What is it?

Unlike birds, plants don’t move, they stay still for you to identify them.

So having said that, take a look at the picture above and read through the clues to see if you can guess what it is ….

This deciduous native bush grows in dry to moist soil. You can find it growing in open forests, thickets, on rocky slopes and along beaches – very adaptable indeed!

It has oval leaves with wavy toothed edges … hmmm … ever seen something like that before?

It provides shelter and nesting cover for birds, small mammals, and is even a host plant for BC’s Vashti Sphinx moth!

In the spring this plant has clusters of pinkish-white bell shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds and other pollinators. These flowers turn into clusters of white berries that persist through the winter feeding robins, towhees, thrushes, grosbeaks, and cedar waxwings.

Have you figured it out yet?

Come on now.

It’s a, it’s a, it’s ….

a snowberry! Also known as a waxberry and now, the fall, is the best time to plant one. They grow very easily from cuttings.

So the next time you go for a walk, keep your eyes open for the glowing white berries of this bush. They will practically jump out at you, making this a very easy plant to identify.

Date: July 5, 2015
Time: 7 – 9:20 pm
Place: Beaverbrook & Noel Drive ravine walk
Starting Temperature: 28 degrees
Creek Temperature: 18 degrees (optimum temperatures for most salmon are in the range of 3 to 15 degrees C)
Participants: 6

Note: visibility and air quality – on Beaverbrook – poor due to the forest fire up near Squamish; down in the ravine air fresh, much cooler and visibility along path and creek clear

*A host plant is where a particular species will lay its eggs and its young will feed – host plants are very important and species specific

Interested in joining the Stoney Creek Environment Committee for a botany walk? Email birds@scec.ca to get on a contact list.