Pacific Tree Frog - Anura Hylidae Hyla regilla Identification & Description: The Pacific Treefrog is the most commonly heard frog on the west coast. The color of the individual can vary. They are most often a green or a gray, but may also be brown or black. Within the [...]
Douglas Fir Bark Beetle - Coleoptera Scolytidae Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Identification & Description: Adult beetles are dark brown to black with maroon-colored elytra, and are fairly large for members of the genus Dendroctonus (8mm or 1/3 in long). Parent galleries are formed between the bark and wood surface, and are straight [...]
Banana Slug - Geophila Ariondae Ariolimax columbianus Identification & Description: Banana Slug are Mollusks, which means they are soft-bodied with no visible skeleton. They also belong to the class Gastropoda, which can be recognized by having a muscular foot, a mantle with a cavity, a meaty hump on their back, [...]
Haircap Moss - Polytrichales Polytrichaceae Polytrichum commune Identification & Description: The Hair Cap Mosses, called Bird Wheat or Pigeon Wheat in many localities, are the largest and in some respects most highly developed of all our mosses, and by reason of their size and common occurrence are familiar object to nearly everyone. [...]
Cat-tail Moss - Hookerales Lembophyllaceae Isothecium myosuroides Identification & Description: Cat-tail Moss or reed mace, any plant of the genus Typha, perennial herbs found in almost all open marshes. The cattail (also called club rush) has long narrow leaves, sometimes used for weaving chair seats, and a single tall stem bearing two [...]
Bracken Fern - Polypodiales Polypodiaceae Pteridium aquilinum Identification & Description: Bracken is a large fern, sometimes growing over three feet tall. Instead of the usual leaves, ferns have fronds, made up of smaller leaflets (groups of mini-leaves) with small pinnae (tiny mini-leaves) on them. Bracken fronds are shaped like triangles. Each frond usually has [...]
Deer Fern - Polypodiales Polypodiaceae Blechnum spicant Identification & Description: Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant) Very common understory on upland prairies, less common in forest understory. Two types of fronds occur on these fern. Sterile fronds are perennial, growing in radial pattern from rhizomes with pairs of leathery leaflets. One to three fertile fronds are [...]
Lady Fern - Polypodiales Polypodiaceae Athyrium filix-femina Identification & Description: Lady Fern is a deciduous, perennial fern about 24 to 36 inches tall. Its light green, lacy leaves are about 24 to 30" long and 6 to 9" wide and tapered at both ends. The fronds are cut twice and grow from a central [...]
Licorice Fern - Polypodiales Polypodiaceae Polypodium glycyrrhiza Identification & Description: The long, pointed-trangle fronds of this evergreen fern range in size from 10-70cm on average. Its leathery leaves are once pinnately divided, with a light brown stipe; they are usually shorter than 50cm (20 inches) long. Its rhizome (root-like structure) has a scaly, reddish-brown [...]
Spiny Wood Fern - Dryopteridales Dryopteridaceae Dryopteris expansa Identification & Description: Fronds clustered, erect and spreading to 3 feet tall. Rhizomes stout, ascending to erect, clothed with chaffy, brown scales. Frond stipes scaly at the base; blades broadly triangular to egg-shaped to broadly oblong, 3 times pinnate; leaflets 5-20 pairs, the lowest pair broadly [...]
Sword Fern - Polypodiales Polypodiaceae Polystichum munitum Identification & Description: If you have ever ventured into the forests of the Pacific Northwest, then you have surely seen the magnificent sword fern. It is so common throughout the forests in its range, that if there is a tree overhead, chances are there is a sword [...]
Western White Pine - Coniferales Pinaceae Pinus monticola Identification & Description: Western white pine (Pinus monticola), also called mountain white pine, Idaho white pine, or silver pine, is an important timber tree. Its lightweight, nonresinous, straight-grained wood exhibits dimensional stability that makes it particularly valuable for sash, frames, and doors, interior [...]
Cat-tail Bulrush - Typhales Typhaceae Typha latifolia Identification & Description: Common cattail has a nearly worldwide distribution. It grows in Africa, Australia, Central America, Great Britain, Eurasia, Japan, New Zealand and North America. It grows in arctic, temperate, subtropical and tropical regions in North America from central Alaska and northwest Canada to Newfoundland. They [...]
Scouring Rush - Equisetales Equisetaceae Equisetum hyemale Identification & Description: Stem: Erect, evergreen, unbranched or irregularly branched when older, .2 to .75 inch in diameter, hollow, jointed, ridged; ridges with silica deposits. Leaves: Inconspicuous, reduced to small tooth-like scales fused together in a cylindrical sheath at each node. Sheath: Flattened or flared at the [...]
Sedge - Cyperales cyperaceae Identification & Description: Sedges make up the family Cyperaceae. Bulrushes belong to the genus Scirpus. The paper reed is classified as Cyperus papyrus. The sedge species used for hay and packing materials are classified in the genus Carex, and cotton grass in the genus Eriophorum. Sedge is a common name [...]
