Coombs is a small community on Vancouver Island in the Regional District of Nanaimo, British Columbia, situated on provincial highway 4A approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Parksville. Coombs is home to approximately 1,327 people and is renowned for its Old Country Market, Butterfly World, the 106 year old Coombs Fall Fair and the Coombs Bluegrass Festival held every B.C. Day weekend. The history of Coombs goes back many years. The Ford House which is the old log house situated on the Alberni Highway is dated back to the early 1900s. The pioneer Walter Ford house was completed in 1911. Next to the Ford House is the Dutch Store since year 2021, prior, 1912 to 2021 it was the old General Store, which also always housed the General Post Office. The Coombs Fair Grounds is an active place throughout the year. The Rodeo Grounds just up the highway heading towards Port Alberni is a successful and active place during the summer months. The railway line is also a huge part of the history of Coombs. Along with the United Church and just over the French Creek Bridge is the French Creek School, opened in 1912, which closed in 2015 but is used now as a Coombs Community Commons. French Creek school was a huge asset to the community for over 100 years.
A Mediterranean climate, also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen as Cs, is a climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes, characterized by warm to hot, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the majority of Mediterranean-climate regions and countries, but remain highly dependent on proximity to the ocean, altitude and geographical location.
Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, Possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow larger under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 20 inches diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.
The Pacific temperate rainforests of western North America is the largest temperate rain forest region on the planet as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The Pacific temperate rainforests lie along the western side of the Pacific Coast Ranges along the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America from the Prince William Sound in Alaska through the British Columbia Coast to Northern California, and are part of the Nearctic realm, as also defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The Pacific temperate rain forests are characterized by a high amount of rainfall, in some areas more than 300 cm (10 ft) per year and moderate temperatures in both the summer and winter months.
Euproserpinus euterpe, the Kern primrose sphinx moth or euterpe sphinx moth is a small day-flying moth in the family Sphingidae. The 0.04-inch (1.0 mm), light green eggs are laid haphazardly on various plants in the vicinity of the evening primrose host plants. Larvae emerge from the eggs about a week after oviposition and begin to feed on the flowers and young leaves of the evening primrose. Larvae hatching from eggs laid on other plants are able to wander significant distances to find the host plant.
Boston Bar is an unincorporated community in the Fraser Canyon of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Port Renfrew is a small unincorporated community located on the south shore of Port San Juan, an inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Port Renfrew has a population of 144 and has been touted as "the Tall Tree Capital of Canada".
Eremothera boothii is a species of wildflower known as Booth's evening primrose. This plant is native to the western United States and northwestern Mexico where it is most abundant in arid areas such as deserts. This is an annual plant with hairy reddish-green stems and mottled foliage. The stem ends in a nodding inflorescence of many small flowers which may be white to red or yellowish, often with darker shades on the external surfaces of the four spoon-shaped petals. They have long stamens with clublike yellowish anthers. Flowers of this species tend to open at dusk rather than dawn as in many other Camissonia. The fruit is a twisted capsule one to 3 centimeters long. Plant appearances may vary across subspecies.
Erysimum menziesii is a species of Erysimum known by the common name Menzies' wallflower.
Island View Beach is located on the traditional territory of the Tsawout First Nation, on the Eastern Cordova shore of the Saanich Peninsula, near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Camissonia strigulosa is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name sandysoil suncup.
Camissoniopsis bistorta is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names southern suncup and California suncup. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in several types of plant community along the coast and in the coastal hills and mountain ranges. This is a hairy annual or short-lived perennial herb spreading from a basal rosette, with stems reaching up to 80 centimeters long. The leaves are narrow and sometimes toothed, and 1 to 12 centimeters in length. Toward the end of the spreading stems are nodding inflorescences of flowers, each flower with four bright yellow petals dotted with red at their bases.
Camissonia benitensis is a species of evening primrose known by the common names San Benito suncup and San Benito evening primrose. It is endemic to the Diablo Range of the South Coast Ranges of California, where its range includes far southern San Benito County, far western Fresno County, and far eastern Monterey County.
Tetrapteron graciliflorum is a species of evening primrose known by the common name hill suncup. It is native to Oregon and California, where it grows in several habitat types, often on clay soils. It is an annual herb generally with no stem but producing an upright, nodding inflorescence. There is a cluster of narrow leaves each one to ten centimeters long. The flowers have bright yellow petals one half to two centimeters long. The fruit is a leathery capsule less than a centimeter in length with four chambers containing bumpy brown seeds.
Tetrapteron palmeri is a species of evening primrose known by the common name Palmer evening primrose. It is native to the western United States from California to Idaho, where it grows in several habitat types, including desert and sagebrush. It is a roughly hairy annual herb growing in a low patch on the ground, generally with no stem. The leaves are widely lance-shaped and up to about 5 centimeters long, with a few small teeth along the edges. The nodding inflorescence produces flowers with yellow petals only 2 or 3 millimeters long each and a noticeable bulbous stigma tip which may be up to a centimeter wide. The fruit is a leathery capsule around half a centimeter long with small wings near the tip.
The biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia are units of a classification system used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests for the Canadian province's fourteen different broad, climatic ecosystems. The classification system, termed Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification, exists independently of other ecoregion systems, one created by the World Wildlife Fund and the other in use by Environment Canada, which is based on one created by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and also in use by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The system of biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification was partly created for the purpose of managing forestry resources, but is also in use by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and other provincial agencies. A biogeoclimatic zone is defined as "a geographic area having similar patterns of energy flow, vegetation and soils as a result of a broadly homogenous macroclimate."
Microseris bigelovii is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name coastal silverpuffs. It is native to the west coast of North America, where its range extends from the southern tip of Vancouver Island to the northern coast of California.
Oenothera californica, known by the common name California evening primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family.
The Central Pacific coastal forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
Galearis rotundifolia is a species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is commonly called roundleaf orchis and small round-leaved orchid. It is a succulent perennial herb native to North America, where it occurs throughout Canada, part of the northern United States, and Greenland.
