Ravenna Park Observations : Week 2, April 15 2015

Ravenna Park Observations
Wednesday Apr. 15
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Mostly Clear
50 degrees F

Seattle finally got this sunny, clear and beautiful day after two consecutive rainy days. Instead of going to Ravenna Park in the late afternoon, I chose to observe in the morning, which was a quite different experience. It was a little chilly when first I arrived there but then getting warmer as it close to noon. I heard many bird were singing in the trees, but sadly I couldn't identify any. There are not many significant changes for plants at my site. However, I did notice some more species this week, and I was able to identify more plants. I noticed the 5 square meters scale are more grassy than last week. I noted a Scouring Rush on the ground last week, but I found out there are more Giant Horsetails than Scouring Rush in this area. They are about 10 inches long, and the stalks have many little branches growing out. I noticed these Giant Horsetails tend to grow along the streamside. The picture is shown below:

Giant Horsetail

In addition to that, I was able to identify Skunk Cabbage near the creek. It has yellow flower, giant green ovate leaves. I was wondering why it called skunk cabbage because I did not smell the skunk odor when I was observing. However, I researched a little after I got back, and it says that it emits the skunky odor when it blooms. "This odor will permeate the area where the plant grows, and can be detected even in old, dried specimens" (iNaturalist). I sketched this plant for the excise because it is the most distinctive flowering plant at my site.

Skunk Cabbage

Lady Fern is another species that I missed last week. I was able to identify it for its curvy, and tapered ends:

Lady Fern

Another fern family plant I noticed was Western Sword Fern, however I was not entirely sure about it. The reason I identified it as a western sword fern was because the sword-like leaves, tapered at both ends.