Wildflowers

[Turtle]

don't cry for me. :P these beauties i found spread all around in singles, small patches, and carpeting whole swaths of ground. most poked their heads up ~ 8 inches, and this one shot of a patch gets the blooms & foliage all in one. :bouquet:

 

Dicentra formosa - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

Pacific bleeding heart - Dicentra formosa

april 21, 2010

sunset falls

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

[Turtle]

before we move on, just a note to list some of the other wildflowers growing around these latest examples. i photographed them earlier elsewhere & no point in beating a dead bush. :doh: :P lots of siberian spring beauties, dull oregon grape, white fawn lilies, salmonberry, and wild strawberries. (i may have a different species of wild strawberry other than the wooodland wild strawberry i earlier shot; checking.....)

 

so, this tree is ubiquitous hereabouts in these parts, and the predominate ethnobotanical use is the wood for basketry, fish traps, snow shoe frames, and any number of smallish implements & knick-knack-paddy-whacks-give-some-dogs-some-bones. :dog: i long ago learned to recognize the tree, but this is the first time i ever took notice of the flower. kewl! no "whole plant" view for this specimen as when i moved back for that shot, the tree disappeared into the backdrop of other understory herbeage. :bouquet:

 

 

Acer circinatum - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

vine maple - Acer circinatum

april 21, 2010

sunset falls

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

blooms, stems, & emerging leaves:

[Turtle]

so thens, i neglected to say what part of gifford pinchot, a rather large forest indeed, so i have added that info to the images & posts. to whit, i was makin' the scene in the immediate & nearby surrounds of sunset falls on the east fork lewis river on the western forest boundary in skamania county, washington, the evergreen state. :hyper: take 5 & enjoy sunset falls; :Glasses: smoke 'em if ya got 'em. :esmoking:

 

sunset falls

april 22, 2010

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington

 

 

now as it so happens, it was just a few yards from this vantage that i found fairy bells (fairies live under waterfalls, did you know?). this time it is not hooker's, but smith's.

 

Prosartes smithii - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

smith's fairy bells - Prosartes smithii (aka Disporum smithii, Prosartes menziesii, Uvularia smithii)

april 22, 2010

sunset falls

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

blooms:

 

whole plant:

[Turtle]

my companions on seeing these photos questioned whether this was even a flower. :Glasses: :D to be sure the blooms are obscure & demure & i only chanced on them nose-high pushing through some underbrush. nevertheless, flowers they be though there be unsettledness as to the exact species & tant pis that the two most likely candidates apparently hybridise. :hyper: nonetheless, i'm going with Vaccinium alaskaense because the style appears protrusive to me, a key feature according to my lone pine field guide trees & shrubs of washington, and the leaves are not oval at the stem end as in Vaccinium ovalifolium, the challenger. :esmoking:

 

PLANTS Profile for Vaccinium alaskaense (Alaska blueberry) | USDA PLANTS

 

alaskan blueberry - Vaccinium alaskaense

april 22, 2010

sunset falls

gifford penchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

bloom detail:

 

blooms, leaves, shoots, & stems, oh my:

[Turtle]

this stuff is growing in abundance at sunset falls, though i found only this single specimen blooming. pretty little noxious weed; ain't it! :Glasses: :esmoking:

 

Geranium robertianum - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

PLANTS Profile for Geranium robertianum (Robert geranium) | USDA PLANTS

Noxious Weed Information:

Geranium robertianum L.

 

This plant is listed by the U.S. federal government or a state. Common names are from state and federal lists. Click on a place name to get a complete noxious weed list for that location, or click here for a composite list of all Federal and State Noxious Weeds.

 

Washington:

herb Robert Class B noxious weed

 

Robert geranium - Geranium robertianum (aka stinky bob, herb-Robert)

april 22, 2010

susnset falls

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - introduced from europe - class B noxious weed

 

blooms:

 

whole plant view:

[Turtle]

this tree grows in a picnic ground near sunset falls. a new native!! :hyper: :Glasses:

 

 

Prunus virginiana - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

my usual ethnobotanical source lists 337 medicinal uses by native americans. anti-diarrheal seems a common theme & i wonder if any recent chemical analyses have been done on this plant. would make a great twin to the laxative cascara trees we have. :D anyways...onward. :esmoking: :tree: :D

 

ethnobotanical uses:

Native American Ethnobotany (University of Michigan - Dearborn)

 

chokecherry - Prunus virginiana

april 22, 2010

sunset falls

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

blooms:

 

toothed-leaf detail:

 

whole-tree view:

[Turtle]

these were all around sunset falls area; some singly and others in small colonies. i found & photographed this species near gillette lake as well, but only now getting around to the identification. done & done. :shrug:

 

Moehringia macrophylla - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

large-leaf sandwort - Moehringia macrophylla

april 22, 2010

sunset falls

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

blooms:

 

whole-plant view:

[freeztar]

this stuff is growing in abundance at sunset falls, though i found only this single specimen blooming. pretty little noxious weed; ain't it! :shrug:

 

You killed it after taking the photos, right?

 

I don't mean to sound macabre. Perhaps a poetic approach is more suiting...

 

You sent it into sunset falls, right?

[Turtle]

You killed it [herb robert] after taking the photos, right?

 

I don't mean to sound macabre. Perhaps a poetic approach is more suiting...

 

You sent it into sunset falls, right? :hihi:

 

well, "kill it" is humorous, or so i gather from the reactions of bystanders when i shout at a pwetty frower, "invader! you must die!!", and then rip it out by its roots. :shrug: :hyper: in this instance however, i didn't know what i had in the field & only id'd it after returning home so i didn't kill it. :( rest assured that in my new knowledge, robert is no longer safe in my company.

 

i'm down to very few new phlower photos and will be needing to go afield again soon. in the mean time & by all means, don't any of you-all be shy about posting your own wild phlower fotos. :rose: . . . . .

[freeztar]

Dandelion

 

 

Galium sp.

 

 

 

Daisy (oxeye maybe)

 

 

 

 

[Turtle]

Daisy (oxeye maybe)

 

...

 

thnx for contributing! :friday: you're prolly right on oxeye, cause of the height. ...and early blooming. none of our tall plants are...erhm...tall yet. :cheer:

 

which brings us to my last low flower from the sunset falls trip. ~ 5 miles into the forest east of sunset falls, these were growing on a graded berm bounding the road bounding the green fork river, a tributary of the east fork lewis river on which sunset falls fall. :cheer:

 

pussytoes!!! "what!?!?!", said my companion, thinking i was sleighting him. "Pussytoes!", i said again, louder & more slowly as i pointed to the ground. :cheer: i found what i id'd as an umber pussytoes a couple years back higher up in the mountains & north, so i had a good idea this was a pussytoes too. :cat: well, i can't pin this one down. :cry: burke herbarium lists 14, but none quite match my specimen. :phones: (sorry; can't get the sorted list to appear as a link. enter "pussytoes" in the common name search on the left to see the 14 species) >>WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

moreover, my specimen had no basal leaves to compare.:cake: :xparty: :cheer:

 

moreover moreover, i think i photographed 2 different specimens, but i can't remember. i still can't, & think maybe i only had different light...but then not so much...but then...so...so i have labled the images as 2 specimens. :cheer: :D

 

now what is interesting, is that these, if pussytoes they be, are among some 400 or so species of plants that can produce viable seed without fertilization!! ya don't say!? this process is called apomixis , and i picked an article focussing on one form of it, though i don't know what form Antennaria uses. :cheer: if any of y'all can pin the id down to a species, or genus if i got that wrong, you will have my undying gratitude. well... on with the goods then. . . . . . :cheer:

 

 

How to Avoid Sex: The Genetic Control of Gametophytic Apomixis -- Grossniklaus et al. 13 (7): 1491 -- THE PLANT CELL

How to Avoid Sex

The Genetic Control of Gametophytic Apomixis

 

Apomixis is the natural ability of more than 400 plant species to reproduce asexually through seed (Nogler, 1984a). Sexual embryos result from the union of male and female gametes, which produces genetically varied offspring. In contrast, apomictic embryos are formed without paternal contribution. Therefore, apomictic offspring carry the full genetic constitution of the mother and form a stable clone, a feature of great value for plant breeding and seed production. ...

 

edit: this is a mis-identification. >>

pussytoes - Antennaria spp.

april 22, 2010

green fork river

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

proper identification: >>

arctic sweet coltsfoot - Petasites frigidus

april 22, 2010

green fork river

gifford pinchot national forest

skamania county washington - native

 

specimen #1 bloom detail:

 

specimen #1 whole-plant view:

 

specimen #2 bloom detail:

[freeztar]

I'm not sure about the oxeye call. I'll have to key it out to be sure. Those darn composites are the reason the taxonomy guides are so friggn large!

 

Those pussytoes look like pussytoes. I might sound like a parrot here, but do you have a good shot of the leaves? Sqwak! Freezy want a leaf pic!

[Turtle]

I'm not sure about the oxeye call. I'll have to key it out to be sure. Those darn composites are the reason the taxonomy guides are so friggn large!

 

Those pussytoes look like pussytoes. I might sound like a parrot here, but do you have a good shot of the leaves? Sqwak! Freezy want a leaf pic!

 

roger keying. what was the one you once recommended i get? :cheer:

 

pussytoes is as fun to say as suksdorfii. :cheer: i have a grip of them sprouting in my garden... oxalis sucksdorfii that is. i'm starting to think i have a lot of volunteer wild flowers in my yard because all my tramping around & i get seeds on my clothing. :cheer:

 

i did collect one pussytoes (pussytoe? :phones:) for id & culturing. ( i checked with the ranger last year when i got my forest use permit & they said collecting a few plants, rocks, pieces of wood, seeds, etcetera out in the forest did not require any additional permit & was ok. :cheer:) i can get a better shot of the few leaves that are on the flower stem maybe, though it's a little wilty. :cheer: i'm hoping for seeds. :cheer: in the meantime, i have attached a blow up with red arrow pointing to the lowest leaf. as i say, no basal leaves present, only these lumpy cauline ones. which is not to say the basal leaves weren't there, but perhaps since wilted before blooming as some flowers do, or maybe eaten. :friday:

 

. . . . :xparty:

[freeztar]

roger keying. what was the one you once recommended i get? :cheer:

 

Amazon.com: Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual (9780295952734): C. Leo Hitchcock, Arthur Cronquist: Books http://www.amazon.com/Flora-Pacific-Northwest-Illustrated-Manual/dp/0295952733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272346964&sr=1-1

 

It's the bees knees!

 

pussytoes is as fun to say as suksdorfii. :cheer: i have a grip of them sprouting in my garden... oxalis sucksdorfii that is. i'm starting to think i have a lot of volunteer wild flowers in my yard because all my tramping around & i get seeds on my clothing. :cheer:

 

suksdorfii...hahaha

 

Gotta love it! :cheer:

 

i did collect one pussytoes (pussytoe? :phones:)

pussytoei?

 

for id & culturing. ( i checked with the ranger last year when i got my forest use permit & they said collecting a few plants, rocks, pieces of wood, seeds, etcetera out in the forest did not require any additional permit & was ok. :cheer:)

 

Did you get it in writing?

 

i can get a better shot of the few leaves that are on the flower stem maybe, though it's a little wilty. i'm hoping for seeds. :cheer: in the meantime, i have attached a blow up with red arrow pointing to the lowest leaf. as i say, no basal leaves present, only these lumpy cauline ones. which is not to say the basal leaves weren't there, but perhaps since wilted before blooming as some flowers do, or maybe eaten. :friday:

 

. . . . :xparty:

 

I doubt the leaves are absent due to foraging, cause let's face it, a pretty clump of flowery bits like that and you're going to waste your time gnawing on some basal leaves? :cheer:

 

It's still hard to make out the leaves.

 

I would be surprised if the genus was off, but I can offer no solace in a species ID at this time. I'm not familiar with pussytoes at all. (damnit...that means I have yet another flower to research, eh?) :cake:

[Turtle]

Amazon.com: Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual (9780295952734): C. Leo Hitchcock, Arthur Cronquist: Books

 

It's the bees knees!

 

i'm getting it. no beer for 2 months. :shrug: bee's knees for years.

 

suksdorfii...hahaha

 

Gotta love it! :)

 

yep. don't eat too much sucksdorfii though, or the oxalic acid will give you kidney stones. :eek2: :D

 

for id & culturing. ( i checked with the ranger last year when i got my forest use permit & they said collecting a few plants, rocks, pieces of wood, seeds, etcetera out in the forest did not require any additional permit & was ok. )

Did you get it in writing?

 

no; i did not get it in writing. but i tried. that is to say, i asked for the Special Forest Products for Personal Use Permit that they do issue for people that gather forest products, told them what i had in mind, and they said "no; you do not need it". :shrug: i do hope the field rangers are on the same page. :eek_big:

 

I doubt the leaves are absent due to foraging, cause let's face it, a pretty clump of flowery bits like that and you're going to waste your time gnawing on some basal leaves? ;)

 

It's still hard to make out the leaves.

 

I would be surprised if the genus was off, but I can offer no solace in a species ID at this time. I'm not familiar with pussytoes at all. (damnit...that means I have yet another flower to research, eh?) ;)

 

will get some leaf photos today. it rained earlier & i noticed the stalk was perked back upright this morn. :) :(

 

edit: mmmm...what i thought were leaves of another plant in the soil-ball appear to actually be connected to the flower stem. :eek: :shrug: but even still, they look nothing like any of the leaves of the 14 species of pussytoes that burke herbariumn gives. :eek_big: maybe they are just growing close? they are going off to the side of the flower stalk, not surrounding it like a typical basal leaf set? i got the thing on hand & still can't tell. ;)

 

anyway, new leaf shots, with scale, attached.

[Turtle]

ok. pussytoes out, coltsfoot in. :eek_big: apparently the flowers precede the basal leaves in this species. :eek_big: dude! stop lookin' at my feet! :shrug:

 

arctic sweet coltsfoot - Petasites frigidus

 

Petasites frigidus - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

[Turtle]

while out in my garden getting those hoof-prints, one of my volunteers came into bloom so i shot it. :lol: i have at least one other vetch/peavine come volunteer in my garden; it with small leaves & tiny whitish flowers. the flowers are so small in fact, that i have yet to get a clear photo of them. :rant: no worries; i'm workin' it. :eek2:

 

Vicia americana - WTU Herbarium Image Collection

 

American vetch - Vicia americana

april 28, 2010

clark county washington - native

 

blooms:

 

whole-plant view: