April 2, 2012 (UW Seattle Campus)

Location: A vast area on the UW Seattle campus ranging from the Music Building in the Quad to the main entrance of Hansee Residence Hall, to a small patch of garden on the University Way (the Ave.) outside the University Teriyaki restaurant, and finally to the medium sized bush next to the bus stop outside of Lander Residence Hall on Northeast Campus Parkway.

Route: The coordinates for the Sambucus racemosa, which was found outside of Hansee Residence Hall in a small garden area to the right of the main entrance, are 47.6607..., -122.30. In order to reach the Music Building where I found the Magnolia tree, one need only to go up the path from Red Square leading past Kane Hall until one reaches the large building on the right hand side of the Quad near the stairs at the very end of the area. The tree is growing in a small patch of garden on the building's right side facing the rest of the Quad. To reach the Rosemary, head for University Way and, at the end of the street closest to Red Square, look for the University Teriyaki restaurant. The Rosemary is growing in a small patch of garden right outside. Finally, from the spot with the Rosemary, head down the hill past Poplar Hall and cross the street. At the construction (or at Alder Hall depending on when these directions are used), turn right and head down the street and over the crosswalk towards the bus stop. The shrub that is the Cherry Laurel will be right past the bus stop and this is also likely where the Kidney Spot Ladybird fell onto my shirt from.

Weather: The sky was about 20% cloudy and it was a much warmer day than it had been for my previous forays. It was about 59 - 60 degrees Fahrenheit and there was very little wind. It was most definitely not raining for once.

Habitat: The area around the Genus Magnolia in the Quad is little more than a place for the Cherry trees that bloom in the Spring. Besides those trees, the area is grassy with only a few small patches of garden for the rest of the foliage to grow. The Magnolia grows in one such patch of garden surrounded by small flowers and another tree similar to it. The ground around the Magnolia is covered in bark and there is little evidence of animals other than squirrels, crows, and small birds. The Sambucus racemosa was also located in a garden plot, though this one was considerable more wild than the garden plots in the Quad. The Sambucus racemosa was surrounded by large shrubs about 4-6 feet high, another Magnolia tree with white flowers, and various unidentifiable plants that grow anywhere from on the ground to 4 feet tall. Most of these unidentifiable plants had flowers or were about to have their flowers bloom. The Rosemary was located in another small plot of garden surrounded by concrete and asphalt. It was in a big clump of its own kind with a small spider on its web clinging to part of it. It was located next to some small, potted flowers and a small tree with some little shrubs surrounding it. This area was obviously man-made and it was likely not filled with native species. Finally, the cherry laurel was located in another planted area behind the aforementioned bus stop. It was surrounded by small shrubs and flowering plants. The Kidney-spot ladybird was found clinging to my shirt when I stepped inside Terry (a building right next to the cherry laurel) to go to my dorm room. It is likely that it either found its way there when I was digging around in the rosemary trying to get a good picture of that and of the spider or it might have fell onto me when I was observing the cherry laurel.

Vegetation: The Magnolia, to begin with, was a small tree about 10 feet tall with skinny branches and rough bark. The flowers had only just bloomed, as they had been closed on other visits to that spot, and bees were busily attempting to get at them. The vegetation around it was much smaller and was mostly there for ground cover, it appeared. The flowers had soft, pink petals and had a slight fragrance. The Sambucus racemosa had small, red berries in large clumps. This was one indicator for me that the plant was not red huckleberry, as red huckleberries grow individually. The leaves were small to medium sized and where tapered at the end. They were light green to green-yellow in color. The bush itself was about 5 feet tall and the branches were very thin and brown. The bush had a large circumference and took up most of the space in the small garden plot. It was surrounded by shrubs and other smaller plants that I was unable to identify. The Rosemary had a small garden spider on its web attached to it in the center of the plant. I wanted a picture of the spider originally, but sitting in the plant attempting to get a good picture left a strong herb scent on my body, which led me to identifying it as rosemary. It was clearly planted in that spot along with the flowers, bushes, and tree in the same garden plot. The rosemary particularly caught my interest because I have never seen it growing anywhere before and I am used to seeing it only in the grocery store, so it was a new find for me. The cherry laurel was also a small tree about 7 feet high (not counting the fact that its height was boosted by the raised area it was planted in, making it tower about 10 feet over my head). It had medium sized, dark green leaves and small, delicate, white flowers. The tree was also clearly planted there and it was surrounded by other unidentifiable plant life including shrubs. Finally, the Kidney-spot ladybird was found on my shirt after I concluded looking for species around the UW Seattle campus. I was unable to tell if it was alive or dead and I am not sure how it got on me. It looked like a lady bug, except it had a black shell with two red spots on either side of its body.

General Comments: The UW Seattle campus is providing me with plenty of interesting finds! I seem to never run out of species to identify and add to iNaturalist. I plan to spend much more time in the coming weeks looking around the entire campus and searching for new things to add. I also need to make myself go off campus to search, however. As evidenced by the next journal I will write, I am going to go looking near Magnuson Park at Sand Point to the east of the UW Seattle campus on the edge of Lake Washington. I want to know what sorts of different things can be found outside the UW Seattle campus or if there are more similar kinds of things out in the surrounding areas. I hope to find more animals in the next few weeks and take my focus away from plants, as I already have so many. My goal is to try to capture some pictures of the honey bees I see flying around now that it is becoming warmer.

Species List:
Genus Magnolia
Sambucus racemosa
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
Kidney-spot Ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus)

Posted on April 11, 2012 04:43 AM by tessaf