Coastal BC Plants: Pacific Ninebark

Pacific Ninebark

During early summer, Wayne and I went on a camping trip to Vancouver Island to go quad riding on the logging roads and trails northwest of Campbell River. While we were riding north of McCreight Lake, we found an old logging road heading off into the bush.

We followed it for about a klick and came out into a meadow filled with Sweet Gale.

A creek ran through the meadow and nearby I found a large shrub covered with clusters of white flowers. From a distance it blended into the trees bordering the meadow.

A large Pacific Ninebark shrub in the middle of the forefront.

Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus) is a member of the rose (Rosaceae) family. It grows to 4 metres (13 feet) in height. The leaves are palmate, deeply veined, serated on the edges, and have 3 to 5 lobes. They are a shiny green and lush looking.

The flowers form in clusters.  Each has five round white petals with yellow pistils and 30 stamens with long filaments.

Some of the clusters flowers changing into red seeds pods.

Here's a branch that contains both flowers and seeds.

Flowers and seeds are present in early summer.

When you take an old road into the bush, you never know what you may find. What kinds of things have you discovered? -- Margy

Reference: E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia (online) and "Plant Parts" at The Great Plant Escape (online).