Can anyone identify this plant for me? Picture taken up in Elphinstone. It stands about 2 foot tall. Picture taken in February.
I'd have said Rosemary, but I'm surprised to find that I can't distinguish that from Lavendar (Lavandula), though I never have trouble when I see them and can smell them. They're both Mediterranean plants, both can be garden escapees?
Its resemblance to rosemary is exactly why I called it a "herb". The thing is that it had no tell-tale smell. And for it to be a garden escapee up that far onto the mountain, would imply intent I think. I may have to go back up, collect a sample and take it in for closer examination.
Nope, not Gorse. It does look strikingly like Rosemary, though. Try repeating the scent test, with a sprig brought home into a warm room - any scent might not be so easy to detect on a cold day outdoors.
Andromeda polifolia aka bog-rosemary? If not this and instead a true rosemary, then a specimen should be collected as Rosmarinus is not yet on the list of non-established vascular plant species in BC.
I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and then go back to the site, take more detailed photos, and collect a sample. Question: Where does one take a sample for hands-on identification in the Vancouver area? Thank you for the replies and the suggestions. Much appreciated.
You can come here if you like and see me or Douglas Justice. A dried, pressed specimen can be taken to the UBC Herbarium as an alternative. Take some GPS data of where it was collected.
Bog rosemary does not look particularly like rosemary, would never be seen with this tall, diffuse habit. The only similarity is in the individual leaves, which are not even arranged on the stems in the same fashion. If the specimen in question turns out to be a rosemary, as it appears to be in these pictures - and it is growing in a cold, inland location - then it might be worth growing from cuttings. Many rosemary plants in lowland gardens here are tender forms that are periodically damaged or killed by cold.
Fair enough, I was more in the camp of it being a rosemary myself, but wanted to present the possibility since I haven't looked closely at bog-rosemary in the winter.
