Closed Coniferous Patch: Plants

Mammals

Birds

Amphibians/Reptiles

Arthropods

Bryophytes/Lichens

Pinegrass

Pinegrass is perennial grass that grows from underground rhizomes and often covers extensive areas in coniferous forests. The leaves are long, yellow-green, flattened and rolled, but seed heads rarely form in the Southern Interior without disturbance.

Pinegrass was sometimes called "timbergrass" by interior First Nations and was used for lining cache pits and pit-cooking ovens. It was also woven into socks and insoles for moccasins.

Heart-leaved arnica

This is a perennial plant that grows as single stems to 10 to 60 cm. Stems have opposite heart-shaped leaves on long stalks. The bright yellow composite flowers are made up of both ray and disk flowers.

The First Nations of the Lytton area used arnica as a plaster for swellings, cuts and bruises.

Douglas-fir

The Douglas-fir is a large conifer tree growing up to 35 metres tall. The bark becomes thick and corky with dark vertical cracks as the tree ages. Needles are arranged spirally around the branches and are soft to the touch. The cones have 3-pronged bracts and hang below the branches; they distinguish Douglas-fir from all other conifers in the Southern Interior.

The seeds provide an important food source for many small mammals and Mule Deer rely on Douglas-fir forests for winter protection and food.

Want to find out about species at risk in closed coniferous patch?
Go to Species at Risk

Here are some representative species to start with:

Grasses:
Rough Fescue
Forbs:
Creamy Peavine
Timber Milkvetch
Shrubs:
Birch-leaved Spirea
Falsebox
KinnikinnickSoopolallie
Twinflower
Trees:
Lodgepole Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Trembling Aspen
Red:
Nettle-leaved Giant hyssop

Drawings:
Copyright Illustrated Flora of BC (heart leaved arnica)
J.R.Janish reprinted with permission from the University of Washington Press

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