WWU+Plants+&+Trees

= ** Plants/Trees on Western's campus: ** =

The pacific rhododendron is the state flower of Washington! It is an evergreen shrub with thick, leathery leaves. The flowers are pink to rose-purple and bell shaped.

One of the larger ferns, sword ferns can grow to be 1.5 m tall. They are evergreen plants that like to grow in moist forests at low to middle elevations. Native northwest coast peoples used sword ferns as liners between food and as flooring or even bedding. The sori, the brownish dots on the underside of the fern, can be used to help ease the itch of stinging nettles.

**Pink Wintergreen - Pyrola asarifolia**
The pink wintergreen has many round basal leaves that stay green all year, they are shiny and leathery and slightly toothed. The flowers, which are perennial, are pinkish to purplish-red and bell shaped. In various coastal languages pink wintergreen is known as 'bear's ears' or 'frogs plant' because of the shape of its leaves. Traditionally the leaves have been used as a poultice for sores or swelling.

**Katsura - Cercidiphyllum japonicum**
Katsura is Japanese word for "tree." It is an ornamental tree because of its heart shaped leaves. It is fast-growing when conditions are suitable, but it is very sensitive to drought and needs deep, permanently moist soil.

**Giant Sequia - Sequindendron giganteum**
The giant sequoia is world-renowned as the largest living thing on the planet, and these majestic trees continue to inspire wonder. Although not the tallest trees, their sheer volume, with the possible exception of colonial organisms such as corals, make giant sequoias the largest living things on earth. Also known as 'big tree' in California, the giant sequoia lives up to its name, reaching up to 95 meters in height and 11 meters in diameter. The trunk is reddish-brown with thick bark. The leaves are small, scale like and are spiral arranged.

Known at Western Washington University as The Holiday Tree

**Tall Oregon Grape - Mahonia aquifolium**
The tall Oregon grape is an evergreen shrub that grows up to 8 ft tall and has 5-9 glossy leaflets. Berries have a whitish-green bloom turning blue when ripe. Though these fruits are edible they can make you sick if eaten in large quantities. Natives of Oregon have been said to used the berries for an antidote for shellfish poisoning. Today many people make jelly out of the berries using two cups Oregon grape juice, two cups salal juice, five cups of sugar, and one box of pectin crystals.

**Horse Chestnut - //Aesculus hippocastanum//**
No one really knows how the horse chestnut tree got its name. Some speculate that the name came from the horse shoe shaped markings found on its gray-green bark. The leaves are divided into 5 to 7 leaflets. Flowers are usually white with sometimes a reddish tinge. The fruit of the tree is a large shiny brown nut which resides inside the green spiky round pods until they fall to the ground. Horse chestnuts, unlike the common chestnut, are bitter and not edible. However, horse chestnuts are said to have been give to horses and other cattle to cure cattle cough, another possible origin of the name.

[[image:0506001255.jpg width="240" height="320"]]
Also known, as bearberry is a native plant that produces a red fruit during the late summer and light pink flowers from May to June. T​he fruit is relatively safe to eat however; large doses may cause nausea, green urine, bluish-grey skin, vomiting, fever, chills, severe back pain, and ringing in the ears. Native Americans and early European settlers used it for various medicinal purposes.

**Grape Hyacinth-//Muscari armeniacum//**
 Commonly referred to as Grape Hyacinth, because their flowers resemble bunches of grapes. They give off a sweet fragrance and bloom in the spring usually for 6 weeks or more. They thrive in rich sandy soil and naturalize easily to most environments returning year after year.

 Thru rhizobium-root nodule symbiosis, fertilizing the soil for other plants, lupins can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into ammonia making lupins tolerant of infertile soils and poor quality soils. The yellow seeds of lupins, called lupin beans, were popular with the Romans, who spread them throughout the Roman Empire. Lupin beans are commonly sold in a salty solution in jars and can be eaten. The name 'Lupin' derives from the Latin word 'lupinus' meaning wolf, because the plant has a tendency to wreak havoc on the land on which it grows.
 * Russell Lupin-//Lupinus polyphyllus//**

**Princess tree-//Paulownia tomentosa//**
Also known as the Empress tree. The princess tree was named in honor of the daughter of a Russian tsar, Queen Anna Pavlovna of the Netherlands. It is an invasive species in the United States, having been introduced as an ornamental tree becaues of its decorative flowers. it is fast growing and hard to remove.

**Tulip-****//Tulipa gesneriana//**
Also referred to as Didier's tulip most of the cultivated species of tulip are derived from Tulipa gesneriana. The bulbs may be dried, crushed and added to cereals or flour. Though the bulbs may be consumed with little ill-effect it can cause dermatitis through the allergen tuliposide, the first tulips in the nation appeared in Salem Massachusetts Fay Arboretum Estate of exotic plantings around 1847.

The little leaf also called small leaf Rhododendron has small clear pink flowers that blossom in early May. It is a shallow root plant that can reach a height of six feet when fully mature. This plant can be found on north campus by the Old Main lawn.
 * Little Leaf Rhododendron – //Rhododendron minus// **

The Japanese Pagoda tree, also called the Chinese Scholar tree is a native tree of China, Korea, and Vietnam but not Japan. It can grow up to 65 feet in height and usually has a broad crown. It has flowers that turn into green thick pods which mature into yellow-green fruits. These fruits ripen in October and can last till December, all the while the birds devour them. This plant can be found on the north side of Wilson Library.
 * Japanese Pagoda Tree - //Sophora japonica// **

**Japanese Maple-//Acer palmatum//**
====Acer palmatum is named ‘palmatum’ after the hand like shape of its leaves. For centuries the tree was referred to in Japan as kaede and momiji, which refers to the small 'hands' of frogs and babies, respectively.  The Japanese maple is renowned for its leaves which will turn brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow or purple in the fall. ==== Giant Dogwood - **//Cornus alternifolia//** This tree is located in front of Old Main and the Wilson side of the library. It is the Missouri state flower and can reach heights of 50 ft tall. It blooms in early spring and has pink flowers as the picture shows above.


 * Red Alder - //Alnus ruba//**



The Red Alder is native to the West coast and can be found from southern Alaska to Northern California. It is the largest species of Alder in North America and one of the largest in the world varying from 20-35 m in height. The bark has been used by Native Americans to dye fishnets to be less visible in the water and has also been used to treat poison oak, insect bites and other skin irritations.


 * Western Red Cedar - //Thuja plicata//**



The western Red Cedar can reach heights of up to 12 - 40 m and grow up to 7 m in diameter. It is found almost exclusively in the northwest, but can be found as far inland as Montana. The largest recorded Western Red Cedar is in Aberdeen, Wa. Its timber is primarily used for in outdoor construction such as siding, decking, fencing, etc. due to its high resistance to weather damage and decay. Some pacific northwest Native American tribes refer to themselves as "people of the red cedar" because of their dependence on this tree to provide many of their lively essentials.


 * Western Big Leaf Maple - Acer macrophyllum**



The Big Leaf Maple, or sometimes referred to as the Oregon Maple, is a deciduous tree that can reach heights of up to 35 m. This tree is native only to the Pacific Northwest and found more along the coast. It is the only commercially important maple in the northwest with most of the wood produced going into veneer finishing of instruments etc. It can also yield enough sugar to be comparable to the sugar maples further east but has a different taste. The largest known maple is currently in Jewell, Oregon.


 * Western Hemlock - Tsuga heterophylla**



The Western Hemlock is native to the pacific northwest and is an evergreen coniferous tree that can reach heights of up to 70 m. It is also the State tree of Washington. The bark can be shaved and the inner cambium can be eaten as a snack immediately or pressed into cakes for preservation, which is done by some native americans. New leaf growth can be chewed or made into a tea that is rich in vitamin c.


 * Coastal Douglas Fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii**



These firs are the one of the largest firs in the northwest second, only to the coastal red woods. They can reach a height of up to 75 m. It is one of the most commercially sought after timber because of the quality and durability of the wood it produces and is perhaps the best in all of North America. The wood is most commonly used for dimensional lumber, pilings, ply wood, decking, and has many other uses that require it to be out in the weather.