Daily Account #12- Index, WA

5/12- our second stop on the field trip was in index.

Lat: 47.8206605, Lon: -121.5551086

it was still sunny here, with little to no wind or clouds, but it was probably still mid 50s F.

the first thing we talked about here was that index receives significantly more rainfall than the riparian zone we were just in, and especially compared to the city. index receives 80-90" of rain per year, while seattle receives closer to 35". this manifested itself in high moss growth, which was thickly covering all tree trunks in sight, and fluorishing of ferns like licorice fern growing on the trees as well. there were a number of different types of ferns, including sword fern, lady fern, and wood fern. this forest seemed to be excellent habitat for fungi, as i found several different kinds, and took some of them to noelle to be identified. we usually didn't get passed the genus with most of the fungi found throughout the field trip, which just goes to show how difficult it is to properly identify fungi species!

the forest ground was covered in dead leaves, under which i found some Coprinus mushrooms, and a yellow-spotted millipede curled up. i have a feeling i would have a lot more under those leaves if we had stayed here longer.

growth was pretty dense throughout the forest. some of the dominant trees were western red cedars and bigleaf maples. i noticed some really thick and interesting-looking mosses, but could not identify any of them. some of the other low growing plants we found there was false lily of the valley, thimbleberry, salmonberry, fringe cup, largeleaf avens, and pacific bleeding heart (especially closer to the cars).

just off of the parking lot, i was exploring a dead log on the other side of the road and found some artist's conchs growing horizontally on the log. noelle pulled it off to show the class, explaining that it was probably at least ten years old. i took it in the car and had fun making it a real artist's conch- the part of the fungi used to hold onto the log makes a great stand for the whole thing to sit up and display the art. it's now sitting in my living room!

species list:
Yellow-spotted millipede (Harpaphe haydeniana)
Spiny wood fern (Dryopteris expansa)
Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
False Lily of the Valley (Maianthemum dilatatum)
Artist's Conch (Ganoderma applanatum)
Genus Coprinus
Largeleaf avens (Geum macrophyllum)
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)
Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa)

Posted on June 3, 2012 08:31 AM by