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The Valley Library >> Benton County >> Oregon >> United States
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1. Camas
- Description
- Camassia Leichtlinii. Large Camas. The Indian name quamash or camass persists in this 1-2' tall perennial arising from deep-seated bulb. Flowers vary anywhere from white to deep blue or violet. Camassia Leichlinii, the larger of our two common species, is distinguished by the withering petals twisting together above the seed capsule rather than falling separately. It ranges west of the Cascades from southern British Columbia to southern Oregon and into Sierran California. The starchy bulb of the camas was a prized staple for the native tribes in the Northwest. Care was required to avoid poisonous bulbs of another lily, the so-called death camas. Gathering camas root was the incentive for annual festivities, migrations to harvest ground where women dug and prepared bulbs (while the men engaged in sport and games). Handles of their digging sticks, fashioned from bone or antler, can be seen in museum collections. The sticks themselves, made of fire-hardened wood crooked and fattened at the end, have not survived so well. To prepare the root it was first cooked, either roasted elaborately in covered pits lined with hot stones, or boiled. It was then crushed in mortars and the gummy mass pressed into slabs for keeping. Hungry fur trapper Alexander Henry, in the Willamette Valley in 1814, tells in is diary of trading blue beads with the Kalapuyans for slabs of the nutritious food. As if to remind us of more meager times, each April and May the stately camas colors moist meadows and prairies, roadside ditches, or the vacant lot behind a supermarket, with handsome blue-violet blossoms. (provided by Oregon Arts Commission), Camas; [no.] 5; 1993, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
- Description
- Lupinus sulphureus kincaidii. Our native lupines are a confusing lot, with nearly 600 distinct kinds described in the US. Within a given population bewildering variations occur, and rather free interbreeding compounds the confusion. One iridescent blue butterfly is not confused however. Known to prefer Kincaid's lupine as a larval food plant, the Fender's Blue butterfly, Icaricia icariodes fenderi, was last seen in 1931 and presumed extinct. But careful scrutiny of populations of Kincaid's lupine led to recent rediscovery of the rare insect. Now efforts are underway to protect both the butterfly and its host lupine. This variation of the sulphur lupines is confined to remnant bits of native prairie grasslands in western Oregon and Washington, primarily in the Willamette Valley. Lupines are broadly recognized by radiating leaflets and blossoms that resemble those of other members of the pea family. Kincaid's lupine may be distinguished by three characteristics: relatively low-growing basal leaves dominated by upbranched stems bearing uncrowded whorls of smallish flowers, blossoms a varied assortment of colors from yellow to blue to purple, and banner petals with a distinctly ruffled border. The name of Trevor Kincaid, as this lupine, has been ascribed to much of the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest. My first encounter was in the subject of my Master's thesis, a tiny aquatic fly that bears his name as original taxonomist (Maruina lanceolata Kincaid). Born in 1872, Kincaid grew up an avid student of nature, making prodigious collections of plant and animal specimens even before entering the fledgling University of Washington in 1894. Within seven years he was head of the Department of Zoology there and continued as inspired teacher, entomologist, and international science adviser until his death at 97, having shaped the early development of zoology at the university. (description provided by Oregon Arts Commission), Kincaid's Lupine; [no.] 8; 1994, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
3. Flags
- Description
- Iris tenax. Tough-threaded Iris, Purple Iris, or Flag. This showy little wild iris, occurring in many shades of purple, is common in neglected fields and roadsides in the Willamette Valley in early spring. It was introduced into the formal world of botany by that intrepid Scot, David Douglas, the exploring naturalist whose name id commemorated in the Douglas-fir. Douglas made the harrowing voyage to northwest America in 1824 under protection of the Hudson's Bay Company, to collect specimens for the Horticultural Society of London. He found this iris "a common plant in North California, and along the coast of New Georgia, in dry soils or open parts of woods, flowering in April and May." From Material sent by Douglas, John Lindley, Professor of Botany in the University of London, wrote the original description in 1829: "A plant forming close tufts of rigid, erect, linear-ensiform, evergreen, tough leaves, which in wild specimens are rather shorter than the flowers. Stem erect, a foot or rather more high, angular, leafy, clothed at the base with remains of the leaves, as in Allium Victorialis. Ovarium on a long stalk, not enclosed within the floral leaves, somewhat 3-cornered. Flowers about the size of Iris virginica, sessile on the ovarium, dark purple, veiny; the outer petals obovate, acuminate, spreading, beardless; the inner obovate, rounded, erect, shorter than the others. Stigmas 2-lobed, short." Iris, the Greek word for rainbow, was applied to this genus for its variety of color. The Latin species name tenax (tenacious) derives from these observations made by Douglas on uses of the plant: "The native tribes about Aguilar (Umpqua) river...find this plant very serviceable for many purposes: from the veins of the leaves fine cord is made, which is converted into fishing nets; and from its buoyancy, great strength, and durability, it suits this purpose admirable. It is also made into snares for deer and bears; and a good idea may be formed of its strength, when a snare, not thicker than a 16-thread line, is sufficient to strangle Cervus Alces, the Great Stag of California, one of the most powerful animals of its tribe. The cordage is also manufactured into bags and other articles." Quotations are taken from Edward's Botanical Register of 1829. (provided by Oregon Arts Commission), Flags; [no.] 1; 1992, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
4. Copa De Oro
- Description
- Eschsholtzia californica. California Poppy Here is perhaps the most celebrated West Coast wildflower. Called Copa de Oro by the earliest Hispanic inhabitants, this golden poppy once emblazoned such vast fields that its brilliant color was visible from sailing ships miles offshore -- a plausible basis for the early name La Tierra del Fuego, land of fire. Discouraged by grazing, agriculture, and development, it now blooms in lesser abundance, May-September, from Southern California north to the Columbia River, and elsewhere escaped from garden plantings. This marvelous perennial arises from a deep taproot and generally reaches two feet in height. The flowers are two to three inches across and vary from pale to deep yellow and orange. They are remarkably responsive to sunlight, closing at nightfall or in overcast weather. Sepals are united in a conical structure that is thrust off by the opening petals, much like doffing a little hat. The seed capsule is linear and tipped by the withering styles. The foliage is grayish-green and finely divided. E. Californica owes its introduction to the botanical world to three explorer naturalists and a coincident Russian. Archibald Menzies, Scottish botanist and surgeon with Captain George Vancouver, was first to collect specimens for transport to foreign shores, in Monterey in December if 1792. But his classification was incorrect, his collection suffered badly on shipboard, and the plants delivered to Kew Gardens soon died. Next was Adelbert van Chamisso, French naturalist with the Russian Romanoff expedition, spending October of 1816 at San Francisco. Here he collected, described, classified, and named Eschscholtzia californica after the ship's noble young surgeon, Johann Friedrich Escholtz. Finally, it came to David Douglas, Scottish botanist and practical gardener, to convey this vibrant poppy to the world. Collecting along the Multnomah (Willamette) River in 1825, he first encountered E. colifornica and sent back to the Horticultural Society of London the seeds that thrived in English gardens and beyond. (provided by Oregon Arts Commission), Copa de Oro; [no.] 3; 1992, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
5. Trilliums
- Description
- Trillium ovatum. Western Trillium or Wake-robin While other vegetation is still winter-bare, this elegant blossom unfurls in its whorl of large sessile leaves to punctuate moist shay woods from British Columbia south to Central California, from lowlands to well up in the mountains. Indeed, one of its common names, Wake-robin, implies that it precedes the earliest of birds. The Latin generic name Trillium, meaning triple, is appropriate to describe the parts of three in petals, sepals, and leaves - all supported by a sturdy bare stem as much as 12 inches tall. This species is distinguished from another common woodlawn trillium in having a thin stem or pedicel that bears each solitary flower above its three broad net-veined leaves. The fragrant white flowers of T. ovatum turn purplish with age. The botanical history of this plant is tied to the history of the pacific Northwest via Lewis and Clark Expedition. On their return trip east in 1806, Captain Meriwether Lewis collected it "On the rapids of Columbia river", one of the 150 novel specimens he conveyed to botanist Fredrick Pursh. It was from the Lewis collection that Trillium ovatum was first described and named by Pursh in his Flora Americae Septenrionalis of 1814, the first account of North American plants to include the Pacific Northwest. The familiar admonition not to pick trilliums is well founded. Removing the flower stem robs the rhizome of the food supply necessary to produce next year's plant, and some years may be required for recovery. Trilliums do not transplant well, but may grow from seed with patience. As many as seven years may pass before a white blossom is produced to crown the three stem-leaves. Ants are a natural aid in dispersal, attracted by sweet tissue on the seeds. (description provided by Oregon Arts Commission), Trilliums; [no.] 6; 1993, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Linn-Benton Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.artcentric.org/
