Seward Park Exploration

Location: Seward Park
Latitude: 47.551 Longitude: -122.261
Date: 4/19/12 Time of Day: 2:30-3:30pm
Weather: Overcast, light drops of rain becoming drizzle, temperature: ~58 degrees~

I thought I’d go to Seward Park to check out the ecology of the park. Taking the first trail I saw, I stopped within about five feet, seeing a few species I recognized but didn’t know the names of. The first was Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), growing on the side of the trail. It looked like a younger plant, and it didn’t look too common in that particular area. It’s leaves were smaller relative to what I’ve seen in the past, and at first I didn’t see any flowers or berries so I wasn’t completely sure it was what it was. It was a little surprising because for the rest of the hike I didn’t see and more. Neighboring this bush however, was that of the Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) whose leaves looked very mature in comparison and grew throughout this trail of the park. I wonder if it’s easier for snowberry to grow for some reason, perhaps because this was on the forest edge as compared to deeper in where there is more tree cover and most likely a wetter climate. I’m wondering if I’d find the growing situation reversed further away from the lake, although in the descriptions for both species say they tend to grow in more open forests and low elevations.
Looking up I saw Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) trees, and their old brown leaves covering the ground; and discovered in Pojar that they tend cohabit with Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), as they definitely did from what I could see as Douglas fir cones scattered evenly over the ground. Another tree which I thought for the longest time was part of the maple family was the Common Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) which seemed at least as common as the Bigleaf Maple. Further into the park there was a more open field in which several Shore Pines (Pinus contorta) grow, which was also surprising as I thought they usually grow on the coastline or in drier climates. It does say however, that these trees are ‘highly adaptable, and tolerant to low nutrient conditions’ which somewhat explains why I’ve seen them in places like on the side of the Burke Gilman trail in areas where not too much else seems to be growing. Here and there, there were also several Japanese Flowering Cherry trees and I’m wondering how they got there. Are they a native species? From what I can tell they aren’t so I’m wondering if someone planted them, and I’d like to know more about the history of Seward Park. A naturalist I talked to said Seward Park had bedrock, which I still don’t completely understand.
Other species I saw were Red Huckleberry, a close friend since the nature camps I went to when I was little. Apparently the berries were used as fish bait in the past, and the other parts of the plant such as the leaves and bark were used for sore throats. I can understand the latter, but I thought fish liked worms. I wonder what kinds like the look of bright red berries, and why. Is it because they’re easy to spot in the water?
The Sword and Licorice ferns, were plentiful in the area, the former having up to at least 55 pairs of leaflets, much larger than in other locations I’ve seen them in. They grew with Low Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa) and a bit of Salal (, although it seemed as if the Salal was having more trouble growing or something, because it was not nearly as common as the ferns and snowberry, and it also had brown splotches on the leaves. Do the splotches mean it isn’t getting enough nutrients? Interestingly, the leaves were somewhat larger despite this deviation from the other plants I’ve seen. I also saw copious amounts of Indian Plum (Oemlaria cerasiformis), and heard there was an Eagle’s nest, although I didn’t quite make it that far.

Species List:
Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Common Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Shore Pines (Pinus contorta)
Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum)
Licorice Fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza)
Japanese Flowering Cherry ()
Salal (Gaultheria shallon)
Indian Plum (Oemlaria cerasiformis)

Posted on April 21, 2012 09:16 PM by aclay232