Friday, July 15, 2011

Plant Identification

I’ve got a bee in my bonnet to learn to identify more of the local wildflowers. Each year I learn a few more, but I also seem to forget as many or more. So…. I’ve decided to keep a separate journal full of simple sketches of the flowers I’ve found. Somehow a dragonfly slipped in – an immature male Common Whitetail (a skimmer).
So far I’ve had good luck finding my little sketches in a book, but the one with the red line around it has me stumped. I’m hoping someone can help me identify it.

* I found it at about 1000 feet elevation, Umpqua National forest, Oregon, USA. June 24, 2011.
* I found it growing in a damp, fairly moist, fairly shady location along the roadside.
* The blossom is tiny! About 1/8th inch across, five petals.
* The seed pods are round balls.
* Several stems grow from one root area, the stems tend to lie close to the ground.
* The leaves are very delicate and covered with little hairs (I’ve taped a stem with leaves and a flower onto my page).
* The stems of the leaves are flat, not round.
* The leaves near the blossoms are not symmetrical, but closer to the base of the plant they are symmetrical – the photo and my sketch show both types of leaves.
….and here is a photo of it.

3 comments:

  1. DO you have a copy of Hitchcock and Cronquists "Plants of the Pacific Northwest"? When I lived out there that was my go-to guide for plant ID.

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  2. It's a pretty litle plant. I wish I could help but I don't know this area at all. I'll be content to admire your lovely drawings!

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  3. Very attractive sketch page of wildflowers! Nice to see this!

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