Common name: Bigleaf Maple Scientific name: Acer macrophyllum dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: scǔ̓ ʔłəc (sCHo-thluts) The Bigleaf Maple's leaves were IDENTIFY BIGLEAF MAPLE historically used to store food - Up to 80 feet tall and their bark was boiled to create a medicinal tea. The inner - Lobed leaves about 6 - 12 bark fiber was made into ropes inches across and baskets. Maples are - Young trunks are green then deciduous trees which means become gray-brown, bark "Coast Salish people that their leaves turn colors and furrowed into narrow ridges and groups from as far fall in the autumn. - Fragrant, yellow flowers as Alaska would meet - Often hosts lichens & around the Cedar, licorice ferns Black, Green, and Duwamish Rivers as Notice that the term macro, meaning cultural hubs." "large," is in its scientific name. -Liz Stewart, Renton Phyllum derives from the Greek word for "leaf." These definitions can make History Museum remembering names easier. Common name: Stinging Nettle Scientific name: Urtica dioica dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: scə̓ dᶻxə̌ c (sTSuh-zuHuts) Nettle grows in wet areas and uplands. Although the IDENTIFY STINGING NETTLE fine hairs sting upon contact, - Often grows in great thickets, when harvested correctly, up to 5 feet or taller stinging nettle can be eaten - Fine toothed, tapered, raw, cooked, or used in teas. somewhat heart-shaped Using a specific technique, leaves with serrated edges the stalk fibers can be that grow opposite harvested to make strong - Drooping clusters of and versatile cordage for green/white flowers nets, clothing, and fishing. - Square stems - Bottom side of leaves are covered with fine "Stinging nettle can be used topically for quick stinging hairs relief from arthritis and other pains. You have to deal with the burning, but that's part of the fun!" -Buzz Cloud, Snoqualmie Tribe Common name: Sword Fern Scientific name: Polystichum munitum dxʷləšucid Lushootseed:sxǎ xə̌ lcə̌ c (sHaHol-chuh-ts) These ferns are extremely versatile and resilient and IDENTIFY SWORD FERN can live up to 200 years! - Medium-sized, Sword ferns are great for perennial, evergreen cooking food and lining pits. fern The spores can be used to - Long, symmetrical, treat burns or the sting of a and bladelike nettle. Indigenous groups in appearance of the Puget Sound chewed and leaves clustered on a swallowed curled young short, vertical rhizome leaves to ease a sore throat. - Many orange or brown "Our relationship with spores on the outdoors is a distant underside of leaves but intimate one." -David B. Williams, Seattle-based author Common name: Salmonberry Scientific name: Rubus spectabilis dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: s təgʷədəc (Sstuh-gwuduh-ts) Salmonberries have striking flowers and berries. Although they appear similar to IDENTIFY SALMONBERRY raspberries, salmonberries - Leaves have deep veins & are infamously less delicious. grow in three leaflets Nonetheless, they are - Light/golden brown stems generally the first berries in with sparse thorns this ecosystem to ripen, - Rounded, salmon-colored making them ecologically and berries culturally significant. The - 5-petaled, bright pink flowers berries can be used to make - Blooms April - June jelly or wine. The sprouts can be peeled, steamed or eaten raw, even their beautiful pink flowers are edible. "Shadow Lake is important to the community, not only ecologically, but also as a part of its identity." - Sharon Leishman, Duwamish Alive Coalition Common name: Western Red Cedar Scientific name: Thuja plicata dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: x ə̌ payəc (Huh-pie-uh-ts) IDENTIFY WESTERN RED CEDAR - Can grow taller than 200 feet - Leaves have flattened scales with a fruity smell - Vertically fibrous, dark red or purplish brown bark "(Conservation) needs - Small, oval cones to be brought up more - Distinct cedar aroma to bigger developments, land purchases, and A Western red cedar can live up to 1,000 years. Its wood is lightweight people who purchase and highly resistant to rot, making it the land need to be popular. The cedar tree is commonly educated on it." known as "the Tree of Life" because of its strength, utility, and - Wayne Graika, spiritual connection to the land and people throughout history. Coast Snoqualmie Tribe Salish shamans had cedar “spirit assistants” or “guard figures” to protect them. Common name: Salal Scientific name: Gaultheria shallon dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: ta̓ qaʔəc (Talk-ah-uh-ts) "We think the (fruit IDENTIFY SALAL leather) is delicious, but - Dense and robust shrub, nobody else really liked generally grows 1 - 4 feet tall it, so we ate all of it-- it - Large, leathery, & oval-shaped, can be a little dry" evergreen leaves - Wayne & Buzz, - Spreading hairy stems, often in discussing a large dense patches 2018 Canoe Journey - Dark-blue berries that grow after the flowers bloom - Urn-shaped flowers The salalberry is not a true berry but rather a swollen sepal. The sepals are crushed and used in fruit leather, a crushed and dried fruit snack, that can be saved for winter. Fauna also enjoy munching on its leaves and berries, so don't forget to look around for critters having a snack! Common name: Sitka Spruce Scientific name: Picea sitchensis dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: c̓əl̓kayəc (Tsilk-eye-uh-ts) Known for its spiky leaves and scaly bark, the Sitka Spruce is among the most iconic trees of IDENTIFY SITKA SPRUCE the Pacific Northwest. Indigenous - Grows up to 300 feet tall peoples of Washington used its - Sharp needles as leaves roots to tie together salmon arranged in a spiral spears, weave baskets, and tie around twig cross pieces of canoes. The - Thin, brown/grey bark, resin (pitch) can be used as with with scales that glue. Throughout the 20th resembles puzzle pieces century many of these trees were - Grows from sea level to logged for use as Boeing about 1,000ft (300m) Look up! Do you airplanes. Be careful when elevation see Sitka Spruce's shaking hands with a spruce, puzzle piece bark their needles, they will poke you. near by? Common name: Red Huckleberry Scientific name: Vaccinium parvifolium dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: sti̕ xʷib (sTea-whee-b) Red huckleberries are a great source of vitamin C. As with most berries in the area, Red Huckleberry is an important IDENTIFY RED HUCKLEBERRY food for birds, mammals, and even fish. Huckleberry, along - Deciduous shrub with serviceberry and salalberry, can be crushed and dried - Ovate, small, not toothed leaves into a fruit leather to be preserved for the winter. - Bright green shoot - Edible red berry - Yellow or pinkish white flowers Edible and medicinal plant identification is useful and should be passed down through generations. Common name: Peat Moss Scientific name: Sphagnum capillifolium dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: qʷədᶻab (qwuh-dazh-b) Sphagnum moss is one of Found in wet areas with low many things that makes IDENTIFY PEAT MOSS pH, or highly acidic, soils, SHADOW's wetland so - Light, lime-green color sphagnum moss stores high unique; its an ecosystem you - Grows in small levels of carbon. By don't often find. patches and thick, decaying extremely slowly, dense clumps it forms peat, which is the - Grows close and definitive characteristic of During World War I, sphagnum bogs and fens. Commonly creates hummocks or a moss was used as an absorptive used in gardening, as a fuel "bog mat," rolling hills wound dressing. It can hold up to source, and in the distilling that can float 20 times its own dry weight in of Scotch whiskey, peat water and produces peptic acid. harvesting has led to the destruction of many natural areas. In fact, WA was the Nation's top peat-producing state in the 1950s. Common name: Bog Laurel Scientific name: Kalmia microphylla Bog laurel is a member of the Heath family, native to North America It grows actively during spring and summer. IDENTIFY BOG LAUREL - Leathery, evergreen leaves 1 - 2 inches long, with a dark glossy-green top - Older branches are smooth & reddish brown Unlike its similar-looking "What is today King County - 5-petaled, bright pink neighbor, Labrador tea, used to be bog-rich. The flowers Bog laurel is highly toxic Puget Glacier scraped the and poisonous if ingested. landscape all the way to Consumption can cause loss o f appetite, depression, Olympia, creating hills and vomiting. When used externally as a poultice or ideal for wetlands." wash, Kalmia microphylla can treate skin diseases -David B. Williams, and inflammation. Seattle-based author Common name: Labrador Tea Scientific name: Ledum groenlandicum dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: qʷəlut (qwool-oat) It's an all around a wholesome tea... For a long time, Labrador tea has been used for fighting the flu, infections, and viruses. Some people drink it everyday and hardly ever get sick. As with all foraging, it is important to know what you are picking and not to over-harvest. Make sure to leave enough of the plant that it can continue to survive. Here at SHADOW, we ask that you not forage native plants without explicit permission from staff. IDENTIFY LABRADOR TEA Can you spot the - Usually grow 4 - 5 feet tall differences - Narrow leaves, smooth on top and orange fuzz underneath between bog (bog laurel's leaves have a laurel and smooth, white underside) Labrador tea? - Tiny clusters of white flowers with protruding stamen Common name: Western White Pine Scientific name: Pinus monticola dxʷləšucid Lushootseed: ca̓ xʷəyəc (Sa-wh-eye-uh-ts) Western white pines were once an abundant tree west of IDENTIFY the Cascade Mountains. In the past few decades, their WESTERN WHITE PINE numbers have decreased by around 80% because of an - Grows to 95 - 165 feet tall human-introduced fungal disease, White pine blister rust - Needles in bundles of five, (Cronartium ribicola) with white stripe on back and extensive logging. -Gray, smooth, and thin bark SHADOW is lucky to - Whorled and slender have some standing strong here. branches - Slender and showy cones "With climate change, we must watch how the ecosystems want to structure themselves.