On a cloudy day with a few showers near the entrance of the back trail at Pack Forest. Cytisus Scoparius (also commonly known as the Scotch Broom) is an invasive plant species in the Pacific Northwest, and is also a legume (Nitrogen fixating plant) that has a mutual symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria.
Western White Pine found in abundances at Pack Forest on this cloudy/rainy day. This Western White Pine was about 30 meters in height and a notable characteristic of the Western White Pine is that this coniferous tree has its needles in a bundle (fascicles) of five.
East side of Twin Barn trail at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Cloudy, rainy day, salmon berry found near a bank of a small creek. Flowers on the Salmon Berry are blooming, but are not fully developed, and no berries had grown on the perennial shrub yet.
At the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge adjacent to the Nisqually River a riparian forest is loaded with various species of plants on the Twinbarn Loop Trail. There seemed to be many Cottonwood trees in this area. The bark on the Cottonwood is a greyish like color and is very smooth, and most of the Cottonwood seem to have long stretched trunks that don't have branches coming off of it until higher up on the tree.
Canada Goose found throughout the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Many of the Goose there are comfortable being surrounded by people and are often found on the paved trails at the refuge. The geese found in this picture were in the bank of the Nisqually River feeding on what may have been insects or more likely some sort of plant in the river bank due to being grazers.
A young Red-Tailed Hawk observed perched upon a tree at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on the east side of the Twinbarn loop trail.
This Fruticose Lichen commonly known as the "Antler Perfume" is a very pale greenish-grey lichen that seems to be found on the branches of trees, but specifically coniferous trees. This piece of lichen was found on the forest floor of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. As I observed the area the "Antler Perfume" lichen seem to be on most of the trees in that area except for the big leaf maples so I assumed that these lichen are more fond to grow on coniferous trees.
This Pacific Tree Frog was found near the base of a tree at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. It was about 3 cm in length and almost fully green on its top side, but some Pacific Tree frogs can be brown or a mix of brown and green. However they do have a white/grey underbelly though it is not noticeable in the picture.
A small branch of a Red Elderberry that had fallen off and had landed on the gravel walkway at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The tree-like shrub of this elderberry was about 2 meters tall and the stem/branches of the elderberry was smooth (also slightly soft). Foliage on this elderberry was not fully bloomed, but the white flower of the elderberry appeared to be starting to bloom.
A classmate of mine found a dead long-toed salamander off of a trail at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. However the poor fella was murdered by nature, and seemed to have been dead for perhaps a few days, and was also missing part of its front right leg. RIP
Garter snake found at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on the side of the dike pathway that leads to an estuary boardwalk. Garter snake was found by a fellow classmate and was slithering through the edge of the grass as shown in the picture. The snake was black with a single stripe of a pale-green on each of its side.
Small patch of Full Moon found near the edge of the University of Washington campus. The bright yellow flower pedals on this plant seems to not be fully bloomed, and are not opened fully showing that more time and energy is needed for these plants to fully develop. However if you look into the stigma of the plants, it is a fuzzy darker yellow color and has the texture similar to a sunflower plant.
A small patch of forget me not flowers spotted on my walk back home from campus. The bright blue flowers on the forget me not were what grabbed my attention and made then easy to spot from a good distance. Each of the flowers had 5 pedals with a very small diameter of about 1 cm.
A patch of Oregon Grape about a meter high was found near the campus of the University of Washington. Due to clearer weather conditions and previous days of heavy rain, the Cascade Oregon Grape's yellow flowers were blooming. Not a lot of berries were found amongst this patch of evergreen shrubs.
Japanese privet found on the road side near the University of Washington campus. The plant had oval shaped leafs which were waxy, and also had this bulbs (pictured) which I assume is where the flowers blossom out of. It seemed like the bulbs were starting to break as the weather also seemed to be getting warmer for the flowers to bloom.
Large patches of English Ivy found throughout a small path south of the Drumheller fountain at the University of Washington on a rainy March afternoon. This path contain many different types of trees (both deciduous and evergreen) and the forest floor of this area was mostly covered by the English Ivy.
Indian Plum found on the hiking trail at Pack Forest, Eatonville WA. Indian Plum was very common in this area, but this one did not have any of the white bell-shaped flower blooming on it, making it a bit more difficult to identify. The bark of this Indian Plum was reddish-brown and was smooth.
Japanese aucuba found on the University of Washington campus. The aucuba are found in various locations on campus. This plant is shrub like and has rounded glossy leafs. It bears small red flowers, and some produce berries depending on the gender of the plant.
Sword fern spotted at Pack forest. The sword ferns heavily dominate the forest floor in this area as well as most areas in general. The foliage on the plant that extends outward is blade shaped which is understandable of why it's named the sword fern. There are also yellow-brownish spores on the back side of the ferns as well.
Western white trillium spotted on a hillside in the trails of Pack forest. This plant has a very distinct three pedal flower that is white. Because of the distinct three pedal flower it was much easier to spot the plant in such a dense area of plants. It was also said that the flowers turn from white to pink with age.
A rhododendron observed at the entrance of the dining hall at Pack forest. This large shrub plant has thin crest shaped leafs with a bright pink flower that embodies most of the plant.
A common mushroom, typically mentioned as a button mushroom found in an open field at Pack forest near the entrance of the back trails.
Pacific madrones spotted in Pack forest. They were typically found deeper in the forest and were easily identifiable with their rubber like wood that is revealed with the peeled bark. The wood itself is a tan color and is also very dense.
Burdock found deep in the the trails at Pack forest. Burdock is a thistle plant, but this one seems to be dying not just because of the color but was very bent over and didn't seem to have very much stiffness to it. The prickly balls on the top of the plant snag on very easily to materials on our bodies such as our clothes and even our backpack.
False dandelion spotted at Pack forest. What is interesting about this plant is that the stem and flowering part are not yet there or has been picked. Many people get confused with false dandelion and the real dandelion because they only have a few very subtle differences, such as the texture of the stem.
Arctic sweet coltsfoot found at Pack forest. The coltsfood has a very interesting "dome-build" of white flowers that stack up into almost a nice circular formation on top of the stem.
The infamous cherry blossoms at the University of Washington are always a pleasure to see each year as the cherry blossoms bloom there pink leafs and give many people a few days of eye candy.
Morel mushroom found deep into the trails at Pack forest. Morel mushrooms were a bit rare to find in this area, but are easily noticeable with their "brain-like" or hive like structure. Also it is an edible mushroom.
