Puget Sound Gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia)

In yesterday's photo of Whiffen Spit you can see some yellow flowers scattered here and there on both sides of the trail. Above is a close-up of this hardy wild flower, Puget Sound Gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia). If you look closely at the buds just below the flower you can see some gooey, milky, sticky latex. I suspect the plant exudes this substance for protection from pests and predators. In any case it is the reason the numerous species of this plant are called Gumweed. Though everything else is dried up and brown this "weed" provides a welcome bit of color.

Whiffen Spit

About 40 kilometers (25 miles) along the coast west of Victoria lies the small oceanside community of Sooke. And providing shelter to a fleet of fishing boats in Sooke Harbour is a long (about 1 mile), narrow spit across the entrance to the harbor called Whiffen Spit. Whiffen Spit is also a park and a great place to take a walk. While the beach tends to be pretty rocky, there is a path that runs down the middle of the spit. On the left you see the fishing boat Laura Michelle leaving the harbor. Below is the view south through the entrance of the harbour looking across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula in the USA.