Bunchberry
(Cornus canadensis)
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Bunchberries are common plants which can be seen covering the forest floor and in clearings. |
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They have very distinctive, oval leaves with parallel veins. Each plant has 4-6 leaves.
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The white coloured ‘petals’ are really leaves. The real flowers are in the middle of the white coloured leaves. Each flower has a black dot as its centre.
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Ripe berries seen July to August. You can eat them but they aren't very tasty. |
Choosing your plants
- • Select a patch of bunchberry plants in an area that you visit regularly.
- • Mark the patch with a ribbon on a stick or other marker to make sure that you always visit the same place.
- • If you have a large patch of plants mark off a one metre square area and observe only the plants within the square. Take care not to damage the plants when marking your square!
What to record
- • Record when the first tiny flowers are open (look for the black dots in their centres).
- • Make a note of when 50% of the tiny flowers are open.
- • Finally record when nearly all of the tiny flowers are open.
