Cryptic and dorsolaterally flattened, these beautiful bugs (in the truest sense of the word) are most often encountered on wood from the woodpile or only on very close inspection of a tree trunk. They feed on leaves and seeds and occasionally caterpillars or small beetles. They overwinter as adults and in the spring lay eggs that will hatch in a few weeks. The first adults are seen in August sometime. There are two species of Brochymena in BC and I definitely don't feel confident enough to say which this is ...but I am leaning towards B. affinis, the other option being B. quadripustulata. *

*Yea! The wonderful folks at BugGuide.net have confirmed that it is B. affinis. 

The larva of this long horned beetle feed under the bark of Douglas-fir. It is found through western North America -and despite the name that sounds quite pest-like, apparently it is not. The scientific name is Centrodera spurca.  There you have it. If anyone knows any juicy tid bits about this relatively common showy beetle, please share!

When I was at university, my parents took in a number of exchange students.  One of these, John from New Zealand, returned for a visit several years later and I picked him up from the ferry and drove him to my parents.  We arrived at the house and got out of the car.  "Just a minute." said John and he ran into the woodshed,  held a piece of cedar kindling to his nose and inhaled deeply..."now I know I'm back..."and he smiled broadly.  The smell of fresh cut cedar is a wonderful thing.
Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) is a conifer with very rot resistant wood, so often used for fence posts, railings, and decking.  It splits easily in long pieces and much of my teenage years was spent splitting fence posts, railing and cutting cedar shakes to earn pocket money.  It is the wood of choice for coastal First Nation's canoes, long house boards and totem poles. The inner bark can be stripped, worked to make it pliable and used for matting and clothing.  The branches can be twisted into rope - the uses of this tree are just about endless.
Here at Leaning Oaks we have a handful of cedars, although several of them have died since we moved here, likely victims of recent hot, dry summers.  New recruits are non-existant on the property-they are heavily browsed upon by Blacktail Deer, which are at a very high population levels. 

The few Red Osier Dogwoods that we have on Leaning Oaks are along the vernal wetland, in the shadiest, moist part of the ravine. The dense shade makes them difficult to photograph in the entanglement!

Cornus stolonifera has bright, beautiful red  (rarely yellow)stems that make it a great shrub to have in a garden for winter colour. The white flowers are in small flat-topped bunches, followed by blue-tinged  white berries (drupes) that hang in clusters.  Red Osier Dogwood is so named because the twigs are used to make baskets.  

The bright red stem colour is best on younger shoots and gardens often prune heavily to control the height, increase the branching and maintain shoot colour. A number of named forms of this shrub are available including a dwarf selection. Hardwood cuttings are easily rooted in the late fall after leaves have dropped. 

The distinctive Orange Peel fungus occurs on disturbed, compacted soils along trails or gravelly soils (or perhaps just plain gravel like here!). Aleuria aurantia is a tertiary decomposer and thus very important in the ecosstem. Other fungi, or primary and secondary decomposers do the initial organic material breakdown, then A. aurantia comes in and breaks down the complex molecules. Some are absorbed back into the fungus for nutrition and the rest is used by plants and soil dwelling organisms for their nutrition. We don't have many of these around...at least not this year which is too bad. After you have stopped cursing someone for flinging their orange peels on the path, you can appreciate the splash of colour that these provide on days like this where there are only many shades of grey.