Observations by mitomito

Family Mniaceae

I found this fan moss growing on a damp and fallen log in an opening of some damp woods near the SEM II building on the Evergreen campus. Cloudy, 38°. This plant is uni-sexual, unbranched, has naked stems, and large flower like leaves on the males. The leaves are 3-6 mm long, oval, edges smooth, blunt or sharp tipped, and are wide spreading when wet. The sporophytes are commonly found and have long, straight stalks with capsules that are smooth, cylindric, and hang from the stalk. On this specimen, the leaves appear to be an almost translucent green to the naked eye.

Family Betulaceae

I found this angiosperm in the Evergreen woods near the lab buildings on campus. Partly cloudy, 60°. The leaves are dark green/brown with light green/yellow midribs and venations. The leaves are simple, alternate, smooth above, hairy below, has blunt teeth/serrations, margins wavy, and the venations are somewhat parallel despite being a eudicot. Red alder also has male and female flowers that hang in cylindrical spikes or catkins in addition to brown fruit cones that contain winged nutlets. It's difficult to determine how tall the tree is but it is maybe around 30+ feet tall and seems pretty mature. It's also deciduous as most of its leaves have fallen and turned brown. The bark of the tree is a lighter grey with many darker brown spots, thin, and the inner wood is rusty red when cut.

Family Ericaceae

I found this huckleberry next to the sidewalk on the left side of the Longhouse. Cloudy, light rain, 57°. It's about 3 feet tall, erect, and mature. There are no fruits or flowers present as they are out of season but the fruits are a deep purplish, sweet, edible berries that are about 4-7mm broad while the flowers are pink, bell shaped, in clusters of 3-10, and in axils leaves. The leaves are simple, evergreen, alternate, leathery, serrated, shiny on the top side, paler on the bottom side, and eye shaped. Vaccinium ovatum is typically found on edges/openings like I have found it here but I'm not sure if it wild or cultivated since it is near the Longhouse gardens. The stem has a distinctive purplish/brownish color and is almost reddish in a certain light. The leaves are also 2-5cm long, distinctly 2-ranked, and horizontally disposed.

Family Cupressaceae

I found this tree to the left of the entrance to the Longhouse. Cloudy, light rain, 57°. It's pretty tall but I'm not exactly sure how many meters it is. The bark has grey and reddish brown colors in it while the leaves have a standard emerald green color. The branches are drooping quite a bit but also turn upward slightly at its ends. The leader is also drooping slightly. The leaves are opposite and scale like, looking almost like a braid. The tree is anchored in an area that seems to collect a lot of moisture as there is a lot of mud around it in addition to many other healthy plants including sword in a depression in the earth. I don't see any cones but they are usually brownish/reddish in color, egg shaped,about 1cm long, in loose clusters, woody, green when immature, have winged seeds, and 8-12 scales. The tree's leaves and bark have their signature and unique cedar scent.

Family Polypodiaceae

I found a large patch of lady fern behind the Longhouse, near the parking lot. Cloudy, light rain, 57°. As it is a deciduous fern, it has lost its green color and has turned to a deep maroon with brown spotting here and there. The stem is a brighter brown/tan and the stipes are black/dark brown. The leaves have crinkled and shrunk with the winter weather and appear quite wilted. The fronds are also spreading, erect, and clustered its seasonal transitioning. The blades taper at both ends but and diamond shaped, 2 times pinnate, and and pretty broad by its petiole. This particular frond has about 18 pairs of leaflets. The plant overall is about 2 feet tall but is also pretty withered due to the season. Fertile lady ferns also have sori underneath their leaflets.

Family Polypodiaceae

I found lots of deer fern while on a hike at Staircase in the Olympic National Park. Cloudy, light rain, 58°. I haven't noticed deer ferns before as I am used to the large amounts of sword ferns that grow around the Evergreen State College. This specimen is evergeen, tufted at the end, and smaller than I expected. It has a unique arc in the shape of the blades being shorter at the petiole and tip and longer in the middle of the frond. The leaflets are smooth, waxy, leathery, widely spaced, oblong, fully attached to the leaf axis along their bases, and the stipes are purplish/brownish. There are two types of fronds; sterile and fertile which the latter stands upright, arising out of the center clump and is deciduous.

Family Berberidaceae

Found on the main trail at Staircase in the Olympic National Park. Cloudy, light rain, 58°. The plant's striking color immediately grabs my attention as I have not seen any dull Oregon grape like this before. It's neon oranges, yellows and greens are bright, beautiful, and stand out much more than the big leaf maple leaves around me. This shrub is stiff, erect, and rhizomatous. This stem has a total of 15 leaves that are less smooth than "Mahonia aquifoliam" yet are still slippery to the touch and less glossy underneath. The stem is about 14" long and about 6" wide with the leaves. The leaves are also alternate, spiky like holly, and the stem is reddish brown in color. The flowers are bright yellow, flower parts, are in sixes, and there are usually many erect clusters. The fruits are blue berries that are about 1cm wide and are usually in elongated cluster and are edible.

Family Polypodiaceae

Found on the sidewalk leading to the longhouse garden. Partly cloudy, 62°. It feels great to stroll through the garden on a sunny day and see how all the plants have transitioned from the summer season to the fall. The fern is large, mature, has large fronds, erect, deciduous, hairy, solitary, rhizomes spreading, and about three feet tall. It's leaves have a great stiff texture, a nice dark green color, are about eight inches wide at its widest point. The blades are triangular, 2/3 times pinnate, and they have hairy leaflets that are mostly opposite with sori underneath.

Family Ericaceae

Found near the edge of the evergreen woods on Simmons Rd. Partly cloudy. 60°F This shrubby plant appears to be mature and is about 1.5' tall in the photograph. The alternating leaves are about 3" long, leathery, thick, egg-shaped, waxy, have a net-like venation, fine serration, and a pointed tip. The plant is erect, creeping in growth, and has hairy and branched stems. Salal also bears fruits that are reddish-blue or purple edible berries and flowers that are pinkish or white and orient themselves in the same direction (not pictured).