Diario de mcglik

6/7/12 (Final Journal Entry and Final for Exam)

So my assigned location was 122.25242400000 for longitude and 47.54968800000 for latitude. Using findinglatitudeandlongitude.com, I thought I would be better able to find this location. The web site recommended that I go to 4701 24th Ave NE, Seattle, WA. Though, this place did not exactly have my assigned coordinates. It was closer than what I could have hoped to have gotten to completely on my own. The location was in an apartment complex that had these coordinates: N 47.66368 and W 122.30172. There was light precipitation outside and it was about 55 degrees fairenheit outside.

Looking at my surroundings, I realized there was a surprising amount of ‘natural history’ here. The first thing I noticed was this tree. It probably is not native to this area, but it led me to wonder…who would plant it? Why? I sought to identify this tree. It had opposite branches and also appeared to have some decay. It was also growing some sort of fruit. Apples, perhaps? It felt like the texture of what I know to be an apple. This tree was standing amidst ivy. Its branches also appear kind of jagged, almost contorted. It’s really cool! I also noticed a spider web growing out from a piece of decaying bark. There was also moss growing on the bark of this tree. I think I even spotted lichen, which surprised me because lichen don’t grow well in polluted environments. So perhaps, this apartment complex is a lot cleaner than one may initially expect.

There are a lot of birds here. I just spotted the silhouette of one on a power line. While here, I’ve seen crows perch on this same power line. But based on my observations, they are not the only type of bird to do so.

As I ventured further into the parking lot of this apartment complex, I spotted another tree. Its trunk had split into 2. This led me to wonder if such a physical trait were more common for some trees than others. And, just how common was it for this tree? What was this tree. Since it was growing cones in clusters, I knew it was a type of conifer. But what kind, specifically? The bark felt tough while also being a bit flaky. It also appeared to have an alternate branch pattern. At the bottom of the main trunk, there was a hard substance attached. It makes me ponder…a type of lichen?

It was here that I picked up on the sound of crows as well as the high pitched chirping of a bird. This chirping sounded like a mouse squeaky toy. Compared to that sound, a different bird almost sounded to be singing: cheery-cheeey~chee..che
There was one other bird sound I heard: be-be-be-be. Again, I have no idea which birds are making these sounds! But now I’m able to pick up on the different sounds. Before this class, I naively thought most birds made the universal cheep cheep sound. How wrong I was.

Regarding the second tree I attempted to examine…the cones appeared to be slender.

Right next to this tree, there was a third one that had some leaves looking an unhealthy yellow—possibly due to pollution? From another perspective, some of the leaves looked yellow…and brown like a ripening banana. The size of these leaves aren’t exactly big, but they do have an aspect of tropical luxuriance.

It should also be noted that the last two trees mentioned seemed to be growing out of the rocks.

Now walking a little bit into the Burke Gilman Trail, I can hear activity up in the branches. The swishing and twitching of leaves from a squirrel or bird? The surrounding trees in this area appear to be broad leafed.

But interestingly, on one side of a tree, no leaves are present on three of the branches. What could have happened? Could it have been due to the power line put in place 20 feet away? Or, the constant movement of bicyclists? Like all the others, I struggle identifying this tree. Its leaves are flexible like paper, with the top part feeling smooth and just a little soft. The ‘vein’ can also be felt on the back. I wonder if any birds use this type of tree for anything? Or, insects?

Speaking of insects, the next plant I found was covered in holes. It looked like something had been eating them. A beetle, perhaps? Actually, there are holes in two different types of plants that are located right next to each other. The leaves of one appear ‘more tropical’ than those of the other.

But for the plant covered in holes looking less tropical, it may be fruiting! Though, they could be seeds. Most were yellow, while a few other dangling ones were red—but are they red first or yellow first? The red were all in clusters, while the yellow were also in clusters of 2 or 3, but some were hanging by themselves. Do they just fall to the ground once they’re yellow? I could not find anything on the ground, though. Can humans use this plant for anything? How did it get here?

There’s something else growing along this trail. It looks potentially to be a type of weed. Or, grass?

Next, I think I’ve found butter cups! But, I’m not touching them. If I recall correctly from the forbs tour, they should not be ingested by humans or touched by them. The petals of this flower really give off such a sheen. Leaves of other plants surrounding this one are covered in holes, but not the butter cups! Are the leaves of this flower harmful to some insects, as well?

Ok, this next plant is probably one of the most fascinating I’ve ever seen. There’s this plant that appears to be covering part of the slope of the trail that has spikes all around these fuzzy looking budding flowers. What’s really interesting to note, is that as these flowers start to bloom they look to be covered in some type of ‘visible ooze.’ Some parts of the leaves of this plant may have been slightly dampened from this secreted ‘ooze.’ Due to my having no knowledge of this plant, I refrained from touching these flowers. But, this was a fascinating new plant to really examine. The buds are all white. At first, I thought it could be cotton—which is ridiculous. But something about it from my peripheral vision made me think that way. This plant was a great way to finish off a fun exploration of an apartment complex that led into the Burke Gilman.

Journal Entry 2

4/1/12

We left around 9 in the morning for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in our respective vans. During the ride, we were given various pieces of picked vegetation to try to identify. We were able to successfully identify all of them! And it was here, that I was able to make a note on salal- how it has broad leaves and red on parts of its stem. Also, Oregon grape has serrated edges on its leaves and is more arrow-shaped. Before this trip, I had never even known about these two types of plants. I do wonder, though, what sort of benefits come from having serrated edges on leaves?

Upon arriving at the refuge, we were all ushered inside and given a brief history about the site. Apparently, the area surrounding the Nisqually had been farmed for well over 100 years. The dikes that were once present have been taken out. We were advised to look at what species do around their vegetation and given a hint that any owls we may be found in alder trees.

Upon the beginning of our walk, we started to recognize such things as corpse berry. The vegetation started with alder at the beginning and a bit of Indian plum. Big leaf maple was present, too.

We spotted a plant called elder berry that had opposite alternate leaves. I could hear a bird chirping. It sounded something like….beek-beek…beek…beek….beek. No idea what it could be, though.

Next, we came across what I learned to be a newt carose. It was the plant I had earlier found in a trail on Pack Forest!

We found spotted quite the variety of lichen. The first one being dust lichen, which was powdery, whitish, and splotchy.

There was also Canada goose feeding on some kind of grass.

The next lichen we came across while on our trail was antler perfume-very pale in color, stringy, and kind of ‘spindlee.’

We were able to see a great horned owl through a telescope! Though, it had perched itself high on a tree and remained perfectly still, it was fascinating to see. This also led me to wonder, do owls ever sleep with their eyes opened?

Next, we had the fortune to see galium, which was really quite fascinating due to its ‘whirled leaves-’ the leaves come out from the same node. About four chickadees flew down from tree to tree over swampy area. Do chickadees often move in groups of four?

We then passed some black berry and found two Canada geese.

Cow parsnip, Heracleum lanatum, was the next plant we came across while on this walk. One of its notable characteristics were its compound leaves of three. It turns out that cow parsnip is a perennial that comes up every spring and undergoes tremendous growth-its flower stalks can sometimes reach a height of 2 m or more. Since, we’ve only just entered spring, this plant has quite the growth potential.

Okay, I am seeing more Canada geese. And, I just bore witness to one of life’s most common activities: poop. To be more specific, I witnessed a Canada goose ruffle its hind feathers for a white substance to plop down (poop). I wonder if a canada goose often ruffles its feather before pooping.

Journal Entry 3

4/3/12
Today, we are having class inside the UW greenhouse. We have just been shown and given the opportunity to taste a miracle berry. We were then instructed to eat a lemon, only to discover that the lemon tastes sweet like and orange! It turns out that this berry blocks the receptor for sour. But, are there any possible advantages in doing that? Here is potentially one that we learned: Plants use fats and sugars to get animals to eat them. Alkaloids are used to prevent certain invertebrates/creaturs from eating them.

Next, we moved on to the subject of chillies and were asked the question, ‘why are chillies hot?’ Believe it or not, the heat that one feels from eating a chili isn’t a part of the taste. Chilies, were told, stimulate the same neurons as when you put your hand on a hot stove bar. Pain is such an adaptive response, you can’t just stop feeling pain. So, why is a chili hot? Why would a chili not be hot? It turns out that birds do not taste any of the heat but all mammals and fungi can sense this heat. This may be because birds have a mutation in the ‘tri genamal glands’ (note: not sure if correctly spelled) But, it is interesting how the birds developed this mutation before the chili.

Next, our group was given a tour by one of the experts at the UW Farm where we were shown tons of cool plants and learned some interesting plant processes.

First, we got to see the world’s largest seed. It was so large, in fact, that new seeds don’t float down—they LAND. To be more specific, they land straight down under the ‘mom’ plant. Since it can produce an undergrowth shoot that can go down 30 feet, it does not have to struggle competing with its parent plant.

Here’s a cool new term ‘skototropism.’ It means something like ‘grows toward darkness.’ Some tropical vines grow this way, though I am unsure of which plant in the greenhouse possessed this quality.

We also took a look at dischidia. Its leaves were hollow-a good home for ants. The ants, in turn, protect the eaves from other mammals. Cool example of a symbiotic relationship!

(Dri)chonria (?), we next learned, grows rapidly by producing a stolen. This plant has actually been used in places for sewage treatment because its roots are that good at sucking up nutrients.

Ah, the water lily nymphaea! This plant has a nice fragrance. It also has a really finicky relationship with its pollinator. On one day, the plant may kill its pollinator. But the day after that, it will let its pollinator live. Creepy.

Next we learned all about desert plants!

First up, we have the welwitschia from the Navivian desert. Its native desert gets just 25 millimeters of rain per year. But this plant is able to work with that very small amount. And it would have the advantage of all that sunlight in the desert, but its leaves are refractive.

Here, we also learned the term ‘diecious’- has both individual plants that are male and individual plants that are female.

So, most of us know about the benefits of photosynthesis for plants. But what we often forget is that there’s a trade-off to this process: a plant will lose water. Of course, there are some awesome plants with some cool qualities that help them bypass this issue.

For instance, the peperomia has a window that allows the carbon dioxide through without opening its stomata. In this way, it can retain more water! Cool!

We learned what makes a bog a bog. A bog, we were told, is a place with lots of standing water, very acidic, not many nutrients. So many of the plants in a bog are carnivorous in order to get their nutrients. Although these plants are photosynthesizers, they don’t have any soil nutrients.

Here, we also learned more specifically what an epiphyte was: any plant that ‘piggybacks’ on another plant. Platycterium is a type of epiphyte. For instance, this plant can grow on the trunks of trees.

A special note: mushrooms have gills. But, do all mushrooms have gills?

The Dracula orchid is a flower that imitates a mushroom. In this way, it attracts female fungus gnats.

Journal Entry 4

4/10/12

The first half of class took place in Hitchcock, where we took notes about 2 different species of plants that were dated at different times and locations.

The first species:
Geranium robertianum

1) Klickitat, CO
Anthocyanous (means to yellow with age)
From June 1962

2) Skagit County
Found on roadside in riparian forest
Found August 2009
o leaves appear less clustered
o less carpels (?)

3) King County, WA
Found on May 2001
Strangely, it appears more green than the species from Skagit County
Leaves a bit more clustered with some purple hues (flowers?)

The second species:
Sambucus cerulea (blueberry elder)

1) Lincoln County, WA
Found in Coffeepot Lake?
June 2008

2) Snoqualmie Forest
1934

3) Clearwater County, Idaho
2005
Leaves look more sparse

During the second half of class, we went back into the class room where an expeditionary artist by the name of Maria Coryell-Martin guest lectured. An expeditionary artist, we learned, tells scientists’ stories through art. She also told us one of her beliefs, “I really believe in art as a tool for exploration, scientific inquiry. The following are notes I took while in class regarding expeditionary art:

Art is about the pracice—it’s not perfection. Art is a tool, not a talent.
Captain James Cook- began the expeditionary artist movement
George Forster- an example of someone who did hand-made drawings trying to be more objective

• but he also did drawings that were more subjective

photography vs. sketching

gesture drawings

We then proceeded to do practice drawing, using different sketching techniques. Examples included contour sketching (outline, where edges come together) and blind contour sketch (sketch without looking at paper)

Journal Entry 5

4/12/12

During the class period of today, we practiced life as expeditionary artists with Maria, once again. At the beginning, we began a warm up by sketching the poses of people. I tried to trace the energy outlines of each poser (a technique we were taught in the last class)

We then set out to spend 20 minutes or so sketching natural objects around us, such as the birds, trees, and other forms of vegetation surrounding us.

During the last half hour or so of class, the class split into three groups where we proceeded to do an awesome exercise that involved us spending a minute on each other’s field journal sketching something we see. We kept doing this until our own sketch book circled back to us.

Journal Entry 6

4/24/12

Today, we had class at the Burke Museum. We were separated into three groups. My group first saw Rob Faucett, who talked about and showed us the “library” of data rich bird specimens. Yes, he likened the collection of bird data to a library. The purpose for this library of information is to answer some kind of question, though it is never known what exactly the question will be. The Burke gets between 20 and 4,000 birds per year. Four types of specimen are prepared here:
1) study
look at bird’s plumage, spread wings,

2) skeletal specimen
a skin bag with some feathers on it

3) tissue specimen
refrigerated at -80 degrees
used sometimes to study protein structure and toxicology

4) study skin
the goal of this type is to learn what the bird looks like

Journal Entry 7

4/26/12
(outside of class)

I spent about an hour looking up different types of species we could use for our group project. I am in the Beetle portion of the Bees and Beetles group. Here are a few possibilities:

• Ladybug Beetle
• Great Night Stalking Tiger Beetle

• Alder flea beetle (Altica Ambiens)
  o Adults can eat holes in the leaves of alders

• California Firefly (Ellychnia species)

Some good website resources may be the following:

• http://bugguide.net/node/view/83248
• Insects and Spiders of the Lowland Pacific Northwest
• Pacific Northwest Research Station

(during class)
Ok, we are back in the Burke Museum! The following question was posed at the beginning of class: How does this building relate to larger things of Natural History?

So today our class divided into three groups to learn about: death, sex, and treachery.

First up is death.
There are certain things we can’t understand from just being a spectator. For example, one can’t say much about the well being of general bumble bee populations by looking at one bumble bee nor is it easy to observe just one. If we want to find out more about the western bumble bee, then we we’re going to want a way to look at a population. But we know that populations are impacted by four factors: birth, death, immigration, emigration. And, we’re going to want to look at populations over time. This is where the advantages to museum collections makes its appearance. One, these museum collections help you to get ‘past data’. Two, this data is much more accurate and from a wider geographical area. Looking at a collection of dead Townsend warblers, people were able to figure out that if the third tail in of the has a white window—then it’s an adult. Studying death, we were also able to figure out that the European and American Robin aren’t even in the same family.

Onto sex.
Males tend to be a lot more colorful than the females! Often this is so the male can get noticed by the female--but this also leaves them vulnerable to predators. This is also an example of sexual selection (which accomplishes more matings and offspring)

In a lot of cases, females do all the parental care. And, the males tend to be bigger. But female shore birds tend to be bigger. Female hawks are always bigger. Why could this be? Sometimes, the male needs to be faster and more agile. This apparently is the case for shore birds in the Arctic.

In situations where the male bird has to fight another male, their body size tends to be bigger than the female. The male pheasant, for example, is this way.

The marsh nesting bird species seem to lead a bit of a brutal life. Here, the females fight (though, that’s not what makes life brutal). The females have these carpal spines to beat up on each other and defend themselves from predators. It was here that our class had the opportunity to FEEL the carpal spine of these females-very hard and sharp. A definite ouch.

Now in a lot of instances, the male bird tends to have a harem of females. But a ‘polyander species’ is when the female has a harem of males. I wish I had written an example of one, here.

Next up, Treachery.

This has everything to do with nests.

In case no one knew before, it was confirmed: counting is not how birds keep track of their eggs. So within some bird species, females dump their eggs into other females’ nests.

There is another instance of treachery though that involves two different bird species. We were given the example of the brown headed cavern/cow bird. This bird puts its eggs into other bird’s nests (birds of a completely different species). But, why would the hosts (example: yellow warbler) raise a bird that clearly is not its own? Sometimes, they don’t actually know, possbibly due to an evolutionary lag. And, there are a couple ways that a host can reject the egg. This can be done as a grasp ejector or pierce ejector. But puncturing a cow bird egg is really hard to do. You run the major risk of puncturing your own egg.

When the egg isn’t rejected, these birds hatch dwarfing the size of the host’s own offspring. It takes the majority of the food that is brought back to the nest.

So, why don’t more birds pick up this egg and let it drop to the ground (as was demonstrated in one video clip we were shown)? There’s a mafia hypothesis. It is possible that the cow bird checks up on each host’s nest to make sure their own offspring is still there. If they do manage to find their egg or baby cow bird to be missing, that cow bird kicks one of the host’s own babies out of the nest to die.

Journal Entry 7

5/8/12

A guest lecture on fungi today!

First in the classroom: There are a lot of fungi. Their main reproductive effort is to make a lot of spores. We’ll mostly find spores on mushrooms. But we’re really interested in the functional aspect of the fungi.

We looked at the function of fungi from the perspective of decomposers-the saprothrop and biotroph. Saprothrops are decomposers of dead organic material. Biotrops are symbiotic. It has to have a living host.

These woody materials, dead trees/snags, logs, and wood that the fungi decompose have things that prevent easy decomposition: lignan, cellulose, humi cellulose, and pectins. It turns out that pectins make up a big part of cell walls for things like leaves. Lignans are a type of cementing material that protects cullulose and hemi cellulose from being broken down.

There are three different types of rot a fungi can be: soft rot, brown rot, white rot. White rot is able to break through lignan.

During the second half of class, we went on a campus tour about mushrooms! We were told that the best place to find mushrooms now were in wood chipped areas. Near Benson Hall, we were taught the different ways to identify a mushroom: spore color, texture, split it open to look at any color changes, some will ooze things (like latex), some are slimy, sticky.

We looked at peculiar cracks on the tops of mushrooms that we were soon told were agrocybe praecox.

Fun fact: bale tissue is present in young mushrooms (probably not yet producing spores)

At the Urban Farm, we looked at a decomposer. It was an oyster mushroom. Apparently , these guys work on a freshly cut piece of wood and they’re a white rot. The oyster mushroom is easy to cultivate and can grow on an assortment of things. For example- shredded paper and even hair.

Journal Entry 8

5/10/12

Today, we are all about the mushrooms and lichens. But first, we did a quick inventory of what mushrooms both groups discovered:
1) Tremetes versicolor (white rot) also called Turkey Tail
2) Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius)
3) Agarius Bisporus (button mushroom)
4) Agrocybe praecox (veil)
5) Agrocybe smithii
6) Gonderma applanatun
7) Schizophyllun commune
8) Caprinus Iagopus

All 8, we soon found out, were decomposers.

Now outside, we were shown a paper birch, a type of ecto-mycorrhiza with short, stubby roots. Then, we examined a baby douglas fir.

Next, we spotted a bench that had accumulated lichen.

There are a couple of different types of rust. The first is Holly Hock Rust. It’s a parasite that produces rust as long as the leaf is alive, related to cotton. The second rust is wheat rust-the most common type of rust.

During the last half hour or so of the period, we tried to identify as many lichens on a some logs as we could. I managed to get two different types down. One: Evernia prunastri (which feels bushy). Two: melanielln (has bumps)

Journal Entry 9

5/17/12

We had a full lecture in the classroom about Natural History.

Some of the earliest known human natural history moments date back to cave paintings. We can see that they are lions and that ALL of them have little ears. From this, people were able to surmise that male lions evolved their long manes.

Directly from my notes:

Natural History is how we can connect across generations. We pay a lot of attention to things that are important to our livelihood.

We need more natural history.
We need to use natural history more effectively
We need to create value for natural history in contemporary culture

[But] you don’t need natural history to become a biologist anymore
To some, this trend is worrying.

Shown a pic of Gene Lichens
-studied variants in stream chemistry
- he discovered acid rain by studying streams
simple observations, same place, keeping lots of notes

Kokanee, eagle, Mysis shrimp example

Understanding the organism & its environment has consequences

Understanding how people use that organism is critical

Argument 2: We need to use natural history more effectively

Argument 3: We need to create value for natural history in contemporary culture.

HAT: honest, accessible, transparent data.

• want data to be this way

Some of our great naturalists: Henry David Thoreau (flower phenology), Nabacoff, Rachel Carson, E.L. Wilson, Jane Goodall

So now we need new models.
Our natural history needs to be more diverse and more agile

Humans have very limited capacities for perception (except for vision). But the modern human is practically a cyborg. Alexander von Humboldt was a ‘cyborg’ during his time. He used the most modern technologies he could find to answer as many questions as he could.

Humboldtian Science

Carlos Martinez: “I want to touch nature with all my senses.”
Meme- a way of thinking about the world

That’s really interesting. We humans are so much like cyborgs with our technology. We’re so attached to such devices as our cell phones. Why not apply them to natural history?

Journal Entry 10

5/2/12

First day of tours by peers! First off, we start with the tree group. Below are a few things I took away from the tour:

The Douglas Fir can be found all over campus. It’s a member of the pine family and is mainly used for timber.

The Coluter Pine has the largest cones of all pine species.

The wood of the English Elm’s wood is commonly associated with making coffins.

The Ginko tree is used for tea from China. The females give off a rank scent, so the only male ginko trees are on campus.

Regretably, I had to leave early during the lichens tour. What follows are a few lichen names I learned: Eurhynchium praelongum, Hypnum circinataum, Ceratodon purpurus

Journal Entry 11

5/24/12

First up, we have the fungi group!

The first person on the tour talked to us about mushrooms. Mushrooms, it turns out, like water. So, spring isn’t a good time for them, here. The first mushroom we saw was a Genoderma applanatum. Most of these have a shiny top, but the one were able to see did not. It is also saprophytic, meaning that it feeds off dead trees. Apparently, it can also strip apart the lignan due it being a white rot decomposer. This type also lacks gills.

At the next station, we saw a Turkey Tail. I has medicinal uses, especially good for tea. One notable characteristic about the Turkey Tail is that they always come out in these horizontal shells.

We also had the opportunity to see a hypoylon. These guys are usually the first to colonize dead wood.

Dacrymyces stallatus is a type of jelly fungus that prefers fallen or dead conifers
The leratio myces is a type of urban mushroom with a dark, purplish-almost blackish spore print. We were informed that it makes for good slug food.

At the next station, we learned a fascinating history of fungi.

It is an old English tradition to have a phobia of mushroom. But not all mushrooms are poisonous. And, some cultures have embraced the medicinal and spiritual tributes of mushrooms. Approximately 1.4 billion years ago, we had the primitive form of mushrooms. Its physical dominance lasted for about 40 million years. Mycorrhizal fungi began developing about 400 million years ago. And, the umbrella shape of the mushroom did not develop until around 130 to 200 million years ago.

I ran actually ran out of pages in my field journal, didn’t have any other paper to write for the forbs group. However, I did manage to recall just a few things, particularly about butter cups. Butter cups are not to be touched and are especially not to be ingested by humans.

Journal Entry 12

5/31/12

A tour with the Mammals group!

First, our class watched a video that asked quite a few questions

This tour was also done in stations. We only see Eastern Gray Squirrels on UW. This is probably due to urbanization. Oddly enough, the western grays are bigger then the eastern grays. Also interesting: squirrels build nests!

At the next station, we got an overview of the various kinds of squirrels here in the Pacific Northwest. There’s the Douglas’s squirrel, which is not found in cities (except for city parks with conifers. The Columbian Ground squirrel ranges from 1 to 2 pound and lives in colonies.

At the next station, our knowledge was expanded to chipmunks. The Yellow pine chipmunk, in particular, usually hibernates underground or in rock crevices. The American Red Squirrel became overpopulated by eastern gray squirrels. There are 270 species of squirrel. In that aspect, they are the most successful mammal. Our group got to look at the skulls of squirrels. They have changed very little.

The next tour was all about Bees, Beetles, and Butterflies. I helped guide the Beetle portion of this tour.

After our exploration of Pack Forest’s lowland forest, we all got into vans and drove down to the Nisqually entrance of the park. During the ride in the van, I noted a few observations and questions of the trees that were lining the road:

• catkins give alders a red color from branches, but…why?
• During this time of the year is the Nisqually River higher/covering more range than October?
• What does a baby alder look like?
• Where did catkins get its name?
• There are emphocytes that look like arm sleeves on the trees they inhabit.

Our van then entered Mt. Rainier National Park. Moss was covering ‘everywhere.’ And there was not a whole lot of understory. We also learned that due to moisture, there are not a whole lot of fires. These trees are definitely not fire dependent. As we got to higher elevation, there was a lot more snow cover and lots of tree fall.

We then got out of our respective vans and proceeded to hike through a section of old growth forest near Longmire. It soon became apparent that some western hemlocks were growing out of the downed logs. These downed logs with a western hemlock tree growing out of them were better known as nurse logs. One of our fellow guides informed us that a nurse log is a type of, “downed material that is used for a tree to grow.” Western hemlock, in particular, are well known for using nurse logs.

As we proceeded along the trail, we noted the difference in types of bark for tree species. A cedar’s bark, for example, was different from that of a western hemlock. We then saw a huge downed log—possibly a doug fir. This led me to wonder how tall a doug fir can become versus a hemlock. So, I did a small bit of research regarding the douglas fir. According to Trees of Seattle, “The greatest dimensions on record for this tree are 415’ x 56 ½.’ Further more, its bark can be over 20” thick! And according to the same field guide, the western hemlock generally reaches somewhere around 150 feet and is about 9 feet around. The largest known hemlock is our State Tree, reaching a maximum of 259’ x 31 ½’.

Our next new specimen to be discovered was a type of lichen called Cladonia. This one in particular was sticking up. One of the guides explained that they grow on downed logs or stumps. This led me to ponder over where else they grow. Little interesting fact: a lot of snails eat lichen. Next we came across a questionable flaky specimen-either a lichen or fungi.

Upon walking back to the vans, I witnessed a raven fly over near the museum parking lot.

I then took a moment to reflect on the different trees I’ve so far seen. Do any deciduous trees have cones?

As we all rode in the vans back to Pack Forest, I realized that I was finally starting to notice differences in tree species with a bit more clarity—example: the shape of a tree’s branches. Some curve upward like a bow. Others stick out straight. I was recognizing a bit more of the opposite and alternate patterning of branches. Then, I started to wonder what an alder would like in summer.

Later that evening after dinner, most of us gathered inside the Pack Forest’s pavilion. We were given the opportunity to try identifying different conifers by looking at the various branches that lay on the three tables. It proved a lot more difficult than I initially thought. But through the two-hour duration of this activity, I started to notice distinct differences among the various branches. Some, for example, had very pointy needles. There was one type that had white lines on both sides of its needles.

I overheard someone ask about folded leaves, which made me curious as to what exactly that looks like. The meaning would appear to be exactly what it describes: the leaves can fold.

March 31, 2012
Today, I arrived with my Natural History class to Pack Forest. Now before going into any further details, I must confess that I have very little knowledge of vegetation, animals, birds, and insects. But what I lack for in knowledge I make up for with a natural curiosity.

On the way to Pack Forest, my van mates and I were encouraged to look at how the needles on a tree are arranged (clumped or not clumped) and to concentrate on common trees and shrubs.

After reaching our destination, we took a short hike through one of the forest trails, taking note that the vegetation was primarily dominated by alder, western hemlock trees and sword fern. We had an overcast sky, but no rain. One of our guides taught us a cool little rhyme to help distinguish sedges from rushes and grasses:
‘Sedges have edges
rushes are luscious,
grasses are asses with holes.”

After returning outside from our lunch break, we spotted what we were eventually able to identify to be a Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana). I learned a fascinating characteristic about this type of tree- its branches nearly grow directly outward from its trunk. One of my field guides (Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest) also confirmed that the wood can have a fragrant scent, almost like that of lemon rind.

On our next walk through a different trail in Pack Forest, my group was asked a peculiar question, ‘Do lichen prefer alder to big leaf maple?’ Presently, I do not have the answer for this question. Though I do believe I have spotted more lichen on alder compared to big leaf maple….

One of the first plants our group came across was a hairy cat’s ear (Hypochaeris radicata L.). It really does have the appearance of a dandelion, but it feels tougher as well as hairier. We were also informed that it is an invasive species.

Next, our group stumbled upon yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.), also known as milfoil. This plant gets tall in late summer. Flies pollinate it. The following question was posed, ‘What attracts flies to yarrow?’ In general, flies seem to be attracted to odorous (most often bad smelling to a human) objects. But, I am not certain that the scent of yarrow is what attracts a fly to pollinate it.

While on our walk we were encouraged to look for opposite vs. alternate branch patterns. I am now realizing that this can be a difficult thing to distinguish at times. One must be careful in making any assumptions for a section of tree could appear to have alternate branches when really a few branches could have broken off during, say, a wind storm.

While we were on the subject of different methods of pollination, we learned that wind pollinated plants don’t have to be pretty or smell good. The wind has no attraction to appearances or scents, so there is no need for these traits.

We then came across Indian Plum (Omeleria cerasiformis). It is another plant which attracts flies. We were told with certainty that flies pollinate this one due to its odor. We also learned a neat little fact that flies come out before bees. So, a lot of the blooming flowers we were seeing were most likely pollinated by flies.

Now we began walking through more of a muddy terrain, where a member of our group eyed something peculiar. Our guide confirmed it to be a mushroom, a very unique looking mushroom. From a quick glance, it would appear to have the countenance of a brain. We would later learn that that the mushroom we found is called morel. Our guide then gave us a plethora of interesting facts regarding mushrooms:

• lots of organisms have symbiotic relationships with mushrooms
  o example: soil fungi form partnernships with plants—plants give fungus sugar-in turn, the fungus provides nutrients

• the term mycorrhizae means ‘fungus root’—Upon doing a bit more research on the term, Texas A&M University explains that it is a mutualistic association between a fungus and the roots of the plants

After we each had a turn at snapping a photo of the peculiar mushroom, we then found trillium-an entirely new flower that I had never known about before. Trillium, we were told, always has 3 leaves and 3 petals. It has quite the memorable name and a unique presence about it. Somehow, the flower just stands out. Reading from my earlier mentioned field guide, I later learned that the petals of the flower turn a pink color as they age. The one that our group had come across had more of a white color, so it may be assumed that we found a young trillium. Also, I am unsure of how trillium is pollinated.

It befuddles my mind how I have never once noticed nor even heard of this tree before, but the next specimen our eyes happened to meet was the madrone. Characterized for its red peeling bark, what a majestic tree! Given the disparities of the geographical locations of the other species of madrone, I think it safe to assume the tree was Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii). But how has it thrived it there for so long? My field guide says that the madrone mostly grows in rocky, well-drained soils. I don’t think the forested area this particular tree was growing in could be described to have such a type of soil. And it was not even the only one. We spotted a few other madrone trees, amidst all the conifers.

Our guide next brought us to a stop to take a look at a western hemlock. It is a type of conifer that has soft and droopy needles, which vary in length. I must confess that I had never taken the time to stop and touch a western hemlock. Until that time, I hadn’t ever even recognized the name ‘western hemlock.’ So, I was amazed by how smooth the needles of this tree truly were.

Next, our group came upon a plant that took a good 15 minutes to identify. It had opposite branches and a reddish tint. No leaves were on it at the time, which probably made it quite a bit more difficult to identify. Finally, two of our guides came to an agreement that what we were looking at was a vine maple.