‘-MAD HATTER 2

Seashores & Dragonflies

This Christmas season take a walk along a nice warm seashore, enjoy the different varieties of plants, and see some interesting species of dragonflies.

A pipe dream? No. These are two exhibits currently showing in the display room at Douglas College.

Sponsored by the Provincial Museum of B.C., with funding from the National Museum of Man, these two exhibits can bring some much needed relief to the cold of winter.

Seashore Plants of B.C., a 20 panel display, shows how local aquatic plants survive in the surpri- singly harsh environment by the sea.

The mere fact that plants live near salt water demands that this flora is waterproof! Through different coatings and adaptations, seashore plants avoid the potential killing saline in the water, air, and ground.

20 Varieties on Display

In total, the display shows strikingly beautiful photographs of almost 20 varieties of B.C. native seashore plants ranging from succulents, relatives of aloe and cactus, to grasses, kinnikinnick and flowering plants like the sea pink and wooly cinquefoil.

After browsing through this exhibit, the other side of the Douglas College 'museum' shows the different species of local dragonflies, the vicious carnivorous insect.

Despite their reputation for biting people, local dragonflies spend the majority of their life living as larva in the marshes, swamps, streams and rivers of B.C.

These predatory insects exist in areas where the water quality is high, and other insect populations are kept fairly well in check.

Over 80 species of the dragonfly can be found in the province, with varieties as diverse as the

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DOUGLAS COLLEGE

enormous Aeshna Palmata found at Harrison Hot Springs and the tiny Ischnura Peroarva located in Oliver. The exhibit also shows that dragonflies can even fall prey to the occasional carnivorous plant in this province, such as the Venus fly trap and pitcher plant found in some marsh areas.

Educational and Entertaining Break

The majority of preserved specimens in this travelling exhibit were taken from the private collection of Robert A. Cannings, entomologist for the Provincial Museum of B.C.

Both exhibits, the Seashore Plants of B.C. and Dragonflies, are on display in room 3714 of Douglas College, until January 4, and a quick stroll through should take about 15 minutes.

It's educational and entertaining, and provides a nice break from the rigours of the holiday season.

- DOUGLAS COLLEGE NEWS SERVICES.

Office of the Registrar Christmas Office Hours Thursday, December 19 to Friday, January 3 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Monday, January 6, Tuesday, January 7 and Wednesday January 8, 1986

Registration 800 A.M. to 8:00 P.M.

Thursday, January 9 and Friday, January 10 Office of the Registrar Closed