Rain

 


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Mud and Raindrops

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 Blackberry vines on moss covered log Licorice fern ( Polypodium glycyrrhiza)  also growing out of a log. This plant loves wet forest and often grows as an epiphyte on bigleaf maple trunks. The rhizomes are edible and taste like licorice! (I have eaten it in the past, but didn't partake today.) Western hemlock ( Tsuga heterophylla ) can be distinguished from other evergreens because the needles lay flat on the branch, and the crown of the tree droops. It is the state tree of Washington. Piper's Creek is almost roaring today. The rain has continued all day... I wore my puddle stompers with wool socks and my feet stayed warm and dry.
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Vine Maple Shoots & Oregon Grape

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 Another trip out to Carkeek at dusk. It was overcast but not raining. And I saw the first sign of spring: tiny buds on the vine maple. I can't identify it with 100% certainty at this stage of growth, but the forest floor beneath the shrub was covered with decomposing leaves that appeared to be vine maple, so I'm pretty confident that's what it is. I will keep an eye on it as the leaves get bigger! I also noticed this tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Initially, I wasn't sure if it was tall Oregon grape or dull Oregon grape. I ran it through Pl@ntNet, which had trouble with it-- Oregon grape (or mountain grape, as they call it) was only listed as a 5.7% match! Yes, I'm 100% sure it is either tall or dull. Oregon grape is the only plant in this region with these characteristic leaves. It was the new growth shoots going up that seemed to confuse Pl@ntNet.
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