On a mid-May morning I hiked along Scott Road (unsigned) from Rose Hill Road along a grassland route on a sloping bench above Juniper Ridge.    This is the soon-to-be Juniper Ridge Park (or Protected Area) recently acquired by the BC Parks Foundation.    The main route is a dirt double track which can be hiked to the east for 4 km.    On this day I hiked along the old road, then added two loop routes on side tracks and off-trail, enjoying the grasslands environment.

I stopped when I spotted some wildflowers and flowering shrubs and some are shared here:

• locoweed (Oxytropis sp.)
• desert yellow fleabane (Erigeron linearis)
• Thompson’s paintbrush (Castilleja thompsonii)
• black hawthorn (Crataegus thompsonii)
• chickweed (Cerastium arvense)
• star-flowered false solomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

hawthorn

desert yellow fleabane

chickweed

star-flowered false solomon's seal

Thompson's paintbrush

desert yellow fleabane

field locoweed

These flowers can be spotted in many areas of the region, but black hawthorns are mostly spotted in gullies in the upper grasslands.   After flowering black edible haws (or pomes) will develop which begin to wither soon after ripening.    There were a number of traditional uses for the thorns, wood, and fruit.    Other names may include Douglas hawthorn, black hawberry, western thornapple, and other names with similar descriptors.