Islands are fascinating places. Natural isolation provides the perfect opportunity for things to get weird. I think we can all agree SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island is unique in all kinds of ways. As a plant ecologist, one of the unique things I notice about the island is which native plants grow here and which ones don’t. Particularly interesting for me is when species that are common in nearby places are absent or locally rare here. In this article I’ll highlight some of the oddly uncommon plant species you may be lucky to find here, or have the opportunity to help restore through planting and habitat stewardship.

Why are some regionally common plants locally rare?

For some species there is a clear explanation for local rarity, while for others it is a mystery or simply a result of random occurrence and the general oddity of island biogeography. Two clear reasons otherwise common native plant species have become locally rare on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island are deer overpopulation and habitat loss. Herbaceous plant species that would otherwise be common across the island are completely gone or drastically reduced in abundance due to hyper-abundant deer. Some types of habitats, such as wetlands and wet forest ecosystems, have largely been cleared, drained, and converted to hay and pasture fields. Many of the plant and animal species that live in those ecosystem types are now gone or have become locally rare. For some species that are naturally uncommon or rare within the region, there may simply be a limited amount of natural habitat on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island. For anyone fascinated with the concepts of island biogeography, I recommend a book called Song of the Dodo by David Quammen. The book provides entertaining examples from across the globe to illustrate the ecological principles and implications for biodiversity when the isolation of island biogeography is broken. The book finishes with some thought-provoking ideas about how isolated nature reserves are like islands, and implications for the future of the species that live in isolated reserves.

Locally rare species on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island

Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) and red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea)

There are six native species in the genus Cornus known to British Columbia: three species of bunchberry, which are low-growing herbaceous plants that grow in the forest understory: one shrub, the red-osier dogwood: and one tree, the pacific dogwood. The pacific dogwood is an iconic tree that was adopted as BC’s floral emblem in 1956, and may be familiar to older residents of the Gulf Islands because it featured prominently in the old BC Ferries logo, which at one time was known as the Dogwood Fleet.

Blooming in April and June, the brilliant white bracts of this tree can be seen on display along the north side of Felix Jack Road, where one of the two known naturally occurring individuals of this species remain. We’re attempting to grow this species from local seed, and in the meantime, we acquired about 40 seedlings grown from seeds collected in the Goldstream area. The tiny seedlings were donated to us from Parks Canada in the fall of 2025 and we potted them up into one-gallon pots and grew them through the summer of 2026. They are now about 60cm tall and ready for planting. Come check them out at our fall native plant sale on October 3^rd. You could be a part of recovering a population of this species on the island.

The red-osier dogwood was also nearly gone from the island, but we’ve successfully reestablished it in more than a dozen locations over the past ten years. We have some available of those at the plant sale as well.

Black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii)

There are two species of hawthorn on the island, the English hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) which is an invasive tree introduced from Europe, and the native black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii). The English hawthorn, being invasive, is very common and widespread. The black hawthorn, meanwhile, had been reduced to only three or four spots on the island. The best place to see it is alongside the north side of the road at the Bennett Bay beach access. We’ve started to reestablish it within a few restoration sites and have had good success. You can tell the English and black hawthorns apart by looking at the leaves and berries. The leaf of the English hawthorn has deeply dissected lobes, while the black hawthorn leaves do not. When the berries are ripe, the English hawthorn’s are bright red, and the black hawthorn’s are black. We’ve been able to grow the native black hawthorn successfully from locally collected seeds, and we have some great looking seedlings available for sale this year.

Cascara tree (Frangula purshiana)

I knew of two individuals of this species on the island, the larger of which has since died. The second lives but is in poor health, growing under a power line and frequently hacked down. This species is regionally uncommon, but in the spring of 2025, I visited Portland Island in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and was surprised to find it common and widespread on that small island. There are no deer on Portland Island, and many plant species thrive there that are struggling elsewhere in the region. Cascara have become locally rare on other southern gulf islands, likely due to a combination of habitat loss and deer overpopulation. We don’t currently grow this species in our nursery. The remaining tree here hasn’t produced seed in recent years and access to regional seed is a challenge.

Coastal sagewort (Artemisia suksdorfii)

I just learned about this plant in the summer of 2025 during a tour of the Galiano Conservancy’s native plant nursery. I was fascinated by it and immediately looked at our biodiversity records to see if it had been recorded on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island. Sure enough, there it was, listed as being recorded in 2001 by botanist Harvey Jenszen. But where!? I have yet to find it, but yesterday received a clue I’ll follow-up on from another legendary naturalist, Michael Dunn. Coincidently, during the last warm week in September I headed across Active Pass in my small outboard with my son Alex to check out the beach at the base of the Bluffs nature protection area on Galiano Island. I’d heard a rumour the coastal sagewort was there and I was pleased to find an extensive population growing in the full sun across the slope. Thanks to a donation of seeds to us from the Galiano Conservancy, we’ll have this plant available for sale in the fall of 2027. We started seeds in September 2026 and they are growing very well. This is a perennial herb with woody stems, sun loving and very drought tolerant. Often listed as deer resistant but we all know what that means here on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island…

The “other” maples – Douglas maple (Acer glabrum) and vine maple (Acer circinatum)

We have three native species of maple on the island. By far the most common is the big-leaf maple. The Douglas maple is a lesser known and less common tree, while the vine maple is quite rare here but probably better known. Of the three, I learned about vine maple first while attending horticulture school at Capilano College in the early 2000’s. The vine maple is much more common in wetter ecosystems, such as the coastal western hemlock zone around Vancouver, and has become a popular small tree for homes and gardens. On SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island however, I have come across just three naturally occurring examples. There are likely more, but it is certainly not common. I have yet to collect local seeds for this species, but perhaps in the future you will find it available in our nursery.

You may not be familiar with the Douglas maple, a smaller, less abundant relative of the big-leaf maple. There are patches of it growing on the north shore of St. John Point Regional Park and along the base of Vulture Ridge at Henderson Park above Beechwood Drive. This tree has smaller leaves with a more sharply toothed margin. Like big-leaf maple, the winged seeds grow in pairs and make great “helicopters” for those of us inclined to childish behaviour. The young twigs are a striking reddish colour, with great contrast to the yellowing leaves of fall. This species favours part to full sun in well draining deep soils. We started some seeds in the nursery for the first time in the fall of 2024 and we now have a good number of beautiful seedlings ready to plant. Come check them out on Saturday October 3^rd.

Want to learn more?

If you’re inspired to learn local plants but not sure where to start, we’ve put together a list of common local trees and shrubs to help you get started. With hundreds of native species, not to mention all the introduced species, getting a start on learning to identify plants can be a bit intimidating. I recommend starting with common trees and shrubs which is a much smaller and more manageable list. I am always happy to help with identification at our office, and can come help you identify native plants growing on your property through our free Landholder Consultation program.

Fall planting

As fall approaches, it’s time to start thinking about planting. Fall is the best time to plant new plants, so roots can set during the winter and spring before the next summer drought. When we get a warm winter like we’re forecast to get this year, plants have an even better chance to establish. Come check out our selection of native plants at our fall sale on Saturday October 3^rd from 10am-1pm at our office 455 Dixon Rd.