Category Archives: Flora

Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

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Just like in classic murder mysteries… a pretty face pressed behind glass and poising as art is really a deceptive killer.

Bracken fern (royalty free from Unsplash)

Perhaps being a deceptive killer is really just a clever survival strategy. Fossil records over 55 million years old show Bracken ferns is one of the oldest plants around.  

Bracken ferns grows throughout all temperate and tropical regions. In Oregon we see the subspecies P. aquilinum pubescens or Western Bracken which grows from Alaska to Mexico and east to Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas.

The plant prefers well-drained soils and will often grow on hillsides. It will also grow in burned-over areas near woodlands or other shady places and in open pastures and ranges with sandy, gravelly soils.

Colonization

It colonizes areas two different ways. Triangular fronds may reach 16 feet or taller in a season. Fronds provide some shade and protection but discourage native species through large volumes of plant litter and chemical emissions.

Tiny, lightweight spores are on the underside of the frond. Spores easily spread in the wind or fall from fronds to the ground.  

Spores sprout into plants and lead to the development of deep-set, black roots called rhizomes. Bracken rhizomes creep underground up to 1,300 feet sending up fronds as they grow. The lowly Bracken is surprisingly one of the largest plants in the world.

Dried Bracken fern (royalty free Unsplash)

Silent Killer

Every part of the Bracken contains poisonous, carcinogenic compounds—even the spores are toxic. The plant emits poison into the surrounding soil through spores and leaf litter. These toxic chemicals remain in the soil even after the fern is removed.

Bracken fern is toxic to dogs, cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs. This fern is linked to cancer in humans. Even milk from cows grazing Bracken fern may be hazardous to humans.

Grazing animals may consume Bracken when normal foods are unavailable (such as during adverse weather). Ptaquiloside has a cumulative effect. Cattle consuming large amounts of Bracken in short periods of time can become poisoned. The disease has a delayed onset and poisoned animals rarely recover. The disease is often chronic in horses.

Some cultures consume young fronds called fiddleheads and rhizomes. Ptaquiloside will damage DNA and potentially lead to digestive tract cancers. There are ways to reduce the level of this chemical through cooking and other detoxifying techniques.

Hydrogen cyanide is released when mammals or insects eat this fern. This chemical causes repeated insect molting leading to death. Bracken is under investigation as a possible new insecticide.

Eradication

Bracken invasions threaten biodiversity and habitat loss. Once established, this deciduous plant and its chemical foot print are very difficult to eradicate.

Removal and long-term management can encourage the re-establishment of native habitats. Bracken ferns are listed as an invasive species in several areas and considered to be among the world’s worst weeds.

REFERENCES:
–Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/plant/bracken)
–USDA Agricultural Research Service (https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/logan-ut/poisonous-plant-research/docs/western-bracken-fern-pteridium-aquilinum/)
–Wikipedia, Bracken (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracken)

Madrone Tree (Arbutus menziesii)

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Pacific Madrone – (Arbutus menziesii)

While traveling in coastal Oregon watch for a tree with red bark and broad evergreen leaves. This tree is a Pacific Madrone.

Various conifer trees dominate the Coastal range but if you look you will notice the Pacific Madrone. Madrone is a broadleaved evergreen tree and a member of the heath family (Ericaceae).

It is distinguished by its smooth trunk, orange-red bar that peels when the tree is mature. The peeling bark reveals a green satiny, smooth stem.

Seed & Blossoms

Pacific madrone will grow to a height of 125 feet tall and may grow up to 4 feet in diameter. At three to five years old, it will begin to produce seed.

Trees begin flowering in early spring, from mid-March to May, depending on the elevation. The bell-shaped blossoms are dense, drooping clusters (terminal panicles) of small, white flowers.

The fruit is a berry (0.3 to 0.5 inches), that ripens in the fall, turning from yellow-green to bright red or reddish-orange. The berries were used by wildlife and humans for food, decoration, fish bait, and medicine.

The wood is used for furniture, flooring, turnings, paneling, veneer for hardwood plywood faces and core stock, pulpwood, and firewood.

Links & References

To get a PDF fact sheet about the Pacific Madrone from Oregon Department of Forestry see: https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Documents/ForestBenefits/PacificMadrone.pdf

Sacred Trees

For some more cultural/spiritual thoughts about the Madrone see http://www.arbutusarts.com/sacred-trees.html

“On the British Columbia West Coast, the Salish Nation also honors the Arbutus Tree as their ‘Tree of Knowledge’ because it knows how to find the sun. It twists and turns and somehow knows to drop one branch when there is not enough sunlight and it is shaded and it will grow a new one where the sun can reach it.”

California Pitcher Plants (Darlingtonia Californica)

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I remember the first time I saw a carnivorous California Pitcher Plant (at the Darlingtonia Wayside near Florence). The grove of odd-shaped plants looked like something from outer space.

Darlingtonia californica (Oregon State Parks)

Looking at this tall (up to about 40-inches), upright, tube-shaped plant, one might think it was alien. Researcher Dr. Dawn Cardace has been investigating ancient subduction areas of the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. She is looking for potential applications for life on other planets (see https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/serpentines/conservation/microbes.shtml). 

A link to the unknown is easy to imagine when a bug flies in and never comes out.

Plants that grow in bogs have adapted different survival strategies and the California Pitcher Plant (Darlingtonia Californica) is no exception. For starters, the plant is fairly rare and grows in wetland areas where the pH is around 8 (most of our Pacific Northwest soils are on the acid side closer to 4-5). This pH level is common around serpentine soils.

The seeps of cold, running water helps moderate the plant’s root temperature. The roots are very sensitive to temperature changes, more so than the leaves.

Even so, it is the roots that give the plant the ability to quickly resprout even after a major fire. This ability has not gone unnoticed or researched. For more information see “Vegetation Recovery in the Biscuit Fire, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon” at https://www.frames.gov/catalog/41316. The 2002 Biscuit Fire burned nearly 500,000 acres and is considered to be the largest fire in Oregon in the past century.

Trapped Inside

Most North American pitcher plants have slippery walls and downward-pointing hairs in their tubular leaves that help prevent prey from escaping. The Darlingtonia californica has an ingenious tiny, hidden exit and multiple translucent false exits making it even better at capturing and retaining its prey. The cells inside the tube can absorb nutrients like roots do which helps supplement the plant’s nitrogen requirements.

Foreground is a wild orchid (Cypripedium californicum) with grove of Darlingtonia in background (royalty free image Unsplash Moore)

But there is more to this story. A few fun facts about carnivorous plants:
–They grow predominantly in wetlands on every continent except for Antarctica.
–The U.S. has the largest variety of the over 700 species.
–Many wild carnivorous plants have gone extinct since the arrivals of Europeans. It is estimated that only five percent of the wild carnivorous plants remain.
–Charles Darwin, one of the first carnivorous plant enthusiasts, spent 20 years researching and writing his book “Insectivorous Plants.”

See to believe

There are several locations where you can see the California Pitcher Plant including the:
—Darlingtonia Preserve located just off Highway 101, north of Florence, Oregon. This 18-acre preserve/State Park is centered on a peat bog. It is the only Oregon State Park dedicated to the protection of a single plant species (https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=81)
—Darlingtonia Trail, Smith River National Recreation Area (north and east of Crescent City near the Oregon/California border) see https://www.pickatrail.com/trails/national-recreation-areas/smith-river/darlingtonia-trail.html
—Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Area, Wild and Scenic Illinois River Corridor managed by the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Eight Dollar Mountain is one of the most significant botanical sites in Oregon. Many large Darlingtonia swamps exist at the base of the conical-shaped mountain. See https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/Pacific_Northwest/EightDollar/index.shtml