A Botanical Geography of Canada

Those intrepid souls who explored and assigned names to prominent geographical features from sea to sea to sea were, if not botanists themselves, either accompanied by experts in flora or had a good smattering of the science. Hence, time and again, gardeners may be reminded of a familiar flower, shrub or tree under the most unlikely circumstances.

---

Flora in Roman mythology was the goddess of flowers and spring. So we derive the flora, or plants indigenous to a country or geographical area, as well as botanical volumes describing them. From the same source is derived floral, anything pertaining to flowers. Botanically, flora have made their mark in at least five lakes from Newfoundland to British Columbia. A Flora Peak, Flora Islet and Flora Bank also are all to be found in B.C. while perhaps surprisingly a Flora Island is to be encountered in Nunavut. And while Ontario features the prettily named Floral Park and Floral Point, where else but on the Saskatchewan Prairies could there be such a place so redolent of Sarah Binks as the railway point labelled Floral? A lake named hazelnut would sound almost oafish; ah, but how more exotic does it become when designated as Corylus Lake up near Thunder Bay in Ontario. The same area also features a creek and lake both named Deutzia – a puzzle indeed since the familiar garden shrubs hail from the Far East. Yet another creek and lake in the Thunder Bay District celebrate Dianthus, or the carnation family. In fact this district of Ontario seems to have attracted yet more botanical attention: Nymphae Lake must surely be flush with waterlilies, Helianthus Lake bordered by sunflowers, and Chinese lanterns could surround Physalis Lake.

---

---

Thunder Bay must share its grasses at Festuca Lake with Festuca Creek and Festuca Pass in B.C. while sharing Viola Lake with one of the same name in neighbouring Sudbury (which also has a Viola Creek) and Kenora, Ontario features a Viola Lake, as does the Coast Land District of B.C. But for Viola Bay we must move up north, way up north, to Nunavut. Sudbury might be better known for massive mines as well as the world’s largest nickel coin, but beech trees are celebrated there in Fagus Bay. Perhaps even more than maples, spruce or pines, willows are to be found almost everywhere except the very farthest northern archipelago. Strangely then they remain uncelebrated by the botanical Salix except in a creek, in Cassiar Land District, B.C. and – wait for it – a lake in Thunder Bay, although there is a pair of Lac Salix in Quebec. Yet the distinctly foreign if beloved lilac will be found in the Syringa Creek of Kootenay Land District, B.C. where there is a post office similarly named as well as a Syringa Park. La belle province resounds with botanical names: Lac Myosotis of Baie-Trinité; Lac Orchis, Témiscamingue; Lac Salvia, Vallée-de-l’Or where will also be found Lac Pinus; Lac Rumex, Mékinac for those not objecting to the weedy dock plant; Lac Oxalis, Lac-au-Brochet and a second Lac Oxalis at Mont-Valin, with a Lac Pistil, Lac-Pythonga completing the technical nomenclature there. Ontario celebrates the Umbelliferae family – think Queen Anne’s Lace – with Umbel Lake, Kenora, Umbel Island, Renfrew, and, of course, Umbel Lake in Thunder Bay. British Columbia looks forward to bountiful berries at Vaccinium Lake, Rupert Land District and Alberta has pretty Primula as what geographically is known somewhat disappointingly as a ‘locality.’ Ending our geographical floral trip also in the west, where British Columbia somewhat ominously celebrates possibly toxic herbs with Hellebore Lake, Nootka Land District and Hellebore Creek, New Westminister Land District on the coast and higher up with the Hellebore Pass, in the Kamloops Division of Yale Land District.

---