Mapping Species Distributions

NON-ESTABLISHED VASCULAR PLANTS IN BC: A Watch List

Field maple (Acer campestre), photo by Robert Flogaus-Faust.

by
Jenifer Penny, Frank Lomer and Marta Donovan

The British Columbia Conservation Data Centre (BC CDC) maintains the official list of the vascular flora of British Columbia, and this is accessible through the BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer as well as through E-Flora BC. The vascular flora is comprised of historic and extant native and exotic taxa that are regularly-occurring in the province.

However, there are also other vascular plants present in the province that are not easily categorized but broadly fit into a classification of 'non-established' taxa. They are not formally considered part of the BC flora until they have been confirmed as regularly-occurring, but these plants have been observed growing without cultivation in the province.

A list of non-established taxa is maintained by the BC CDC and these taxa are now being incorporated into E-Flora BC.  Atlas pages will be provided for these species, and will include a comment on occurrence in BC. Some of these taxa may eventually be added to the flora of the province and some may become invasive.

View a list of non-established vascular plant species in BC

Non-established taxa, particularly potentially invasive taxa, should be flagged and tracked. For invasive taxa, successful management depends upon rapid detection and early response.

To be included in the provincial list of non-established taxa, a taxon must be reported from outside of cultivation.

Non-established taxa are grouped into the following categories:

Ephemeral: Lasting for a season or rarely a bit longer, but do not persist

Occasional: Sometimes persisting, but not known to have spread beyond limited sites, usually near plantings

Excluded Taxa

There are other vascular taxa which have been attributed to the BC flora in the literature but which have been excluded because their presence in the province has not been confirmed.  ‘Excluded' plants fall into the following  categories: 

1) species that have been falsely reported based on misidentified herbarium specimens or literature
2) species where herbarium vouchers are poor or missing
3) species where vouchers appear to have been taken from cultivated sites
4) species with misapplied names
5)  exotic and historical reports where collections have not been made in the last 40 years
6.  Named hybrids that are rarely encountered and are not self-sustaining.
7. Unpublished entities.

View a list of the excluded taxa here.