Betula jacquemontii

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Betula jacquemontii
Common Name: Whitebarked Himalayan Birch
Family: Betulaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous tree
Habit: Pyramidal, upward branches.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 30-50'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, 5-7.5 cm long, rounded or slightly cuneate (wedge-shaped with straight sides) at base, margin double serrated, dark green above, glandular below, pubescent on veins, 7-9 vein pairs.
Flowers: 
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: White "paper" bark on trunk and often on young branches.
Culture: Light to part shade, especially afternoon shade. Hardy to USDA Zone 5.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: bronze birch borer
Landscape Uses: 
Additional Information: jacquemontii: after Victor Jacquemont, French naturalist.
Google images of Betula jacquemontii

Betula papyrifera

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Betula papyrifera
Common Name: Paperbark Birch
Family: Betulaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous tree
Habit: Loosely pyramidal to rounded.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 40-50'
Leaves: Simple, alternate, 5-12 cm long, rounded or sometimes wedge shaped, glabrous above and pubescent on veins below, coarsely and usually doubly serrate, dull green in summer, yellow in fall.
Flowers: 
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: After several years, lateral branches show chalky-white paper-like bark, peels easily.
Culture: Sun. Hardy to USDA Zone 2.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: 
Additional Information: 
Google images of Betula papyrifera

Betula glandulosa

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Betula glandulosa
Common Name: Dwarf Birch; Scrub Birch; Bog Birch
Family: Betulaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf deciduous shrub
Habit: Shrubby, often spreading
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 10'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, rounded to broadly elliptic, rather leathery, margin crenate-serrate or serrate, glabrous beneath, short petiole.
Flowers: 
Fruit: Fruit catkins 1.5-2 cm long, erect, wings of the nutlets narrower than the body.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Twigs with large resinous glands. Bark dark brown.
Culture: Hardy to USDA Zone 3.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: 
Additional Information: glandulosa: bearing gland
Google images of Betula glandulosa

Vitis californica

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Vitis californica
Common Name: Western Wild Grape
Family: Vitaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous vine.
Habit: Climbing vine or ground cover.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: Structure dependent.
Leaves: Alternate, large with 3-5 lobes. Turn shades of yellow, orange, and red in the fall.
Flowers: 
Fruit: Bunches of small purple grapes hang from the vines in autumn. Edible, but sour.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun or shade. Prefers moist sites but will not survive in standing water.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Native planting, training up structures
Additional Information: Bees are attracted to the flowers and birds to the small purple edible grapes. Most commercially grown grapes have been grafted onto V. californica rootstock.
Google images of Vitis californica

Rhododendron macrophyllum

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Rhododendron macrophyllum
Common Name: Western Rhododendron; Pacific Rhododendron
Family: Ericaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf evergreen shrub
Habit: Erect, compact in the open but long strangling branches when crowded.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 6 - 12'
Leaves: Simple, alternate, elliptic to oblong, tapering at both ends, dark green above, paler below but often rusty-colored.
Flowers: 5-lobed, spreading bell-shaped, color varies from pale pink to a rosy purple, rarely white, green/brown spots on the upper lobe, edges crumpled, calyx small, 10 stamens, ovary covered with reddish down. Flower clusters are terminal and may contain 20 or more blooms.
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun to part shade.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: 
Additional Information: State flower of Washington.
Google images of Rhododendron macrophyllum

Gaultheria shallon

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Gaultheria shallon
Common Name: Salal
Family: Ericaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaved evergreen shrub
Habit: Dense, developing into thickets, branches erect.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: Less than 2' in full sun and poor soil, but 4-10' in shade and good soil.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oval-rounded, glossy bright green, bristly serrate.
Flowers: Urn-shaped, white or pinkish, borne in late spring.
Fruit: Rounded, black, ripens in summer, edible but bland. Birds attracted to the fruit.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun or part shade, acid soils. Hardy to USDA Zone 6.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Good companion for rhododendron and ferns. Native planting. Forest understory shrub.
Additional Information: Gaultheria: after Jean-François Gaulthier (c. 1708-1758), botanist and physician of Quebec. shallon: the native name.
Google images of Gaultheria shallon

Myrica californica

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Myrica californica
Common Name: Pacific Wax Myrtle; California Wax Myrtle
Family: Myricaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf evergreen shrub
Habit: Many upright stems, loose.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 30'
Leaves: Simple, alternate, clean looking, 5-11 cm long, narrow, lanceolate, dark green, light green below, dotted with black or yellow glands, regularly toothed.
Flowers: Flowers bloom in spring, small, and in male (staminate) and female (pistillate) catkin-like clusters, may also be bisexual; male and female clusters may be on the same or separate plants, often yellow-green and inconspicuous but may be reddish under good sun exposure. May-June
Fruit: Warty, spherical, green then dark purple to black, usually with a white waxy coating, evident in fall. Birds love the fruit.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun to part shade. Withstands damp locations and summer drought. Hardy to USDA Zone 7.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Screen, mixed shrub border.
Additional Information: 
Google images of Myrica californica

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Common Name: Kinnikinnick; Bearberry
Family: Ericaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen groundcover
Habit: Mat-forming with trailing branches.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 1'
Mature Height: 6-12"
Leaves: Alternate, simple, obovate-oblong, displayed evenly on stem, lustrous dark green above, lighter below, margins have a fringe of minute hairs (ciliate).
Flowers: Perfect, white-tinged pink, urn-shaped, in terminal nodding racemes. April-May
Fruit: Fleshy fruit (drupe), bright red. Doesn't always fruit.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Exfoliating bark on older stems.
Culture: Sun or partial shade. Does best in poor, sandy, infertile, acid soils. There are reports that it grows well on limestone rock. Good salt tolerance.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Groundcover. Rockeries. Steep banks. Street median plantings (and other neglected areas).
Additional Information: Often find them on mountaintops. uva-ursi: bear's grape (uva, grape; ursi, bear, in the family Ursidae). "Kinnikinnik" is thought to be an Algonquian term meaning "smoke mixture." The dried leaves were smoked by a number of Native American groups living along the Pacific Ocean over the past two centuries, but there is little evidence of these groups smoking it prior to their contact with Europeans (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994). The berries are still used medicinally to treat bladder and kidney disorders.
Google images of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Amelanchier alnifolia

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Amelanchier alnifolia
Common Name: Saskatoon Serviceberry
Family: Rosaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous shrub/tree
Habit: Spreading to erect shrub
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 40'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, tough, oval to rounded or nearly 4 sided, from 1/4 to 3/4 of the margin serrate, tomentose beneath when young, soon becoming glabrous, 8-13 paired veins, 2-20 teeth on each side of the blade.
Flowers: Small, white, fragrant, 5-15 in erect racemes. The blooms are reminiscent of the witch hazel.
Fruit: Rounded, purple-black, juicy, edible, sweet.
Buds/New Growth: Imbricate, ovoid, sharp-pointed, 5 to 7 visible scales, reddish brown and glabrous on outer surface, silver hairs protruding from underside, appressed half their length.
Stem/Bark: Moderate, slightly angled, rich brown, epidermal layer gray and peeling, odor of almond extract when bruised. Pith: green, solid.
Culture: Sun or part shade. Extremely hardy.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses:  Can be used for erosion control.
Additional Information: Prairie Indians mixed the fruit with buffalo meat and fat to make pemmican, their principal winter food.

Skimmia japonica

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Skimmia japonica
Common Name: Japanese Skimmia
Family: Rutaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen shrub
Habit: Dense, rounded to haystack-shaped, evergreen shrub of rather gentle proportions.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 2' - 3'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, evergreen, crowded at end of branches and appearing whorled, elliptic-oblong to oblong-obovate, bright green upon emerging, finally dark green above, entire, glabrous, peppery citrus smell when bruised. Petiole short, glabrous, reddish purple.
Flowers: Dioecious. Glossy maroon-red in bud, creamy white when open, weakly fragrant, borne in 2-3" long upright panicles. March-April. Flowers on male plants larger and more fragrant.
Fruit: Only on female plant, bright red, globose drupe that ripens in October and persists into the following spring. Fruit is borne at end of shoots in panicles. About 1 male to 6 males is necessary for good fruit set.
Buds/New Growth: Imbricate, covered in with red scales, glabrous.
Stem/Bark: Stem stout, green with an overcast of reddish purple, glabrous, spicy fragrant when bruised. Pith: ample, excavated, green.
Culture: Part shade to shade.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: Skimmia mites.
Landscape Uses: Shade garden.
Additional Information: 

Pyrus calleryana

Botanical Name: Pyrus calleryana
Common Name: Callery Pear
Family:Rosaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous tree
Habit: Fastigiated
Growth Rate: Fast
10-Year Height: > 10', > 20'
Mature Height: 30-40'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, leathery, and lustrous lime green. Foliage can develop a spectacular reddish-purple in fall.
Flowers: White, borne in cymes, 5 petals. March-April.
Fruit: Small rounded pome. 1/2" or less across, russet-dotted, hidden by foliage. Marble-sized, drag olive green.
Buds/New Growth: Shaggy, imbricate, terminal buds.
Stem/Bark: Trunk bark is slightly furrowed and grayish brown at maturity. Lenticels. Thorns. Lots of spurs.
Culture: Sun.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Good street tree.
Additional Information: 

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'

Botanical Name: Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'
Common Name: Fragrant Winter Daphne
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf evergreen shrub
Habit: Mounded shrub, densely branched in sun, less so in shade
Growth Rate: slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 4-6'
Leaves: Simple, alternate, crowded at ends of branches, oblongish to elliptic, narrowed at both ends but bluntly pointed, thick and glossy green. Unique waxy feel. Yellow margins.
Flowers: Reddish purple on the outside and lighter (nearly white) within. Fragrant. Funnel-shaped, 4-lobed. February-March.
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: Leaf scars are prominent.
Stem/Bark: Rubbery stem and feel.
Culture: Sun (best in morning sun, partial shade). Well-drained sandy soil. Doesn't like transplanting.
Pruning: Right after flowering. Can prune on bare wood.
Pests/Diseases: Cold sensitive 
Landscape Uses: Foundation plant by a door. Containers.
Additional Information: Poisonous to humans

Chaenomeles speciosa

Botanical Name: Chaenomeles speciosa
Common Name: Flowering Quince
Family: Rosaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous shrub
Habit: Rounded outline, sometimes erect, tangled and twiggy mass, thorn branches
Growth Rate: Medium
10-Year Height: < 6, < 10
Mature Height: 6-10'
Leaves: Alternate, simple, ovate to oblong, sharply serrate, lustrous dark green above, stipules large on current season's growth. Glabrous. Reddish margins on leaves/stipules when it's hot.
Flowers: Red, pink to white. Start to appear before leaves in spring, solitary or 2-4 per cluster, showy. Five-petaled. Perfect. Lots of stamens. February-March.
Fruit: Pome, apple-shaped. Yellowish green often with a reddish blush, fragrant, speckled with small dots (glands), ripening in October. Fruits are bitter when eaten raw, but used for preserves and jellies when cooked.
Buds/New Growth: Bulbous flower buds similar to C. japonica, usually larger.
Stem/Bark: Slender, brownish, often slightly pubescent, zig-zag stem. Thorns are long and sharp.
Culture: Sun (best for flowering) to part shade. Easy to grow. Adaptable to many soil conditions. Does well in dry situations.
Pruning: Cut big canes to the ground to open it up.
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Mixed shrub border. Flower arrangements. Hedge (good barrier). Good shelter for birds.
Additional Information: