Sedum spathulifolium - a splash of red

View On Black
Originally uploaded by Mary Sanseverino

First hike of the new year! I was out on Jan 23, 2009 with Eva, Gord, and David. Our destination was East Sooke Park, on the southern trip of Vancouver Island. It always gives a fine walk with great views. We went up Babbington Hill from Aylard Farm parking lot, then down to Cabin Point and along the Coast Trail back to the car. I could barely keep up with the crowd, but they put up with the old woman and graciously waited for me to get my photos and toddle along the trail.

January doesn't have much in the way of wildflower colour. But, I can always rely on Sedum spathulifolium to provide some eye-catching colour. The succulent reddish-purple leaves of this plant seem almost to be made of flesh, but this is because the leaves store water. And, as this is our wet season, the plant is gathering in as much moisture as possible. Soon it will be hot, dry, and exposed on this southern-facing cliff and the moisture will be most welcome. Sedum spathulifolium is part of a class of plants called xerophytes which are well adapted to living in hot dry climates like ours can be in the spring and summer.

In winter this sedum is one of the first things a hiker notices on the Coast Trail. It is splashed all over ocean-fronting cliffs, rocks along the trail, and in sunny crevices back from the trail. In this picture the sedum was nicely set off by tufts of Reindeer lichen (part of the Cladina family I think). This hardy lichen is very common in East Sooke Park. It looks soft and fluffy, but is really hard and crunchy on top.

I am hoping this year will feature a banner wildflower season. I'm planning on getting lots of wildflower shots from my favourite haunts up and down Vancouver Island. And this year I'm going to catalog and organize the pictures too!! Well ... a girl can always dream.