Winter Break

Jackson Bottom Wetlands

As our dedicated staff here at wildflower blog central heads out for winter break, here's wishing all of you the best for the holiday season and beyond. It's the time of year when we empty out our suggestion box, brew lots of hot coffee, clean our cameras, make file backups, and most importantly, start planning for next season!

Wetland Trail

Not to worry though, with the backlog here at blog central, the posting will continue until extreme cabin fever sets in. Like many renowned institutions, we encourage our staff to make the most of the time off to learn more about related fields, such as botany, art, geology, and photography. Or there's always disco dancing lessons or perhaps yodeling for fun and profit with your Austrian pinscher. Whatever enrichment we embark on, you can be sure we'll be back, rested and recharged.

And now, to close out the year, here's our 2016 list of oddly named plants/flowers.

Hooded Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes romanzoffiana). Native to the Northwest. I suppose if you use a great deal of imagination and add couple of stiff drinks, this flower may look like its namesake long braided hair, from a distance. The flowers can be up to 18 in. tall.

We had not seen this uncommon member of the orchid family before this summer. Found a few growing in some clearings up on the Wilson River trail in the coast range. At left, it is seen by a wilting Evening Primrose.

     

Twiggy Wreath Plant (Stephanomeria virgata) is also called Tall Stephanomeria or Rod Wirelettuce. There were a few of these growing in the scorching hot July climate at Smith Rock State Park, north of Redmond. The batch on the left is about the size of a laundry basket. The flowers are about the size of a quarter. The slender stems are indeed twiggy and it's easy to imagine how a wreath could be made from these dried parts.

     

This Common Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) Aug. also known as Bouncing Betty is a native plant seen at Champoeg State Park in August along the river trail. This plant name actually makes some sense because the leaves and stems release a soap-like liquid when bruised. Pioneers used it from New England to the west as a cleaning agent. A folk tale says a traveler named Betty would leave her soapwort plants wherever she camped as a token of thanks, hence the Bouncing Betty name.

     

The term "wort" is common in plant names and generally means a plant that is an edible herb or has some medicinal value. For those of us who are home ale brewers, "wort" refers to the liquid concoction of malt and grains that is cooked before fermentation. At some point these two definitions must have intersected - and there's probably a good history novel in there somewhere!

The diminutive and unassuming Oaks Toothwort (Cardamine nuttallii), makes a subtle entrance in early spring, just when the bloom season is starting. This native likes dry, semi-shaded slopes, near Garry oak trees as its name implies. Its small blooms and short stature make it easy to miss if you are not looking at the ground! These were spotted near Rowena in March.

And finally, another native favorite of ours, Forktooth Ookow (Dichelostemma congestum) can be seen locally in sunny grasslands by early summer. Its elegant cluster of blooms stands about 18 inches above ground, accounting for its other name: Ball Head Cluster Lily, formerly Brodiaea congesta. Ookow is a native American term that refers to this plant, but its meaning is unclear.

With that said, have a good winter and try to enjoy some cold weather outings; or, head south for warmth as well as a good dose of solar infusion!

Palisades

Palisades Park on Far Side

Back in May of this year, I posted about urban parks and natural areas in New York City. With more than 20 million souls living in the New York City metro area, you're probably thinking there needs to be a lot more of these areas. In truth, you don't have to go far to enjoy nature around here. Mind you, it's not wilderness, but in some ways its the same as anywhere. For example, on a recent visit to upper Manhattan in late October I watched two kayakers paddle their way down the Hudson River, just as I would see on the Willamette River.

And just across the river, less than a mile away is the Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey. This curious park is just a half mile wide, but twelve miles long, with 2,500 acres of mostly wild cliffs, uplands, and shoreline. It was actually preserved back in 1900 by then Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey. Local quarries were destroying the palisades at an alarming rate, until the preservation became law.

Looking north from N.Y. - Palisades Park on Left

Walking along the trails in this historic park is a lesson in the spirit of preservation. There is something for everyone here: walking trails, boating, fishing, biking trails, scenic lookouts, and several historic structures as well as two scenic drives.

To reach the park, I took a 1.5 mile urban walk, across the venerable George Washington Bridge, first opened in October 1931. It's 4,760 feet long (0.9 mile) and now carries about 106 million vehicles a year, making it the busiest bridge in the world. The auto toll in 1931 at 50 cents, has increased to $15 per single trip as of 2015.

The walk over the bridge is scenic but with all that traffic, incredibly noisy, prompting me to double-time it. I also had to watch out for bikes on the same path. Some of those bikers seemed to think they were on the Tour de France, zooming by at high speed!

Hardwoods and Rocks everywhere!

Once in the Palisades Park, things were much quieter and calmer. The river itself is similar to the western end our Columbia River in size and flow. But the shoreline park area is vastly different. For starters, there are very few conifers. Hardwoods account for most of the trees in the area, although many of the original forests have had more human influence. With all the leafy trees turning to their fall colors, it is picturesque. Another difference is that the Hudson has fewer distinct bio-regions along its path. Nonetheless, it is quite scenic.

     

In late October I was not expecting to see any wildflowers, but the weather had been exceptionally mild this year, so there were a few hanging on. Mostly, I spotted two non-natives, the white Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) and a local purple Morning Glory (Ipomoea purpurea). Snakeroot is abundant in this area and is toxic if consumed. In the early 19th century, thousands of early settlers died after drinking milk from cows that ate snakeroot. On a more positive note, I also saw the native White Wood Aster, doing quite well in a rock crack.

     

Morning Glory (left) and Snakeroot (right)

White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata)

My walk in the park only covered about three miles on this day, but I made a mental note to rent a bike for my next visit, to cover more ground. I would definitely visit the Greenbrook Santuary, a preserve within the park, about 4.5 miles north of the bridge. The terrain on my route is littered with large, cracked rocks, some resembling human made sculptures. Trees and shrubs take root in them any place where soil and water can settle.

     

During my three week stay in the city, I visited other parks with natural areas, including Ft. Tryon park and of course, Central Park. Two items of interest caught my attention in these parks: a black squirrel and the handsome eastern Blue Jay. To be fair, I saw many of the jays in the woods and they are similar to our Scrub Jays in appearance and disposition and are the same bird family, Corvidae. The black squirrels, on the other hand, are a mutated version (melanism) of the native gray squirrels. I also saw hundreds of sparrows, mostly in the smaller parks.

     

The area on both sides of the Hudson have a colorful past, notably during the Revolutionary war, with military forts on both sides. See the links below for more information. A visitor center at Ft. Lee has many displays of this period.

Another link below provides a look at a unique approach to a photographic flower database used by Ft. Tryon Park.

Links:

Fort Tryon Park Flowers

Fort Tryon Wiki Page

Palisades Interstate Park