sgadber's Identifications

This specimen of Blechnum spicant, or deer fern, was found along the Rapids Loop Trail at Staircase in the Olympic National Park near a moist bank. It shows the fertile stipe still attached and the low dark green sterile leaves a brilliant color.

Description: A light green fern with thin fronds about 2 inches wide and 1.5 feet long. It has two morphologies, the main fronds which every leaflet is attached to the frond, but not each other like in licorice fern, and another single stemmed frond that looks different from the others in that it has far less leaflets and none of the leaflets touch at all.

Habitat: Growing in moist loamy soil with a thick layer of duff in full shade in the under story of a Douglas-fir dominant forest. Growing among maidenhair fern and sword fern.

Weather: Drizzly, 60F, overcast and wet.

Small with light green and brown coloration. Once pinnate with evenly spaced branches and strong midrib. Grows a lightly shaded area in a mat covering the ground, and on the base of surrounding trees. Soil is very damp and rocky.

Young Madrone growing horizontally and close to the ground. Leaves are large, waxy, and light green. Meristem is pinkish along the edges of the axillary bud. Small red bumpy textured berries grow hanging in clusters together. Bark is light orangish brown and is very smooth with thin layers peeling off.

Thick patches along the trail. Alternate, oval, thick, leathery leaves with a small point on the tip. Varying size, 3-7 inches, with some being slightly wavy. Finely serrated margins. Flowers are small white urn shaped flowers that form in a row at the end of the branch. The branches are a reddish color and are covered in very small hairs.

Alternate, ovate-lanceolate shaped, finely toothed leaves. Leaves are firm and shiny ranging in color from bright to dark green. Leaves are on woody base of stem and branches. Buds on some branches. Berries are dark purplish black. The base is growing out of a rotting log. Surrounded by Sword Ferns, Bigleaf Maples, Red Alder, and Salmonberries.

Very tall conifer. It has spirally arranged, needle like leaves, that are green on the top and have two bluish lines of stomata on the under side. The needles have a wonderful slightly sweet smell when crushed. The ovulate cone has three pronged bracts.

A conifer tree that is visibly shorter than Douglas-fir, and its Abies cousins. A lovely, sweet smelling tree with reddish bark that exfoliates in thin, hair-like strands. Its reddish twigs grow off the branches in a downward direction, making the tree look a bit droopy, like a wet dog. A key identifier of this species is the shape of the bloom on the undersides of the leaves, it makes two rows that look like "butterflies".

Habitat: Growing in partial shade next to Douglas-fir and western hemlock in a preserved garden on The Evergreen State College campus next to parking lot C.

Weather: Rainy, 55F, and with full overcast sky.

An immature tree specimen with bright green leaves that are 2-dimensional in that they only grow from the sides of the branches. Apex of leaves are emarginate. Leaves connect to twig with a peg. Undersides of leaves have two rows of stomatal bloom. Terminal buds are tan and round and typically grow in threes.

Habitat: Growing in the partial sun by the side of a cleared path. Growing under Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock. Under story included sword fern, mosses, licorice fern, and lots of large woody debris.

Weather: Misty, rainy day with full overcast sky and 60F.

This specimen of Blechnum spicant, or deer fern, was found along the Rapids Loop Trail at Staircase in the Olympic National Park near a moist bank. It shows the fertile stipe still attached and the low dark green sterile leaves a brilliant color.

Achhlys triphylla, or vanilla leaf, has long stalks with 3 fan shaped asymmetrical coarsely blunt-toothed leaflets. No flowers were seen. The individuals did not populate a large areas mostly lining the path and numbered around 12. I find it interesting that the leaves if picked smell of vanilla and can be used as an insect repellent.

Description: A light green fern with thin fronds about 2 inches wide and 1.5 feet long. It has two morphologies, the main fronds which every leaflet is attached to the frond, but not each other like in licorice fern, and another single stemmed frond that looks different from the others in that it has far less leaflets and none of the leaflets touch at all.

Habitat: Growing in moist loamy soil with a thick layer of duff in full shade in the under story of a Douglas-fir dominant forest. Growing among maidenhair fern and sword fern.

Weather: Drizzly, 60F, overcast and wet.

Out on the horse trail called Lost Dog I found this fern on a fall day and has a view from in the saddle. There is Pseudotsuga menziessi and Alnus rubra within a few yards from this fern. Fern fronds large solitary, erect, deciduous, and 3-5m tall. Blades triangular, 2-3 times pinnate, and hairy. Sori marginal, continuous, covered by rolled leaf margin. Indusium not evident.