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BEN # 166
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No. 166 June 1, 1997
aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Victoria, B.C.
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Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
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BOTANIC GARDENS & CONSERVATION - LECTURE IN VANCOUVER, B.C.
From: Dana DeKoven <dekoven@vandusen.org>
VanDusen Botanical Garden presents: "Botanic gardens & conserva-
tion" - A Special Lecture with Timothy Walker, Superintendent of
the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.
As we approach the next millennium, botanical gardens world-wide
are taking a leading role in plant conservation. Join Timothy
Walker as he explores botanical gardens that have turned to
their own backyards to conserve and study local flora, and are
now working together to preserve plant diversity and protect
threatened and endangered species.
Monday, June 23, 1997 at 8 pm in VanDusen Botanical Garden's
Floral Hall. Tickets: $10 (Canadian) VanDusen Members; $15
(Canadian) Non-members.
To register, or for more information, please call VanDusen's
Registrar's office at (604) 257-8666.
VanDusen Botanical Garden
5251 Oak Street (at 37th Avenue)
Vancouver BC Canada
V6M 4H1
THE GENUS HYPERICUM - ST. JOHN'S WORT - IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
From: Frank Lomer, Honourary Research Associate, UBC Herbarium,
Vancouver, B.C. c/o <ubc@unixg.ubc.ca>
All species in the family Hypericaceae that are known to grow in
British Columbia can be found within a relatively small area
around the Fraser River delta near Vancouver. Although there are
only two or three native species in British Columbia, a growing
number of introduced species have complicated what was once an
easy family to key out. I hope the following key will be useful.
Key was adapted from The Flora of Canada Part 3, H.J. Scoggan
1978-79, Flora of the British Isles, Clapham, Tutin and Moore
l989, and my own observations.
1. Petals purplish, inconspicuous; stamens in three groups
alternating with large orange glands; leaves oblong-ovate,to
2 cm. broad; lower leaves often purplish
....................... 1. Triadenum fraseri (Spach) Gleason
1. Petals yellow, stamens lacking intervening glands
2. Plants shrubby, flowers about 2 cm. across; leaves 4-15
cm. long; ripe fruit a purplish-black berry
............................. 2. Hypericum androsaemum L.
2. Plants not shrubby; leaves mostly less than 4 cm.; fruit a
dry capsule
3. Flowers conspicuous; petals > 8 mm.; stamens > 35,
united at base into 3-5 clusters
4. Stems rounded with 2 raised lines
5. Sepals linear-lanceolate, mostly acute, but
sometimes not clearly so
..................... 3. Hypericum perforatum L.
5. Sepals broader, blunter tipped; leaves broader in
outline
4. Hypericum formosum H.B.K. var. scouleri
(Hook.) Coult.
4. Stems quadrangular
6. Stems with wings; leaves densely dotted with
translucent glands; petals a little longer than
sepals, with few scattered black border dots
................. 5. Hypericum tetrapterum Fries
6. Stems without wings; leaves only sparsely dotted
with translucent glands; petals 3 times as long
as sepals, with elongated black dots and streaks
6. Hypericum maculatum Crantz ssp. obtusiusculum
(Tourlet) Hayek
3. Flowers inconspicuous; petals < 6 mm.; stamens not more
than 35 and not in clusters
7. Flower bracts foliaceous; leaves oblong to ovate
8. Stems usually prostrate and rooting at the lower
nodes; flowers solitary or few, not spreading on
branches
............... 7. Hypericum anagalloides C.& S.
8. Stems usually erect, not rooting at lower nodes;
flowers many, spreading on branches.
........... 8. Hypericum boreale (Britt.) Bickn.
7. Flower bracts narrow, subulate
9. Principal leaves lanceolate to nearly oblong;
inflorescence generally erect
............... 9. Hypericum majus (Gray) Britt.
9. Principal leaves elliptic, partly clasping at
base; inflorescence in well-developed plants much
compounded with numerous flowers
....................... 10. Hypericum mutilum L.
1. Triadenum fraseri (Spach) Gleason (Hypericum virginicum L.
var. fraseri (Spach) Fern.)
Native to eastern North America and introduced in the Lower
Fraser Valley. First collected September 4,1991 from south
Burnaby (Lomer 91-259). Now known from four locations:
1) Burnaby peat extraction bog
2) Richmond cultivated cranberry bogs
3) Douglas Island (20 km east of Vancouver)
in an undisturbed swamp
4) Pitt River on a rotting log Probably originally intro-
duced in cranberry bogs, but now found in completely undis-
turbed areas though never abundant. Reported by J.M. Macoun
in 1913 from Ucluelet, Vancouver Island where it was intro-
duced in a cranberry bog.
2. Hypericum androsaemum L.
Introduced from Europe. Perhaps a garden escape, but I've not
seen it grown in any garden or sold in any nursery. First
collected in a ditch along a railroad track west of White
Rock, a few km from the Washington border (Lomer 88-070).
Also well established in blackberry thickets above Horseshoe
Bay ferry terminal, and on wet cliffs of Capilano River,
North Vancouver.
3. Hypericum perforatum L.
A common Eurasian weed in southern B.C.
4. Hypericum formosum H.B.K. var. scouleri (Hook.) Coult.
Infrequent native species throughout southern B.C. In the
Lower Fraser Valley it is rare along the tidal shore of the
Fraser River.
5. Hypericum tetrapterum Fries
Known in B.C. only from the UBC Botanical Garden where it was
first collected September 10, 1991, in a ditch at the corner
of Southwest Marine Drive and 16th Ave., University of
British Columbia Campus, Vancouver (Lomer 91-269). Also
collected by Gerald Straley along a small stream in the Asian
Garden. Native to Europe.
6. Hypericum maculatum Crantz ssp. obtusiusculum (Tourlet) Hayek
A European weed much like H. perforatum but stouter and with
wider, more rounded leaves. First collected August 8, 1937 at
"Spanish Banks", Vancouver (Eastham 4278). It can still be
found today at Spanish Banks in Jericho Park. Now it is a
widespread weed in the Lower Fraser Valley. Collections at
UBC also from Pemberton and Prince Rupert.
7. Hypericum anagalloides C.& S.
Infrequent native in southwest B.C. in bogs, ditches, and wet
lawns.
8. Hypericum boreale (Britt.) Bickn.
Native to eastern North America. Now a locally common and
often abundant plant of cranberry bogs and wet river banks in
the Lower Fraser Valley. First collected in B.C. from Van-
couver on September 25, 1961 (K. Beamish s.n. UBC 90257). It
can be invasive in open muddy habitats where rare natives
like Lindernia anagalloides, Gratiola neglecta, Tillea
aquatica, and Lilaeopsis occidentalis grow.
9. Hypericum majus (Gray) Britt.
Infrequent in southern B.C. Variable in size and leaf width.
I've seen this species in the following habitats:
-dry pond in railroad yards
-muddy tidal shore of the Fraser
-abandoned gravel pit
-cultivated cranberry bogs
H. majus is considered a native plant in B.C., but I think it
might be introduced. Our populations seem well west of its
typical range in eastern North America, it can be quite weedy
in both disturbed and natural habitats, and I believe it was
unknown in B.C. until less than 50 years ago.
10. Hypericum mutilum L.
Another introduced species native to eastern North America.
Similar to H. majus, but the leaves are broader and rounder,
and the inflorescence is more widely spreading. Also similar
to H. boreale from which it can be told by the narrow rather
than broad flower bracts. These last three species are vari-
able and not always easily told apart. First collected in
Coquitlam (25 km east of Vancouver) on a newly cleared lot,
on September 7, 1991 (Lomer 91-264). It also grows on a small
island in the Fraser River down the hill from Hospital
Street, New Westminster. Probably more widespread.
WILDFLOWERS OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS IN ALASKA
From: Mary Stensvold / Don Muller <ping@ptialaska.net>
The new Alaska Region brochure entitled WILDFLOWERS OF THE
NATIONAL FORESTS IN ALASKA has just been published. About
150,000 copies were printed and sent to Forest Service units
throughout the Alaska Region for distribution to the public.
WILDFLOWERS OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS IN ALASKA contains color
photographs and descriptive information highlighting 50 of the
most common wildflowers occurring in southern Alaska.
The production of the brochure was coordinated by the Alaska
Region Botany Program in response to numerous wildflower iden-
tification questions from the public. They were also developed
enhance people's awareness of Alaska's flora.
Mary Stensvold, Regional Botanist, USDA Forest Service, Alaska
Region 204 Siginaka Way, Sitka, Alaska 99835 (907) 747-6671
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