Week 2

Date: April, 15th 2013
Weather: Cloudy and cold, very cold
Temperature: 45 Degrees roughly
Location: Ravenna Park

As I returned to Ravenna park I was able to get more towards the river instead of the open areas of the park. Unfortunately, while I was there my camera died before I got to take any pictures of the main native plants that I wanted to capture. I will have to go back (if I can find the spot) and take pictures of them. What I did find though were some of the following species: I saw a few trees that I was able to spot from my session with the TA last Thursday. I saw a Red Alder as well as a Black Cotton Wood and a Grand Fir. Then as I was walking along the trail I saw Skunk Cabbage and a Salmon Berry. I automatically knew it was a salmon berry because I have actually eaten them while on several of my overnight hikes (that's if the bears had not gotten to them first!). It was interesting to see all of the different species along the river. There was so many that it was overwhelming. I cannot wait to go back and spend more time there. I was also surprised to find one of my favorite plants called the Bleeding Heart (Dicentra Spectabilis) I know these mostly grow in shade so I was actually surprised that I found it in the area I did. It may have been hand planted but I am not quite sure. Either way, this is what I decided I would draw. Here is the drawing experiment that we were assigned. My sketching is actually terrible but I did the best that I could.

I could not figure out what shape of leaf the Bleeding Heart has so I put one next to it.

Below I will post some of the other things I saw before my camera died!

Now this is a common fern that you see everywhere. It looked to me like a Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) but it looked darker in color than usual.

I love these. They remind me of the wildflowers I see when hiking in the North Cascades. They have a heart shape flower and seem to grow sporadically. They have purple flowers. I am not sure what this plant is called so I will have to add it in later.

Here is the Bleeding Heart (Dicentra Spectabilis) I absolutely love this plant. 

This is the Big Leaf Maple (Acrer macrophyllum) I encountered I could identify it because of the fallen pieces in the picture below.

A piece of the Big Leaf Maple

I did not realize how little I actually know about flowers. I also do not know the name of this species but hopefully as I get more savvy I can name it. 

Overall, there will be a lot of unknown species in my post until I am really able to pinpoint the difference between various species. Some are clear to me, as I have grown up around them, but I have yet to spot those in the area that I have done my fieldwork in. I hope I can rather quickly gain a better grasp on identifying these species.