The Plants of
Sargeant Bay Provincial Park

There are five distinct plant communities in the Sargeant Bay watershed:
  • The beach berm
  • The rock
  • The wetland with the island in Colvin Lake, behind the berm
  • The upland forested area
  • Triangle Lake
The various areas can be recognized on the forest cover map below.
The rock is private property and not part of the park. It is mentioned because it is a desirable addition to the park as a natural extension of Sargeant Bay beach while it has a distinctive rocky shore vegetation.

  Forest Mapmap

The beach berm has been heavily affected by human activities over the last hundred years. That is why 40% of the 160 plant species there are introduced. Because of their proximity, the number of introduced species is still fairly high on the rock and on the island in Colvin Lake, respectively 27 and 29%. In the upland forest the number is much lower and in and around Triangle Lake it is zero.

These are just some of the plants that can be found on the berm:

  Brodiaea
 
  Harvest Brodiaea
Gumweed  
Gumweed

Chicory

Oregon Grape

Gumweed is a salt-loving plant that is named after the sticky glue that covers the base of the flowers. Chicory is an introduced plant that is used in Europe as a coffee substitute.
For a list of the 328 plant species that can be found in the park, click:

List of Plants
1996 the Sargeant Bay Society initiated its Invasive Plant Control project, to protect the native vegetation from being overrun by Himalayan Blackberries and Scotch Broom. The project started with volunteers, then was reinforced with summer students and reached its peak during 2000 and 2001, when it was supported by a grant from Environment Canada. At present, all we have to do is to keep up pulling out missed tubers and new seedlings, supported by a contribution from BC Parks. The project has been remarkably successful. If you want to know more about it, click:
IPC Project
In November, 2003, the Society planted 12 Western Dogwood Trees (Cornus nutallii) at the two accesses to the park on Redrooffs Road. The picturesque dogwood flower is British Columbia's provincial flower and the trees are common on the Sunshine Coast. However, there were none in Sargeant Bay park. The trees were planted as a fitting memorial to Eric Hoare, who passed away early in 2003. Eric made a major contribution to the Society as Membership Director for many years.
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