On a Lifelong Journey to Learn my Place
A couple of weeks ago, I happened to be out at sunset and was inspired by the silhouettes of some trees growing along Crescent Harbor. One of the things that struck me was how distinct the growth pattern of each species was, and I thought it might make for an interesting challenge to identify the … Read more
A couple of falls ago, I found the mushroom pictured above. It was growing on a long-stranded drift log at the end of Totem Park (now well away from the high-tide line). I noticed how dessicated it looked, and figured the recent dry weather had dried out the cap as it was dying back, so … Read more
Baeospora myosura, which I am calling Spruce Cone Mushroom, fruits primarily on Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) cones. In other parts of its range, it will also grow on Douglas Fir, but they are absent in this area. According to the California Fungi account for Baeospora myosura, there is only on other species that is sometimes … Read more
Tar Spot fungi (Rhytisma spp) would seem relatively easy to identify to genus – the black spots forming on leaves seem fairly distinctive – but I suspect it would be difficult to identify them to species apart from their occurrence on specific host species. The Pacific Northwest Fungi Database includes entries for many species of … Read more
Background for this post The summer I was working at Blue Lake and first noticed these seedlings, I figured they must be some sort of willow. Willows are somewhat notorious for being hard to identify, even with much more to go on than a seedling, so I did not have much expectation of being able … Read more
A couple of years ago I helped out on some of the environmental surveys for the Blue Lake hydro project (the city is going through the process of permitting to raise the dam and thereby increase the power supply for the community). While up there, I saw several species of plants that are not especially … Read more