Forest

Much of the West Coast of the Island is steep and heavily forested cliffs and hillsides that tumble down to the shore. The trees are huge and and a dense ground cover of salal makes trekking off the trails very difficult. It's a lush wet environment.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Here's another of my favorite wildflowers, Salal (Gaultheria shallon). There's something I find particularly attractive about these hairy little blossoms. The berries that come later are edible, as are the leaves, and these were a dietary staple for First Nations People on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Nowadays Salal is more likely to be harvested for its glossy green leaves since they are popular with florists.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Like the Mallard Duck I pictured recently, here's another local beauty I often don't pay much attention to because it is so common in this area, Salal (Gaultheria shallon). Florists prize the plant for its green foliage but I have a special fondness for its clusters of small hairy flowers.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

Much of the vegetation here is common in other parts of the world as well but there are some plants that particularly contribute to the unique character of this area such as the Arbutus and Garry Oak Trees, the splendid Camas Lilies and Salal (Gaultheria shallon), the flowers of which are pictured above. Salal is an indigenous plant here and thrives in the cold, salty winds of our west coast. As well as beautiful, it's a useful plant and the local native peoples used both the berries and leaves as food and as medicine. The flowers above were photographed in Highrock Park but nearly two years ago I posted another photo of some taken in Mount Douglas Park.

Mount Douglas Forest

Today I went to Mount Douglas Park, but instead of ascending to the top I checked out some of the forest trails at the base of the mountain. I discovered these large-leafed plants in boggy glade. The earth beneath them was black mud, freshly inscribed with the delicate hoofprints of deer.These are Salal flowers. Later they will develop into small edible berries. This plant is widely found all over the North Pacific coast of America.