New & Improved

I have shifted gears slightly and focused my plant studies in a different way that will hopefully prove more accurate and usable in my newly created blog:

http://angelaceae.blogspot.com/

Please check it out. It has evolutionary promise. :)

Longmire Trails

Marsh Violet

(Violaceae Viola pulustris)

Stream Violet

(Violaceae Viola glabella)

Vine Maple

(Aceraceae Acer circinatum)

Oak Fern

(Gymnocarpium dryopteris)

Indian-Pipe

(Pyrolaceae Monotropa uniflora)

These pictures were taken on May 31, 2009 along the Longmire trails "Trail of Shadows" and "Rampart Ridge Trail" at Mount Rainier. 

The Indian-Pipe is not fully bloomed yet so I will have to check back for that. I am always surprised to see a non-photosynthetic plant. Its roots are connected to coniferous trees with whom the plant has a symbiotic relationship.  It feeds extra nutrient-filled water into the plant to which it is attached and in return receives food from that plant.  Some say nature illustrates "survival of the fittest" but it also illustrates survival of the cooperative.

 This was the first time this season I've seen marsh violets, though I see the stream violets often.  Violets are super neat little flowers!

Also the oak fern was a treat (cute little thing).

Rosy Blooms

Columbine

Flower above

Leaves below

This columbine was found growing along the side of my house. I don't think it is native to the Pacific Northwest but it is unmistakably a columbine flower. In the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and the genus Aquilegia, this flower is pollinated by hummingbirds and long tongued butterflies.

Baldhip Rose

Rosa gymnocarpa

This cute little rose is scattered all over this area. Flowers in the rose family have started blooming this week. The baldhip rose (above) and the thimbleberry (below) are flowering along the edge of the woods and bring a smile to my face as I drive by them.

Thimbleberry

Rubus parviflorus

These lovely white flowers bloom amongst large maple-like leaves. The berries this plant produces are sought after by birds and bears in late summer and fall.

Reference: "Trees, Shrubs & Flowers to Know in Washington & British Columbia"

by C. P. Lyons and Bill Merilees

Escaped Ornamental

Western Mountain-Ash

Sorbus scopulina

Rosaceae (Rose family)

This species is related to Sorbus sitchensis (Sitka Mountain-Ash) which has leaflets that are more rounded at the end. This is either a really big shrub or a small tree. I call this an escaped ornamental because this species is mostly used as interior decorations and in nature is found above 3500' in the Cascades and the Olympics.

There are seven to ten leaflets on each leaf. Leaves are alternate and deciduous.

Each leaflet is elliptic, sharply pointed, and toothed all along the entire margin.

Inflorescence is displayed as a terminal cluster of tiny flowers with protruding stamen.  

Discovering Baneberry

Baneberry

Actaea rubra

Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)

This plant is a rhizomatous perennial growing up to three feet tall. These pictures were taken at McLane Creek, WA in the middle of its blooming season. It generally grows in moist, shady places at lower elevations and is widespread in BC & WA. All parts of this plant are highly poisonous so don't eat it.

Although A. rubra appears to be quite bushy, each plant actually consists of one to a few erect, leafy stems. Each leaf is divided up to three times into leaflets of three which are sharply toothed and lobed. Neither the leaves nor the stem are hairy.

The inflorescence is a very soft looking cluster of many small white flowers on the end of a long stalk. They look fuzzy because of their very long stamen which protrude in all directions, each with a little ball-like anther.

References I used

"Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast" by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon

and

"Trees, Shrubs & Flowers to Know in Washington & British Columbia" by C.P. Lyons and Bill Merilees

Dogwood

Flowering Dogwood

Cornus nuttallii

Cornaceae (Dogwood Family)

Also known as "pacific dogwood" or "mountain dogwood", this plant is an inspiring site to see poking out of the woods here and there. The blooms are misleading because what looks like one flower is actually a collection of white petal-like bracts bordering a cluster of little flowers (that ball in the middle) which explains why those showy white "petals" have markings that match the veins of the leaves. Its a lovely plant; no wonder British Columbia chose its bloom as their official floral emblem.