Yellow Rattle
Rhinanthus minor
Description: An annual herb on erect leaf stems 10-80cm tall, slightly hairy. Opposite, hairy leaves are stalk less and lance shaped, coarsely toothed and distinctly veined, 1-4cm long. Yellow two-lipped flowers are 9-14mm long. The upper lip has a hood and the lower lip is divided into 3 lobes. Produces flattened roughly circular capsules that rattle when shaken, hence the common name.
Ecology: Found in open grassy sites, meadows, fields, roadsides, pastures etc, common at low to middle elevations.
Notes: This picture was taken on a semi-dry logging road in West Sechelt, BC in June, 2001.
Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea
Description: A tall biennial herb growing 0.5-2m tall on a leafy, erect, unbranched, hairy stem. Egg or lance shaped green leaves are soft and hairy above, woolly beneath 15-40cm long with the largest leaves being found at the base of the plant. Flowers range from a very light pink or violet to a dark pink or vibrant pink-purple; petals are fused into a 4-6cm long gaping, slightly drooping tubular flower.
Ecology: Very common introduced European weed, found on roadsides, fields, and forest edges, mostly at low elevations but will often follow logging roads up to middle elevations, common in southwestern BC, not common but still present farther north in coastal BC.
Notes: This INTRODUCED plant grows everywhere on the Sunshine Coast & lower Mainland, particularly near human settlement and on the side of logging roads. It is a powerful medicinal herb used for centuries for heart problems, and even used in modern medicine, Digitalis is derived from the foxglove Note: NEVER use without professional consultation, never eat the leaves or any part of the plant as it can be very dangerous to someone with a healthy heart.
Musk Flower
Mimulus moschatus
Description: A slimy-hairy perennial that may be musk-scented, from slender rhizomes. Leaf stems are often prostrate or creeping, branched, 10-70cm long. Opposite stalk less leaves are egg shaped and slightly toothed 1-8cm long. Yellow 2cm long flowers are funnel like and often have dark lines or spots, weakly 2 lipped.
Ecology: Found in moist meadows, seepage areas, thickets, roadsides and disturbed areas from low to middle elevations.
Notes: This picture was taken in moist clearing growing with sedges and rushes in West Sechelt, BC in June, 2001.
American Brooklime
Veronica beccabunga ssp. americana
Description: Perennial from creeping rhizomes or trailing stems. Succulent hairless stems 10-70cm tall. Opposite oval-lance-shaped leaves, usually 3-5 pairs on flowering stem, they are toothed and pointy.
Ecology: Found in wet areas or in shallow water, marshes, seepage areas, streams, ditches etc. Common at low and middle elevations.
Notes: This picture was taken in a ditch on a logging road in a clearcut in West Sechelt, BC in May, 2001.
Eyebright
Euphrasia sp.
Description: Small herbaceous flowering plant with small white flowers, often with yellow markings on the lower petals to guide in pollinating insects. Small toothed leaves are opposite found all up the stem to the flowers. Typically a small plant growing 1-15cm tall at most.
Ecology: Common in grassy meadows as it is semi-parasitic on grasses, many species also found in subalpine locations in snowy meadows. Common throughout BC and North America.
Notes: This one was found growing on the edge of a bog at Carlson Lake, middle elevation on the Sunshine Coast, I have also found them at low elevation growing under powerlines and along Chapman Creek. July 2006 photo.
