5 Things You Didn’t Know About Plants in Vancouver

Plants are an incredibly important part of Vancouver, a city known for its greenery.

While the huge cedar and fir trees get a lot of attention, there are many more leafy neighbors to talk about, both cultivated and wild.

Here are some facts about them.

1. There are local carnivorous plants

In pop culture, carnivorous plants are often depicted in exotic jungles, with jaw-shaped leaves munching on unsuspecting beasts.

There are about 750 different species of animals in total, all of which obtain nutrients from animals in different ways.

In Metro Vancouver, the Triantha was recently discovered to belong to this group.

In 2021, scientists discovered that the plant uniquely trapped insects near the flowers. The plant would then extract certain nutrients from the weaker insects that were trapped, and allow larger pollinating insects like bees to escape.

It is not the only one, local species such as the round-leaved sundew and the common butterwort also eat insects.

2. Kiwis are growing in an unexpected Vancouver park

Kiwis may seem like an exotic fruit, but you can find them in a park in Coal Harbour.

The Kiwi plant actually comes from China and what we call kiwifruit are actually berries. In Marina Park a large mass of plants grows by the water.

Many kiwis/berries grow each year, but the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation advises people not to eat them because they are not yet fully ripe.

3. UBC has a rare physics garden

Medicinal gardens are a specific type of garden dedicated to plants used in medicine and drug production. Their history goes back hundreds of years, long before modern pharmaceutical products came on the market.

These days, formal physics gardens are less common, but UBC has one tucked away in the UBC Botanical Garden. Hidden behind a yew hedge is the Harold and Frances Holt Physic Garden.

While there are plants in there that have proven useful in the past, there are also many that are poisonous, so don’t go there with the idea of ​​chewing on the leaves.

4. There is a secret garden in Point Grey that you can visit

Tucked away at the intersection of West 14th Avenue and Courtenay Street lies a garden dedicated to one of Vancouver’s most influential residents.

The Erickson Garden is the former garden of Arthur Erickson, the famous architect.

Although the park is not regularly open to the public, the Arthur Erickson Foundation does offer guided tours, taking visitors through the “contemplative garden of reflecting water, rhododendrons, ferns, bamboo and grasses.”

5. The stinkiest plant in Vancouver

There aren’t many plants like Uncle Fester.

The plant Amorphophallus titanum is named after the character from the Addams Family and is almost as special as its namesake.

The species is known for its bizarre flowers, which rarely bloom. When they do bloom, they release a smell that resembles rotting meat.

Normally they are kept in a garden outside the park, but when it is time to bloom, the gardeners at Bloedel Conservatory bring in Uncle Fester to show him to the public.