On the Oyster River Estuary Seaside Trails

We hiked along the Oyster River to the estuary, then along the trail on the seashore bearing north, and back. Along the way we spotted a few plants of interest.

Bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) can be seen in the Interior and on the Coast in disturbed areas next to roads. It is a flowering perennial in the pea family that is sometimes used as forage for livestock.

birdsfoot trefoil (Acmispon maritimus)

Blackberries (Rubus sp.) were flowering and berries were developing on vines. Blackberry vines can be invasive on the Coast.

blackberry (Rubus sp.)

Tall gumweeds (Oregon gumplant – Grindelia stricta) provided color, but they are weedy-looking. This one had a an unidentified caterpillar. Gumweeds produce a milky latex in its early stages of development. “The grindelias have been used for many medicinal purposes by Native Americans, including as a wash for poison oak rashes and burns and for pulmonary troubles. The resinous sap that covers the leaves has been used as a substitute for chewing gum.” (USDA)

gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia)

Seaside pea (Lathyrus japonicus) is a herbaceous perennial in the legume family. It is sometimes called the sea pea, beach pea, circumpolar pea or sea vetchling.

seaside pea (Lathyrus japonicus)

At the high tide line was Pacific glasswort, a member of the salicornia family (related to pickleweed). Salicornia is a halophyte, a salt-tolerant succulent. Other names include glasswort, pickleweed, picklegrass, and marsh samphire.

Pacific glasswort (Salicornia pacifica)

Another weedy looking plant near the high tide mark was silver beachweed (Ambrosia chamissonis). From Inaturalist:

“Ambrosia chamissonis is a large, sprawling perennial herb exceeding 3 metres (9.8 ft) in maximum width. The stems are roughly or softly hairy and longitudinally ridged. The plentiful leaves are a few centimeters long, woolly and silver-green, and variable in shape.

The plant is monoecious, with male and female flowers on each individual. Staminate (male) flower heads containing many pale colored florets occur at the tip of the inflorescence, with pistillate (female) flower heads clustered below them. Each pistillate head contains a single tiny flower which develops into a fruit. The fruit is a brown bur up to a centimeter wide covered in sharp spines.”