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Category: Botany

Walk in Ornamental Gardens and Forest Trails in Stanley Park – May 25, 2024

Walk in Ornamental Gardens and Forest Trails in Stanley Park – May 25, 2024

Submitted by Nina Shoroplova Twenty or so of us Nature Vancouver members gathered on the plaza above Lost Lagoon and the Nature House for this tree-identification walk through one ornamental garden and several forest trails in Stanley Park.  With people picking out which plant they wanted to see from my list of trees, shrubs, and native herbaceous plants growing along the route, we soon had the morning planned. We stopped at the black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Tortuosa’, and admired its…

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Galiano Island Hike – May 4, 2024

Galiano Island Hike – May 4, 2024

Submitted by Bettina Matzkuhn. Trip leader Bettina Matzkuhn met her group of seven at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. The weather was overcast and windy, but quite warm and pleasant for walking. We tried the “Bluffs Peak” trail, which meant a quick hike up to the bluffs and backtrack down to continue on to Mt. Galiano. The Warbler Road route is better as one gets to enjoy the length of the bluffs. Return trip was approximately 15km. We saw the bright…

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Tree-Identification Walk in Grand Boulevard, North Vancouver

Tree-Identification Walk in Grand Boulevard, North Vancouver

Trip Report by Nina Shoroplova Five intrepid tree enthusiasts joined Nina Shoroplova on a Nature Vancouver tree-identification walk in Grand Boulevard, North Vancouver, on December 1, 2023, despite the temperature (3 degrees C) and precipitation (enough for umbrellas to be up the whole time). Grand Boulevard is one of Canada’s Historic Places, with the oldest of the planted trees—both native and imported—being no older than 117 years of age. And some are a whole lot younger. Check out the history…

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Mushroom Walk at Rice Lake Nov 19, 2023

Mushroom Walk at Rice Lake Nov 19, 2023

6 members and a guest joined leaders Anne Leathem and Teresa Gagné. We moseyed about 2 km in 3 hours on the South East side of Rice Lake, with everyone calling out their finds every few steps. Despite being late in the season there was a surprisingly large variety of fungi. One participant wrote: What I most appreciated was coming away with a process of thinking about mushroom identification (particularly your well-illustrated explanation of different systems of spore dispersal), about…

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Identifying Trees in Trout Lake Park

Identifying Trees in Trout Lake Park

Trip Report by Nina Shoroplova Nature Vancouver members and a few others—all of us interested in trees—gathered at the south end of Trout Lake Park on October 23 to identify some trees. What a glorious fall day.  We first looked at some of the trees at that south end: red maples, London plane trees, and a circle of young deciduous tree we couldn’t identify. We looked at the difference between a deodar cedar and a western redcedar growing beside each…

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Trout Lake Tree Walk

Trout Lake Tree Walk

Trip Report by Lona Lonergan  Trout Lake was the destination for our October 23, 2023 Nature Vancouver Walk. 20 people, 22 gorgeous trees, 9 degrees with blazing fall colours. Nina Shoroplova, Author of Legacy of Trees – Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, led the trip. Caroline Penn organized the details. Elizabeth Barthel reflected on growing up in the Trout Lake area: the freedom of playing in the bushes. Knowing all the trees like they were friends. She recalls swimming in the lake and…

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Whistler Week Trip Report

Whistler Week Trip Report

Five Nature Vancouver members camped and hiked for 5 days in the Whistler area.We camped at Whistler Olympic Park Campground in Callaghan valley just below the ski jump. It was a pleasant quiet campground, smallish sites with grass for tents, grouse walking through, a building for dishwashing and bear-proof food storage, and a second building (with shop) for hot showers. Not many trees, so the stars were fantastic! Monday August 14:Brandywine Falls to Bungee Bridge – 6.4km, 90m ascent, 1h44mAudain…

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Hollyburn Giant Cedar Hike

Hollyburn Giant Cedar Hike

Joint Trip with Friends of Cypress Prov. Park Trip Report by Marshall Bauman On Friday, August 25, 2023, nine enthusiastic adventurers, led by Marshall Bauman and Anne Leathem set ‘Off to see the Giant’ in near perfect, if hazy, conditions.  After crossing a small canyon on the Baden Powell trail, we headed up through old growth forest, on the western flank of Hollyburn Mtn.  We found the Hollyburn Giant, and several ‘look-alikes, less than 1/2 km above the Baden Powell…

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Identifying Trees in Shaughnessy Park (The Circle)

Identifying Trees in Shaughnessy Park (The Circle)

Report by Nina Shoroplova On Friday, August 4, twenty-four botany enthusiasts joined Nina Shoroplova and Caroline Penn for a tree walk in the south half of Shaughnessy Park. We started our walk from the Osler Street entrance to the park where there are two maples. We started by telling the differences between the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) on the north side of the central path and the Norway maple (A. platanoides) on the south side. It’s important to know some of the…

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Walk in Stanley Park’s Shakespeare Garden & Around Beaver Lake

Walk in Stanley Park’s Shakespeare Garden & Around Beaver Lake

Report by Nina Shoroplova Fourteen walkers joined co-leaders Nina Shoroplova and Caroline Penn in Stanley Park on Friday, July 7. We met at the memorial monument to Lord Stanley, the sixth Governor General of Canada, who, in October 1989, confirmed the name of the park, saying, “To the use and enjoyment of peoples of all colours, creeds, and customs, for all time.” In the direction of the Robert Burns statue, several non-native trees held our attention: a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron…

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