Post 5: Christmas Hill (Gold Park) Survey by Maja

So for my trip, I went back to Christmas Hill Sanctuary in Victoria, BC. I had to drive up on Friday, so I missed the field trip in Gold Park. My boyfriend Nathan volunteered to help me out, so on Sunday we went to Christmas Hill. It was drizzling and overcast, but the air was almost warm. We decided to walk around the outer trail of the park, first identifying trees, and shrubs, waiting to get to the North East side of the park to identify some ferns (where I knew there would be more than just the licorice fern that I identified before, and is covering the hill).

First I identified some snowberries (Symphoricarpos albus). They confused me at first because the plant that i've known in Washington as snowberry looks a bit different. The branches were much barer than the shrubs I'm used to seeing. A collection of these shrubs were located under a grove of Garry Oaks and Douglas Firs. The little clumps of white berries are pretty easy to identify. I always wondered if they were poisonous, when I read about them in "Plants of Pacific Northwest" it says "they are given names like corpse berry or snake berry in several languages (Of First Nations people)." So they are poisonous to humans, but then apparently some first Nations would would eat one or two berries to settle the stomach after a rich meal.

Next we identified Arbutus (Madrone) (Arbutus menziesii) at one of the main peaks. It was growing in a very dry and rocky environment. Victoria is covered in Arbutus so it was pretty easy to identify. The red peeling bark, dark green oval leaves, twisted limbs and on some bright red berries; is a dead giveaway. The Saanich people (who resided where Victoria is now) would use Arbutus bark and leaves to treat colds, stomach problems, and were part of the ingredients they used to treat tuberculosis and spitting up blood.

On to the ferns, we saw tons of licorice fern all over the hill, but I wanted to find a different type of fern, so we walked down to Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary (which is part of the same park). Swan Lake is a wetland and a drainage basin for the area, the volunteers of the Nature Sanctuary are working to remove invasive species and restore the native species and ecosystem to what it used to be. As we were walking we found Narrow Beech Fern (Thelypteris phegopteris). It took me awhile to identify what it was, and i'm still not 100% sure. But the separation of the individual leaves, growing off of one main stalk makes me think that's what it is. Each stalk was growing individually instead of grouped together like a Sword fern or Lady fern. The leaves are triangular and rounded, and bent forwards. Narrow Beech Fern seems to be the closest I could identify.

The last organism we ID'd is what I think is English Hawthorne (Crataegus laevigata). I was drawn to the bright red berries, and the leaves which were all different shades of yellow and orange. This is a very invasive species and are one of the trees that volunteers are trying to remove. It is native to Western and Central Europe, from the UK to Spain, to the Czech Republican. At first I thought maybe it was Black Hawthorne (Crataegus douglasii) a native Hawthorne, but looking at the leaves, and thinking about how many civilian gardens are surrounding the park, I definitely think this is English Hawthorne.

I have been in Gold Park near EDCC before, and I remember being surprised by how many different varieties of plants are there, considering how urban life is surrounding it.

I've been to Christmas Hill many times, and it wasn't until this trip that I realized how many invasive species volunteers are battling to remove from the Sanctuary. This survey was a great way to study Western Washington ecology because they have many of the same species and the Swan Lake wetland is very similar to wetlands we have here.
The most interesting thing we saw on our walk was this beautiful Corkscrew Willow tree which is a type of Chinese Willow (Salix matsudana "Tortuosa"). The tree is native to North Eastern China and is an ornamental tree that as been brought to North America, Europe and Australia.

Some questions I have:
How badly are these invasive plants affecting this ecosystem? Is it slow moving problem, or do some of these invasive plants cause immediate destruction on certain organisms? Can invasive plants wipe out an entire native population? Can invasive plants affect the small mammals that live in the area as well?