Sandy's Botanical Extravaganza - Part 1

Hello Blogger pals... Today I am going on a hiking adventure to find the mythical Bog Bird's Foot Trefoil flower... I know, quite a name! This flower is red-listed in BC with only a very few locations on Vancouver Island. One of those is a place called Harewood Plains... and that's where we are going...

First we have to walk down the middle of the road... an abandoned road I might add... are we there yet?

Finally... a real trail!

Right off the bat, I found some camas flowers... these are the Common Camas... they are pretty.

This little flower is new to me...

I looked it up and it is... Foothill Desert Parsley... wow... these are some weird plant names! I'm not sure I'm going to remember that one...

This little cutie is Sea Blush...

This area is quite unique because it has beary thin soils (<10 cm or 4 inches) on top of gently sloping conglomerate rock...

See... conglomerate... looks like cemented gravel...

And the groundwater flows along the rock and you can get some soggy patches which is where the Bog Bird's Foot Trefoil likes to live... 

There are meadows of this Sea Blush - so cute...

See and the Camas as well.

The problem is... off road motorcyclists and ATVers like to ride here, even though it is an environmentally sensitive area... because it don't take much for the soil to get damaged when it's that thin...

Oh... and here's some Yellow Monkey Flower as well...

Grumble... more tire tracks...

What is it with off-roaders???

I have no idea what this flower is... hmmm... mental note to look it up later.

It's quite pretty here... this area is called Nanaimo's Flowering Jewel! We've been meaning to come here for ages and ages... and this year... it happened! Spring is the time to go (Yes... this blog was written in mid-May...)

These are pretty too... they might be a saxifrage.

The meadows are different than our normal hikes through the forest...

There is also a lot of lichen here... which are beary comfy to sit on for little bears...

More Sea Blush... but so far... no trefoil flowers.

There are also little treed areas which make a nice break from the meadows.

Wow... these meadows just keep going!

I wish I knew more about lichen... I think this might be Reindeer Lichen...

But there are also little red-capped lichens...

See... it's known as... Red Capped Lichen or... British soldiers lichen...

It's a good thing we have Google Maps on Mama's phone... otherwise we'd be sure to get lost in here! There are so many trails... but we are roughly aiming for the power lines...

The trefoil flower we are looking for belongs to the pea family and this little flower looks like a vetch or pea...

Cute, eh?

Not so cute... people always dump stuff in the bush... why???

We also have some wild blackberries...

And some Scotch Broom (invasive)...

And finally... the power lines!! Yay!

We're not lost!!

Right then... let's keep our eyes peeled, shall we?

Uh-huh... there go some motorbikers... grumble...

This sign says: "Help us protect the rare plants of Harewood Plains. Please keep out of the meadows and wet areas." I don't know that motorbikers can read...

I'm keeping an eagle bear eye out for the plants... oh, there's another motorbiker...

Hmmm... this looks like it might be a yellow flower eventually...

We'll have to come back later and see what it turns into...

Wait... what's that? Over there, in that little swampy bit? Do you see it!!??

Egads!!! I think we've found one!!! Stay tuned...