Native Spring Favorites

As the weather has cooperated, I've been out on the local trails looking for new blooms every few days. It's not because I've become OCD about capturing every flower (really!); but rather I'm trying out my new flower camera/lens: Olympus OMD EM5. That is, getting used to the feel of it and trying out the best ways to get the results I want. So far, with the special macro lens I'm using, it has worked well. There is still much to learn however, so hopefully by summer I'll have it down.

Meanwhile, there are so many flowers blooming out every week, I'm falling behind in my "research." Probably won't get a raise this year! LOL.

So in the mean time, here's another pot luck of woodland and near-woodland blooms. I hope to get out to the eastern Gorge soon for some non-woodland exposures!

Oregon Oxalis (Oxalis oregana)

Who has not seen these familiar "shamrocks" along our shady, damp trails. The leaves form a dense ground cover and the pinkish flowers have delicate purple lines with yellow end spots to guide the insects into the "pay dirt." The leaves have a sour taste due to the oxalic acid but can be used in salads.

On Sams Walker Nature Trail - 4/20/2014

Checker Lily (Fritillaria affinis)

Also called Chocolate Lily, these native bulbs were popular foods (boiled or steamed) for our indigenous peoples of the area. They are in the Lily family, so it's not really a woodland plant, but favors well drained meadows at the forest edge. Truly wild colonies of these are now rare in our area due to habitat loss. We found these growing along a semi-sunny trail at Champoeg State Park.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

This native shrub is common in our area as well as throughout the Northwest, but resembles several others with white flowers. It's a member of the Rose family, and that can be seen in the small toothed leaves. Native Americans collected the fruits and mixed them with venison or buffalo to form pemmican (kind of like meat loaf). The flowers have five petals but grow in clusters on the branches, making the blooming shrub quite showy!

On Bonneville trailhead on WA side - 4/20/2014.

Snow Queen (Synthyris reniformus)

As one of the smallest flowers I've ever captured, I was glad to have that new macro lens. The tiny blossoms are only about 1/8 inch long. They bloom in clusters of eight or so. The leaves resemble viola leaves. This was a new plant to me, so it some time to ID it. This, west-of-Cascades native grows in open conifer forests, especially along the trails, and in grasslands. The name seems to come from the appearance of the blooms as the snow melts, although that does not seem to hold true in the valley or Gorge.

On Bonneville trail on WA side - 4/20/2014.

Oregon Anemone (Anemone oregana)

This showy namesake native flower is not common according to my sources. Although I did find gobs of photos in the cloud. The ones I captured recently were planted in wildflower areas of Hoyt Arboretum and at Jenkins Estate (4/25/2014). They are Ranunculaceae (Buttercup), grow in heavy shade as a ground cover, and have buttercup looking leaves. The flower is about 1.5 inches wide.

Sepals, not petals, surround the stamens.

Fragrant Fringecup (Tellima grandiflora)

It would be hard to take a walk in any of the natural wooded trails in our area now and NOT see this unique plant blooming! Fringecup is native to the forests of the Northwest and is a member of the Saxifragaceae family. The Skagit peoples reportedly crushed this plant for an infusion to treat several maladies.

Blooms can emerge pink.

On Sams Walker Nature Trail - 4/20/2014