Secrets of the Forest

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Each week I am out in the forest, hiking a variety of trails and routes at different elevations.    Every outing is unique and rewarding, but I am drawn to the forests on the Interior Plateau, especially in quiet areas.     There is wildlife to observe, but there are also herbs, shrubs, trees, fungi, lichen, mosses, liverworts, and decaying matter to investigate.   I take a few photos, then when I return home, I identify species and read up, expanding my understanding one day at a time.

References are useful, but at times, a good video can summarize the science concisely, complete with high quality images, but also with real scientists explaining complex topics in understandable terms.    One of the best at this kind of documentary production is Nova.    Episodes are aired on PBS.   Older episodes are available on the PBS YouTube Channel.    Some newer episodes may be shared by YouTubers in low res, but can be seen on the Nova website after a period of time .    A preview is included here:

Watch for the Nova episode for a high res version on PBS.    A low-res copy can be found at this link.  

Blazing Star

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Blazing-Star (Mentzelia laevicaulis) is a biennial (or short-lived perennial) which grows from a long taproot.    The stems grow vertically and are hairy (slightly barbed).    Basal leaves are linear in shape and slightly lobed.    The stem is a whitish-green color and usually has branches.  Stem leaves are alternate, with a sawtooth shape.   Numerous terminal flowers develop in early … Continue reading →

In the Fall Forests

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In the fall, there is still much to observe in the forests on the Interior Plateau.   Fall color often flanks the trails on our hiking routes and we make a few stops along the way to observe the ferns, lichen, fungi, shrubs and herbs off the sides of the trails.   Open, dry glades have less abundance than damp, sheltered spots.  … Continue reading →

Balsamroot

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Arrow-leaved balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) is a perennial in the Asteracaea (sunflower) family.    It has a long, woody taproot and a branched base.  The basal stems are glandular and slightly hairy.  the basal eaves are triangular (arrow-leaved) at the ends of long stems.    They start with a silvery color and turn green as they mature.    Fine hairs  cover … Continue reading →

Northern Bedstraw

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Northern bedstraw (Galium boreale) is a perennial which grows from creeping rhizomes, with squarish stems in clusters.   Narrow lanceolate veined and pointed leaves in groups of 4 are on evenly-spaced whorls around the stems.   Small white flowers emerge in panicles at the tops of the stems.   Each flower has 4 pointed white sections “folded-back”  around a fused “tube”.  Stems with … Continue reading →

Mid-September Nature Hikes

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Mild weather means lots of continued hiking and paddling on trails and routes in the Interior.    Habitats vary from dry lower elevations to high forest areas.   With such widespread drought, many flowering plants turned more quickly to seeding/fruiting and some later-blooming species seemed less robust.    A few plants continued their flowering cycle as usual, weathering the heat and … Continue reading →

Desert Yellow Fleabane

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Desert yellow fleabane (Erigeron linearis) is a perennial with a thick base and a branching base.   It is sometimes called fine-leaved daisy or linear-leaved daisy.   Straight stems range from short to 30 cm tall.    Leaves are mostly basal, linear, often close to the stems, and hairy.   Terminal flowers are ray-and-disk pattern with bright yellow petals from a involucre bracts.  … Continue reading →

Trailside, in Early September

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As the summer heat and smoke dissipated at the end of August, drought conditions carried on, with dry vegetation, shrinking lakes, dried-up wet zones, and wildflowers going to seed.    A few late-flowering species could still be spotted (curlycup gumweed, white prairie aster, sweet clover, and others), but the usual summer annual weeds also seemed to take over disturbed areas.  … Continue reading →

Showy Jacob’s-Ladder

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Showy Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum sp.) is a perennial herb growing from a taproot and a branched stem.  Clustered leaves are mostly basal and hairy.    The leaves are pinnately compound (featherlike in leaflets).    If handle leaves we will not a “skunky” odor.     The common name arises from the ladder-like shape of the leaves, a Biblical reference. Clusters of … Continue reading →

Trailside in the Forests in Mid-August

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In the middle part of August, each day was an outing in a kayak or on a trail, and quite often both.     Shared here are a few images taken while hiking at Clearwater Lake (cedar hemlock forest), at Stake Lake (Douglas fir, pine, and spruce forests), and mid-elevation mixed forests near McQueen and Isobel Lakes – oak fern, western … Continue reading →