Wildland Plant Identification Pacific and Northwest Plants

Pacific Plants POEAE Festuca idahoensis ‐ Idaho Fescue P1 N2 1653  Mid‐sized bunchgrass (tufted) with fibrous black roots  Leaves thin, rolled, filiform and usually scabrous; cast a blue or purplish tint  Seedhead is a panicle that is narrow but loose  Spikelets 5‐7 flowered  Lemmas have short awns, glumes are awnless  Festuca means “straw”; idahoensis, of course, means “from Idaho”

TRITICEAE Pseudoroegneria spicata ─ Bluebunch Wheatgrass P N 201  Mid‐sized bunchgrass  Spikelets do not overlap each other on the rachis like crested wheatgrass  Spikelets 4 to 8 florets; usually long and narrow  Awns long ( ¼ to ½ inch) and divergent at maturity  Elymus = millet‐like grass; spicatus = spike type inflorescence

CICHORIEAE Crepis acuminata ─ Tapertip Hawksbeard P N 259  Forb with mostly basal leaves  Resemble dandelion leaves except these have acuminate (narrow‐pointed) tips  Inflorescence a multi‐flowered cyme (not like Aqoseris and Taraxacum)  Crepis is a term used for Theophrastis meaning “unclear”; acuminata = “narrow and pointed tip” referring to the leaf.

HELIANTHEAE Balsamorhiza sagittate ‐ Arrowleaf Balsamroot C P N 273  Beautiful wildflower with big yellow flowers.  Basal leaves with long petioles; arrow‐shaped (sagittate), tomentose, margins entire  Bew or no leaves on stem  Large flowers with yellow rays and disks, usually solitary  Plants have thick woody rootstocks  Balsamorhiza translates to Balsamo =“balsam” + rhiza=”root”; sagittata = “arrow shaped”

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DANTHONIEAE Danthonia californica ─ California Oatgrass P1 N2 1113  Mid‐sized bunchgrass  Usually has a twisted flag leaf below inflorescence  Spikelets 1‐5 (usually three) with large glumes that enclose florets  3‐6 florets per spikelet, twisted awns on the back of each lemma  Pedicels pubescent, swollen at base  Danthonia = after French botanist Étienne Danthoine; california = “from California”

STIPEAE Nassella pulchra ─ Purple Needlegrass P N 183  Robust tufted plant  Single floret per spikelet with long twisted awn on seed  Spikelets purplish  Nassella =diminutive of the Latin nassa, "a basket with a narrow neck, a fish basket"; pulchra = pretty

CLUSIACEAE Hypericum perforatum ─ St. Johnswort P I 325  Forb with erect stems, reddish, woody at the base. May appear jointed  Leaves opposite, simple, elliptical to linear  Leaves have translucent patches making them look “perforated”  25‐100 flowers per stem. Yellow to yellow‐orange symmetrical flowers  “Hyper” = above + “icum” = picture (herb hung above pictures for warding off evil spirits). perforatum = perforated, pierced with holes.

RHAMNACEAE Ceanothus integerrimus ─ Deerbrush P N 401  Shrub widely and loosely branched with slender branches  Branches often green to yellow and often drooping at the ends  Leaves distinctly 3‐veined, light green above, paler and pubescent beneath  Flowers white to dark blue in terminal clusters  Ceanothus = “like a thistle”; integerrimus = “undivided, entire, or intact”

ROSACEAE Adenostoma fasciculatum ─ Chamise P N 405  Leaves fascicled, awl‐ or club‐shaped, glabrous, resinous  Leaves of seedlings are lobed and divided  Some branches may taper to spine‐like points, lenticles on bark  Bark is red, becoming shreddy with age; plant is evergreen  Adenostoma = "a gland," and stoma, "a mouth," in reference to the 5 glands at the mouth of the sepals ; fasciculatum = "bundles" and describing the way the leaves are attached to the leaf stem in little bunches or 'fascicles'