Camas and other wildflowers at Marys River Park in Philomath

[Don Boucher]

Hello,

This morning, April 18, I led a group of naturalists to observe wildflowers at Mary River Park in Philomath. The camas meadows were stupendous! Common Camas (a.k.a. Small Camas - Camassia quamash) was at its peak and thousands were blooming in the meadows. There was the occasional white blossom. There were some Large Camas (Camassia leichtlinii) at meadow edges and their blossoms were just starting to open.

Other wildflowers were plentiful. In the lawns, there were diminutive but fascinating Dwarf Owl's-Clover (Triphysaria pusilla). These natives appear rusty to purplish and occur in patches in the lawn. These plants are closely related to showy mountain species like painbrushes and owl's-clovers (full-sized species). To see the blossoms, a hand lens was necessary, or a camera with a macro lens. So I brought my Nikon with a macro lens just for this reason. Nearby we saw Miniature Lupine (Lupinus bicolor - not pictured) and Common Cornsalad (Valerianella locusta).

There were vernal pools with patches of blooming Plaintainleaf Buttercup (Ranunculus alismifolius - not pictured). In the more shady areas, we saw Sessile Trillium (Trillium albidum), Solomon's Plume (Maianthemum racemosum), Columbian Larkspur (Delphinium trolliifolium) and Fringe Cups (Tellima grandiflora - not pictured) and there were other wildflowers in other parts of the park we didn't visit.

Hundreds of Greater White-fronted Geese flew over. A pair of Bald Eagles were soaring and some Evening Grosbeaks in the crowns of trees (not pictured)

-Don Boucher

neighborhood-naturalist.com