In the Peterhope Hills
In mid-summer I hiked in the hills near Peterhope Lake, exploring an old mine and the ridges and ponds of the forested areas above. Most wildflowers were already past, but a small number still were in bloom.
It is rare to spot viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare) in our area. It is a biennial in the borage family. Every part of the plant is poisonous and it is considered invasive in BC.
Also spotted were lots of wild raspberries (Rubus adaeus) and a couple of mariposa lilies (Calochortus macrocarpus) in bloom. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption/ID.
There were some weedy varieties in flower too, but I didn’t take the time to photograph them on this day.
Hi Doug, I always wanted to go up there when I lived in Kamloops, but I never got the chance. About the Viper’s Bugloss, it’s been a favorite of mine since childhood. My mom was an amateur botanist and my dad was a horticulturalist, so I grew up with 2 green thumbs! 😅 That was in Georgian Bay, Ontario. The only place I have seen it in BC was along the Agassiz flood dikes, growing on the edge in the gravel. I never knew that it was poisonous though. I grew some cultivated varieties in Chase, and they were different colors and only a foot high, and I loved them, but they were a bit weedy. Thank you for the post of one of my favorite flowers, jan.
Thanks, Jan. See you out on the trails one of these times….