Plants in the Valley

Showing 241–252 of 327 results

  • Polygonum aviculare / prostrate knotweed

    • long, prostrate stems around a central point
    • copious red-edged white flowers
    • small green leaves
    • along roadsides, parking lots and wherever trampling occurs
    • an ugly weed you'll see on most of your walks around town

  • Populus tremuloides / quaking aspen

    • white barked, often growing in large clones
    • leaves flat with long, flat petiole at 90˚
    • leaves quake in even light breezes
    • twigs and buds reddish, long and pointed
    • catkin flowers in very early spring
    • leaves turn yellow or reddish or orange-ish in fall

  • Potamogeton richardsonii / Richardson’s pondweed

    • submerged aquatic with emergent inflorescence
    • crinkly, broad-ish leaves which clasp the stem
    • variable length internodes
    • often tangled up with sago pondweed

  • Potentilla fruticosa / shrubby cinquefoil

    • low, deciduous, shrub; wetlands and riparian zones
    • yellow buttercup-like flowers with 5 leaflets, often in clusters
    • blooms from June until frost
    • pinnately compound leaves, typically with 5 leaflets
    • fruit (achene) remains into winter

  • Potentilla gracilis / slender cinquefoil

    • yellow, 5-petaled flowers with many stamens
    • petals touch or overlap
    • leaves with 5-9 toothed, deeply cut lobes
    • leaves may be hairy, especially below
    • many different exposed habitats

  • Potentilla norvegica / rough cinquefoil

    • 5 yellow petals, not fused
    • 5 sepals longer than petals, esp. after flowering
    • numerous stamens and pistils
    • compound leaves with leaflets grouped in 3s
    • prominent veins; toothed margins
    • hairy stems
    • mostly in disturbed areas, including gardens

  • Primula parryi / Parry’s primrose

    • striking, bright magenta (or pink) flowers with yellow centers, 5 petals
    • 3 to 30 flowers per stalk
    • brilliant green foliage as a rosette
    • foliage releases horrible smell with the slightest touch
    • typically at higher altitudes in wet places

  • Prosartes trachycarpa / rough-fruited fairybells

    • heart-shaped, clasping leaves with parallel veins
    • pendant white flowers with 6 petals/tepals, often obscured by leaves
    • round, yellow then orange then red fruits with rough surface in late summer
    • moist forest understoreys

  • Prunella vulgaris / self-heal

    • compact spike of tiny purple, mint-like flowers
    • upper/lower lips purple and white respectively
    • square stems, opposite leaves

  • Prunus virginiana / western chokecherry

    • oval leaves with serrated margins and abrupt taper at tip
    • reddish twigs with prominent lenticels
    • drooping clumps of white flowers w/ yellow centers in spring
    • red to black cherries in fall, up to ½ inch diameter
    • leaves turn orange or yellow in fall

  • Pseudotsuga menziesii / Douglas fir

    • persistent cones with distinctive 3-pronged, "mouse tail", bracts
    • semi-pointy, but not stiff or sharp, single needles
    • needles attached to twigs by petioles (no pegs)
    • oval leaf scars
    • twig buds are pointy, "lustrous" brown

  • Pteridium aquilinum / common bracken

    • a fern with large, triangular fronds, up to 4 ft tall
    • fronds subdivided into triangular leaflets
    • herbaceous perennial
    • deciduous with annual regrowth first appearing as fiddleheads in spring
    • wide range of habitats, including full sun

Showing 241–252 of 327 results