The tutor shares a find from the local woods.

Last Saturday, I noticed some false bugbane, then remembered seeing it even earlier. Among year-end events, field trips and such, I forgot to write a post about it. Now, I am.

False bugbane catches the eye. Its flowers are white; the stamens stick out in all directions. If you can imagine a mop, held upside-down, the cloth filaments bright white, each sticking out stiffly like hair from static electricity, then you know what false bugbane flowers look like. The flower centre is green, I recall.

False bugbane likes wet woods. The guide says it’s found on floodplains, which is where I’ve seen it. The one I saw on Saturday was about 50cm tall.

False bugbane leaves are palmate (like a hand), the lobes toothed and pointed. The plant I saw had leaves with five lobes, but apparently they can have more.

The plant seems pretty common. If you’re out in moist woods on Vancouver Island, my guess is you’ll likely see it:)

Source:

Pojar, Jim and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of Coastal British Columbia. Vancouver:
  BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.