Journal - 29 Mar. 2012

Location: These plants I observed on Thursday, 29 Mar. 2012 from 15:19 to 17:53 came from two different areas on the UW Seattle campus. The two Camellia plants came from the copse near the fountain and Bagley Hall that we visited as a class and the rest came from the area near the Hansee, McMahon, and McCarty residence halls ending at the bridge that leads to Husky Stadium near the Mechanical Engineering building that I explored in my previous entry.

Route: From Mary Gates Hall, we went down the hill toward the fountain and down an asphalt path past Bagley toward an obvious copse of large Cedar and Douglas Fir trees. Later in the day, my route was exactly the same as the one outlined in my previous journal entry.

Weather: The sky was incredibly overcast all day and it was raining heavily from 12:00 to around 20:00. There was very little wind and the temperature ranged from 43 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the time I surveyed the area.

Habitats: The plants I looked at on this day on the route from my last entry come particularly from the path surrounded by trees near the McCarty residence hall that I mentioned in my last entry as a good place to look for subjects. This area is surrounded by mid-sized to tall deciduous trees, large bushes, and plenty of ivy. Flowering plants are abundant along this path as evidenced by the organisms I observed. The ground is covered in bark save for an asphalt path. The organisms from around 17:00 come from the area near the Power Plant and the bridge to Husky Stadium. This area is much more austere with little plant life and plenty of asphalt and buildings. There are few large bushes and only a couple large trees, so there weren't many places for animals to hide. I did, however, see one squirrel in one of these large trees, but it ran off before I could observe it further.

Vegetation: The plants that are near the Power Plant are often little more than weeds and grass, though there are a few flowers and other odd plants that were worthy of note. The area near the residence halls is, as I mentioned in my last entry, full of bushes, flowering plants, large and mid-sized trees, ivy, ferns, and other species.

General Comments: I was surprised to find as many interesting species near the Power Plant as I did. The flower from Family Ericaceae was particularly beautiful and so was the Red-flowering currant. The Red Deatnettle was little more than a weed, but I liked the purple hue it had, so I felt like it would make a good addition to my observations. There were plenty of other species in this area that I wanted to add, but I thought it would be best to wait until they had flowered for the full effect of their beauty. In short, I was pleased to find so many interesting things in such an austere area, as I was expecting to see most of the nicer plants in the wooded area near the residence halls. As for the plants near the residence halls, I was particularly interested in the two kinds of berries I found as I had never seen the Ligustrum vulgare before and as I enjoyed the color of the red huckleberry. I hope to find more kinds of berries to add to my observations in the future.

Species List:
Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica)

Yuletide Camellia (Camellia sasanqua)

White flower with small petals and a soft yellow center with small, dark green leaves that I was unable to identify.

Lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor)

Western swordfern (Polystichum munitum)

Red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium)

Ligustrum vulgare

Small plant that stood upright on its own with a light green stalk and pale to light green, thin, tapered leaves coming out of its circumference. It almost looked like a miniature Christmas tree.

A plant with small, white, bell-shaped flowers that comes from Family Ericaceae.

Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)

Red deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)

Posted on March 31, 2012 05:22 AM by tessaf