The following photos were taken during a drive to the Empire Ranch with Marian and John Coope and 12 VNHS members on July 7, 2005. The elevation is about 320 m at the Fraser River level and 700 m at the Empire Ranch.

Please scroll down to see the photos of Day 4.     Click here to see photos of other days.

Photo     Time     Comment
#1199     10:16   Canoe Creek farmland with sage and mustard (possibly Canola - see below)

#1202   10:19   Meadow Salsify - Tragopogon pratensis - P. 115

#1205   10:25   First glimpse of the Fraser, looking south-west over a field of Canola (mustard), across to the Empire Valley

#1211   10:45   Bull Thistle - Cirsium vulgare - P. 135

#1212   11:03   Looking south along the Fraser from the Canoe Creek plateau

#1216   11:16   White Sweet-Clover - Melilotus alba - P. 157

#1217   11:18   Looking across the Fraser to Churn Creek with its bridge
(the Fraser is hidden by the bluff in the foreground)

#1225   11:43   Sagebrush Mariposa Lily - Calochortus macrocarpus - P. 295

#1228   11:47   Sagebrush Mariposa Lily - Calochortus macrocarpus - P. 295

#1229   11:48   Common Rabbit-Brush - Chrysothamnus nauseosus with a Mariposa Lily - P. 67
This sage-like plant has been renamed in the B.C. Flora (Douglas et. al.), as Ericameria nauseosus var. speciosa

#1230   11:48   Alfalfa - Medicago sativa - P. 156

#1234   12:24   The caretakers of the Empire Ranch

#1237   12:36   Common Hound's-Tongue - Cynoglossum officinale - P. 182

#1241   11:45   Sainfoin - Onobrychis viccifolia - NIB - an introduced Eurasian weed

#1247   13:13   Scenic outhouse among the mustard on the Empire Ranch

#1250   13:35   Empire Ranchland

#1261   13:56   Sagebrush Mariposa Lily - Calochortus macrocarpus - P. 295

#1267   14:04   Field Bindweed (a.k.a. Orchard Morning Glory) - Convolvulus arvensis - P. 326 (Pojar & MacKinnon)

#1269   14:17   Common Rabbit-Brush - Chrythamnus nauseosusso - P. 67

#1274   14:38   Brittle Prickly-Pear Cactus - Opuntia fragilis - P. 217

#1276   14:40   Alfalfa and Mustard

#1278   14:45   Hemp Dogbane or Indian Hemp - Apocynum cannabinum - P. 190.

Many thanks to John Coope, who identified the flowers for us. He writes the following about mustards and canola:

There are many yellow mustards (i.e., plants in the Brassicaceae or mustard family), which look similar, especially from a distance, and which are quite weedy, very much colonizing broken ground. According to the OED, Canola is any of several varieties of oilseed rape developed in Canada. Oilseed rape is actually in the mustard genus proper, namely a subspecies of turnip, Brassica napus ssp. oleifera. I would suppose that cultivated fields in the area have Canola (including your 1205), but that other areas and meadows could have other mustards. Yellow mustards with comparably sized flowers included in our present Big Bar Camp plant list include Erysmum cheiranthoides, Descurainis sophia (flixweed), and Susimbrium loeselii (Loesel's tumbleweed). From a distance a lot of these look much the same. Except in obviously cultivated fields, it is probably best just to refer to "yellow mustards".

Please let me know about any plants that are misindentified! If you can email the correct ID to me, I'll be very grateful (please refer to the number above each photo)      

Reference pages are given from:   "Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia" by Roberta Parish, Ray Coupe and Dennis Lloyd. Lone Pine Publishing, Vancouver, B.C., 1996.