Group Tours: Trees and Mosses/Lichen 5/22/12

Trees

My group tour started off at the heron rookery on campus. The first tree that was examined was the Western Red-Cedar. The bark on the tree is a vibrant red color that is very pliable. We learned that the western red cedars isn't a cedar (Cedrus) but part of another family. The western red cedar has been considered useful in medicine as well as in constructing totem pole. Thus, it is considered the "tree of life" by some native american tribes. The next tree we approached was the Giant sequoia. This tree was really big. We were told that these trees can live an average of at least 600 years. At the UW farm, we saw the horse chestnut tree. We examined the scales on the bark. The horse chestnuts has a distinctive leaf shape and prickly chestnuts. Along the Burke Gilman trail, we saw a Pacific madrone. The madrone's leaves can be chewed to elevate cramps. Also, the trunk is quite cold due to a lack of dead bark. Dead bark helps moderate the touch of the tree to the temperature of its current surroundings. Without this layer, the tree's temperature isn't as variable and can feel cold to touch. Also we saw the a big conch maple, Alder, and Ginkgo tree. Though the Gingko is not native to the U.S., the tree was the most interesting due to its pretty leaves and interesting smell that female trees make that resembles rancid butter.

Moss/Lichen

The mosses and lichen tour started at a tree behind Kane hall. Here, we saw a play detailing the relationships of lichen and fungi. It was very clever and informative. We then headed over to a tree on memorial drive that was covered with a myriad of different lichen and moss. Finally, we headed over to the uw farm where we saw red hood moss and common feather moss land other various moss that would be difficult to identify without a microscope.

Species List
Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendrum gigantem)
Western Red Cedar (Thuja Plicata)
Bigcone pine (pinus couteri)
Pacific Madrone (Arbutus Menziesii)
Horse Chestnut (Aesculus)
Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba)
Red roof moss (Ceratodon purpureus)
Common feather moss (Kindbergia praelonga)

Publicado el junio 5, 2012 05:43 TARDE por lisettealbert