In this post, I'll highlight 8 species found in Yesler Swamp and document them as if this was my own field guide for Yesler Swamp.
#1.
Nootka Rose. R. nutkana
This is the first shrub that welcomes me into Yesler Swamp each week. It always catches my eye quickly because of the red berries growing on it. The underside of the berries all have leaf-like material coming off of them which also helps identify it. The thorns on Nootka Rose are large and sturdy. It has small opposite leafs that are serrated more severely toward the end of the leafs. According to my guidebook (Cascade Olympic Natural History. Daniel Mathews. pg 85) the berries are edible and can even be used as breath fresheners.
#2
Salmonberry. R. spectabilis
The easiest way for me to identify salmonberry is by its occasional pink flower drooping over pointing toward the ground. The stems are slightly prickly and it has compound leafs that break out into 3 leaflets. The leafs are toothed all around. At my site salmonberry tends to be no taller than breast height.
#3
Giant Horsetail. E. telmateia
These are very common in Yesler Swamp. They grow fairly straight up and don't get much taller than about shin height in the swamp. There are brown rings that can be seen up the green stalk. Stiff dense hair grows off the side of the main stalk starting a little before halfway off the ground. The only difference I really know between common horsetail and giant horsetail is size, and possibly denseness of the hairs.
#4
Skunk Cabbage. Lysichitum americanum
In the beginning of April a distinct characteristic of the skunk cabbage was a very bright yellow cupped leaf/petal standing straight up. Right now it's easiest to identify it by it's big green leafs that fall to the side and it's single tube shaped stalk with a catkin(?) at the end of it. Also, if you grind up some of the leaf and smell it then you'll understand how it got its name. When found in large patches you can even smell it in the air without disturbing it.
#5
Oregon Ash. Fraxinus latifolia
This isn't the best picture due to the lighting, but Oregon Ash can be identified by the opposite twigs that come out. In addition to being opposite, they alternate directions as you go up the tree, so if the first two twigs face north and south, then the next two twigs above them will face roughly east/west, and so on. This was the only one I located in Yesler Swamp but they are definitely recognizable by those above characteristics.
#6
Red-osier Dogwood. Cornus stolonifera
I had a difficult time finding one of these as well, but the first helping evidence that it was red-osier dogwood were the red twigs. Then while looking at the leafs you can see that they are opposite and that the vein structure goes from the middle vein in the leaf and curves longitudinally (click the picture to get a better look at this). Lastly, one reason I may not have seen many is that I was mostly staying on the trail which doesn't often go right next to the water. When I spotted the red twigs I had to go through some brush and noticed it was growing right next to water kind of in some standing water of the swamp.
#7
Red-Flowering Currant. R. sanguineum
The red-flowering currant quickly catches your eye with it's pinkish-red flowers. They grow in clusters together which makes it easy to distinguish from salmonberry. The leafs are 5 lobed, with 3 obvious lobes and 2 more subtle ones near the stem of the leaf. The flowers kind of shoot outward as opposed to bleeding heart that droops downwards.
#8
Lady Fern and Sword Fern. Athyrium filix-femina & Polystichum munitum
I really like this picture because it helps with contrasting lady ferns from sword ferns. The lady fern (middle-left, light green) has compound leafs with leaflets coming off of leaflets. The sword fern on the other hand just has the single leaflets coming off in a sword-like shape. Also, the leaflets of lady ferns start small near the base, then get longer, then get shorter again near the ends. Sword fern leaflets start big and gradually get smaller near the end. From my experience it seems like lady ferns have tended to be brighter and standing more vertically. I had my eye out for licorice ferns growing on trees further inland from the water, but didn't spot any.
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