In forests farther north this flower has already bloomed and is wilting, so I found it interesting that the blooms were still healthy looking in this park.
There was a large patch of white clover growing in the grassy field. White clover loves to grow in disturbed areas, so the Union Bay Natural Area is perfect for it. There were lots of honey bees buzzing around the blooms gather nectar.
This sword fern was just one of many that covered the forest floor. Some were quite large and reached around four feet tall.
This big leafy plant was growing quite tall, about to my hip, near the stream bed. Its stem was a light green, and smooth. It seemed that each stalk was growing individually out of the ground, and produced only one giant leaf. It was much larger than any coltsfoot I have ever seen before, and it was without flower.
These tiny pinkish white flowers were growing in low patches along the edge of the pine-needle trail. The amount of leaves varied from plant to plant from two to five.
There were several of these skunk cabbages blooming yellow flowers in the swampy forested area near the beach. Their light green leaves were beautifully backlit in the sun shining through in patches through the trees.
New green growth of a Western redcedar around midday on the Trail of Shadows.
These water lilies were growing in the long pond bordering UBNA as well as in Lake Washington. These water lillies are invasive. They were not blooming as of yet.
These forget-me-nots were growing in the water at the edge of the shore along the small pond that borders the start of UBNA.
These little vines with an opposite leaf pattern and curling stem grow purple sweet pea flowers later on. Right now they are without flowers on the Olympic Peninsula.
I think this is a Morel Mushroom. It was growing near a stream and was spotted around midday.
This large twinberry bush was growing in the sunny field just outside of the old growth forest. It was blossoming yet and didn't show signs of the blossoms turning to berries just yet.
This type of seaweed wasn't as common as most of the seaweed that covered the beach, but every once in awhile I would come across a small piece of this purpleish red seaweed with tiny bumps.
These turkey-tails were growing parallel to the ground along a log. They were not very large in size, and were spaced very close together.
This beautiful dark red shiny tube worm had black horizontal stripes. It was protruding from its tube even though it was low tide. I do not know this creature by any other name than a tube worm. It was growing amongst the snails and barnacles on a large rock.
I saw several of these limpets nestled among the barnacles attached to the larger rocks at high tide.
There were quite a few Trillium plants growing on the forest floor and near the stream bed. Many were much smaller than this one, and this was one of the few that was blooming.
I believe this is a neck of a horse clam, one of many that was visible on the sand.
The foam flower was growing in thick patches close to the ground. Its tiny flowers were just blooming.
These plants have a very similar structure to the fringe cup and piggyback plant with the leaves toward the base of the plant perpendicular to the flowering stem that is tall and curves down at the top. These plants i saw growing in many areas of the forest including along the banks of the stream.
There were a few thimbleberry bushes growing along the edge of the forest bluff that meets the beach. All the bushes I saw were blooming white flowers.
The tall oregon grape was growing on the edge of a steep embankment in the midst of the old growth forest. It was not blooming nor did it seem to have berries yet.
The stink currant was growing tall and draping oer the stream bed. It had streamers of tiny yellow-ish green flowers hanging from its stem.
There were many of these plants growing relatively low to the ground in the forest. The leaves were cerated and were in an opposite leaf pattern that rotated perpendicularly up the stem.
There was only one camas plant growing in the field. It looked to be old since the flowers were beginning to wilt.
This baby sitka spruce was growing alone near the forest. It was only about as high as my shoulder, and had many soft new needles growing.
During low tide there was a spattering of sea lettuce across the beach. Sometimes the layers of sea lettuce can be quite thick, but this time it was quite a thin layer.
I saw this juvenile seagull floating in the bay. I believe it was a juvenile because of its speckeled gray markings.
This invasive species was growing alone the edge of the medow near the forest. It was blooming bright yellow flowers.
