understory

Showing 25–36 of 37 results

  • Picea engelmannii / Engelmann spruce

    • common, especially in mixed conifer forests
    • canopy a narrow spire in young trees, cylindrical in older trees
    • sharp, pointy needles, generally "swept" toward branch tips
    • needles attached to twigs with woody pegs (sterigmata)
    • pendant cones less than 2.5 inches long; thin scales, wavy margins

  • 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

  • Pyrola asarifolia / pink pyrola

    • 4 to 25 nodding red (or pink) and white flowers in a loose raceme
    • round petals, edges often curved down
    • green style extends out of flower like elephant's trunk
    • flower stems may be over a foot tall
    • leaves are "liver" shaped or "ginger" shaped and shiny - round-ish but wider than long

  • Ribes aureum / golden current

    • shrub up to 10 feet tall
    • spring bloomer, golden yellow flower in clusters
    • small, maple-like leaves
    • 1/2 inch berries in late summer, golden to black

  • Ribes lacustre / prickly currant

    • deeply lobed, maple-like leaves
    • prickly stems with spines at nodes
    • shrub to ca. 4 feet tall
    • teeny cream & purple flowers in dangling clusters in spring
    • red berries in late summer maturing to very small black berries

  • Rosa spp. / wild rose

    • deep red (to pink) flowers; wonderfully fragrant
    • understory shrub in wetter areas
    • flowers mid-summer

  • Shepherdia canadensis / Canadian buffaloberry

    • deciduous shrub, opposite branches and leaves; understory
    • trichomes (hairs) on lower, often upper surfaces.
    • lower surface has rust-colored scales
    • teeny yellowish flowers before leaves appear; male and female on separate plants
    • red or orange, oval fruits with one stony seed; soapy when crushed

  • Sorbus scopulina / western mountain ash

    • moderate sized shrub with pinnately compound leaves
    • 9-13 leaflets per leaf (usually)
    • teeny white flowers in large rounded clusters
    • yellow berries in August become bright red in September
    • rocky hillsides, creek sides, open woods

  • Spiraea betulifolia / white spiraea

    • short (1-3 feet), dominant shrub in forest understory
    • rounded leaves with toothed outer margins
    • teeny flowers in flat-topped clusters up to 5" across
    • flowers are white with 5 petals and many stamens

  • Streptopus amplexifolius / white twisted-stalk

    • creeping herb
    • oval, clasping leaves; parallel veins; sharp tip
    • pronounced stem "kink" at each node gives twisted look
    • drooping, cream-colored flowers, 6 recurved tepals, borne singly
    • single, elongated red berries in fall
    • found in moist undergrowth

  • Vaccinium scoparium / grouse whortleberry

    • low growing deciduous shrub
    • clonally spreading
    • green twigs and small (3/4 inch), oval, light green leaves
    • teeny, pendant, urn-shaped white/pink flowers
    • red berries in fall

  • Valeriana sitchensis / Sitka valerian

    • rhizomatous perennial - possibly in large colonies
    • sizable head of small white flowers; 5 petals
    • stamens extend beyond petals
    • leaves opposite, deeply lobed (almost compound)

Showing 25–36 of 37 results