Self-tutoring about botany: the tutor IDs a plant. I’ve long known an evergreen bush with silvery leaves. Its yellow flowers have 13 petals, which I find surprising. It’s around a metre tall, but spreads outwards rather than gaining height. What…

Self-tutoring about botany: the tutor identifies bedstraw. A really satisfying identification happens when you notice a plant, see it often, then finally ID it. Small bedstraw, for me, is the latest such plant. I’ve noticed it a couple of years…

Self-tutoring about plant identification: the tutor mentions shepherd’s purse. Reading the field guide lately, I noticed shepherd’s purse in there. It looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure where I might have seen it. In my experience, there are two ways…

Self-tutoring about plant identification: the tutor reveals a tough ID, made with a fresh set of eyes. Possibly two years ago, I began noticing a tough plant with a thick stem and disc-like fruits that look like smooth, round leaves.…

Self tutoring about tree identification: the tutor mentions a find. From afar, I noticed a tree last spring that I couldn’t easily identify. As so often happens, it’s on private property, so I can’t get close to it. The tree…

Self-tutoring about tree identification: the tutor mentions cherry birch. Waiting last week at an office, I gazed out the window, where a tree drew my attention. The tree had a few familiar features; never had I seen them in the…

Self-tutoring about local trees: the tutor mentions the sweetgum for the second time. Back on September 15, 2015, I noted a sweetgum tree in Campbell River. Its star-shaped leaves were how I identified it. Yesterday, I saw one without leaves…

Self-tutoring about local trees: the tutor makes another observation about local dawn redwoods. I wrote a few posts about local dawn redwoods, the most recent here. It will lead interested readers back to earlier ones. Dawn redwood is deciduous here.…

Self-tutoring about dawn redwoods: the tutor shares some ideas about identifying them. In my past two posts,

Self-tutoring about botany: the tutor shares an exciting find from the field. In yesterday’s post I mention a long connection I have with dawn redwoods, despite only recently becoming acquainted. The dawn redwoods themselves have a story. Scientists discovered dawn…