When I moved out to the northwest from the east coast, I was immediately struck by two things; one, the mountains are really big and pointy here; and two, the trees are VERY TALL and VERY GREEN.  Oh, and there are a lot of mushrooms here.  Okay, so that’s three things.  And that’s showing restraint, because I remember my naturalist senses being flooded by first impressions!

I immediately set out to name the trees, learn their bark, leaves, flowers and cones.  I was particularly intrigued to learn of the rich history involving the lumber mills.  I was happy to discover that the Big leaf Maple tree really does live up to its name, especially come late summer.  Students are surprised to learn that that wash of green conifers we see here in the forest are not “pine trees,” but mostly a mix of firs, hemlocks and cedars with distinctive needle patterns.

Tree myths debunked!

The Western Red-cedar tree is a cedar tree.

-You'd think, right?  Nope.  The Western Red-cedar tree is actually a cypress tree.  True cedars are in the genus Cedrus.  Our western red-cedar is Thuja plicata.  That means "tree of life" (Latin from arborvitae), "folded in plaits" (Greek, referring to the pattern of its small leaves).   I think we should always call these non-cedar cedars "red-cedars" and avoid confusing the masses.  In the very least, we could spare the trees an identity crisis.

The endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus has been sighted locally!

-There is no such thing as a tree octopus you silly goose! All hail creative internet folklore!  As a not-too-terrible aside however, I watched this Discovery Channel program last year that detailed how giant squids will replace humans as Earth's intellectually dominant species.  Cool!

Red-alder bark = air quality indicator

As far as the leafy trees go, Red-alders are mistakenly called birch trees (and not surprising- they are in the same genus, Alnus).  They have a similiar bark color (white/gray) and trunks bespeckled with an epiphytic lichen. Since lichen cannot withstand air pollution, you know you can breathe deeply if you see this characteristic alder bark.  In more ways than one, these trees are the forest superheroes!  Unlike other trees in the forest they have the ability to fix nitrogen directly into the soil from the air.  Scientists have discovered the benefit they provide to Douglas Firs when they noticed…

 For more on the magic and mystery of our local trees, join us for a Seasonal Discovery Hike, part of our EnviroExplorations series.  For details go to www.islandwood.org/events.