The plants most closely associated with the floor of our forests are ferns. Experts recognize numerous species but, once again, the novice only needs to know four or five common varieties. Sword fern, easily the most common type, is a hardy but strikingly beautiful evergreen fern so abundant in this area that it is often taken for granted. Sunnier areas invariably feature bracken fern, while wetter places have lots of maidenhair and lady fern. The final fern species that the average hiker will want to learn to recognize is the licorice fern. This common species is what botanists term epiphytic, which means that instead of growing out of the ground like its relatives, the licorice fern grows directly out of tree trunks and rocks.
Everybody loves flowers and many people go hiking specifically to enjoy the sight and smell of blossoms. From March through September, there are always flowers to enjoy somewhere in our region. Wildflowers, however, are difficult to categorize, because so many different kinds of plants, including many listed above, produce flowers. If we restrict this group to just the smaller, ground-level types (as most people do), then you can look like an expert by knowing just a few dozen species. When hiking in dense forests, you won’t see great displays of wildflowers, but you will find scattered blooms that help to brighten the shady forest floor. Look for yellow wood violet, the relatively rare pink calypso orchid, and several varieties of white flowers, including trillium, queen’s cup, bunchberry, twinflower, and vanilla leaf.
If you want to see great wildflower displays, get out of the forest and head for the meadows. In the lower-elevation valleys, you need to find one of those increasingly rare places that has yet to be paved over or plowed under. The most striking flower in these fields is blue camas, a plant that was once an important food source for Native Americans.
There is greater variety in the mountains. Depending on the elevation, the higher meadows provide spectacular displays any time from mid-June through mid-August. Just as the snow melts, the ground comes alive with the blossoms of glacier lily, avalanche lily, and western pasqueflower. A little later, you enjoy cinquefoil, lupine, paintbrush, spiraea, shooting star, yarrow, and, perhaps most notable of all, beargrass. By the end of summer, the meadows still have some flowers, especially asters, goldenrods, and blue gentians, which bloom well into September.
The banks of creeks feature lush vegetation and a unique array of water-loving flowering plants. Of particular note are yellow monkeyflower and pink Lewis monkeyflower, false Solomon’s seal, and bleeding heart. Dry and rocky places have wildflowers better adapted to these environments. Here you may find yellow stonecrop, blue larkspur, lavender cliff penstemon, and the whites of pearly everlasting, prairie star, and cats ear, among others.
If wildflowers lead the brigade of popular plants, then the least popular plant, poison oak, also deserves mention. This species is most common in dry, sunny places, but it can also be found in denser forests. You should be especially wary of this rash-producing menace when you are hiking in the eastern Columbia River Gorge. Poison oak comes in a variety of forms, sometimes growing as a vine and sometimes as a low bush, but it always has lobed, often shiny leaves, that grow in groups of three. Hikers who travel with the family pet need to remember that, no matter how smart you think Rover is, he probably isn’t bright enough to recognize and avoid poison oak. Many unsuspecting pet owners have picked up a nasty rash from merely petting their dog after a hike in poison-oak country.
Silver dollar plant
Trillium
Oregon grape
Grass widow
Tall larkspur
Common camas
Author beside old cedar tree
Corydalis
Arrowleaf balsamroot
False Solomon’s seal
Beargrass
Oak tree and licorice fern
Teasels
Grasses in a wetland
Licorice ferns
Ferns and mosses on talus slope
Wind-contorted fir tree
A type of shelf fungus
Two varieties of fungi
Bigleaf maple
An unidentified fungus
Various species of moss grow abundantly in our forests. Trying to identify these species is beyond the interest level of most hikers. It’s worth pointing out, however, that the old adage about moss growing only on the north side of a tree does not work around here. If you get lost and try to navigate by this old trick, you’ll be in big trouble because in this wet environment moss grows on all sides of the trees.
Mushrooms and fungi are an area of special interest for many Northwest hikers. Our forests feature several dozen varieties growing out of the ground, out of old stumps, and even out of living trees. Many species are edible, and collecting mushrooms is a fun activity. Do not, however, eat any mushrooms unless you are experienced and completely confident in your ability to identify the various species. There are several poisonous types in our area, and every year people get sick, and some even die, from eating the wrong mushrooms.
Fur, Feathers, Scales, & Slime: The Local Fauna
Hikers aren’t the only creatures leaving footprints on our area trails. By far the most common large mammal you will encounter, apart from Homo sapiens