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

Calocedrus decurrens

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Calocedrus decurrens
Common Name: Incense Cedar
Family: Cupressaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer
Habit: Stiff or narrowly columnar in youth, regular in outline, branchlets flattened, terminating in dense, fan-like sprays, wedge-shaped joints.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 70-110'
Leaves: Leaves in 4's closely pressed, a "fluted wine-glass" pattern formed by each outside (lateral) pair of leaves, lustrous dark green throughout the year (little or no winter browning), emitting an aromatic odor when crushed.
Flowers: 
Fruit: Male cones small (3 mm), yellow, female cones cylindrical, 2-2.5 cm long, composed of 6 paired, flattened, and pointed scales ("duck-beaks"), ripening in early autumn.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Bark light or reddish brown.
Culture: Sun or partial shade. Prefers moist, well-drained, fertile soils, but shows adaptability to different soil types. Hardy to USDA Zone 5.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: 
Additional Information: calocedrus: from the Greek, kalos, beautiful, and kedros, cedar. decurrens: extending down
Google images of Calocedrus decurrens

Tsuga heterophylla

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Tsuga heterophylla
Common Name: Western Hemlock
Family: Pinaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer
Habit: Narrowly pyramidal when young, pendulous branches.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 60-100'
Leaves: Needles in more or less 2 ranks, although arising from all around the stem, equally broad from base to apex, rounded apex, finely dentate margin, very short petiole, shiny dark green and grooved above, with 2 broad whitish bands below with indistinct edges; persist 4-7 years.
Flowers: 
Fruit: Cones elliptical, light brown, 2-2.5 cm long, each cone contains 30-40 small seeds.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun, but can take a fair amount of shade in the forest.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Can be sheared into a hedge when young. Bonsai. Native planting.
Additional Information: State tree of Washington. heterophylla: refers to the different sized leaves on the same twig, smaller toward the tip.
Google images of Tsuga heterophylla

Tsuga mertensiana

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Tsuga mertensiana
Common Name: Mountain Hemlock
Family: Pinaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer
Habit: Narrowly conical, branches and twigs thin and nodding.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 30-100'
Leaves: Needles arranged radially around the stem, but densest on the upper side, linear, stomatal lines on both sides, apex blunt, base attached to the stem via a roundish "peg" and short petiole, gray-green to silver-white; on short lateral branches the needles are grouped in star-like clusters.
Flowers: 
Fruit: Cones oblong-cylindrical, stalkless, pendulous, often purple when young.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: bark charcoal gray to reddish brown, scaly and deeply fissured.
Culture: Sun, if soil not too dry. Best growth occurs in areas of moist air and cool summer temperatures. Hardy to USDA Zone 5.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Bonsai, small gardens.
Additional Information: mertensiana: after Karl Heinrich Mertens, a German botanist who discovered it in 1827.
Google images of Tsuga mertensiana

Blechnum spicant

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Blechnum spicant
Common Name: Deer Fern
Family: Blechnaceae
Type of Plant: Semi-evergreen fern
Habit: Splaying clump
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 
Leaves: Low-growing sterile fronds spread horizontally from a basal tuft. The fertile fronds are thin and deciduous and grow erect from the center of the clump.
Flowers: 
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Part shade to shade. Will grow well in rich moist soils or well-drained locations with occasional summer watering. Will also tolerate sandy and clay soils.
Pruning: Old fronds should be cut back in late winter or early spring before new growth starts.
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Woodland garden
Additional Information: 
Google images of Blechnum spicant

Polystichum munitum

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Polystichum munitum
Common Name: Sword Fern
Family: Polypodiaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen fern
Habit: 
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: 
Mature Height: 
Leaves: Fronds (leaves) pinnate, leathery, shiny, stiffly erect, dark green, growing from a dense crown. Fronds cut once, pinnae ("leaflets") alternate, medium texture, on the underside, sori (spore-producing bodies) are uniformly spaced in a single row on either side of the midrib; chaffy petiole covered with scales gradually tapering to a point (acuminate).
Flowers: 
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Part shade to shade. Grows best in rich soil with organic matter and ample water. Polystichum munitum var. imbricans is a compact version which prefers full sun. Hardy to USDA Zone 4.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Native planting
Additional Information: Polystichum: poly, many; stichos, rows, referring to the regular row of sori on the underside of the fronds. munitum: armed, with teeth.
Google images of Polystichum munitum

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

Philadelphus lewisii

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Philadelphus lewisii
Common Name: Wild Mockorange; Lewis Mockorange
Family: Hydrangeaceae
Type of Plant: Deciduous shrub
Habit: Many stemmed, broadly arching.
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 5 - 10'
Leaves: Opposite, simple, broadly ovate to broadly elliptic, entire to serrate-dentate (i.e., spreading, pointed teeth).
Flowers: White, 4(5)-petals, yellow anthers, 3-11 per cluster, fragrant.
Fruit: 4-cell capsule.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun to part shade.
Pruning: Prune after flowering.
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Native planting, understory plant.
Additional Information: State flower of Idaho. Hardy to USDA Zone 4.
Google images of Philadelphus lewisii

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

Achillea millefolium

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Achillea millefolium
Common Name: Yarrow
Family: Asteraceae
Type of Plant: Herbaceous Perennial
Habit: Upright with a basal rosette of leaves
Growth Rate: 
10-Year Height: < 1'
Mature Height: up to 3' stems
Leaves: Green to grayish green, usually feathery and finely divided.
Flowers: White, yellow, pink, red. Flat-topped flower clusters on 2-3' stems.
Fruit: 
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Full sun
Pruning: Cut back after bloom.
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Native garden, cut flowers
Additional Information: 
Google images of Achillea millefolium

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.

Juniperous scopulorum

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Juniperous scopulorum
Common Name: Common Juniper
Family: Cupressaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer tree
Habit: Narrow, pyramidal, often with several main stems.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 30 - 40'
Leaves: Scale-like, tightly appressed, dark or light bluish green, rhombic-ovate, apex acute or acuminate.
Flowers: Monoecious or dioecious. Male has 6 stamens.
Fruit: Cones ripen the second year, globose, dark blue, glaucous bloomy, pulp sweetish. Seeds 2, triangular, reddish brown, prominently angled, grooved.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Bark reddish brown or gray, shredding but persistent.
Culture: Full sun. Withstands drought conditions very well.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Can be used in bonsai. Screens, hedges, backgrounds, foundation plants.
Additional Information: scopulorum: growing on cliffs.

Juniperus communis

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Juniperus communis
Common Name: Common Juniper
Family: Cupressaceae
Type of Plant: Evergreen convifer
Habit: Various forms, from groundcover to shrub.
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6'
Mature Height: 5 - 10'
Leaves: Only awl-shaped (needles), spreading at a wide angle from the stem, tapering to a spiny point, concave above with a wide white band, often in whorls of 3, persisting for 3 years. Branchlets triangular with projecting ridges.
Flowers: Usually dioecious, staminate yellow.
Fruit: Female cones, solitary, globose, green at first then bluish or black, covered with waxy bloom. Seeds usually 3, elongated ovoid, tri-cornered with depressions between. Fruits used as a diuretic and for flavoring gin.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Reddish brown, scaling off in papery sheets.
Culture: Full sun
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Can be handsome groundcover for sandy soils and waste places, useful for undergrowth and naturalized plantings.
Additional Information: 

Acer glabrum

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Acer glabrum
Common Name: Douglas Maple; Rocky Mountain Maple
Family: Aceraceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf deciduous tree
Habit: Often multi-stemmed, upright
Growth Rate: Slow
10-Year Height: < 6
Mature Height: 30 feet
Leaves: Opposite, simple, 3-5 lobes (occasionally divided into 3 leaflets, more common in moist areas), coarsely double toothed, green above, blue-green below. Petiole long, slender, often red. Fall color yellow.
Flowers: Dioecious. Yellowish green, with 5 petals. April-May.
Fruit: Wings nearly parallel.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: 
Culture: Sun to part shade. Found along streams and other moist sites.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Native planting. Erosion control.
Additional Information: 

Arbutus menziesii

Source: www.nwplants.com

Botanical Name: Arbutus menziesii
Common Name: Pacific Madrone; Madrona
Family: Ericaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf evergreen tree
Habit:
Growth Rate: Medium
10-Year Height: < 10
Mature Height: 20 - 60 feet
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oval, broad, thick and leathery, base subcordate to broad-cuneate, apex obtuse or somewhat acute, margin entire, lustrous dark green above
Flowers: White, urn-shaped, honey-like fragrance. April-May
Fruit: Ellipsoid or obovoid, orange-red. Edible fruit. Seeds ripen in October.
Buds/New Growth: 
Stem/Bark: Mature bark reddish brown, exfoliating, bark on stems smooth and reddish
Culture: Sun to dappled shade
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: 
Landscape Uses: Native planting. Sunny edge. Lawn specimen.
Additional Information: Messy tree, sheds leaves and bark irregularly. But it's still a lovely tree. The inner bark was sometimes used by native North Americans to make dresses. A brown dye can be obtained from the bark (doesn't need a mordant). The bark is a rich source of tannin, which has been used medicinally and also as a preservative on wood, ropes, etc. The wood is very hard, durable in water, close grained, heavy, and does not split when it dries, making it good for carving and furniture. Also produces a fine grade of charcoal.

Alnus rubra

Source: OSU Department of Horticulture

Botanical Name: Alnus rubra
Common Name: Red Alder
Family: Betulaceae
Type of Plant: Broadleaf deciduous tree
Habit: In the open, has a broadly conical shape with spreading branches. In the forest, has a straight trunk visible to a narrow, rounded crown.
Growth Rate: Fast
10-Year Height: > 20
Mature Height: 50 feet
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oval to rhombic, tapered from the middle to both ends, 8-15 vein-pairs, dull dark green above, grayish and pubescent on veins below, margin coarsely toothed, rolled under (revolute)
Flowers: Male (pollen) catkins in small clusters at stem tips. Female flower catkins visible in winter in small clusters below male catkins
Fruit: Mature seed catkins (cones) barrel-shaped
Buds/New Growth: Twigs triangular or rounded in cross section, buds stalked, 2-3 pubescent scales
Stem/Bark: Smooth, light gray, but usually almost white with lichens.
Culture: Sun. Tolerates infertile soil because it forms an association with a small soil bacteria, Frankia, resulting in root nodules that transform the tree into a nitrogen fixer. Likes moist soil.
Pruning: 
Pests/Diseases: In the landscape, red alder is a favored host for tent caterpillars.
Landscape Uses: Fill in gaps in the landscape where soil is too wet for other plants. To harvest its awesome nitrogen-rich wood and leaves. To add nitrogen to the soil. Dividers along property lines. Erosion control. Firewood and smoking chips.
Additional Information: