Blog Post #5 - TJ, Colleen, Cody

Our group was comprised Cody, Colleen, and myself. When we first left the classroom Colleen had quickly been elected the part leader. She had been to Gold Park before, or at least knew where it was. Cody and I both grew up around here but were decidedly unfamiliar with our destination. The group of student all entered the park around the same time, and we were near the back of the pack. We set out first are foremost with the goal of trying not to look for the same organisms as the other groups did. Given the biting cold, it was fortunate for us that most students quickly headed deep into the park, and we began identifying plants near the entrance.

The first organism we picked was a 'Y' shaped tree. We started our search through the keys with the tree bark, which had a unique characteristic for this system, it was red. It was probably the quality that first drew us to this tree. We investigated this rust-colored bark up and down, feeling it for texture. By this point, we had a fairly good idea what it was that we were looking at, but continued just to be sure. Another notable quality about this tree compared to its neighbors was its trunk/branch pattern. In a system dominated by so many Douglas-Firs, it was a breath of fresh air to see something that didn't just stick straight up. Finally, we noted that the leaves were oval in shape. With all of these pieces in order, we were confident that we had identified this tree as a Pacific Madrone.

Next, Cody had found a shrub that grabbed his attention. The shrubs height made it hard to miss, with its tallest limbs standing as tall as me. When we got closer and began touching the stocks we noted the tensile strength of this bushes limbs versus other plants of comparable size. Cody was quick to point out that unlike so many other plants we had seen around Gold Park that this was one of the few to have berries. Just like with our Pacific Madrone, we finalized our decision when we came to keying the leaves. With their jagged shape and thick, waxy structure, we knew that this bush was the Tall Oregon Grape.

  

We continued our way through the park. Most of the student groups had cleared out by now. Only a few remained. Since the competition for land space became less aggressive, we sauntered down the path looking for something else unique. We knew that we needed to find at least one fern, and for the sake of our professors' sanity, it had better not be a Sword Fern. Colleen, the closest thing to an expert that our group possessed, found our dinosaur. Sprouting up through the undergrowth we noted a fern with long, individual stocks. I was taken slightly aback because without realizing it I had long since decided that all ferns must look like the Sword Fern. Learning from our last two plants, we investigated the leaves first. We noted that our dinosaurs teeth were short and rounded. Given her size, leaves, and stock like growth pattern, we knew that she was a Bracken Fern.

The last leg of our journey was the longest. We still had the same goal as when we set out. Find individuals that were overlooked, find something interesting, and most importantly no Doug-Firs! After finding so many large and mature plants, we opted to find ourselves a child. We stood at a fork in the trail and searched around ourselves for a moment when I happened to spot two trees growing into each other. We trekked over to this web of wood and picked our favorite. The leaves alone were a dead give away. Regardless, we decided to keep prodding into our keys just to be safe. We noted the shape of the tree, its smooth texture, and the color of the bark. We tried to challenge ourselves to investigate further as if we might discover that we were suddenly wrong. But as the old saying very nearly goes, if it acts like a Big Leaf Maple, looks like a Big Leaf Maple, and tastes like... Well... I have it on good authority that we had found a Big Leaf Maple.

At last, it was time for us to leave. We all had other things to attend to. Class, work, or for me, I just wanted to find a hot cup of coffee and a heavy lunch. Walking away from the park I heard some bird calling and instinctively turned around. I didn't see the bird but noticed a Japanese Cherry Tree growing off the trail. It made me wonder. First, of course, I pondered how the tree got there. Edmonds and Lynnwood long ago planted a throng of these trees all around the cities when Edmonds became the sister city to Hekinan in Japan. This didn't seem like that though. It was too random. The answer to this seems obvious, at some point long ago a bird or squirrel left behind a seed, and after all these years it turned into a giant. The second question it brought to mind is more complicated. I wondered about the future of these woods. As her name suggests, the Japanese Cherry Tree isn't from here. By definition it is invasive. I'm the first to admit that I love when Spring comes around and I have been gifted the opportunity to see them in bloom, but what does this mean for our local ecosystem? Will our native species be able to survive? Do the cherry trees have any hope of survival by comparison? What will Gold Park look like in 50 years? For now, the answer to those questions remains unknown. What I do know, however, is how happy I was to finally wrap my hands around a grande drip.