Out in the woods a few days ago with the field guide, my simple plan was to identify a new plant. I didn’t know what or where it would be, but expected that within a kilometre or so I’d find it.<\/p>\n
After around 45 minutes’ hiking I arrived in a cool, low-lying area that has a little brook running through it most of the year. This summer has been very dry; presently, I don’t think there’s any running water, just moist mud. About a foot (30cm) from the bank of that dry streambed I noticed a delicate plant that turns out to be foamflower.<\/p>\n
The height is about 25cm; the blooms are small (less than a cm across) and white. I recall the blooms to be five-petalled, although that’s not a feature the guide uses to identify the plant. The leaves are toothed and shaped like arrow heads. The most prominent leaves sprout from the bottom of the stem, in groups of three, with the centre one much bigger than the side ones.<\/p>\n
Very telling about this plant is the seed capsule, which has a protruding lower lip against a smaller upper one. On flowers just going to seed, the larger lip protrudes from inside the flower like a green blade. However, the seed capsules later turn brown, as I recall.<\/p>\n
Inside the capsule, the seeds are “black and shining”, as the guide describes. They are tiny, but very noticeable against the capsule lips.<\/p>\n
The foamflower’s Latin name is Tiarella trifoliata<\/i>; it’s from the Saxifrage family.<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
Pojar, Jim and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of Coastal British Columbia.<\/u> Vancouver:
BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.<\/p>\n