Trees on the Trails D Think of This 4-Page Insert As Your “Cheat Sheet” for the Trees Most Often Found Along Washington’S Trails
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trees canreach 300feettall. east of the crest. Old-growth forests drier in and forests rain western both in tree Abundant Pseudotsuga menziesii Douglas-fir Needles comeinsetsoftwo. abundance. in Cascades eastern known as shore pine) and in it’s (where crest of west Found Pinus contorta pine Lodgepole WASHINGTON WASHINGTON don’t betoodisappointedifyoucan’tgetapositiveI.D.onthatmysterytree. and fun, have So fall!). rarely and tree the in high stay (which cones the examine you unless distinguished be can’t firs Some apart. tell to tricky are trees some last, And Does itthriveeastofthecrest?craveshadeoropensunlight? elevations? higher prefer tree the Does tree? the is Where consider: to clues Other overall the both picture tree andadetailsuchasconesorneedlestohelpyouidentifythetree. to tried We’ve papery? or rough smooth, bark the Is like? look cones the do What leaves. or needles the Study trees: identify you help to tips few A the crest.Afew(suchasDouglas-fir)arefoundonbothsidesofdivide. of east only found are others while Cascades, the of crest the of west common are trees these of Some summits. subalpine to forests lowland from everywhere found trees deciduous flowering and conifers both find along you’ll Within, found trails. often Washington’s most trees the for sheet” “cheat your as insert 4-page this of Think Trees ontheTrails Trees TRAILS ALAN BAUER ALAN BAUER DAVE SCHIEFELBEIN ALAN BAUER very shadetolerant. below 3,500 feet, this tree is forests westside in Douglas-fir Second only in abundance to heterophylla Tsuga hemlock Western needles insetsoffive. cones, Large 1910. in troduced in disease a by decimated were Once common, populations Pinus monticola pine white Western August 2007 August - SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SYLVIA FEDER SUSAN MCDOUGAL come insetsofthree. Needles crest. the of east lands pine common in open park Distinctive, reddish-barked Pinus ponderosa pine Ponderosa (generally above 4,500feet). presence at higher elevations and cones larger its by hemlock Distinguished from western mertensiana Tsuga hemlock Mountain seeds. Needlesinsetsoffive. nutcrackers eat and disperse of the Cascade crest. Clark’s A subalpine pine found east Pinus albicaulis pine Whitebark www.wta.org - ALAN BAUER ALAN BAUER DAVE SCHIEFELBEIN DON PAULSON SUSAN MCDOUGAL DAVE SCHIEFELBEIN Y K EC M LI K A CHIEFELBEIN K S RI E Big Trees AVE D No doubt about it, there are some really big trees in Washington’s forests. Just what makes a “re- cord” tree is complicated. Ameri- can Forests has a registry of the largest trees in the U.S., but for those of us in the Pacific North- west, that sometimes doesn’t help when British Columbia is ROWN OUGAL B Western red cedar D Alaska yellow-cedar M thrown into the mix. C I K Chamaecyparis nootkatensis Thuja plicata M AN Suffice to say, though, that Wash- S U ington is home to some record- Found in moist sites west of Huge, slow-growing tree found S breaking trees. Olympic National the Cascade crest. Yellow inner in wet sites. Trees can top 1,000 Park, with its abundant rainfall, bark and prickly leaves set it years in age. Very important is home to the country’s largest apart from red-cedar. tree for early native peoples. subalpine fir (circumference 252 inches, height 130 ft.), Alaska yel- low-cedar (circ. 451 inches, height OUGAL D 126 feet) and Pacific silver fir (circ. C CHIEFELBEIN M S 260 inches, 218 feet). AN S AVE U S Olympic National Park is also D home to “co-champions” such as mountain hemlock (circ. 234 inches, height 152 ft.) and western hemlock (including a tree with circ. 335 inches, height of 172 ft. and one circ. 273 inches, height 273 feet) a Douglas-fir (circ. 448 ON inches, height 298 feet) and a very S Engelmann spruce Sitka spruce AUL massive Western red cedar (circ. P CHIEFELBEIN Picea engelmannii ON S 761 inches, height 159 feet). Picea sitchensis D AVE Common in the Rockies, this D One of the world’s largest Sitka Huge conifer found on coasts tree is found at elevations Spruce trees can be found near from SE Alaska to Oregon. To above 3,000 feet, east of the Lake Quinault in Olympic Na- identify, grab a branch—the Cascade crest. tional Forest (circ. 668 inches, needles are painfuly sharp. height 191 feet) and another record Douglas-fir is found in ARY D Olympic National Forest (circ. R A S 505 inches, height 281 feet). CHIEFELBEIN S HARLE AVE C East of the crest, you’ll find a D record subalpine larch in the Wenatchee National Forest (circ. 265 inches, heigh 103 feet). For more info on record trees, visit the National Register of Big Trees at www.americanforests. org/resources/bigtrees/ and Olympic National Park’s record AUER B trees page at www.nps.gov/ Western larch Alpine larch LAN A archive/olym/invrecord.htm. Larix occidentalis Larix lyalli CHIEFELBEIN S AVE Also, consult Robert Van Pelt’s This conifer loses its needles in Needles of conifer turn brilliant D book Champion Trees of Washing- winter. Found east and slightly gold in fall. Found higher than ton State (UW Press, 1996). west of the crest between 2,500 western larch, generally above and 5,000 feet of elvation. 5,800 feet of elevation. WASHINGTON2 WASHINGTON TRAILS TRAILS AugustAugust 2007 2007 www.wta.org elevation inwestsideforests. from 3,000 to 5,000 feet of needles, these firs are found Distinguished by flat, blunt Abies amabilis fir silver Pacific south fromStevensPass and 5,000 feet, west of crest, found mostly between 2,500 Largest of state’s true firs, Abies procera fir Noble Pacific TemperateForests Rain Pacific WASHINGTON WASHINGTON places such as the Queets, Hoh, and Hoh, Queets, the as such places to out-compete deciduous trees. In tend conifers months, cold the during forests these in falls moisture the of tropical rain forests. Because most any ecosystem on the planet, even of biomass most the contain forests ties of rainfall and few fires, these Californa. Because of high quanti Island, Alaska south Kodiak from to found ecoregion unique Northern a is forest rain temperate Pacific The TRAILS ALAN BAUER KIM BROWN SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL - of sucholdandmassivetrees. and glaciers prevented development about 5,000 years. Prior to that, fires for active been only has it know we as ecosystem forest rain temperate cific History Natural cade-Olympic According to Daniel Mathews’ ecosystem itself is relatively young. though these trees are ancient, the ages reach well can over trees 500 years Valleys, old. River Even Bogachiel berry-like cones. ecosystems. Fragrant, blue Washington shrub-steppeSmall tree found in eastern Juniperus occidentalis juniper Western lemon odor. side. Needles have a strong tions, and scattered on west eleva all at crest of east Found Abies grandis fir Grand June 2007 June August 2007 August , the Pa the , - - Cas - - SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL near timberline. krummholz shrublike gnarled, spire in high country or findYou’ll this firas as a stately Abies lasiocarpa fir Subalpine ries” arepoisonous. westside forests. Its red “ber shady in found bark, scaly with feet) 35 (under conifer small A brevifolia Taxus yew Pacific WASHINGTON WASHINGTON www.wta.org TRAILS - 3 DANIEL COILE SUSAN MCDOUGAL DAVE SCHIEFELBEIN SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL papery bark. Has thin, white,slopes of western peeling, Cascades. and elevations lower in Found Betula papyrifera birch Paper burned land. sides and recently cleared or colonizes disturbed stream Abundant westside tree that Alnus rubra Red alder Papery, peelingredbark. Papery, rocky sites west of the crest. the state, found on bluffs and in evergreen broadleaf Largest Arbutus menziesii madrona Pacific WASHINGTON WASHINGTON 4 WASHINGTON WASHINGTON TRAILS TRAILS - SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL SUSAN MCDOUGAL ton, reaching150feet. est growing tree in Washing Fast rivers. and streams along mid-elevations to low at Found Populus trichocarpa cottonwood Black liant yellowleavesinfall. bril and leaves trembling its for known is aspen crest, Cascade Found sporadically east of Populus tremuloides aspen Quaking elevation sites onwestside. low shady, in found Trees wood. true, smaller flowers of dog White “bracts” surround the nuttallii Cornus dogwood Pacific August 2007 August August 2007 August - - - - SUSAN MCDOUGAL ALAN BAUER CINDY CLARK SUSAN MCDOUGAL CINDY CLARK SUSAN MCDOUGAL What’s Krummholz? What’s mon below2,000feet. shady rainforests. Most com often covered in mosses in Common westside maple, Acer macrophyllum maple Bigleaf color inautumn. timberline. Provides brilliant found at all elevations below Abundant small tree or shrub Acer circinatum maple Vine hundred yearsold. several be can around inches four slowly—a tree with a trunk just pine). Krummholz grows whitebark and veryfir, subalpine lock, hem mountain are Washington in common (most trees of varieties dwarfed in result season growing short and winds, high year) the of months 10 for (often cover Snow conditions. altitude high harsh, in take trees certain form shrub-like often and gnarled stunted, the is word meaning “crooked wood,” Krummholz, from the German www.wta.org - - ALAN BAUER SYLVIA FEDER ALAN BAUER SYLVIA FEDER.