BOTANIC GARDENS & CONSERVATION - LECTURE IN VANCOUVER, B.C.

VanDusen Botanical Garden presents: "Botanic gardens & conservation" - 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

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:
   • Burnaby peat extraction bog
   • Richmond cultivated cranberry bogs
   • Douglas Island (20 km east of Vancouver) in an undisturbed swamp
   • Pitt River on a rotting log
   Probably originally introduced in cranberry bogs, but now found in completely undisturbed areas though never abundant. Reported by J.M. Macoun in 1913 from Ucluelet, Vancouver Island where it was introduced 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 Vancouver 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 variable 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

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 identification 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

Submissions, subscriptions, etc.: aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca. BEN is archived on gopher freenet.victoria.bc.ca. The URL is: gopher://freenet.victoria.bc.ca:70/11/environment/Botany/ben. Also archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/