Hypericum Anagalloides, Tinker's-penny

Day 244: The genus Hypericum contains almost 500 species, all of which..."ALL," I said...can be referred to by the common name "St. John's wort," and if that doesn't convince you of the value of specific taxonomic epithets, nothing will. Hypericum anagalloides is one of the smallest, and is native to western North America where it is commonly called "Tinker's-penny" or "Creeping St. John's wort" (a term which may also apply to another Hypericum species). It can be found in bogs and mountain meadows as a dense mat no more than two inches high, its bright yellow flowers hidden among chartreuse-green foliage. Ironically, the second half of its Latin binomial has its roots in Greek: "ana" meaning "again" and "-agallein," "to delight in," referring to the fact that the flowers close at night and re-open the following day.

A Proper Basket Base

Day 243: Recently, I decided to pick up pine-needle basketry again, a craft I have not done for at least 25 years. I didn't have the proper thread to use for the stitchery, and the gauge I had cut from an old ball-point pen was really rather larger than I wanted. I made a 5" trivet using 8/4 cotton rug warp, and while it was good to have the practice, it is by no means a thing of any beauty. I ordered some waxed polyester thread and then began searching the house for anything I could use for a smaller gauge. The gauge is used to control the diameter of the coils. As the weaver reaches the end of one bundle of pine needles and the gauge begins to feel loose, more needles are inserted until the gauge is snug. The ends of the needles are concealed in the center of the coil as work progresses around. Any stray points can be clipped off when the basket is finished (and there will be a few). The pen I had cut to make my first gauge had an internal diameter of 6 mm. I wanted to reduce that by 1-2 mm. I must have tipped out the contents of every drawer in the house in search of suitable gauge material before a liquid-soap dispenser caught my eye. The tube on the pump had an internal diameter of 4 mm, perfect for the job. The stitches I have used in this flat basket base start with plain wrap to form the center, followed by several rows of split stitch. After a few rounds, I switched to V-stitch. The outer round shown here is an increase row with new V-stitches being added between those of the previous round. I will continue working V-stitch until the base is as wide as I want, and then as the edges of the basket are brought up, I will change to the decorative three-pronged fern stitch which is so characteristic to pine-needle basketry.

Triantha Occidentalis

Day 242: The day began like any other Botany Day. Team Biota had a list of five "target plants" which either hadn't been seen in the Park for 20+ years or whose habitat was in jeopardy due to the perfectly natural process of succession. We spent a couple of hours feeding ravenous mosquitoes at one location, and only turned up one of the plants on the list: Triantha occidentalis, also known as Western False Asphodel. There were half a dozen stems, none fully in bloom, and it was all too obvious that in a few more years, their plot will be filled in by other vegetation. That said, even though we hadn't checked off the whole list, we found a few uncommon species which were not among those we were seeking. Moving along, we made a few other stops and then decided to check on some of our other favourites to see if they were in bloom.

We have a secondary goal when we are in the field, and that is to find additional sites where some of the less rare species occur. We call these "non-Biek locations" because they are not listed in "Flora of Mount Rainier National Park." At the close of every year, I turn in a report of "non-Biek locations" for addition to the Park's database. As we were walking along the edge of the road, spread out, I looked down-slope and thought I could see an example of one particular plant. I sized up the angle of incline and potential hand-holds, and in a rash moment decided that finding a new non-Biek location took priority over anything else, I started down the hill. I had descended 15 feet or so when the sandy footing gave way and sent me sliding into a clump of small alders. The momentum was such that when my toe tangled in the base of the clump, I was pitched face-first through the branches. They collapsed under my weight and I began a rapid downhill slide on my front, head first like a toboggan. When I came to rest, my first thought was, "I can see. Therefore my glasses are still on my face." I had thought I felt them pull off. Then without moving, I assessed my extremities. Nothing felt like it was broken, so then I began the process of getting turned around without sliding further down the hill, and dragging myself back up to road level. Being rather rattled by the experience, I neglected to check the damn plant to see if it was the right one as I crawled past it. On reaching the road, I discovered a broad smear of vegetative matter on my glasses which at first I took for a major scratch, but after washing it off, I saw that the underlying scratch was minor. However, my poor carcase had taken quite a beating, and by that evening, I was aching in every muscle and the bruises were beginning to colour up. I knew there was no way I could hide the evidence, and reluctantly confessed to Kevin. His utter silence was more painful than a reprimand. Worse than the injuries to my various parts and ego is that inflicted on his trust in my judgment. That's going to take a long time to heal.

Castilleja Identification

Day 241: There are five species of Castilleja (Paintbrush) known from Mount Rainier National Park, and a couple of subspecies within them. The most common are vibrantly red, orange or magenta, and the least common of them is often described as "yellow." This has led to many erroneous reports of its occurrence when in fact the observer has found the yellow variation of Harsh Paintbrush (Castilleja hispida). As readers will undoubtedly know, the colourful portion of the Castillejas are not the flower of the plant. Rather, these are bracts, modified leaves. Observation of their shape can assist with making an identification of the species. Note that in the photos above, the tips are divided into several "tongues." This clearly defines both plants as C. hispida. When the true flowers appear, they will emerge from between the coloured bracts as pointy "beaks" like those just visible at the top of the red plant in the image.

Rhododendron Groenlandicum, Labrador-tea

Day 240: When people hear the name "Rhododendron," most likely an image of the shrubby ornamental varieties commonly used in landscaping will come to mind. However, there are over 1000 species of Rhododendron worldwide, and some may grow to heights of 100 feet or more. Washington's State Flower is the native pink Rhododendron (R. macrophyllum), similar in size and flower structure to the garden cultivars. It does not occur in Mount Rainier National Park, but at least three other native Rhododendrons grace our slopes: R. albiflorum, R. menziesii and R. groenlandicum. The latter (above) is also known as Labrador-tea or Bog Labrador-tea, and can be found in bogs and swamps at low to mid-elevations in western Washington. Its star-shaped white flowers are carried in terminal racemes, and it is not uncommon to find last year's spent seed capsules dangling beneath them. As the name suggests, it was widely used by Native peoples and early settlers in the northern regions as a tea, but the leaves contain alkaloids which may be toxic if ingested.

Almost Lonesome Myrio

Day 239: My botany partners and I went out on our first field trip of the year yesterday, and although we did not succeed at our primary mission to find a particular plant, we got to visit some old friends. Myriosclerotinia caricis-ampullaceae proved very elusive, and it was Joe who finally called out, "Found one!" It was a small specimen, but as perfect as could be hoped. Evaluating the conditions in the meadow, we were dismayed to find it drier than usual, a factor which certainly had an impact on Myrio's presence, but it was also possible that we had arrived past the fungus' peak fruiting period. Was there only one? Joe's keen eyes eventually brought one more example to light, even smaller than the first. We were unable to check any of the other sites where we have found this rare and elegant fungus.

Lantana

Day 238: Although some species of Lantana are considered invasive in the warmer climates of the southern states, they do not survive the winters of the northern regions and are popular raised as annuals in the summer garden. There are many cultivars on the market, in just about every colour of the rainbow. This one is trademarked as "Hot-Blooded Red." The umbels often exhibit several shades in their specific colour range, the flowers changing hue with age. While most animals avoid eating them, it should be noted that they are poisonous to dogs, cats and ruminants. However, butterflies and other insects are drawn to them, and birds enjoy the small fruits when they are mature. This solitary plant has been given a task. I am growing it in a pot adjacent to my hardy kiwi vines in the hopes of drawing pollinators to the hundreds of kiwi flowers almost ready to burst open.