Arboretum
The Rund Woodlands is home to diverse mix of trees and shrubs. Below is a work in progress, to identify and log the species that make up the Woodlands.
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America.
The bark helps to distinguish it from other species. Mature to over-mature individuals have yellow to orange-red bark in broad to very broad plates with black crevices.
Younger trees have blackish-brown bark, referred to as "blackjacks" by early loggers.
Ponderosa pine's five subspecies, as classified by some botanists, can be identified by their characteristically bright-green needles. The Pacific subspecies has the longest (around 7 inches) and most flexible needles in plume-like fascicles of three.
The egg-shaped cones, which are often found in great number under trees, are 3–5 in long. They smell fantastic and provide habitat for many species.
Douglas Fir
To be clear, the Douglas fir is not a true fir, instead, it’s labeled as a “false hemlock”, uniquely its own “brand”. Douglas-firs are medium-size to extremely large evergreen trees, reach heights near 100 yards, and commonly reach 8 ft in diameter with trees getting as big as 16 feet in diameter.
​
The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales, unlike those of true firs. They have distinctive long, three pointed bracts which protrude prominently above each scale and are said to resemble the back half of a mouse, with two feet and a tail.
Douglas-firs regularly live over 500 years, with the oldest specimens living for over 1,300 years. As the trees grow taller in denser forest, they lose their lower branches, such that the foliage may start as high as 110 ft off the ground. Douglas-firs in environments with more light may have branches much closer to the ground.
​
The bark on young trees is thin, smooth, grey, and contains numerous resin blisters. Layers of darker brown bark are interspersed with layers of lighter colored, corky material. This thickness makes the Douglas-fir perhaps the most fire-resistant tree native to the Pacific Northwest.
​
The massive mega-genome of Douglas fir was sequenced in 2017 by the large PineRefSeq consortium, revealing a specialized photosynthetic apparatus in the light-harvesting complex genes.
Incense Cedar
Calocedrus decurrens is adaptable to a range of ecological situations. Although it can thrive as a riparian (stream-side) tree or in other high-moisture environments, it is considerably more prevalent in dry areas where it is rarely the dominant species. Due to its ability to seal its leaf pores and tolerance to dryness, incense-cedar is very drought tolerant. Anatomical analyses of the tree's cones led to the alteration in the name Libocedrus decurrens. Calocedrus, its new name, is derived from the Greek word lovely cedar.
The only Calocedrus in North America is the incense-cedar found in mixed conifer forests of Oregon’s foothills and at mid-elevation. It can regenerate on mineral soil or somewhat deep layers of trash and duff, and it can survive mild shade. Incense-cedar grows on a range of substrates, including granitic and serpentine soils.
​
Older trees can withstand surface fires thanks to their thick, fire-resistant bark. Large, old trees frequently have burn marks on their wood from pocket dry rot brought on by a virus that is not scared off by the odour of the wood. This outcome is referred to as pecker-wood.
​
​
​
Incense-cedar is a fine-grained, readily worked, aromatic wood that is typically resistant to decay and insects. Siding, window sashes, fencing, and wall paneling are all made from it. The wood is a choice for closets and chests because of its workability and insect-repelling scent. It is a suitable tree for a windbreak or green fence. It tolerates poor soils, can withstand the summer heat, needs little water, and doesn't need to be pruned.
Oregon White Oak
Quercus garryana is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest. It is commonly known as the Oregon white oak or Oregon oak or, in Canada, the Garry oak.
​
It is typically of medium height, growing slowly to around 80 feet and occasionally as high as 100 ft, or in shrub form to 10 to 15 feet. The trunks grow to 3 feet thick, exceptionally 5 ft. The bark is gray and fissured. It has the characteristic oval profile of other oaks when solitary, but is also known to grow in groves close enough together that crowns may form a canopy.
The leaves are deciduous, 2–6 inches long and 1–3 inches broad, with 3–7 deep lobes on each side, darker green on top and finely haired below. The flowers are catkins, the fruit a small acorn 1 inch long and 1⁄2 inch broad, with shallow, scaly cups. Its fall color is unspectacular, with many trees turning plain brown. Other individuals may have subtle mixtures of brown, green and yellow, or in less common cases a fairly bright 'peas and corn' effect.
The Oregon white oak is commonly found in the Willamette Valley hosting the mistletoe Phoradendron flavescens. It is also commonly found hosting galls created by wasps in the family Cynipidae. 'Oak apples', green or yellow ball of up to 5 cm in size, are the most spectacular. They are attached to the undersides of leaves. Other species create galls on stems and leaves. Shapes vary from spheres to mushroom-shaped to pencil-shaped. Individual specimens can grow to around 500 years in age.
Pacific Madrone
The Pacific Madrone (Arbutus Menziesii) is stunning, intriguing and unusual in appearance while it changes with the seasons. Its wonderful features delight each of the senses. Fragrant flower clusters, colorful berries, glossy leaves, twisting branches, a rounded crown, and rich cinnamon-red bark that peels from a satin-smooth trunk.
A sizable, durable tree that grows naturally in climatic conditions with moderate winters and dry summers. In the forested slopes and canyons, and mixed-evergreen forests on warm, dry, lowland sites west of the Cascades (inside Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests or Oregon white oak or tan oak woodlands), it is frequently found on rocky soils and other coarse soils that absorb little moisture.
Madrone is a crucial plant for stabilizing slopes and cliffs and preventing landslides because, unlike other trees, its fine roots have evolved to seek deeply into rock fissures for stored water or "rock moisture." Additionally, it is an important part of many plant types. For instance, it gives a mid-canopy story in mixed conifer forests which is crucial for the structural diversity of the forest.
​
This rare gem's ecological offerings never let down the wild creatures that are attracted to it like a magnet all year round. Lovely waxy, creamy white, urn-shaped blossoms bloom in the spring and provide nectar for hummingbirds, native bees, and other pollinators. Many bird and mammal species, including, quail, raccoons, squirrels, mule deer, and bears, eat clusters of vivid red berries that ripen in autumn and may last into early winter.
Tragically, for a variety of causes, the species is currently declining across the majority of its range. Madrone is dependent on sporadic fires to keep the conifer overstory under control in its natural environment (typically Douglas-fir trees.) Numerous infections can also kill or harm plants, such as the foliar fungus Nattrassia mangiferae, sometimes known as "madrone canker," which causes dieback, branch blackening, and cankers that can extend to the trunk. a root decay.Sudden oak death has a minor impact on Madrone as well. It should be protected for its own sake, for the benefit of the species that uses it, for the ecosystems in which it plays a vital role, and, obviously, for the sake of those of us who adore its breathtaking beauty.
Oregon Maple
The bigleaf maple, sometimes known as the Oregon Maple, is an enormous deciduous tree in the genus Acer. Bigleaf maples can reach heights of 158 feet. The biggest leaves of any maple are found on the bigleaf variety; they are normally 6 to 12 inches across and have five deeply incised palmate lobes, the largest of which can reach 24 inches. The stems are 6 to 12 inches long and have milky sap in them. Age causes the grayish-brown bark to darken and grow ridges. When the leaves change color in the autumn, they contrast with the evergreen coniferous trees that surround them. The tree blooms in the spring with 4-6 long, pendulous racemes of greenish-yellow flowers with unnoticeable petals.
​
Each raceme of this hermaphrodite plant contains both male and female flowers. Early in the spring, before the leaves, the flowers begin to bloom. A paired winged samara is the fruit. About ten years after planting, bigleaf maples start to produce seeds. Bigleaf maple is primarily found west of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada crests and grows at low to moderate elevations in coastal regions from Alaska to California. Although it can endure arid locations, it prefers the damp soil of river bottoms and the foothills.
​
Bigleaf maples provide food for many different animals and plants. Its leaves, young twigs, and seedlings are browsed by deer and elk. Its seeds are consumed by squirrels, chipmunks, and various birds, including the evening grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus). The variety and quantity of various plants that flourish on this tree's trunk and branches in humid environments is one of its notable characteristics. These mosses, lichens, and ferns, collectively referred to as epiphytes, do not rely on the tree for their survival but rather use it as a substrate. In the deep bark crotches or furrows of the tree, their degradation creates "canopy soil," which in turn supplies moisture and nutrients to other species, including invertebrates. The epiphytic litterfall, or organic material that falls from these mats of canopy soil, nourishes the soil with carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients. They are a fantastic species with a lot to offer.