangular formation, with pinna facing the ground being longer then their opposites. Pinna are short with margins curling under. Sori are in disorganized clusters.

Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris)

small, triangular blade arrangement. grow low to ground. Pinna margins are smooth, pinna are short. pinna arranged tightly. sori run in parallel veins along the underside of each pinnae