Look At Plants Along the Marked Footpath

 
A large snowy buckwheat was transplanted to the Education Center on the edge of the Restoration area. Come watch it come to life.   Watch thousands of waterfowl fly in to rest at sunset on McNary Pond from December until late February. It is an awesome sight.
     
Kids sit on stumps under the weeping willow tree
 
Inative counter marks the mud critters station
The weeping willow (Salix babylonica) is our animal hotel with homes and food for birds and insects.   Reeds known as phragmites (Phragmites communis) were removed in front of Post 2 to allow better winter viewing of migrating waterfowl and summer viewing of ducklings.
     
 
Seeds of the bulrush around McNary Pond. There are over 600 bulrush species worldwide   Phragmites plumes are loaded with seeds and are an interesting addition to winter bouquets.
     
compare stems of bulrush, cattail, and reed,
 
Purple loosestrife threatens waterfowl
Compare stems of bulrush (Juncus effusus), edible cattail (Typha latifolia), and reed (Phragmites communis)  

The root system of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) builds soil in ponds and reduces water surface, a threat to waterfowl
     
Phragmites (European thatch) has leaves growing all along stem
  
cattail leaves grow in fanlike manner from root
Phragmites has leaves overlapping sheathes from segments along stem   Cattail, Typha latifolia, has leaves sheathing the stem from waterline, giving the appearance of a fan
     
pigweed heavy with seeds
  
Russian Olive heavy with seeds
Seeds of pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus, feed rodents and insects   Russian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia, an undesireable encroaching on wetlands
 
This bunchgrass is a hybrid of ryegrass and native bunchgrasses
  
Non-native crested wheatgrass, Agropyron cristatum
Agropyron intermedium, a non-native bunchgrass on the arid side of the refuge   Another non-native bunchgrass surviver is Agropyron cristatum
     
Showy milkweed attracts a swallowtail butterfly
  
Kapoc explodes from milkweed pod
Swallowtail rests on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa.   Fluff of milkweed, known as kapoc, was used in life preservers in WWII
     
Lichen grows on big sagebrush
  
Sagebrush blooms in October
Lichen, a synergistic relationship between a primitive plant and animal, grows on sage branches   Big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata, blooms in late fall on the McNary NWR
     
flower heads of Douglas rabbitbrush are distinctive in winter
  
Green rabbitbrush beginning to form flower heads late summer
Green rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus, in winter   Green rabbitbrush, called Douglas, begins forming florets in late September
     
Gray rabbitbrush in winter
  
Gray rabbitbrush blooms in late fall
Gray rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus naueosus, appears gray because of wooly hairs on stems and leaves   Sagebrush and both species of rabbitbrush appear between Post 15 and 16 along the trail
     
Old stable sanddune hosts a tough grass
  
Yarrow is a worldwide healer
Dune grass is the only growth on sand dune resulting from farming in early 1900s   New growth of yarrow, Achillea millefolium, was used since ancient times to stop bleeding and heal wounds
     
July brings bright flowers to desert
  
Penny shows relative size of early desert flowes
Yellow tiny flowers in desert in July   Earliest flowers in desert with penny to compare size
     
Henbit has a colorful flower
 
Evening primrose blooms along the trail
Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), low and spreading, blooms in July   Evening Primrose grows along trail in many locations from spring to fall
     
Yellow beeplant flowers are full of nectar
  
Bee prepares to gather honey from yellow cleome
A stand of these bee-favored plants, Cleome lutea, are found downhill from Post C   A bee hovers over the yellow beeplant flowers.

Naomi Sherer

 

Copyright 1997 - 2005
Naomi Sherer