The Trees Keep Reappearing

Can you tell I live in the North American west coast rain forest?  No matter the color scheme, the coniferous trees are a constant source of inspiration.

Returning to Native Trees

 

I frequently return to the native trees of Vancouver in my nature journal.  I'm trying to get the hierarchy straight in my head.  I can't remember the Latin names, either, and keep reverting to the common names.  It is the common names that make it confusing though, and I know I should learn the Latin.  For example, the "pines" are both a family and a genus, and Douglas-firs aren't real firs.  No wonder I'm confused!



Exciting Discoveries

 

 

While researching the English Hawthorn, I discovered a new tree native to Vancouver - the Black Hawthorn.  The Hawthorns are another member of the Rose family (remember the apple and cherry).  The author of the Nature Guide I was using thinks that she left it off because it often presents as a bush rather than a tree.

 

The Ginkgo Balboa tree is fascinating because of its age.  Flowering plants (including most deciduous trees) are the most evolved plant families of the plant kingdom.  Mosses and other nonvascular spores are the least evolved.  Between nonvascular spores and flowering plants, we find vascular spores and naked seed plants.  Included in the naked seeds category is the conifer division and the single ginkgo tree, the only surviving species of the Ginkgophyta division.  All other species in the division are now extinct.  The Ginkgo tree is often called a "living fossil".

Winding Up The Tree Project

Fabriano Sketchbook 8.5" x 11"

Pencil Crayon

The Native Tree Project is winding up (or down).  I'm enjoying my neighbourhood walks more as I can identify different varieties of trees, although they are mostly non-native.

I'm starting my next project soon, which has evolved out of this one.  I want to learn about plant families, and I've just begun my research.

Continuing Work on Learning Vancouver's Native Trees

8.5" x 11" Fabriano Sketchbook

Pencil Crayon

The City of Vancouver neighbourhood tree databases helped me find three of these trees.

Update on The Tree Project

Fabriano Sketchbook - 8.5" x 11"

Pencil Crayons

Three more native trees documented on this page - Western White Pine, Pacific Yew, and Red Alder.

Another Page Completed

Fabriano Sketchbook

8.5" x 11"

Pencil Crayon

Boy, this book is big.....

Update on the Tree Project

Fabriano Journal

The Tree Project is humming along.  Here I document four more native trees of Vancouver.  I'm trying to keep the differences between the various evergreen trees in my thick head.  I've never been good at names, and this is proving a challenge LOL.

My new tree friend at the City of Vancouver has provided fabulous information for me to proceed with.  He overlaid my list of native trees onto an aerial view of Queen Elizabeth Park, and provided me a link to the recently completed boulevard tree inventory databases.

The Tree Project Takes a Turn

Vancouver experienced an intense windstorm on Saturday; this is my sketchbook entry documenting a split spruce tree in a nearby park. Vancouver Parks Board estimates that they lost 500 trees.

A few photographs also help tell the story:

the same spruce from the other side, showing the split trunk

thankfully, not my front yard

 the ground is so dry, smaller trees were pulled out by the roots

streets were blocked by trees (a few still are)

The tree project is on hold while we get some much needed rain.

The Garry Oak and the Trembling Aspen

Handmade Journal

5.5" x 8.5"

I didn't know that the Garry Oak is now a bit rare in Vancouver.  (Of course I'd never heard of the Garry Oak a month ago LOL).  I found one at Queen Elizabeth Park, and UBC Botanical Garden now has a "Garry Oak Meadow" of newly planted trees.

By the pond in the native garden at UBC, I heard a beautiful whisper and looked up to see leaves rustling in the wind.  I had found a trembling aspen by sound - a magical moment.

Drawing and Seeing

I doubt that I would have noticed the odd trunk formations on the maple trees around me if I hadn't sat down to draw them.  Drawing has definitely improved my seeing skills! 

Identifying Native Trees - Update

Handmade Journal

8.5" x 5.5"

Pencil Crayons

I returned to Queen Elizabeth Park to try and identify a Western Hemlock.  I found a couple that might be WH but neither were labelled.

Slowly I am learning the differences between the various evergreen trees in our rainforest.  As I walk the park and neighbourhood streets I stop and look at trees and try to identify at least this much.  Progress, I guess!

Identifying Native Trees - Two New Species

Handmade Journal

5.5" x 8.5"

Uni-ball Pen and Pencil Crayon

I think I have identified two more tree species up at Queen Elizabeth Park:  the Black Cottonwood and the Paper Birch.  They aren't labelled, though, and as they would best be identified in the spring, I can't be sure.

Vancouver is located in the "Coastal Western Hemlock" biogeoclamatic zone.  The Western Hemlock is the most commonly found tree.  Maybe I should look for that next!

Identify Native Vancouver Trees - Project Update

The research continues.  I haven't done a research project like this since I left school and I'm enjoying it!

By cross referencing the "Tree Book - Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia" and "A Field Guide to Trees of the Pacific Northwest", I have determined that there are 24 trees native to our area.  (The Field Guide is also available through KNOWBC.com, the online British Columbia Encyclopedia.)

A tree specialist at the City of Vancouver has promised to help me out and I'm continuing visits to Queen Elizabeth Park.  Not bad progress for a week!

Western Red Cedar

Handmade Journal

5.5" x 8.5"

Uni-ball Pen and Pencil Crayon

Back to Queen Elizabeth Park.  How fitting that my first sighting should be British Columbia's provincial tree!

On a neighbourhood walk the next day, I picked up a pine cone and learned from Trees of Vancouver that it is likely from a Douglas-Fir.

Identifying Native Trees

Handmade Journal

5.5" x 8.5"

Uni-ball Pen and Pencil Crayon

I have begun a project to learn about the trees native to the Vancouver area, where I live.  I live within biking distance of Queen Elizabeth Park, which has an arboretum, so I thought I would start there.

"The arboretum was started with a grant from the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association (CPPA) in 1949. The first plantings were done on the north slopes of the park by a group of Junior Forest Wardens. They began by planting blocks of timber species such as ponderosa pine, subalpine spruce, and Douglas fir. Annual donations of $5,000 (the equivalent of $50,000 today) were made by the CPPA until the mid-1950s to continue the development and planting of the arboretum. Most of the larger trees in the park are now about 60 years old.

The objective of the arboretum was to grow examples of every Canadian tree species, with emphasis on those of commercial importance. However, this narrow focus on Canadian species was soon expanded to include exotic trees from around the world because it was found that many boreal forest species did not grow well in Vancouver’s mild climate.

Planting continues to this day to further the legacy of what has been called  “Canada’s first Civic Arboretum". There are now about 1,500 trees." (source:  Vancouver City website. Click this link to read lots more interesting history of the park.)