Leaf Watching: The Comox Valley Top Five

My toddler son is keen to collect fallen leaves, clutching fistfuls in each hand and sorting them by shape and colour. He doesn’t know which trees the leaves belong to yet, but I am happy that he is out noticing things and exploring nature.

Most of the broad-leaved deciduous trees (trees that shed their leaves in the fall) are actually easy to recognize with practice. To start with, here are brief descriptions of the “top five” kinds of leaves that one is likely to see in the Comox Valley this fall.

Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)

The bigleaf maple has the largest maple leaves in all of Canada, and the large yellow and rusty fall leaves provide some of the best fall colours in our area. Bigleaf leaves are deeply five-lobed. The brown V-shaped winged seeds fly down like little helicopters.

Maple trunks and limbs are often covered with luxuriant clumps of moss and ferns. The porous, calcium rich bark encourages plant growth. Douglas maple (Acer glabrum), is the only other common maple species in our area. This is a much smaller, more shrub-like tree that grows to ten metres high.

Where to find it: Bigleaf and Douglas maple are commonly found in mixed forests that were previously logged. They are easy to come by along most trails in our area.

Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera)

Black cottonwood has attractive spade-shaped leaves. They are often heart-shaped at the base, pointed at the tips, and are quite thick and waxy with finely round-toothed margins. The leaves often turn bright yellow in the fall.

Cottonwood is the largest deciduous tree in the area, growing up to 50 metres tall. In the spring the new buds are sticky and sweet smelling. Later, when the seeds burst open, cottonwood fluff can be seen wafting down like snow. Mature cottonwood trees have furrowed bark with flat-topped ridges.

Where to find it: Black cottonwood often grows on floodplains along the river’s edge. Check out the Puntledge or Tsolum rivers, or head up to Oyster River, where there are some very large and impressive trees.

Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii)

Pacific dogwood leaves turn a lovely pinkish-red colour in the fall. The oval leaves are sharp-pointed at the tip, tapering at the base, and widest near the middle. Look for the “dogwood veins” which curve parallel to the leaf edge. The margins are often distinctively wavy.

Pacific dogwood is the provincial floral emblem for BC. In spring, look for the showy white bracts, with button-like green flowers at their centres. Pacific dogwood grows along the edges of forests and in moist, open woods.

Where to find it: There are many Pacific dogwoods right in town in Courtenay and Comox (not to be confused with ornamental dogwoods, which are common in town too!) Buttle Lake, in Strathcona Park, is a very good place to see dogwoods.

Red Alder (Alnus rubra)

Red alder leaves are edged with blunt teeth, and have straight veins that spread from the middle of the leaf to the margin. They are dull green above, with rusty hairs beneath, and the edges roll under slightly. The leaves remain green until they drop from the tree.

Red Alder has smooth grayish bark that is often mottled with patches of white lichen. The wood and inner bark is bright orange-red when cut. The pollen-laden alder catkins are one of the earliest signs of spring.

Where to find it: Red alder is widespread and easy to come by in our area. Look for moist, wooded areas near streams and rivers. It often forms pure stands, and is one of the first trees to colonize areas that have been cleared.

Garry Oak (Quercus garryana)

Garry oak leaves have five to seven rounded lobes that give this leaf a curvy outline. They are shiny green above, and brown/hairy beneath. In the fall, oak leaves turn a dull brown. Acorns can be found scattered under the tree.

This magnificent tree, with large heavy limbs, grows on dry rocky bluffs and rich, well-drained soils at low elevations. The Comox Valley is the northern limit of this tree’s range.

Where to find it: There are some beautiful oaks on Mission Hill (around the cemetery) and in the farm fields along Headquarters Rd. Stunted, wind-swept oaks are found around Point Holmes.

There are, of course, more trees than these “top five.” To learn more, consult a good plant guide such as the Plants of Coastal BC, by Pojar & McKinnon.

Filed under Nature Writing | Tags: Bigleaf Maple, Comox Valley, Garry Oak, Leaves, Pacific Dogwood, Red Alder | Comment (1)