WPCIB Nature Trail

Trail Description - Disturbed; pipeline The trail initiates on what is called a "disturbed site".

A pipeline was established in the 1960s, which changed the original soils and plants and continues to influence the vegetation on this site.

Note the presence of many "weedy species", such as yarrow (Achillea millefolium), cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis) and the introduced plant, mullein (Verbascum thapsus). These are considered to be weedy because of their adventitious, aggressive growth in disturbed areas, but they are not undesirable - all three were used by the Secwepemc.

Common: Black Hawthorn
Latin: Crataegus douglasii
Secwepemc: stmuqwellp/stmuqw

Hawthorn berries ripen in late summer. They can be eaten fresh, but are bland and care must be taken to avoid the large seeds. Traditionally, they were mashed into "bread cakes" for storage. Hawthorn is easily identified by its large thorns. These were used as fishhooks, needles, and to pierce the skin (i.e. ear-piercing and lancing boils). Hawthorn wood is very hard and was used for making tools.

Common: Saskatoon
Latin: Amelanchier alnifolia
Secwepemc: speqpeq7uwi
Saskatoon berries ripen in mid-summer (July to August). The dark blue berries are very sweet, and were used extensively. They were eaten fresh, dried like raisins, or made into fruit leather. Today, they are also made into jams and syrups.