Observations by jimbelli

Shore pines just within the tree line attain only 6-7 meters and spread from the base as wide or more, forming impenetrable groves. Trees become smaller and more scattered as they approach the dunes. Fascicles of two needles. At the tips of branches are clusters of 3-5 new ovulate cones about the size of my pinkie nail. These surround 5 latent buds and a large central bud. At the base of this year's growth are last year's cones, still green and tightly closed. And immediately below these are clusters of male cones. Salal beneath the pines, using the pines for support, scramble up 2-3 meters. Also within and surrounding the groves is California wax-myrtle/Myrica californica.

Strap-like blue leaves. Large, compact inflorescenses 15-20 cm. atop 80 cm. stems. Mixed with other grasses and forbs inland but the sole vegetation on some outer dunes like the one photographed. The only other inhabitant in the immediate area of this dune is a succulent, leafy, intertidal plant.

Aromatic, ferny leaves. Compared to yarrow, the leaves are coarser, more distinctly divided, and greener. Buttons of yellow composite flowers cluster at the top of stems. Leaves and flowers arise from thick, reddish-purple stems. Associated with grasses, lupine, hairy cat's-ear.

2 1/2 meters tall by about the same wide. Green, ribbed stems. Leaves clustered in 3's on older stems; narrow, alternate leaves hug new growth. Green seed pods. Still a few yellow, pea-like flowers. Associated with grasses, shore pine.

Directions from Day Use/Beach Access Parking Area: Walk 300 feet toward the beach; turn north on the path that parallels the tree line and proceed 0.2 mile.

1-1 1/2 meters tall, spreading wider, grey-green and spiny. Narrow, sharply pointed leaves stiffen into spines as they age. 2 cm. hairy seedpods. Associated with salal and grasses.

Directions from Olympia:
101 North to 6 miles north of Shelton; left on Skokomish Valley Road (at State Fish Hatchery). Go 5.3 miles; right on Forest Service Road #23. Go 13.5 miles; right at fork on #2361. Go 3.4 miles; left at fork on #2361-600. Go 2 miles to the end of the road and the Church Creek Trail trailhead.

Pathfinder has broadly arrow-shaped leaves with wavy margins and most notably, silver undersides that will show you the way home after you've walked through a stand of it. Tall, thin, hairy flower stalks with loose clusters of tiny white composite flowers. Massed at the base of a big silver fir with Maianthemum, oak fern/Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Gallium spp., bunchberry/Cornus canadensis, foamflower/Tiarella trifoliata, rosy twisted stalk.

Like a smaller version of salal. Placed a salal leaf in the center of the photo for perspective. Starting at about 2500 feet elevation, the slope moderates and the timber species begin transitioning to those of higher elevations. Present are both western and mountain hemlocks, redcedar and yellow-cedar. The understory is primarily composed of huckleberries, V. membranaceum and V. ovalifolia, and beargrass, with plenty of other species tucked in and mosses covering every open space.

For directions see top entry of the day.

Bright green, leafy-to the point of looking fuzzy-stems. The bushy photo shows mostly one stem, with lateral stems coming up and curling over that main stem. Deer fern, salal, red huckleberry, twinflower, and overhead a mass of Pacific yew/Taxus brevifolia that sweeps downslope.

For directions see the top entry of the day.

A perennial saxifrage I'd never seen before. Distinctive heart-shaped leaves with deep pointy lobes and jagged margins, the leaves getting smaller as they go up the flower stems. Following Pojar's description, I could pick out with my hand lens the brown bristles like loose threads at the stipules, as well as the red glandular hairs of the flower stems. Flowers white, 5 petals, grouped near the top of the stems. Associated with deer fern, goatsbeard, vanilla leaf, devil's club.

A trailing evergreen bramble, snow bramble has very shiny leaves, the older ones dark green, the new growth bright green. Leaves in various combinations, either in three parts, merged to three lobes, or entire and heart-shaped. The whole plant prickly, even the ribs on the underside of the leaves. Associated with violet/Viola spp., deer fern, vanilla leaf, bunchberry, fool's huckleberry/Menziesia ferruginea, red huckleberry.

For directions see top entry of the day.

Leaves certainly do look like a smaller, rounder version of ginger/Asarum. Long cluster of alternating, nodding, cup-shaped flowers that darken white to pink to deep red from the centers to the tips of the petals. Chose this one at the edge of the trail for a photo because it was still in bloom. Others massed at the base of a big silver fir with mosses, bunchberry, red huckleberry, twinflower.

For directions see top entry of the day.

40 cm. tall. Flowers are more pale and green than the photo with flash captured. Following Pojar's description, I could pick out the inflated spurs of the topmost flowers, while the lower flowers had seed capsules. Mossy seep with maidenhair, deer, oak, and lady ferns. Overhead sapling red cedar and vine maple.

For directions see top entry of the day.

I tried to carve a little picture in this artist conk, but it seemed too "wet," no dark interior. They lay down annual rings like a tree, so I guess I have to wait until the spring growth has ripened. Mosses claimed the rest of this log but only rimmed this butt end.

Directions from TESC:
Head southwest on McCann Plaza Drive 0.2 mile. At the circle, take the first exit onto Evergreen Parkway. Go 1.5 miles. Take the ramp to Mud Bay Road and turn right. In 0.1 mile turn left on Delphi Road. Go 6.3 miles. Turn right on Waddell Creek Road. Go 2.8 miles. Turn left to stay on WCR. Go 3.3 miles. Turn right into Mima Mounds NAP.

A solitary specimen of this orchid. 30 cm tall with greenish- white flowers arranged spirally around the stem. The effect of this spiral seems enhanced by the aspect of the flowers pointing sideways rather than facing out. Associated with various grasses; bracken fern/Pteridium aquilinum; hairy cat's-ear/Hypochaeris radicata; moss, perhaps Polytrichum spp. (grey and dry at this season).

Perennial forb 20 cm tall with purple, vase-shaped flowers arranged in a group of three, each of the three in a different stage of development. Associated with common St. John's-wort/Hypericum perfoliatum; kinnikinnick/Arctostaphylos uva-ursi; various grasses.

Common shrub along the west end of the loop trail, north of the McLane Creek viewing platform. Maple-like leaves with 5 to 7 lobes, deeply veined, some larger than my hand. And yes, stinky. Growing in riparian forest of bigleaf maple/Acer macrophyllum, red alder/Alnus rubra, and Western redcedar/Thuja plicata. Other understory shrubs include red elderberry/Sambucus racemosa and salmonberry/Rubus spectabilis.

Found this Western St. John's-wort at a turn in the path punctuated by an old apple tree. Perennials up to 12 centimeters tall. Yellow flowers with numerous showy stamens in loose clusters at the tips of stems and tips of lateral stems near the top of the plant. Associated with meadow grasses, thistle/Cirsium spp., stinging nettle/Urtica dioica, thimbleberry/Rubus parviflorus. Across the path was a cow-parsnip/Heracleum lanatum with last year's salad-plate-size seed heads.

Directions from Tumwater: Turn west off Capitol Boulevard on Linwood Avenue. Go 0.9 mile. Turn right on Sapp Road. Go 2.2 miles. Turn right on Black Lake-Belmore Road. Go 0.3 mile. Turn left on Black Lake Boulevard. Go 1.6 miles. Continue onto 62nd Avenue. Go 0.7 mile. Turn right on Delphi Road. Go 0.8 mile. Turn left into McLane Creek Nature Trail.

Tall, multi-stemmed shrubs, the height and form of each varying with its particular situation. The largest specimens are found in the open meadows. All have tremendous growth rates, with this year's stems attaining 2-3 meters. Compound leaves of 5 or 7 leaflets. Terminal clusters of bright red berries.

Common in meadows and woodlands. Tall perennial with square stems typical of the mint family (see detail photo). Pinkish purple tubular flowers. Associated with marsh and meadow grasses, lady fern/Athyrium felix-femina, Himalayan blackberry/Rubus discolor, beaked hazelnut/Corylus cornuta, creeping buttercup/Ranunculus repens.

Directions from TESC: Head southwest on McCann Plaza Drive 0.2 mile. At the traffic circle, take the first exit onto Evergreen Parkway. Go 1.5 miles. Take the ramp to Mud Bay Road and turn right. Go 0.1 mile. Turn left on Delphi Road. Go 3.3 miles. Turn right into McLane Creek Nature Trail.

Tall shrubs common around the fringes of the ponds. Tiny pink flowers are arranged in dense bottlebrush clusters. The flowers attracted a hummingbird the second morning I was out here. Surrounding plants include marsh grasses, cattail/Typha latifolia, cascara/Rhamnus purshiana, bitter cherry/Prunus emarginata, horsetail/Equisetum spp., Indian-plum/Oemlaria cerasiformis.

Directions: From the Tolmie Peak trailhead, follow the Wonderland Trail one mile to Ipsut Pass. Follow the Tolmie Peak fork 300 feet to a talus slope. Oregon boxwood covers the northeast quadrant of the slope.

Mass planting of low, spreading shrubs, appearing still somewhat smashed down by winter snowpack. Evergeen leaves with toothed margins arranged in opposite pairs on reddish-brown branches. Clusters of tiny, deep red flowers with four petals and four prominent stamens sprout from axils all along the branches. Big huckleberry/Vaccinium membranaceum is confined to the edges of this upper portion of the talus. Perennials include beargrass/Xerophyllum tenax; bluebells/Mertensia spp.; and a thistle just emerging, Cirsium spp.

Directions: From the Tolmie Peak trailhead, follow the Wonderland Trail north one mile to Ipsut Pass. Follow the Tolmie Peak fork 300 feet to a talus slope and find this specimen about halfway across and directly below the trail.

Large, multi-stemmed shrub 2 1/2 meters tall. Compound leaves average nine oblong leaflets. Each leaflet has toothed margins, mostly the top half, similar to the leaves of serviceberry. Flowers in bud. Shares this talus slope with big huckleberry/Vaccinium membranaceum. In pockets of soil between rocks are a few valerian/Valeriana sitchensis; yellow violets/Viola spp., probably V. glabella; and trillium/Trillium ovatum. A place busy with insects: bees, beetles, carpenter ants, and an unidentified butterfly fluttering by, with the markings of a pale swallowtail.

From Olympia, I-5 north to exit 127/WA-512 toward Puyallup. Go 11.9 miles. Keep right at fork, follow signs for WA-410/WA-167N. Go 1.1 miles. Exit onto WA-410E toward Sumner/Yakima. Go 10.9 miles. Turn right on Mundy Loss Road. Go 1.2 miles. Turn left on WA-162E/Pioneer Way E. Continue onto WA-165S. Go 8.6 miles. Bear right at fork. Continue on WA-165S/Mowich Lake Road 11 miles to Mt. Rainier National Park boundary and another 5.5 miles to Tolmie Peak trailhead. Follow the Wonderland Trail north one mile to Ipsut Pass.

Large mats of fine foliage covered with masses of light pink to almost white, 5-petaled flowers. Occupying pockets in rock faces. Sharing the cliffs are Oregon stonecrop/Sedum oreganum (see the bulbous plant in the detail photo); Davidson's penstemon/Penstemon davidsonii; Heuchera spp., probably H. micrantha; and yarrow/Achillea millefolium. I not only marveled at these hanging gardens but also at the abrupt change in landscape from the southwest to the northeast side of the pass, from forest to meadow. The meadow side contains many of the same species seen in scattered concentrations on the forest side, but with the absence of trees realizing their full potentials.

A tall and fruitful specimen 0.4 mile from the trailhead, on the south side of the trail, where the slope below drops precipitously. Bright red berries ripening at what seems an early date, perhaps due to its sunny and warm southern exposure. Favorite grazing of some humans. Sharing the understory with Oregon grape/Mahonia nervosa and vanilla-leaf/Achlys triphylla. On our first campus walk Lalita noted that red huckleberries have green, square, photosynthetic stems, and I'm still wondering if the stems' square-ness provides them greater exposure to the light.