Introduced Species: Shining geranium (Geranium lucidum) Description: Shining geranium grows predominantly as an annual weed, though it may become biennial depending on moisture conditions. It is predominantly a forest understory species, very shade-tolerant and typically no more than 30 cm (12”) tall in the Pacific Northwest. Stems are often reddish, especially when growing in poor […]
Stream restoration work in the COVID era has presented many challenges, not least of which have been the strict limitations on the number, scope, and size of volunteer events. Thankfully, AmeriCorps’s National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program has been able to continue through the pandemic, and JCWC was fortunate enough to have the services of […]
Photos by Bruce MacGregor Article by Courtney Beckel It is almost spring! And one thing that really got me through last spring was…mason bees! Naturally, I wanted to share a bit about these bees with you. I’m no entomologist but I do know we have a huge variety of bees in Oregon — not just […]
Introduced Species: Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), and some bonus species (So. Much. Yellow!) Description: Why take the time to write about dandelions? Everyone knows them, right? Well, no; in fact, dandelions are a hugely confusing topic in botany, and–hang onto your hat–there are actually *native* dandelions in the western US (such as T. officinale ssp. ceratophorum; […]
Introduced species: Lesser celandine (Ficara verna, formerly Ranunculus ficaria) Characteristics: Lesser celandine, also known as fig buttercup, is an herbaceous, perennial plant, with a basal rosette of dark green, shiny, stalked leaves that are kidney- to heart-shaped; these are starting to appear now in the Portland area. The glossy, butter-yellow flowers open in March and […]
