This Brochure has been produced in partnership of the McKenzie Watershed While on the trail you will see a seasonal variety of trees and plants, Council and Lane County Parks. use the following checklist to see which ones you identify today.

Lane County 3050 N. Delta Hwy. Parks Eugene, OR 97408 Tree Checklist ❏ (541) 682-2000 Common Name ...... Species Fairy bells ...... Disporum hookeri ❏ Big leaf maple ...... Acer macrophyllum ❏ False Solomon’s seal ...... Smilacina racemosa

❏ Black cottonwood ...... Populus trichocarpa ❏ Fringe cups ...... Tellima grandifl ora

❏ California hazel ...... Corylus cornuta var. californica ❏ Ground ivy; creeping charley Glechoma hederacea PO Box 70166, Eugene, OR 97401 ❏ ❏ (541) 687-9076 Douglas-fi r ...... Pseudotsuga menziesii Licorice fern ...... Polypodium glycyrrhiza ❏ Indian plum; osoberry ... Oemleria cerasiformis ❏ Lungwort ...... Lobaria pulmonaria

❏ Oregon ash ...... Fraxinus latifolia ❏ Miner’s lettuce ...... Claytonia perfoliata

❏ Vine maple ...... Acer circinatum ❏ Nipplewort ...... Lapsana comminis

❏ Western red alder ...... Alnus rubra ❏ Piggy back ...... Tolmiea menziesii

❏ Western red cedar ...... Thuja plicata ❏ Poison hemlock ...... Conium maculatum

❏ Reed canary grass ...... Phalaris arundinacea Plant Checklist ❏ Sessile trillium...... Trillium albidum Common Name ...... Species ❏ Slender stemmed waterleaf . Hydronphyllum tenuipes ❏ Bleeding heart ...... Dicentra formosa ❏ Snowberry ...... Symphoricarpos albus

❏ Bluebells ...... Mertensia platyphylla ❏ Stinging nettle ...... Urtica dioica

❏ Burdock ...... Arctium minus ❏ Stinking mint ...... Stachys sp.

❏ Candy fl ower ...... Claytonia sibirica ❏ Sweet rocket ...... Matronis herperis

❏ Clemantis ...... Clematis liguisticifolia ❏ Teasel ...... Dipsacus sylvestris

If you do not wish to keep this trail guide ❏ Cowparsnip ...... Heracleum lanatum ❏ Western sword fern ...... Polypodium glyccrrhiza

as a reference, please return it to the ❏ Creeping buttercup ...... Ranunculus repens ❏ Wild cucumber; big root .. Marah oreganus dispenser so that it can be re-used. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS BROCHURE. ❏ English ivy ...... Hedera helix

Printed on Recycled Paper. 1. Historic Floodplain: Look around. As you 4. Watch out for Stinging Nettles! Yes this plant identifi ed by their white head hike up and down these small hills you are does sting when you touch it. The hairs on and black eye and cheek hiking through old water channels. This area the underside of the leaf will pro- patches. In fl ight, you can fl ooded quite often before the dams were built duce a burning rash on your see a distinctive crook in on the upper sections of the McKenzie River. skin. Although you might its wings and black carpal Along these old channels you will fi nd big, old consider this an obnoxious patches on whitish under- cottonwoods, alders and maples. weed, its uses as an herb can sides. Osprey eat only fi sh. You Snag: A standing dead tree is often called be traced back well into the may see them hovering 50 to 150 a “snag.” Even though this cottonwood tree tenth century. Nettles can feet high, then suddenly plunge towards the is dead, it is still providing important habitat be used as tea, seasoning, water, snatching the fi sh with their talons. to this forest. Many different kinds of wildlife spring greens, medicine, plant 9. Deciduous Forest: You are walking through (woodpeckers, owls, raccoons) use snags to fertilizer, shampoo, hair rinse a deciduous forest. “Hardwood” is a com- provide food or as shelter. This and fi ber for linencloth. The mon name for deciduous. Deciduous forests snag has many years-left standing: entire plant is edible when like to grow in low elevations with lots of snags will often remain standing young and under 1 foot in height moisture, and are able to withstand fl oods. from 10 to 50 years. Once they (boiling removes the irritating material). The In the summertime it is very shady fall onto the ground they still play leaves and stem are rich in protein, iron, and and cool inside this forest. Lots of an important roll in the forest vitamins A and C. plants that grow underneath these habitat as a rotting log providing tall trees depend on their shade. In nutrients to the soil. 5. Nursery Stump: Here is a stump from an old the wintertime sunlight reaches to Douglas-fi r. This stump shows a clue into a the forest fl oor bringing life to ferns, moss 2. Exotics: Exotics are plants or animals past of historical cutting. Removing the coni- and fungi. introduced by humans to areas to which they fers allowed the deciduous trees to grow and Bigleaf maple is the predominant tree. are not native. Some introductions of exotics become the dominant deciduous forest you Other common trees are made intentionally because of a plant or see today. include vine maple, animal desirable features. Other introductions A rotten stump is often called a “nurse” cottonwood, Cali- are made accidentally. When exotics become a stump because it acts as a seedbed (or nurs- fornia hazel and problem we often refer to them as “invasives.” ery) for young forest plants. As the stump Indian plum. Here in front of you is an example of ground decays it provides nutrients and rich soil ivy (an invasive) growing up a bigleaf maple. that is recycled back into the forest. How 10. Nature and Urban The ivy will eventually cover the whole tree many different kinds of plants do you see Interface: Providing parks and natural and choke it out, and the maple will die. in this nursery? areas within the city and urban growth Behind you, on the trunk of a tree, is a areas gives wildlife a place to live and tran- cavity nesting bird box. Placed here to help 6. Off -Leash Dog Park: This area of the park sition to and from natural habitat. Residents provide cavity nesting habitat for chickadees, allows dog owners to come and enjoy the out- can enjoy visiting the outdoors and viewing nuthatches, wrens and woodpeckers. At your doors while giving their dog(s) an opportunity wildlife and nature. To the right is Coburg next stop you will see a nature made cavity! to be unencumbered by a leash. On the Crilly Road and to the left is the park. Trail and in the rest of the park dogs must be 3. Licorice Fern: Look on the limbs of these on a leash no longer than 6 ft. in length. 11. Seasonal Changes: As you walked this trail bigleaf maples. Growing out of the moss is today, you might have seen beautiful spring licorice fern. This fern’s roots like to 7. Old Growth Douglas-fi r: This fi r is one of wildfl owers, or leaves turning fall colors. With grow under a heavy covering of moss the biggest and oldest fi rs in the park. Look each change of the season, you will see some- to fi nd moisture. In times of little or no up high to the top. A bulky mass of sticks thing new. Wintertime highlights the ferns rain (summer) the leaves wither, turn and debris forms an osprey nest. Although and lichens; springtime is full of wildfl owers; brown and die back, but after the rain you might not be able to see it from here, as summertime brings juicy ripe berries; and the returns (winter), the leaves uncurl, and you walk around the trail and park look back fall brings colorful leaves. See the plant list on grow new leaves. and up high above the tree line to spot the nest. Listen to hear the high-pitched call common wildfl owers and trees, and check to Ferns remain green and lush all see which ones you noticed today! winter and spring. The rootstock of the osprey too! has a licorice fl avor. Early settlers used the rootstock as a sweetener, 8. View of Osprey Nest: From here to fl avor tobacco, and to make tea you can spot the osprey nest, high for a variety of medicinal ailments. at the top of the big Douglas-fi r tree. Ospreys occupy this nest site every One of these bigleaf maples has a huge cavity summer to raise their young. in its trunk. Take a look: cavities offer a variety of habitat to small birds and animals. Osprey are about 2 feet tall with a 5 – 6 foot wingspan! They are easily