Biggest Maple Tree in Canada is in Stanley Park
byThere are many things I learn from the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”) and one of the more recent is that Stanley Park is home to the biggest maple tree in Canada. To be more specific, it’s the largest-recorded bigleaf maple tree (Acer macrophyllum) in the country.
Biggest Maple Tree in Canada is in Stanley Park
As a follower of the society on Instagram, and a neighbour of the park in the West End, I am always curious to find new spots in the park I know so well. SPES posted this photo and within a few days, John and I were in the park to try to find this magical spot:
Their caption said it was just off the Rawlings Trail near Hollow Tree and sure enough, we walked across Tatlow from Lost Lagoon, turned on Rawlings and I spotted it from the path. It is 29 metres in height and 3.4 metres in diameter… it’s BIG! It also has a crown spread of 19.5 metres. You can find this gentle giant listed on BC’s Big Tree Registry, in the Champions section. According to the list, Stanley Park also has the country’s largest red alder.
I can’t wait to play “let’s go find that in the park” again soon with the SPES Instagram account! Read my archive of SPES-contributed articles here, which include more giant trees, lagoon slime, flying squirrels, tiny fungus, winter hummingbirds and much more!
K’emk’emeláy
An area of Vancouver was always known for its maple trees:
“K’emk’emeláy was once a thriving seasonal village for Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples for gathering and harvesting seafood. Pronounced “KEM-kem-a-lie,” the site was located at what is now the foot of Gore Street, at the Port of Vancouver’s busy Main Street Dock on the south shore of the Burrard Inlet. “Kemk’emeláy means ‘the place of many maple trees’ or a grove of maples,” says Senaqwila Wyss”. – Read more via CBC Vancouver.
