Self Guided Tour: April/May 2026

Around the World Plants

Contributor: Lyn Anderson, VanDusen Volunteer Guide

Welcome to VanDusen Botanical Garden’s 55 acres, which contain over 8,000 taxa (species, subspecies, cultivars, varieties) from around the world. A botanic garden is a living museum bringing the world’s plant diversity to the public. VanDusen’s collections have evolved from 20 when the Garden first opened to 70 today. Each plant’s origin is a small part of its story. Here are some interesting facts about some of them.

Enter the plaza, turn left and walk over to the North American Cultivars Garden. The first stop is 1 – Garry oak (Quercus garryana). The Garry oak is the only oak native to British Columbia and Washington State. Only 5% of original Garry oak ecosystems remain in BC today, making it one of the most endangered in Canada. There are a few in southern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands in BC and on Whidbey Island (Oak Harbor) in Washington Sate. In the USA, Quercus garryana is known as white oak or Oregon white oak.

In pre-colonial days, First Nations set prescriptive fires in Garry oak meadows to perpetuate the grasslands, which were habitat for food plants such as camas. The acorns produced once the tree is 30 years old are an important food source for animals and humans. First Nations roast camas bulbs and acorns to make them edible. Garry oak has deep tap roots to survive in dry rocky areas.

Walk over the bridge and along the path until you get the Fragrance Garden. Opposite, across the lawn is 2 – Serbian spruce (Picea omorika). This tall, slender evergreen is native in a limited range from the upper Drina River Valley in western Serbia and eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It can reach over 30 meters (100 feet) in height in its native habitat but often 15 to 18 meters (50 to 60 feet) in cultivation. It is a popular tree for landscaping due to its tall, elegant stature. Cones are dark purple in their early stages. There is another Serbian spruce at the top of the waterfall area where the cones may be more visible.

Continue to the end of the path, to your right is 3 – golden southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’). Southern catalpa (also known as Indian bean tree or cigar tree) is native to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Showy flowers are large bell shaped, two lipped, with yellow spots inside on upright racemes or panicles of up to 40 blooms. The fruit is a long, dark brown, narrow cigar shaped seed pod which stay on the tree all winter giving the tree year-round interest.

This tree has an ecological relationship with caterpillars (Ceratomia catalpae) that may defoliate the tree many times in the summer without killing it. The caterpillars are used as fishing bait in the southern USA. Fishing enthusiasts freeze the caterpillars for a year-round supply of bait (hopefully in well marked containers).

Turn left at the junction, follow the path until you reach 4 – handkerchief, dove or ghost tree (Davidia involucrata). The specific epithet involucrata means “with ring of bracts surrounding several flowers”. Two white bracts, one larger than the other, protect the flower’s pollen from the wind and rain. As the mature white bracts flutter in the breeze, they also absorb UV light to attract pollinators.

The genus Davidia is named for Father Armand David who encountered a lone tree in the mountains in Sichuan Province in southeastern China in 1869. In his 12 years in China, French Catholic missionary, zoologist and botanist Father David not only learned the language and celebrated the culture but collected and documented an abounding array of flora and fauna unknown in the western world. He also described the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) after being shown the skin by local hunters.

You are now at the base of the Rhododendron Walk. Most of the rhododendrons here are cultivars developed in England and Holland. On the right are azaleas, formerly a separate genus Azalea, now in the genus Rhododendron. Many azaleas are deciduous.

Turn left into the dirt path to 5 – Leyland cypress (× Cupressocyparis leylandii) which originated at Leighton Hall estate near Powys, Wales. The × in front of its name indicates an intergenic hybrid. The imported parent trees, Nootka cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) from the Pacific Northwest and Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) from the Central Coast of California, would not have crossed naturally, since their ranges do not overlap. It was an accidental creation in Leyland nursery in 1888.

The Leyland cypress can grow up to a metre per year and soon became popular for hedges. In fact, the hedges grew so fast they created mayhem in England. Neighbours resorted to vandalism, arson, lawsuits and even a murder until the 2005 High Hedges Law was passed. Return to the paved path, go right.

As you take in the wonderful colours of the flowers be sure to look at the leaves. 6 – Rhododendron (R. yakushimanum ‘Mist Maiden’) on your left across from the dirt path is of interest. Note the fuzzy brown lining on the underside of the leaves known “indumentum” (Latin for “garment” or “robe”) that forms a protective layer that sheds water and insulates in dry cold weather. New leaves have silver hairs.

Continue up the paved path, near the end is the Japanese Collection. 7 – Wasabi (Eutrema japonica ‘Mazuma’) use as a food in Japan goes back to the 8th CE. The leaf, stem and root are edible. It was not until the introduction of sushi in the 1900s that it was known in the West. It is rare, delicate, and takes a few years to mature. Its natural habitat is along rocky riverbeds in mountainous areas throughout the Japanese archipelago to the north Sakhalin Island in Russia. Fresh wasabi lasts for a short time, making it prohibitive to export. Wasabi served in most Canadian sushi restaurants is horseradish died green.

At the end of the path turn right. You are in the heart of the Simo-Himalayan Garden. VanDusen’s vast collection of species rhododendrons (those that grow naturally in the wild) are here along with many other plants indigenous to the Asian continent. At the path’s junction, turn right and follow the path to the Hon. David C. Lam Cherry Grove named after a Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia (1988-1995).

8 – Pink weeping spring cherry (Prunus subhirtella var. pendula ‘Beni-shidare’) may or may not be in blossom for your visit to the Garden. VanDusen’s Sakura Days Japan Fair official dates are April 11 & 12, 2026. There are over 43,000 flowering cherry trees in Vancouver today according to Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Founder, Linda Poole. One hundred years ago the mayors of Yokohama and Kobe presented 500 9 – Ojochin cherry trees (Prunus (Sato-zakura Group) ‘Ojochin’) to the Vancouver Park Board in honor of Japanese Canadian veterans of WW1. These were planted around the cenotaph in Stanley Park. We have three of these at VanDusen Garden. This was the start of cherry tree donations that we enjoy today.

Continue down the path, turn left at the intersection, then right over the bridge. The 10 – Scottish shelter, built of local basaltic rock, enhances VanDusen’s heather collection. Traditionally, this structure would have a thatched roof of heather, but for safety reasons, natural slate is used here. Heather (Calluna vulgaris) is often associated with Scotland; however, it is also native to the moorland of Europe, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the Azores. Enter the Grotto, look up at the 11– spreading yew (Taxus baccata ‘Repandens’). Yew trees are dioecious, having separate male and female plants. Bright red fleshy seed structures called arils will appear in the fall on this female yew.

The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland, is considered one of the oldest in Great Britian, estimated to be 5000 years old. There is much folklore surrounding yews and well worth time spent reading about it.

Once through the Grotto turn left, cross the zig zag bridge. On your left is 12 – monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), native to Chile & Argentina, and around the corner is a close relative 13 – Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis) native to Australia. Both of these living fossils are members of Araucariaceae, a plant family that dates back to the Jurassic period. Both species are endangered. The Wollemi pine was thought to be extinct until a small grove of living trees in a remote canyon of the Blue Mountains was discovered by modern day botanist and explorer David Noble in 1994.

Across the path is 14- Antarctic beech or Ñire (Nothofagus antarctica), native to the Patagonia area of South America: west to the Andes in Chile, east to the Atlantic Ocean in Argentina and south to Tierra del Fuego. Fossils of Nothofagus have been found dating back 80 million years.

The Antarctic beech tree is used in temperate zones as a landscape tree. It is hardy, has an open crown which allows light into surrounding planted areas. The pinkish brown hardwood is used for flooring and cabinetmaking. Continue down the paved path.

15 – Blue Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica Glauca Group) is native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morrocco and northern Algeria. Many conifers are commonly called “cedars”, but there are only four species of “true cedars” in the genus Cedrus. They are the Atlas Cedar, Cedar of Lebanon (opposite), Cyprian Cedar and Deodar Cedar. These cedars are monecious with the large (up to 12 cm) upright female seed cones near the top of the tree.

Return to the corner, turn left in the path until you reach 16– hybrid magnolia (Magnolia × brooklynensis ‘Yellow Bird’). One of the parents is the cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata), found in VanDusen’s Canadian Heritage Garden, is Canada’s only native magnolia. Brooklyn Botanic Garden has bred several yellow hybrid magnolias using Magnolia acuminata as one of the parents, with ‘Yellow Bird’ having the most intense yellow flowers.

We hope you have enjoyed this zigzag trip around the world. If you are interested in plants native to the tropical areas of the world, a visit to the nearby Bloedel Conservatory is a must.