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KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

OF
EASTERN OREGON AND WASHINGTON

\

by Doris W. Hayes, range conservationist,
Division of Range Management Research, and
George A. Garrison, range conservationist,
Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experi-
ment Station, Forest Service

>

Agriculture Handbook No. 148
U. S. Department of Agriculture

December 1960

For sale bv the Superintendent of Documents, US, Government Printing Office
Washington 25. D.C. - Price $2.00

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 1

Plants deciduous • spring and summer „ 5

Leaves alternate and simple 5

Plants armed 5

Plants unarmed • with catkins 20

Plants unarmed • without catkins 41

Leaves alternate and compound 84

Leaves opposite and simple 92

Leaves opposite and compound 101

Plants deciduous ■ fall and winter 106

Buds, twigs alternate 106

Plants armed 106

Plants unarmed • with catkins 116

Plants unarmed ■ without catkins 125

Buds, twigs opposite 158

Plants evergreen or with winter-persistent leaves 168

Notes on forage value 206

Index 214

INTRODUCTION

Winter, spring, summer, and fall, big-game biologists, forest rangers,
hunters, and recreationists are on the mountain trails of eastern
Oregon and eastern Washington. Regardless of season, shrubs are
always conspicuous to these travelers. And in the work of game
biologists and rangers, knowledge of browse plants at all seasons is
becoming increasingly important, Hence, a demand has arisen for
a shrub key based on'twig or leaf characters and prepared in laymen's
language. This key represents an attempt to meet that demand.

Vegetative keys designed to distinguish shrubs without reference
to flowers or fruit require the definition of many characteristics for
each species. Therefore, some of the species descriptions are rather
lengthy; however, primary characteristics are in boldface type and
will commonly suffice to identify a shrub.

Primary divisions of the key are based on whether or not a plant
is "evergreen" and the season of the year. Subsequent divisions
make use of such simple characteristics as arrangement of twigs
(alternate or opposite branching), subdivision of leaves, and the
presence or absence of thorns. Within the major divisions, each pair
of alternative characters is given the same number for the convenience
of the user. By choosing one character of a pair as applicable and
proceeding to the next pair, the user can move quickly through the
key to determine the name of the specimen he is interested in and can
compare the specimen with the illustrations provided.

The alternate character of buds, leaves, and twigs for some species
is examined in more detail. For them the spiral arrangement serves
as a further characteristic for quick and reliable identification. Smooth
sumac is an excellent example (fig. 1). Starting with any given bud
and counting clockwise around the stem, the observer makes two
complete circles to reach the next bud directly above, and in the
process counts this bud as the fifth. This is called the % bud arrange-
ment, the one most commonly found; each bud is 144 degrees around
the stem from the preceding one. A % bud arrangement is found in
the wax currant (fig. 2).

Scientific or Latin names are given for each species in addition
to common names, which follow the nomenclature in Standardized
Plant Names, by Harlan P. Kelsey and William A. Dayton (2d. ed.,
1942). The index of accepted scientific and common names also
includes such synonyms as are needed for cross-reference to names
used in Oregon and Washington manuals or floras commonly con-
sulted.

Botanists have not explored all of the Okanogan highlands, the
Blue Mountains, and the east slope of the Cascades; hence, some
shrubs may be found that are not among the 180 or so species and
varieties listed in the key. Some omissions were deliberate, as was
the case with certain willows. The 18 willows presented are the ones
most commonly encountered. In a work of this kind, more than errors
of omission are bound to occur in the first edition, but it is hoped none
of them will seriously handicap the field worker.

The present work is the outcome of plant collections by the authors
and R. S. Rummell. During preparation of the key from collections

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

F-481833

Figure 1. — Diagram of the % bud arrangement of smooth sumac.

in eastern Oregon and Washington, herbaria of the Forest Service
and the National Museum in Washington, D. C, were consulted.
Dr. S. F. Blake contributed material relating to the composite family.
Some of the scientific drawings are from the Range Plant Handbook,
now out of print, and most of the remainder were executed by the
late Leta Hughey and Jane Roller.

Those who may wish to obtain information from plant manuals of
the standard type are referred to such works as:

Abrams, Leroy.
volumes.)

Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States. (Three

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

F-481833

Figure 2. — Spiral arrangement of buds: 1?., netleaf hackberry is an example;
)i, characteristic of alders and birches; %, as shown in smooth sumac; %, as
found in wax currant.

Gilkey, Helen. Handbook of Northwest Flowering Plants.
Hitchcock, Cronquist, Owenbey, and Thompson. Vascular Plants

of the Pacific Northwest.
Peck, Morton E. A Manual of the Higher Plants of Oregon.

Appended to this new shrub key are notes on the relative forage
value of numerous shrubs. These were compiled from published
works of many authors, and observations by G. A. Garrison and other
U. S. Forest Service range workers. The notes were not inserted in
the key because that would have added to the already lengthy species
descriptions and impaired the key's usability. A list of publications
consulted is included for the benefit of those seeking further informa-
tion on food habits of animals and nutritive value of certain plants.

Where any plant is suspected of being poison-oak or poison-ivy,
precautions should be taken to keep it from coming in contact with
any person who might be susceptible, because almost all parts of the
plant can be poisonous to touch.

PLANTS DECIDUOUS ■ SPRING AND SUMMER

Leaves Alternate and Simple
Plants Armed

1. Twigs spiny-tipped.
2. Shrubs with sagebrush odor and taste, less than 2 feet high;
leaves broadly fan-shaped, deeply cut into several 3-lobed di-
visions, shed in early summer; twigs of 2 kinds: (a) short, rigid,
flowering twigs becoming spiny-tipped, (b) stouter leafy twigs
becoming big-budded after leaves fall, not spiny-tipped; bushy,
much-branched shrubs with shreddy bark; desert or aklaline
areas of Lake, Harney, and Malheur Cos., se. Oreg., not reported

from Wash __bud sagebrush (Artemisia spinescens).1

2. Shrubs without sagebrush odor or taste.

3. Twigs bright green, ridged and lined; leaves small (to }{ inch
long), gray green, reversely lance-shaped; margins entire;
stipules tiny, pointed at tips, grown to bulbous leafstalk base,
appearing as dark swelling at point of attachment to twig;
stems often arching; much-branched shrubs to 10 feet high;
dry, rocky limestone areas, Harney Co. to Snake River canyons
in ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

Snake River greasebush (Forsellesia stipulifera) .

1 See Evergreen Key for low sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula), the persistent
dead flowering twigs of which are sometimes weakly sharp-tipped.

Enlarged leaf

V3 //

Enlarged portion of twig
showing swollen dark
leafstalk base with at-
tached stipules

Bud sagebrush

F-4940].'!

Snake River greasebush

6 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

3. Twigs not as above.
4. Leave densely white- or gray-scurfy with branlike scales,
1- to 3- veined from near base, broadly egg-shaped or oval,

rounded or wedge-shaped at base, to % inch long and }{ inch
wide, thick, stalked; pollen-producing flowers in ball-like
clusters in leaf axils near twig tips, borne on different plants
from the seed-producing flowers which are solitary or several
together in upper leaf axils; each seed enclosed between 2
leaflike bracts united at base but free at top and side edges;
erect, rounded shrubs 1-3 feet high, with rigid spiny-tipped
twigs and smooth, straw-colored bark; dry, alkaline hillsides,
Lake, Harney, Malheur Cos., se. Oreg., not reported from
Wash shadscale saltbush (Atriplex confer tifolia).2

2 See Evergreen Key for fourwing saltbush {Atriplex canescens), the fruiting
twigs of which are weakly spiny-tipped.

Shadscale saltbush

F-486444

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

Seed-producing plant

Pollen-producing flower
clusters in leaf axils

Seed-producing flower
(enlarged)

Pollen-producing plant

Fruit with leaflike partly
united bracts (enlarged)

Single leaf (enlarged)

Shadscale saltbush

8

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

4. Leaves green when mature, more or less whitish-scurfy with

star-shaped hairs when young, somewhat fleshy, rather

narrow, usually not more than 2 inches long and }{ inch wide ;

pollen- and seed-producing flowers separate, borne on the

same or on different plants; fruits distinctive.

5. Leaves linear, to 1/g inch wide, some of the lower ones

often opposite, dark green; pollen-producing flowers in

scaly, spikelike end clusters; seed-producing flowers small,

1 or 2 in upper leaf axils; fruits top-shaped with encircling

wing near middle; wood green, fibrous, very hard; bark

whitish to gray or brownish ; much branched shrubs to 8 or

10 feet high, often in almost pure stands in alkaline flats

or low, moist sites ; poisonous to livestock if eaten to excess;

s. and e. Oreg., e. Wash.

black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) .
5. Leaves reverse-lance-shaped, to % inch wide, pale or
gray green; pollen-producing flowers clustered in leaf axils;
seed-producing flowers crowded in spikelike end clusters;
each seed enclosed in a united, saclike pair of narrowly
margined, greenish white or reddish bracts; bark dark
gray, shreddy ; bushy-branched shrubs to 3 or 4 feet high ;
dry, rocky sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa).

New leaves clustered in
axil of old leafstalk base
(enlarged)

Fruit (enlarged)

F-494015

Spiny hopsage

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

9

Black greasewood

F-494010

10

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1. Twigs not spiny-tipped.
6. Plants with spines. [Alternate 6, p. 18.]

7. Twigs and young spines (the hardened, persistent midribs of
the primary leaves) densely white- woolly-hairy; spines becom-
ing rigid, spreading or recurved, and with clustered, green,
hairless, linear, secondary leaves in their axils by the second
season; flowers 5-9, all alike, in flower heads surrounded by
4-6 woolly-hairy bracts in a single row; flower-head bracts per-
sistent after the hairy -tufted "seeds" (achenes) have fallen;
stiff, much-branched shrubs to nearly 5 feet high; probably (if
ever browsed) poisonous to livestock; dry, rocky sites, e. Oreg.,

e. Wash cottonthorn horsebrush (fetradymia spinosa).

7. Twigs and spines not as above; leaves palmately 3- to 7-lobed
or cleft, round in outline, square-cut, wedge- or heart-shaped at
base, clustered at tips of short, spurlike twigs or solitary at
joints (nodes) on young or fast-growing shoots; stems armed
with simple or 3-forked (sometimes 7- to 9-parted) spines
around leafstalk bases, often also with scattered prickles and/
or bristles; pith spongy; flowers and berries stalked, in stalked
and bracted clusters (racemes) ; berries tipped by withering-
persistent flowers; erect or spreading shrubs, often with arching

' Mi

v. V

Persistent flower-head
bracts

/

/'

Secondary leaves clustered
in spine axils

F-494017

Cottonthorn horsebrush

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS H

branches and crown-sprouting or layering after fire or top
injury; alternate hosts to the white pine blister rust.

currants, gooseberries (Ribes spp.).
8. Spines 3- to 9-parted; flowers 3-20, saucer- or shallow ly
bowl-shaped with spreading calyx lobes; berries covered
with gland-tipped bristles, jointed to their stalks (pedicels),
falling free when ripe; twigs brownish, prickly and/or bristly
between joints (especially in sunny sites).

currants (Ribes spp.).
9. Leaves deeply 5- to 7-lobed, to 2l/2 inches wide, nearly
hairless; margins cut-toothed ; leafstalks often as long as
leaves, with coarse, gland-tipped hairs near base; twigs
whitish-hairy but without gland-tipped bristles; spines
weak and short; flowers often 10-15; currants purplish
black ; much-branched shrubs, erect and to 3 or 4 feet high,
or, if in shade, trailing and with weaker spines and
prickles; shade-tolerant; often reproducing by layering;
very susceptible to white pine blister rust; moist sites in
mountain woods; widely distributed in e. Oreg., e. Wash.
prickly (or swamp) currant (Ribes lacustre).

9. Leaves deeply 3- to 5-lobed, to 1 inch wide, with gland-
tipped hairs on both surfaces; leafstalks usually shorter
than leaves; twigs with gland-tipped bristles in addition
to prickles; spines rigid, rather stout and long; tlowers 3-7;
straggly, stiff -branched shrubs to 4 feet high; on rocky,
exposed sites at higher (often subalpine) altitudes, some-
times near snowbanks; Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts.,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

gooseberry currant (Ribes montigenum).
8. Spines single or 3- (rarely 4-) parted; flowers 1-5, bell-
shaped or tubular; calyx lobes often spreading or recurving
in age; berries falling with stalks attached.

gooseberries (Grossularia section of Ribes).

10. Mature leaves l-2y2 inches wide, 3- to 5-lobed; styles 2
in each flower; erect or spreading shrubs ; moist woods or
streambanks.

1 1 . Spines less than V2 inch long.

12. Gooseberries with gland-tipped spines; leaves and
leafstalks with gland-tipped hairs; spines mostly 3-
forked, stiff; stems stout, rarely prickly or bristly
between joints; flowers bell-shaped, green, usually
sparsely hairy outside; petals white; styles hairless;
middle altitudes, e. slopes of Cascades from Mt.
Hood, Oreg., n. into Wash.; type locality, Wash.

Watson (or Mt. Adams) gooseberry (Ribes

watsonianum) .
12. Gooseberries smooth; styles hairy.

13. Twigs white or pale straw-colored, rarely prickly
or bristly between joints; spines weak, usually
single, sometimes absent; gland-tipped hairs usu-
ally lacking except near base of leafstalk; flowers
bell-shaped, greenish or purplish-tinged; petals
white, or sometimes pink.

12 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Gooseberry currant

Prickly (or swamp) currant

Watson (or Mt. Adams) gooseberry

F-494018

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 13

14. Leaves usually hairless except for finely white-
hairy-fringed margins (sometimes with fine,
whitish hairs on under leaf-surfaces) ; flowers
nodding, hairless outside, lobed to near the
middle; petals white or pink; gooseberries wine-
colored; very susceptible to white pine blister
rust; erect shrubs to 6 feet high; e. Oreg., e.
Wash__whitestem gooseberry (Ribes inerme).
14. Leaves soft-hairy, often broader than long;
leafstalks hairy-fringed; flowers sparsely soft-
hairy outside, lobed to below middle; goose-
berries black, with whitish "bloom"; tall,
spreading shrubs with long-arching branches;
along streambanks; Jefferson Co., Oreg., s. to
Klamath Lake; type locality, banks of Klamath
River near Keno, Oreg.

Klamath gooseberry (Ribes klamathense) .
13. Twigs gray to brown, finely white-hairy, not
glandular-hairy, often prickly and/or bristly be-
tween joints on old wood; spines rigid, usually
single except on fast-growing shoots where they are
3-parted; leaves mostly 5-lobed, heart-shaped at
base, finely hairy on both sides, glandular-hairy
on under surface; leafstalks glandular-hairy;
flowers tubular-bell-shaped, greenish, lobed to
below middle, hairless outside, nodding in inch-
long clusters; petals white; gooseberries reddisli
purple to black; erect shrubs to 10 feet high, with
widely spreading branches; somewhat susceptible
to white pine blister rust; along streams, Wallowa
and Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., se. Wash.; type locality,
Blue Mts., lat. 46° 33'.

Idaho gooseberry (Ribes irriguum).
11. Spines more than y2 inch long; stems slender; goose-
berries smooth; styles hairy toward base.
15. Twigs white, grayish, or buff-colored, glandular-
hairy as are also both leaf surfaces, leafstalks, and
the inch-long flower-cluster stalks; white, soft,
spreading hairs also present on young twigs, leaf-
stalks, and under leaf -surf aces; leaves square-cut or
heart-shaped at base; the coarser spines usually 3-
parted; prickles and bristles often numerous on
younger branches ; flowers tubular, lobed above mid-
dle, greenish white to pinkish, soft-hairy outside;
gooseberries purplish black, in drooping clusters;
stems long arching, to 13 feet long; along streams,
ne. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality (probably Uma-
tilla) River banks near Pendleton, Oreg.

Umatilla gooseberry (Ribes cognatum).
15. Twigs cinnamon to dark reddish brown, hairless or
nearly so, usually not prickly or bristly between
joints; spines darker than twigs, often 3-parted;
leaves suggestive of those of golden currant, thick,
shiny, shallowly lobed and with few, broad, rounded

14 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Flower (enlarged)

Stamens

Part of twig (enlarged)

F-494019

Whitestem gooseberry

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

15

Klamath gooseberry

Under leaf surface with
glandular hairs

Umatilla gooseberry

Upper leaf surface,- hairs
not glandular

Leafstalks glandular-hairy

Enlarged portion of vigor-
ous shoot with 3-forked
spines. Hairs not glan-
dular

Idaho gooseberry

471114 O-60-2

16 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

teeth square-cut to wedge-shaped at base; flowers
snow-white, bell-shaped, deeply lobed, with long-
exserted, hairy stamens; gooseberries bluish black,
long- and slender-stalked, in drooping clusters often
2 inches long; graceful, widely branching shrub to 13
feet high; moist thickets, rocky banks or gravelly
soils along streams, ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

snow gooseberry {Ribes niveum).
10. Mature leaves less than 1 inch wide (often not much
more than y4 inch wide), deeply 3- to 5-cleft; stems with
recurved or arching branches, the older ones gray, often
without spines, usually with many short, scarred, spur-
like twigs at tips of which are clustered leaves; twigs and
younger branches pale, yellowish to reddish brown, usu-
ally with single spines of same color, rarely prickly or
bristly between joints; spines to nearly 1 inch long;
flowers hairy outside, broadly tubular, lobed to near or
below the middle; styles hairless, united and appearing
as a single style; gooseberries small, yellow (ripening
black) or red, hairless or finely short -white-hairy and/or
with stalked glands; shrubs to 6 feet high; dry, often
rockv sites.

Snow gooseberry

F-40402 1

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

17

16. Leaves, leafstalks, twigs, and gooseberries finely
short-white-hairy, sometimes also with gland-tipped
hairs; flowers yellowish, with yellowish petals, the tu-
bular part often broader than long; gooseberries yel-
low, ripening to black, rarely without hairs; shrubs to
6 feet high, with rigid, often recurved branches; Crook
and Deschutes Cos., s. to Jackson, Klamath and Lake
Cos., s. Oreg.; not reported from Wash.; type locality,
n. part of Calif., and regions adjacent.

desert gooseberry (Ribes velutinum) .

16. Leaves, leafstalks, twigs, and gooseberries hairless or
nearly so (leaves and leafstalks sometimes finely
short-white-hairy-fringed along edges or leaves some
what scurfy on under surface) ; leaves usually with
narrow lobes and relatively broad spaces between
them; flowers whitish to pinkish; petals white; goose-
berries cherry-red, sweet, shrubs with long-arching,
yellow or pale straw-colored branches with single
spines of the same color, often forming dense, spiny
thickets; closely related to desert gooseberry; rocky
ledges, lower elevations, ne. Oreg., se. Wash.; canyons
along Snake River; type locality, about 5 miles w. of
Imnaha, Wallowa Co., ne. Oreg.

Goodding gooseberry (Ribes gooddingii).

Desert gooseberry

Goodding gooseberry

F-494022

18

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Plants with thorns (aborted twigs) in leaf-scar axils (thorns some-
times lacking on young or sucker shoots) ; leaves variable in shape
and lobing, usually wedge-shaped at base and lobed above middle,
firm, glossy on upper surface; fruits (pomes) berrylike, with 1-5
bony "seeds" (carpels), tipped by withering-persistent flower
parts, stalked, in clusters (cymes or corymbs); small trees or
erect shrubs, often in thicket's; moist sites, flood plains or river

valleys, e. Oreg., e. Wash hawthorns (Crataegus spp.).3

[Alternate 6, p. 10.]

17. Ripe fruits shiny purplish black (chestnut-colored in form
badia), hairless; thorns stout, to 1 inch long, often blunt;
twigs reddish brown, aging gray; leaves elliptic to reversely
egg-shaped, usually shallowly lobed and coarsely and un-
evenly saw-toothed above middle, entire or finely toothed
below middle; all parts hairless or nearly so when mature;
compact shrubs or trees to 35 feet high, common; type local-
ity, near Vancouver, Wash.

black (or Douglas) hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii).

3 Some hawthorns reportedly crossbreed naturally; some of the resultant hybrids
(with characteristics variously intermediate between those of their two parents)
can produce fertile seed without pollination. Each seedling so produced is exactly
like its hybrid parent. This specialized "vegetative" reproduction (apomicty)
probably accounts for some of the well-known hawthorn variability that has
resulted in the description of over 1,100 North American "species," and also for
some of the difficulties in identifying hawthorns. (See W. H. Camp, Ecological
Problems and Species Concepts in Crataegus. Ecology 23: 368-369. 1942).

Black (or Douglas) hawthorn

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

19

17. Ripe fruits red, hairless to hairy; thorns stout to slender, to
2V2 inches long, usually sharp; twigs brown, aging light gray;
leaf margins, leafstalks and sepals usually with gland-tipped
teeth; occasional, near streams, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
18. Fruits scarlet (or dark red to purplish), hairless; thorns
often stout, straight; leaves reversely egg-shaped, often ap-
pressed-hairy; margins 5- to 9-lobed above middle, saw-
toothed; flower- and fruit-clusters nearly hairless; much-
branched shrubs or small trees 6-15 feet high; type locality,
along Columbia River and its tributaries e. of Cascades.

Columbia hawthorn (Crataegus columbiana) .
18. Fruit coral red, hairy; thorns slender, straight or somewhat
reflexed; leaves broadly oval, shortly tapered at tip, ap-
pressed-hairv on both sides; margins doubly saw-toothed
above (singly so below) middle; shrubs to 10 feet high; type
localitv, springy, gravelly hillsides, Pullman, Wash.

Piper hawthorn (Crataegus piperi).

Piper hawthorn

y - 10402-1

Columbia hawthorn

PLANTS DECIDUOUS • SPRING AND SUMMER

Leaves Alternate and Simple
Plants Unarmed • With Catkins

[Flowers scaly bracted, in elongated clusters (catkins or aments) — oak, hazel,
alders, birches, aspen, Cottonwood, and willows]

1. Pollen-producing flowers in string- or tassellike catkins; nut-
producing flowers not in catkins, becoming acorns or hazel nuts.

oak and hazel.
2. Leaves pinnate-lobed, to 6 inches long, dark shiny green and
nearly hairless above, pale green with yellowish, clustered or star-
shaped hairs underneath, in 2/5 (clockwise) arrangement on twig;
pith somewhat 5-angled in cross section; pollen-producing flowers
in drooping stringlike catkins from buds near tips of last year's
twigs, spring-blooming, soon withering, on same plant with the
single or paired acorn-producing flowers in leaf axils on new twigs ;
acorns ripe in one season, to \){ inches long, in saucer- or top-
shaped cups, stalkless or nearly so; trees (shrubby at high ele-
vations), stump- or root-sprouting; common west, often locally
abundant east slopes of Cascades, along streams tributary to
Yakima and Columbia Rivers, Wash., and southward to Mt.
Hood National Forest, Oreg. ; type locality, "on the plains near
Fort Vancouver," along the Columbia River.

Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana).

2. Leaves not pinnate-lobed, rarely somewhat 3-lobed, doubly saw-
toothed on margins, to 4 inches long, sparsely hairy above, soft-
hairy, net-veined and velvety to touch underneath, in 1/2 (clock-
wise") arrangement on twig* (2-ranked) ; twigs slender, zigzag,
with spreading, yellowish (often gland-tipped) hairs; pollen-
producing catkins whitish-hairy, tassellike, preformed and out of
their buds by late summer or early fall but flowers not opening to
shed pollen until late winter or early spring; hazel nuts (filberts)
in green or brown, rough-hairy, fringe-beaked husks, single or
2- to 4-clustered at twig tips; tall, clustered shrubs (sometimes
treelike and to 25 feet high), often suckering from base, some-
times thicket-forming; mostly w., occasionally e. of Cascades,
Oreg., Wash.; type locality, Santa Cruz, Calif.

California hazel {Corylus cornuta var. calif ornica).
1. Pollen- and seed-producing flowers both in catkins; catkins cone-,
spike-, or tassellike.

alders, birches, aspen, cottonwood, and willows.

3. Pollen- and seed-producing catkins on same plant; pollen-pro-
ducing catkins stalked or stalkless, erect, clustered at twig tips,
formed in late summer, elongating, drooping and shedding pollen
in early spring before or with unfolding of leaves; "seeds" (nut-
lets) winged or margined. [Alternate 3, p. 26.]

alders and birches.
4. Twigs slightly angled, smooth; leaves in 1/3 clockwise arrange-
ment on twigs (each leaf at 120° angle around the twig from
leaf next below or above); pith triangular; seed-producing
catkins conelike, persistent, with woody, mostly 5-lobed scales,
in stalked clusters; roots often with (presumably nitrogen-
fixing) nodules alders (Alnus spp.) .

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

21

Straplike stipules

Acorn-producing flowers
in leaf axils, new twigs

Leaf, reduced about %

oak

Pollen-producing catkins in
late summer or early fall

H-4!)4l)2."i

California hazel

22 HANDBOOK 14S, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

5. Seed-producing catkins long-stalked, on new leafy shoots,
appearing with the leaves; "seeds" tissue-papery-winged,
leaves shiny on under surface, sticky when young, yellowish
or bright green on upper surface ; margins doubly and finely
glandular-saw-toothed; buds stalkless or nearly so; bud
scales 3 or more, overlapping; tall, slender shrubs or small
trees, often thicket-forming; along cool mountain streams,
Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata).
5. Seed-producing catkins short-stalked, on last year's twigs,
in leafless clusters, appearing before the leaves; buds mostly
stalked; bud scales 2 (or 3), meeting at edges but not over-
lapping (valvate).

6. Leaves shiny dark green above, paler and often sticky
underneath; margins finely (sometimes doubly) glandular-
toothed, usually not lobed; leafstalks flattened on upper
side, slender, hairy, glandular; "seeds" narrowly margined;
inner bark and sapwood not turning red when peeled;
large trees, commonly to 40 feet high;. both sides of Cas-
cades, along streams, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

white alder (Alnus rhombifolia) .
6. Leaves dull green on both sides, not sticky; margins usu-
ally lobed; leafstalks round in cross section.
7. Leaf margins blunt-toothed, thickened, rolled under;
"seeds" with narrow, nearly encircling papery wings;
inner bark, sapwood turning bright red or orange when
peeled; large, valuable hardwood trees, often in almost
pure stands on burns or logged-over areas w., rare e. of
Cascades; type locality, probably w. Oreg.

red alder (Alnus rubra) .
7. Leaf margins doubly saw-toothed, not thickened or
rolled under; "seeds" narrowly margined; seed-produc-
ing catkins often diseased, with enlarged curly bracts;
tall shrubs or small trees, often thicket-forming; com-
monest alder in e. Oreg., e. Wash.

thinleaf alder (Alnus tenuifolia).
4. Twigs round, sparsely resin-dotted or densely resin- warty
when young, becoming smooth and dotted with pale pores
(lenticels) ; leaves in a 1/3 counterclockwise arrangement on the
twigs; pith compressed, small; seed-producing catkins tassel-
like, not persistent except for their erect or recurved central
stalks from which the 3-lobed papery scales fall either with or
after shedding of the tissue-papery-winged "seeds"; buds with
3 or more overlapping bud scales ; shrubs or trees of moist sites,

sometimes thicket-forming birches (Betula spp.) .

8. Bark at base of old trunks shredding or separating into
layers; leaves dull green on both sides, sharp- or taper-
pointed at tips; second-year twigs usually smooth except for
whitish dotlike pores (lenticels) ; trees.

paper birches (varieties of Betula papyrif era).
9. Leaves square-cut or broadly (sometimes unevenly)
wedge-shaped at base, thin; margins finely, doubly saw-
toothed, slightly lobed; new twigs sparsely resin-dotted,
with straggly white hairs, becoming shiny orange-brown

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

23

Pollen-producing catkins

White alder

F-494026

24 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

and smooth; bark of lower trunk warm brown, shredding
to show orange-brown or creamy papery layers beneath;
both sides of Cascades, Blue Mts., se. Wash.; not reported
from Oreg.; type locality, "Straits of Juan de Fuca."

western paper birch (Betula papyrifera var.

commutata) .
9. Leaves somewhat heart-shaped (subcordate) at base,
thick; margins coarsely (sometimes doubly) toothed, usu-
ally not lobed; new twigs hairless or finely hairy, often
with a whitish "bloom," sometimes resin-dotted, becom-
ing shiny red-brown or grayish ; bark of lower trunk dark
silvery gray, peeling to show purplish or whitish, shreddy
laver* beneath; Waljowa Mts., ne. Oreg., Blue Mts., se.
Wash, type locality, Hatwai Creek, Nez Perce Co., Ida.
northwestern paper birch (Betula papyrifera var.

subcordata).

?iV

% Pollen-producing catkins

3%P

Persistent central stalks of
catkins, from which scales
and "seeds" have fallen

Catkin scale with "see

Pollen-producing catkins

Seed-prod

Tissue-papery-winged
"seed" (enlarged)

Section of twig, enlarged
to show resin dots and
hairs

Western paper birch

Leaf, with somewhat heart-
shaped base

F-494027

Northwestern paper birch

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

25

Thinleaf alder

F-4B402K

26 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

8. Bark at base of old trunks not shredding or separating into
layers; leaves shiny on one side, blunt- to sharp-pointed or
rounded at tips; twigs with persistent, warty resin dots;

shrubs or small trees with clustered trunks, often thicket-
forming.

10. Mature leaves to 2V2 inches long, thin but firm, shiny
yellowish green underneath, dull dark green and (when
young) resin-dotted above, broadly egg- or diamond-
shaped to nearly round; margins unevenly saw-toothed,
slightly lobed; bark bronze or dark reddish or purplish
brown, shiny; tall shrubs or bushy trees to 40 feet high,
with ascending branches; wooded areas along streams,
commonest birch of e. Oreg., e. Wash.

water birch (Betula occidentalis) .4
10. Mature leaves to l1/^ inches long, thick, pale green,
resin-dotted on under surface, shiny dark green on upper
surface, net-veined, round or reverse-egg-shaped; mar-
gins scallop-toothed; bark dark brown or reddish; much-
branched shrub to 6 or 8 feet high, with flexible twigs;
boggy places in mountain meadows, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

bog birch (Betula glandulosa) .
3. Pollen- and seed-producing catkins on different plants, appearing
before, with, or after the leaves; seed pods (capsules) cone-,
globe-, or bottle-shaped, splitting down from top into 2 or 3 parts
(valves); seeds tiny, hairy-tufted at base; twigs often self-
pruning; leaves in a % arrangement on the twigs; trees or shrubs.
[Alternate 3, p. 20.] aspen, cottonwood, and willows.

11. Buds more or less resinous; end buds present; bud scales
several, overlapping; leaves relatively broad and long-
stalked; leave margins finely saw- or scallop-toothed, or
sometimes almost entire; stipules inconspicuous, soon falling;
catkins drooping from last year's twigs, appearing before the
leaves; each pollen- or seed-producing flower in a stalked
cuplike disk in the axil of a fringed or cut-lobed, hairy, soon-
fallingsflower scale; seed pods stalked, cone- or globe-shaped;
trees, often spreading by root suckers. _ aspen and cottonwood.
12. Leafstalks twisted near the leaf blade and flattened at
right angles to it, slender; leaves nearly round in outline,
abruptly pointed at tip, green on both sides, turn bright
golden or orange-yellow in fall; seed pods cone-shaped,
splitting into 2 parts; trees often 30-40 feet high (to 60 or
80 feet), with smooth, whitish bark except near ground,

4 A drooping-branched variety of water birch [Betula occidentalis Hook., var.
fecunda Fern. (Rhodora 47:317. 1945)] with paired or clustered seed-producing
catkins and dark bronze bark was first described as a new, unnamed species by
Piper and Beattie (The Flora of the Palouse Region, p. 55. 1901) from material
growing on "Springy^ hillsides near Almota," Garfield Co., e. Wash.; it was indi-
cated merely as the authors' third "B." Perhaps this is the same as Guthrie birch
(Betula guthriei Sudw.) which Major Guthrie found in 1924, "in northeastern
Oregon growing along the Imnaha River and its tributary canyons from the mouth
of the river to a point 35 miles above, reaching elevations of from about 2,500 to
4,500 feet," and which the late Dr. George B. Sudworth named for Major Guthrie
[A New Western Birch. Araer. For. and For. Life 33 (401): 286-7. May, 1927].
It also answers the description of B. piperi Britton (Torr. Bot. Club Bui. 31: 165.
1904) but unfortunately not the type specimen of that species.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

27

Pollen-producing catkins

* . Tassellike seed-producing

catkin

I wig enlarged to show resin «v > f
droplets *. f

H ■ '« -

Resin-dotted twig

Buds with overlapping bud
scales

i »

Persistent central stalk of
seed-producing catkin

Tissue-papery-winged

"seed" (enlarged)

Immature pollen-producin;
catkins

3-lobed, papery catkin
scale (enlarged)

Water birch

Persistent central stalk of
seed-producing catkin

Enlarged twig

t^SjSSS&s

producing catkins

F-40402'.l

Bog birch

28 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

often in almost pure stands; at higher altitudes, Cascades,
and in mountains of e. Oreg., e. Wash.

quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides).
12. Leafstalks round in cross section, grooved; leaves egg- or
pear-shaped, pointed at tip, slightly heart-shaped or rounded
at base, dark .green and shining on upper surface, pale or
often whitish with a "bloom" on under surface; seed pods
globe-shaped, hairy, splitting into 3 parts; large, fast-growing
trees, mostly less than 50 feet high (to about 125 feet in
best sites), with deeply furrowed bark; river bottoms or
along streams, mostly w. of Cascades, Oreg., Wash., oc-
casional in mountains, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) .

Black cottonwood

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

29

11. Buds not resinous; true end buds lacking, twig tip dying back
to tiny stub at base of topmost side bud; bud scale single,
caplike; leaves usually relatively narrow and short-stalked, of
3 varying, intergrading leaf-shape types (at base, middle, and
tip of twig) ; twigs of 3 (or 4) kinds:5

(1) short, spring or early summer shoots from lower buds
on flowering or fruiting twigs;

(2) long, often vigorous summer shoots from top buds of
fruiting twigs;

(3) vigorous summer shoots from old wood after fruiting;

(4) late summer or autumn sucker shoots (sometimes lack-
ing) from trunk or root;

leaf margins entire or toothed, teeth sometimes gland-tipped;
stipules lacking, or green and often persistent, or scalelike and

5 Unless otherwise stated, the illustration is of a mature leaf from near middle of
a type 2 or type 3 twig.

Flower scale

Seed-producing flower

Catkin with 2-parted seed
pods (capsules)

Catkins with 3-parted seed)
pods (capsules)

-producing flower,
th flower scale

Pollen-producing flower
and scale

F-49403 1

Quaking aspen

Black cottonwood

30 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Bud scale removed

Bud scale single

Willows (Salix spp.)

F-486452

soon falling (leaving stipule scars) ; catkins erect or spreading,
stalkless or stalked, appearing before, with, or after leaves;
each pollen- or seed-producing flower with 1 (or 2) peg-shaped
glands and in axil of a usually entire and hairy, often per-
sistent flower scale; stamens usually 2-5, sometimes 1, rarely
more than 5; seed pods (capsules) somewhat pear-shaped,
stalked or stalkless, splitting into 2 (rarely 3) parts; seeds
many, very tiny, surrounded at base by long, fine, silky, white
hairs; trees or shrubs with very bitter bark, often stump- or
root-sprouting (in favorable sites, sometime reproducing by
rooting of fallen twigs), mostly insect-pollinated, often cross-
breeding (hybrids often with both pollen- and seed-producing
flowers in same catkin) willows (Salix spp.).6

6 See C. R. Ball, Illustrating Plant Organs for Taxonomic Purposes. Castanea
8:67-71. 1943, and More Plant Study; Fewer Plant Names. Arn. Arb. Jour.
27:371-385. 1946.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

31

13

15.

Leaves 4 (or 5) to 15 times as long as wide (except peach-
leaf willow which is sometimes only 3 times as long as wide) ;
catkins persistent; flower scales yellow, soon falling; tall
shrubs or trees; along streams, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
14. Leaves narrowly to broadly linear, tapering at both ends,
stalkless or nearly so; margins entire or with tiny, wide-
spaced, often glandular teeth; stipules scalelike, soon
withering; catkins 1-3 together, at ends of new leafy
twigs, appearing with or after leaves; stamens 2.

gravelbar or sandbar willows.
Twigs spreading, dark brown to red or black, often
shiny, nearly hairless; leaves dark green on upper side,
paler green or slightly whitened (glaucescent) on under
side, nearly hairless,' to 3l/2 inches long (young twigs,
stipules, leaf blades, leafstalks more or less densely
gray-hairy in var. bolanderiana) ; seed pods hairless;
tall shrubs (rarely small trees), in clumps, usually on
gravel bars, dusky willow (Salix melanopsis) .

Twigs ascending, yellow to brown, hairy; seed pods
hairy (at least when young) ; usually tall shrubs, often

thicket -forming sandbar willows.

Leaves finely (sometimes sparsely) short-gray-hairy
(young twigs and leaves often densely short -whit e-
hairv at first and then mistaken for silverleaf willow) ,
2-5 "inches long; margins often with tiny, dotlike,
glandular teeth; catkins to 2% inches long; seed pods
soon becoming hairless or nearly so.

coyote willow (Salix exigua).
Leaves and seed pods silvery-white, usually densely
long-soft-hairy, leaves to 3K inches long, with a
short, awnlike (aristate) tip; margins entire or
nearly so; catkins to less than 2 inches long.

silverleaf willow (Salix argophylla).

15

16.

16.

F-494032

Coyote willow

471114 O-60-3

Dusky willow

Silverleaf willow

32

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

14. Leaves broadly lance-shaped, long-tapering at tip,
stalked; margins closely toothed; stipules green, per-
sistent; catkins single, from side buds on last season's
twigs, leafy or leafy-bracted at base, short-stalked, ap-
pearing with the leaves; stamens 3-8; usually trees, in
valleys or along streams.
17. Wartlike glands present along edges of the stoutish
leafstalks, usually near leaf blades; leaves to 10 inches
long; twigs stoutish, yellow to reddish.
18. Leaves green on both sides, tapering from below
middle; twigs chestnut to reddish, finely hairy, as
are also the leafstalks (hairless in var. bryantiana) ;
stipules small; small trees or few -stemmed shrubs
with smooth brown bark.

whiplash willow (Salix caudata).
18. Leaves whitened (glaucous) on under side, shiny
green on upper side, tapering from above middle;
twigs shiny, yellow to dark red-brown, nearly hair-
less, as are also the leafstalks (hairy in the var.
lancifolia) ; stipules conspicuous, semicircular; mostly
trees with rough, furrowed, blackish bark.

Pacific willow (Salix lasiandra) .
17. Wartlike glands lacking from leafstalks which are to
iy2 inches long; leaves to 6 inches long, whitened
(glaucous) on under side; stipules soon falling; twigs
slender, flexible, yellowish to gray, often drooping;
small to large trees, often with 2-4 leaning trunks.

peachleaf willow (Salix amygdaloides) .

Leaves somewhat whiten
(glaucescent) on under
surface

Peachleaf willow

Wartlike glands

Whiplash willow

Stipules

Pacific willow

F-494033

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

33

Female catkin with ripening
seed pods (capsules)

F-244372

13. Leaves 2-4 times as long as wide; catkins from side buds
on last season's twigs, naked or leafy-bracted at base,
stalkless or stalked, appearing with the leaves or before
them; flower scales persistent, brownish to black (yellowish
with reddish tips in Bebb and Geyer willows) ; stamens 2
(only 1 in Sitka willow).
19. Leaf margins entire (sometimes distantly and indis-
tinctly scallop- or sawT-toothed), often slightly rolled
under (revolute).
20. Leaves mostly broadest above middle.

21. Leaves reversely egg- or broadly lance-shaped (ob-
ovate or oblanceolate), larger leaves sometimes
oblong-elliptic, wedge-shaped at base, to 3 (or 5)
inches long and V/2 inches wide; upper leaf surface
dull green with impressed veins; under leaf surface
with raised veins; twigs yellowish to brown, aging
dark brown to black, more or less hairy at least when
young; shrubs or small trees.

34 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

22. Under leaf surface whitened (glaucous) and
thinly to densely white- (or rusty-) hairy; leaves
thick, prominently net- veiny; stipules, when pres-
ent, to )'-i inch long, somewhat egg- or kidney-
shaped in outline; twigs stout, widely spreading to
ascending; catkins appearing before leaves (some-
times called Christmas willow because of very
early blooming), to 3 inches long and nearly 1 inch
wide, stalkless or nearly so; seed pods (capsules)
gray-woolly-hairy, beaked; freshly crushed new
bark and leaves often with strong, unpleasant
odor; shrubs or small trees (to nearly 50 feet high
in best sites); often first shrubs to come in after
fire (sometimes called fire willow) ; commonest
upland willow, e. Oreg., e. Wash., from low to
high elevations; type locality along Columbia
River Scouler willow (Salix scouleriana) .

22. Under leaf-surface not as above, with satiny
sheen, usually densely silky-hairy; leaves thin,
with parallel veins upcurving near margins; stip-
ules none or small and broadly lance-shaped; twigs
slender, long, straight, ascending; catkins appear-
ing before or with the leaves, to 3% inches long
and y2 inch wide; seed pods (capsules) silky-hairy;
usually shrubs, to 23 feet high; valleys at lower
elevations, mountain areas of e. Oreg., e. Wash,
(commoner w. of Cascades).

Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis).
21. Leaves narrowly and reversely lance-shaped (bo-
lanceolate) or oblong and narrowed at base; stipules
lacking or small and only on vigorous shoots; catkins
appearing before the leaves, stalkless or nearly so.

23. Under leaf-surface silvery-silky-hairy, sometimes
becoming hairless and whitened (glaucous) with
age; leaves to 3 (or 4) inches long and 1 inch wide,
pointed or tapering at tip; twigs slender, dark,
with a dense whitish "bloom" (pruinose) easily
rubbed or washed off (twig then becoming shiny) ;
catkins to \)i inches long, often with a few leafy
bracts at base; seed pods silky-hairy, almost stalk-
less; flower scales thinly long-hairy; anthers some-
times a striking red before shedding their pollen;
shrubs to nearly 10 feet high; wet meadows or
along streams, higher elevations, e. Oreg., e.
Wash.; type locality, near head of Eagle Creek in
Powder Alts., Wallowa Co., ne. Oreg.

blue willow (Salix drummondiana var.
subcoerulea).7

7 Beautiful willow (Salix drummondiana var. bella, syn. S. bella) is similar to
blue willow, but has stouter, yellowish, finely hairy to hairless twigs with only a
faint whitish "bloom" (slightly pruinose) soon rubbing or washing off. Its leaves
are narrower and relatively longer, with prominent yellow midrib and whitish,
matted hairs on under surface; the seed pods (capsules) are grayish-silky-hairy;
the catkins appear before the leaves; stipules are often present; shrubs to 13 feet
high, at lower elevations, along streams, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, about
6 miles east of Pullman, near Garrison, Whitman Co., Wash.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

35

Scouler willow

F-88664

36 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Bebb willow

Pollen-producing
catkin
Sitka willow ' F-494034

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 37

23. Under leaf-surface whitened (glaucous), hairy to
nearly hairless, net-veiny; leaves from 2)i to 4 (or
6) inches long and % to 1% inches wide, bluntly
pointed or rounded at tip; twigs rather stout,
yellowish, becoming dark brown, hairy to nearly
hairless; catkins to 3 inches long, not leafy -bracted
at base; seed pods (capsules) hairless, almost stalk-
less; flower scales blackish but densely white-hairy ;
stamen stalks united near base; clustered shrubs
or small trees to nearly 40 feet high ; dry to moist
watercourses at lower elevations, e. Oreg., e.
Wash.; type locality, near Monterey, Calif.

arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis).
20. Leaves mostly not broadest above middle, variable in
shape, to 3 inches long, hairy on both surfaces, whit-
ened (glaucous) on under surface; stipules none, or
small and on fast-growing shoots; young twigs very
leafy; catkins on short, leafy or leafy -bracted stalks;
seed pods (capsules) beaked, hairy, stalked ; flower
scales yellowish with reddish tips; stamen stalks often
hairy; tall shrubs or small trees.
24. Under leaf-surface deeply net-veiny or cross-wrin-
kled (rugose), densely grayish-hairy to almost hair-
less, often somewhat whitened (glaucescent to
glaucous); twigs short, slender, spreading, brownish,
often hairy, with a slight whitish "bloom" (pruinose)
that is soon rubbed or washed off; leaves rigid, ellip-
tic, oblong or somewhat diamond-shaped (sometimes
reversely egg-shaped in outline), pointed at both
ends or rounded at base and abruptly short-tapered
and often twisted to one side at tip, to 1 inch wide;
catkins appearing before the leaves, to 3 inches long;
seed pods (capsules) finely hairy, to % inch long,
long- and slender-stalked; bushy upland shrubs or
small trees to 16 feet high; moist sites in open woods,
often at low elevations, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Bebb willow (Salix bebbiana).
24. Under leaf-surface not deeply net-veined or cross-
wrinkled as above, thinly silky-hairy, whitened
(glaucous) ; twigs slender, olive green to brown or
black, hairless, with a whitish "bloom" (pruinose)
soon rubbed or washed off; leaves thick or leathery,
narrowly elliptic-oblong to somewhat lance-shaped
(sometimes reversely lance-shaped), to % inch wide,
pointed at tip, narrowed at base, often with margins
rolled under (revolute) ; catkins appearing with the
leaves, to 1 inch long, egg- or almost globe-shaped;
seed pods (capsules) silky-hairy, to % inch long, on
short, stoutish, hairy stalks; erect, clustered shrubs
or small trees to 13 (or 20) feet high; moist meadows,
streambanks, middle to higher elevations, e. Oreg.,

e. Wash Geyer willow (Salix geyeriana) .

19. Leaf margins finely (often glandular-) saw-toothed
(sometimes almost entire) ; leaves to 4 (or 6) inches long;

38 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

stipules often present ; catkins appearing with the leaves,
usually on short, leafy or leafy-bracted stalks; seed pods
and stamen stalks hairless; flower scales hairy.
25. Under leaf-surface whitened (glaucous).

26. Leaves lance-shaped, broadest near base, rounded
or heart-shaped at base, pointed or tapering at tip,
hairless or nearly so.
27. Twigs yellowish, hairless; leaves yellowish-green
on upper surface; stipules egg- or half-moon-
shaped in outline; clustered shrubs to nearly 20
feet high; meadows or along streams, to 7,000 feet,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, "Rocky Moun-
tains westward to the Oregon" (Columbia River).

yellow willow (Salix luted).
27. Twigs reddish to dark brown, often hairy; leaves
dark green on upper surface; stipules kidney- or
half-moon-shaped in outline; catkins long; anthers
often bright red before shedding pollen; shrub or
small tree to nearly 20 feet high; moist sites, to
5,000 feet, both sides of Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

Mackenzie willow (Salix mackenziana).
26. Leaves varying from reversely egg-shaped (obovate)
to elliptic-oval or broadly oblanceolate, narrowed to
somewhat heart-shaped at base, pointed to abruptly
short-tapered at tip, dark green and thinly hairy on
upper surface, net-veiny and usually hairless on
under surface; stipules egg- to heart-shaped in out-
line, to l/2 inch long; twigs stoutish, yellow, soon
becoming brown, drying black, often thinly soft-
hairy; shrubs to 13 feet high, in boggy sites, higher
altitudes, mts. of ne. Oreg., rare in Cascades.

Barclay willow (Salix barclayi).
25. Under leaf-surface not whitened (glaucous) as above,
green; leaves net- veiny, rather broad; stipules usually
present, at least on fast-growing shoots; twigs yellowish
when young, soon becoming brown to reddish or
black; catkins appearing with the leaves, stalked,
leafy or leafy-bracted at base.
28. Leaf margins cartilaginous, finely saw-toothed,
teeth glandular; leaves thickish, paler green on
under surface, hairless or nearly so, elliptic-lance-
shaped to oblong-oval, rounded or heart-shaped
at base; stipules narrowly egg-shaped in outline,
to % inch long; catkins to 1% inches long; twigs
yellowish to reddish brown, shining, almost hairless;
shrubs, often in clumps, to 13 feet high; mountain
streams, e. side of Cascades, in ne. Oreg., e. Wash.
firmleaf willow (Salix pseudocordata) .
28. Leaf margins not cartilaginous and leaves not
thickish as above; leaves nearly equally green on
both sides, pointed or abruptly tapered at tip;
shrubs to nearly 10 feet high.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

39

Pollen-producing catkin

K 104035

Yellow willow

Mackenzie willow

40

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

29. Leaves grayish-cobwebby-hairy on both surfaces,
dull opaque green, oblong to oval or reversely
egg-shaped (obovate) to reversely lance-shaped
(oblanceolate), narrowed to rounded at base;
stipules heart- to egg-shaped in outline; catkins
to 2 inches long; stamen stalks not united; twigs
stoutish, drying black, almost hairless; mountain
bogs, middle to higher elevations, Cascades,
Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg. ; type localitv, Wallowa
Mts.

undergreen willow (Salix commutata) .

29. Leaves nearly hairless, dark almost transparent
green, broadly lance- to egg-shaped, rounded to
heart-shaped at base; stipules half-moon- or
broadly egg-shaped in outline; catkins to 2){
inches long, lax; stamen stalks united near base;
flower scales dark brown, hairy, persistent; twigs
yellow to brown, shiny, hairless; along streams,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, Hatwai Creek
valley, Nez Perce Co., Idaho.

greensides willow (Salix monochroma) .

Firmleaf willow

Grayish cobwebby-hairy
on both sides

Undergreen willow

F-49403C.

Greensides willow

PLANTS DECIDUOUS ■ SPRING AND

SUMMER

Leaves Alternate and Simple
Plants Unarmed Without Catkins

[Flowers not in scaly bracted, elongated clusters (catkins or aments)]

1. Plants with sagebrush odor and taste; leaves, flower-head bracts
shed in fall, silver-gray-hairy, deeply 3-parted at tips (some entire,
linear) ; bracts longer than flower heads; flower-head clusters usu-
allv spikelike; low, spreading, shrubs to 2 feet high, not layering or
root-sprouting; scablands, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, plains
of Snake River stiff* sagebrush (Artemisia rigida) .8

8 See Evergreen Key for big sagebrush, low sagebrush, silver sagebrush, and
threetip sagebrush; see Plants Armed Key for bud sagebrush.

Stiff sagebrush

F-4S121K

41

42 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1. Plants without sagebrush odor and taste.
2. Leaves palmately 3- to 7-lobed. [Alternate 2, p. 48.]

3. Bark shreddy or peeling in long strips or layers; stipules (or
their scars) at leafstalk bases; flowers, fruits stalked, in stalked,
umbrellalike end clusters (corymbs).

4. Leaves bluntly 3- to 5-lobed, slightly heart-shaped or
rounded at base, to 3 inches wide, often red by late July;
leaf margins doubly scallop-toothed; leafstalks to 1 inch
long; stipules soon falling; hairs star-shaped; seed pods
(follicles) 2 to each flower, persistent ; bark peeling in many
layers, grayish brown; rootstocks long, spreading, yellow
inside; burned or cutover areas, rocky dry hillsides, washes,
open woods, or roadsides; common, Wallowa, Blue Mts.,
ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

mallow ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus).

4. Leaves sharply 5- to 7-lobed, deeply heart-shaped at base,
to 8 inches wide, yellow or brown in fall; leaf margins doubly
saw-toothed ; leafstalks often as long as leaf blades ; stipules
attached to leafstalk bases, persistent; hairs simple, gland-
tipped; thimbleberries soon falling; bark shreddy, brown;
several -stemmed shrub; root crown erect, woody, elongated;
moist, shady woods, common in e. Oreg., e. Wash.

western thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus).

3. Bark not shreddy or peeling in long strips or layers as above;

stipules lacking; flowers, fruits jointed to bracted stalks

pedicels), in stalked end clusters (racemes) ; berries falling free

from stalks when ripe currants (Ribes spp.).

5. Leaves shiny pale green, firm, almost fleshy and translucent,
deeply 3- (rarely 5-) lobed, square-cut or wedge- or heart-
shaped at base, unrolling lengthwise from bud; leaf margins
entire or with a few large, rounded teeth; flowers clear
yellow, tubular, shallowly lobed; currants yellow, red, or
black; erect shrubs, to 8 feet high; common along streams
or moist hillsides, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, banks of
Columbia River golden currant (Ribes aureum).

5. Leaves not as above, unfolding from bud in accordionlike
pleats.

6. Under leaf-surface dotted with tiny yellow resin drops;
leaves maplelike, thin, with distinctive, unpleasant odor
when crushed; leaf margins sharply, irregularly toothed;
leafstalks often longer than leaf blades; flower clusters
erect, slender; currants black, resin-dotted.
7. Leaves to 10 inches wide, 5- to 7-lobed; leafstalks usu-
ally with long bristly hairs near bases; flower clusters
to 8 inches long; flower-stalk bracts often leaflike, longer
than flower stalks; currants with whitish "bloom";
shrubs to 12 feet high; common w., occasional e. slopes
of Cascades, Oreg., Wash.; type locality, near mouth of

Columbia River stink currant (Ribes bracteosum).

7. Leaves to 5V2 inches wide, 3- to 5-lobed; leafstalks
usually without bristly hairs near base; flower clusters
to 6 inches long; flower-stalk bracts not leaflike, shorter
than flower stalks; currants without whitish "bloom";

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 43

1 \

Western thimbleberry

F-494037

44 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Yellow resin dots
leaf-surface

Western black currant

Stink currant

F-49403S

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

45

shrubs to 6 feet high; mountain streams, e. Oreg., e.
Wash.; type locality, w. base, Rocky Mts.

western black currant (Ribes petiolare).
6. Under leaf-surface without yellow resin droplets; leaves
kidney-shaped or round in outline, thickish, with pleasant
odor when crushed; leaf margins rather bluntly toothed;
leafstalks often shorter than leaf blades; flower clusters
drooping to ascending, rather broad; currants red or
black, not resin-dotted.

Stink currant

F-486438

46 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Western black currant

F-486440

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

47

8. Leaves shiny and gummy or whitish-waxy on upper
surface, in % arrangement on twig, often indistinctly
lobed, with musky or rather heavily fragrant odor when
crushed; leaf margins doubly scallop-toothed; flowers
tubular, greenish-white to pinkish, very short-stalked,
few (1-9) in each drooping eluster; flower-stalk bracts
green, usually lobed or toothed, longer than flower
stalks; currants bright red (sometimes orange); bark
smooth, light grayish; much-branched shrubs, to 6 feet
high; common in dry woods or on rocky hillsides,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, upper Columbia River
in Wash wax currant (Ribes cereum).

Wax currant

471114 O-60-4

48 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

8. Leaves not as above, in % arrangement on twig,

distinctly 3- (sometimes 5-) lobed, with pleasantly
pungent odor when crushed; leaf margins irregularly
toothed; flowers funnel- or bell-shaped, often more
than 10 to a cluster; currants black, usually with gland-
tipped hairs; bark somewhat shreddy; usually in moist
sites.

9. Leaves densely white- or grayish-woolly-hairy on
under surface, aromatic; leaf margins finely toothed;
flowers 10-30, showy, deep pink to red, funnel-
shaped; flower-stalk bracts red; currants blue-black,
with whitish "bloom" ; bark brownish ; branches erect;
stout shrubs 3-12 feet high; common in moist, rich
soils w. of Cascades, occasional on lower e. slopes,
Oreg., Wash.; type locality, along Columbia River.
blood currant (Ribes sanguineum) .
9. Leaves with tack-shaped glands on both surfaces,
rough to the touch, hairy, with citronella odor;
margins irregularly scallop-toothed; flowers 3-12,
whitish to pink, bell-shaped; flower-stalk bracts
greenish; currants black, without whitish "bloom";
bark reddish; branches many; stiff, bushy shrub to
5 feet high; scattered, often locally abundant, in open,
rather dry to moist woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type
locality, Rocky Mts.

sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum) .
2. Leaves not palmately lobed. [Alternate 2, p. 42.]

10. Leaves (at least some) 3- veined from near base, broad,
elliptic to egg- (or reversely egg-) shaped, oblong, oval, or
nearly circular.
1 1 . Pith solid; older twigs dotted with reddish, resinlike blisters ;
shrubs with many tiny flowers or 3-lobed seed pods (cap-
sules) in stalked, branched clusters (panicles).

ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.) 9
12. Leaf margins entire; leaves softly hairy, larger and more
distinctly 3-veined in moist sites; leafstalks to % inch
long; flowers blue or white, rarely pink, in usually leaf-
less, elongated end clusters on new shoots; loosely
branched shrubs 3-12 feet high, stump-sprouting after
cutting; branches green or yellowish, hairy, slightly
drooping; rare e. of Cascades; along roads near Columbia
River, Klickitat Co., Wash., Hood River Co., Oreg.

deerbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus integerrimus).
12. Leaf margins toothed; teeth gland-tipped; leaves nearly
hairless; leafstalks to 1 inch long; flowers white, in leaf-
less clusters on old wood; branches red or purplish,
flexible ; erect shrubs to 10 feet high; thickets, open woods
or on burns, sunny slopes, or along streams; e. lower
slopes of Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts., Oreg., Wash.
redstem ceanothus (Ceanothus sanguineus) .

9 See Evergreen Key for snowbrush ceanothus. See pp. 58-60 for the spireas,
some of which have at least part of their leaves faintly 3-nerved near base.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

49

Sticky currant

Blood currant

K-1040-40

50

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

m

?.#■

'*,*».

■

.

1

* ■?• i

• '

D
O

3

61
0*

Q

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

51

11. Pith chambered; twigs without reddish, resinlike blisters;
leaf margins entire or partly toothed; leaves one-sided at
base, strongly net-veined on under surface, rough to the
touch on upper surface, in y2 arrangement on twig; leaf-
stalks about Yi inch long; flowers single, stalked, in leaf
axils; fruits berrylike (drupes), reddish to yellowish brown;
small trees, often with witches brooms on the twigs and
insect galls on the leaves; bottom lands or canyons, e.
Oreg., e. Wash, netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata). 10

10 Syns. Celtis douglasii, C. laevigata var. reticulata, ('. occideiUalis var. reticulata.
Xetleaf hackberry is a very variable species, with intergrading forms. Typical
C. reticulata is more or less xerophytic with thick, conspicuously net-veined leaves.
Typical C. douglasii has oblong-ovate, rough, taper-tipped, sharply saw-toothed
leaves and longer-stalked, purplish (rather than orange) fruits. Type locality of
C. douglasii is ". . . arid interior region, along the Columbia River."

Redstem ceanothus

I 194041

52

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Redstem ceanothus

F-4SR443

10. Leaves not 3-veined from near base, with but one main

midrib.

13. Stems twining or climbing, woody only near base; leaves

entire or deeply lobed near base, with rank odor when

crushed; berries red, clustered; poisonous introduced vine;

occasional in moist sites or near streams, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

bitter nightshade (Solanus dulcamara) .

13. Stems not twining or climbing.

14. Leaves broad, mostly less than 4 times as long as wide.
[Alternate 14, p. 74.]
15. Leafstalk and/or leaf-blade base with 1-4 pinhead-
sized glands.

bitter cherry, chokecherries, Klamath plum

16. Glands on leaf-blade base; leaf-margin teeth rounded

(crenulate) ; gland tips lying between teeth (ap-

pressed) or spreading to give finely saw-toothed

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

53

Bitter cherry

F-494n4L>

(serrulate) effect; leaves often oblong, variable in
shape and hairiness, blunt to pointed or slightly
notched (emarginate) at tip, wedge-shaped at base,
to 3 inches long; flowers dull white, appearing with
leaves, in branched, umbrellalike clusters (corymbose
racemes) in leaf axils; cherries very bitter, bright
red (drying dark) ; crushed twigs with peach-pit odor
and bitter taste; outer bark easily separated from
inner bark; moist to dry hillsides near streams, e.
Oreg., e. Wash., also w. of Cascades; type locality,
upper part of Columbia River, near Kettle Falls.

bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata).

54 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

16. Glands on leafstalk (sometimes also on ieaf-blade

base) ; leaf margins finely (sometimes doubly and

unevenly) saw-toothed.

17. Leaves circular or broadly egg-shaped, often

somewhat heart-shaped (subcordate) at base and

abruptly sharp-pointed at tip, 1-2 inches long;

leaf margins sharply, doubly saw-toothed; true

end buds lacking, twig tips dying back to topmost

side bud, sometimes becoming sharp-pointed

(spinescent) ; flowers white, fading rose, in clusters

of 2 to 4, appearing before or with the leaves;

plums red; straggly, crooked-branching shrubs or

small trees; dry thickets, sw. Oreg., e. to Lake Co. ;

not reported from Wash.

Klamath plum (Prunus subcordata).
17. Leaves broadly elliptic to reversely egg-shaped,
sharp- to taper-pointed at tip, rounded or broadly
wedge- to heart-shaped at base, to 5 inches long;
margins finely saw-toothed ; true end buds present;
fresh-crushed leaves, twigs with strong peach-pit
odor and taste; foliage fatally poisonous to live-
stock under certain conditions; flowTers stalked,
many, in elongate, erect or drooping end clusters
(racemes) on new leafy shoots; ripe fruits shiny,
bright red or black, sweet but with astringent
after-taste, falling free or with their stalks
(pedicels) attached; fruit-stalk scars in axils of
flower-stalk bract scars, or lowest sometimes in
leaf (or leaf-scar) axils; varieties hard to tell
apart except when in ripe fruit (late summer and
early fall) .

common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana).
18. Ripe fruits bright red (drying dark purplish)
only slightly astringent, often persistent (as are
also abortive fruits) ; fruit-stalk scars often
elongate, with torn edges; leaves usually hairy,
averaging larger, thinner than those of black
common chokecherry; leaf-margin teeth
straight, evenly appressed, containing very
little green leaf substance (being mostly pale
cartilaginous margin), their gland tips mostly
persistent until leaves fall.

western common chokecherry
(Prunus virginiana var. demissa).
18. Ripe fruits black, astringent, often falling with
stalks attached; abortive fruits rarely present;
fruit-stalk scars mostly circular, callus-covered ;
leaves usually hairless, averaging smaller and
thicker than those of western common choke-
cherry; leaf-margin teeth incurved, unevenly
appressed, containing more leaf substance and
less cartilaginous margin, their gland tips tiny,
soon falling or lacking.

black common chokecherry (Prunus
virginiana var. melanocarpa) .

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

55

d bud

Klamath plum

F-494043

v (semi

F-480432

Western common chokecherry
(under leaf-surface)

Black common chokecherry
(upper leaf-surface)

56

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

15. Leafstalk and leaf-blade base without pinhead-sized
glands.
19. Leaves pinnately lobed (each lobe with 2-6 abruptly
short-pointed teeth), broadly egg-shaped, square-cut
at base, to 4 inches long and 3 inches wide, green
above, paler and often densely gray- or whitish-hairy
beneath; flowers tiny, creamy white, in showy,
much-branched end clusters (panicles); "seeds"
(achenes) tiny, 5 to each flower, beaked, long-soft-
hairy, winter-persistent, in clusters distinctive even
at a distance; erect shrubs to 20 feet high; open
woods, cutover lands, canyon bottoms, e. Oreg.,
e. Wash., also w. of Cascades; type locality, banks
of Clearwater River, Idaho.

creambush rockspirea, or oceanspray

(Holodiscus discolor).

19. Leaves not pinnately lobed as above.

20. Leaf margins distinctly (sometimes coarsely

and/or doubly) toothed, at least on upper part.

[Alternate 20* p. 64]

21. Mistlike gland droplets on leaves and twigs;

leaves to 1 inch long, broadly rounded and

toothed at tip, wedge-shaped and entire at

base, hairy to nearly hairless; twigs often

sharp-tipped ; bark dark red, aging gray, flaking

off; flowers, fruits like those of creambush

rockspirea but in smaller, narrower clusters;

low, spreading shrubs of dry mountain sites,

e. Oreg., not reported from Wash.; type

locality, Steens Mts., s. Oreg.

glandular littleleaf rockspirea

(Holodiscus microphyllus var. glabrescens).

21. Mistlike gland droplets lacking on leaves and

twigs.

22. True end buds, stipules and stipule scars

lacking; twig tips dying back to topmost side

buds; leaf scars with single bundle trace;

Creambush rockspirea

K-404044

Glandular littleleaf rockspirea

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

57

Creambush rockspirea

F-2!1871fi

58 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

flowers and seed pods tiny, many, in showy,
flattish-topped or elongate end clusters dis-
tinctive even at a distance.

spireas, also called hardhack,

meadow-sweet, steeplebush (Spiraea spp.).

23. Leaves hairless or nearly so, paler green or

with whitish "bloom" on under surface,

lowest pair of side veins attached so near

base of midrib that leaf appears 3-veined.

24. Flowers white, in flattish-topped end

clusters; leaves shiny on upper surface,

oval to reversely egg-shaped, to 3 inches

long; stems erect, to 3 feet high, from

trailing, shallow, woody rootstocks, often

dying down to near base in winter; bark

shiny, tan to brown; dry hillsides, open

woods; commonest spirea of middle

altitudes, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

shinyleaf spirea (Spiraea lucida).n
24. Flowers pink to rose.

25. Flower and seed-pod clusters flattish-
topped; leaves oval to elliptic, to 2
inches long; stems much-branched, to
3 feet high; bark dark red-brown;
bushy shrubs growing separately or in
patches, on rocky ridges or with lodge-
pole or western white pine at higher
altitudes; Cascades, Blue and Wallowa

Mts., e. Oreg subalpine spirea

(Spiraea densi flora).

25. Flower, seed-pod clusters spikelike to

pyramidal; leaves elliptic, rounded or

wedge-shaped at base, to 4 inches long,

thin, often a little hairy; in patches,

moist stream sites, both sides of

Cascades, Blue Mts., e. Oreg., se.

Wash.; type locality, northwest coast.

Menzies spirea (Spiraea menziesii).

23. Leaves finely white-woolly-hairy on under

surface, leathery, to 4 inches long, elliptic

to oblong or oval, rounded or pointed at

ends; flowers rose-colored, in pyramidal

clusters; stems, branches erect, to 8 feet

tall ; twigs finely white-woolly-hairy, striped,

reddish brown; often thicket-forming,

spreading by suckers; wet sites, mostly w.

of Cascades, Oreg., Wash.; type locality,

nw. coast near Columbia River.

Douglas spirea (Spiraea douglasii).

1 White- and rose-flowered spireas sometimes crossbreed naturally, the resulting
hybrids with variously mixed and intergrading characters; such hybrids are
reported from Yakima River near Cle Elum, and from Falcon Valley, Wash.
The rose-colored spireas also crossbreed naturally, with many intermediate forms
reportedly growing near the Cascades of the Columbia River, and also along the
Hood River in Oregon.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

59

White-woolly-hairy under
leaf-surface

Douglas spirea

Menzies spirea

60 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

22. True end buds and stipules present; leaf scars
with 3 bundle traces; leaf veins parallel or
nearly so (sometimes upcurving or branching
a little near margins) ; flowers with showy,
usually white petals to 1 inch long, often
fragrant, 3-15, in stalked, often erect, end
clusters (racemes) on new leafy twigs;
"berries" (pomes) tipped by persistent flower
parts (bent-back calyx lobes and 2-5 separate
or partly united styles) ; low to tall shrubs
or small trees; moist sites, open woods or
springy hillsides.

serviceberries {Amelanchier spp.).12
26. Mature leaves hairless or nearly so; new
twigs reddish brown.
27. Twigs, leaves hairless even when young;
new twigs pliable, slender, wandlike,
shiny; leaves pale green on both sides,
mostly oval, to 2 inches long, rounded
or abruptly pointed at tip; veins 7-10
pairs, upcurving, branching near the
sharply saw-toothed margins; teeth 3-15
on each side; flowers large (petals to
1 inch long), stalked, 3-8 in each cluster,
blooming 10-15 days earlier than Saska-
toon serviceberry with which it often
grows; "berries" scarlet, ripening black,
often hairless in depression around base
of the 4 or 5 styles, with lance-shaped
calyx lobes to nearly */4 inch long;
slender shrubs to 10 feet high; e. slopes
of Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts.,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, stony
hillsides, Union Co., ne. Oreg.

Cusick serviceberry
{Amelanchier cusickii).
27. Twigs, leaves hairy when young, soon
hairless; leaves pale or with whitish
"bloom" on under side; veins 8-12 (or
13) pairs, often running out to teeth;
flowers 5-15 in each cluster; petals to %
inch long; "berries" purplish black,
tipped by triangular-lance-shaped calyx
lobes to Vg inch long.
28. New twigs silky-hairy; leaves dark
green on upper side, firm to leathery,
mostly quadrangular or round in out-
line, rarely wedge-shaped at base,
usually /2 grown at flowering time;
teeth incurved, 2-20 on each side

12 Serviceberry species are variable and often hard to tell apart. The present
treatment is based on that of Dr. George Neville Jones, American Species of
Amelanchier. 111. Biol. Monog. 202 (2): 126-206, illus. 1939.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

61

Cusick serviceberry

F-486441

5 styles, ± united near
base inside depression

Stamen-stalk fringe inside
the 5 bent-back calyx
lobes

Serviceberry fruit (berrylike pome)

Cusick serviceberry leaves

F-49404O

(\2

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

26.

flowers small (petals less than % inch
long) blooming 10-15 days later than
Cusick serviceberry with which it often
grows; "berries" often reversely pear-
shaped, woolly-hairy at style bases;
tall shrubs or small trees, sometimes
low and twiggy from browse injury or
exposed site conditions; e. slopes of
Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts.,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Saskatoon serviceberry
(Amelanchier alnifolia).
28. New twigs and leaves woolly-hairy;
leaves bright green on upper side, thin,
often fully grown at flowering time,
rounded, somewhat square-cut or
slightly pointed at tip; teeth spread-
ing, triangular, 5-20 on each side;
veins slightly upcurving; flower petals
to % inch long; "berries" woolly-hairy
at base of the 5 styles (united to
middle or above) ; tall shrubs or small
trees; mostly w. of Cascades, occa-
sional in Columbia Gorge area e. of
Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

Pacific serviceberry
(Amelanchier florida).
Mature leaves finely woolly-hairy or gray-
ish with soft curly hairs, somewhat leathery,
to IV2 inches long, varying from roundish
to egg- (or reversely egg-) shaped, square-
cut, shallowly notched, rounded or with
short spiny-pointed tip, and rounded,
square-cut or wedge-shaped at base; veins
11—13 pairs; teeth 3-10 on each side,
spreading or scalloped; flowers 3-6 in a
cluster, with petals to % inch long, some-
times reddish in bud; "berries" bluish-
black (sometimes brownish, dry, leathery),
finely woolly-hairy in depression at base
of the 2-4 (or 5) styles; calyx lobes some-
times erect, linear-lance-shaped, finely
woolly-hairy on both sides; shrubs usually
bushy, much-branched, with rigid, ashy-
gray twigs; Lake to Malheur Cos., se.
Oreg., not reported from Wash.

Utah serviceberry
(Amelanchier utahensis).

Utah serviceberry leaves

F-494047

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

63

Saskatoon serviceberry
leaves

r 404048

Saskatoon serviceberry

47 1114 0-60-^

64 HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

20. Leaf margins entire or very finely toothed.

[Alternate 20, p. 56.]
29. Side veins distinct, nearly parallel (upcurving

near margins); teeth gland-tipped; true end
buds lacking, stem tips dying back to topmost
side buds; ripe "berries" (drupes) black,
cathartic-emetic, stalked, borne singly or in
umbrella-shaped clusters in leaf axils; "seeds"
(nutlets) usually 3.

buckthorns (Rhamnus spp.).
30. Leaf margins almost entire (wavy or distantly
fine-toothed) ; leaves clustered near twig tips,
elliptic to oblong or reversely egg-shaped, to
6 (or 8) inches long, 3 inches wide; side veins
9-16 pairs; buds naked (without bud scales),
resembling tiny, brown-hairy, clustered
leaves; "berries" purplish-black, in stalked
clusters; "seeds" smooth, on outer side; bark
(the cascara sagrada of the drug trade)
smooth, gray, stripped for medicinal use;
tall shrubs or small trees, stump-sprouting
after cutting; moist sites, mostly w. of
Cascades but also in e. Oreg., e. Wash, at
lower elevations (3,000 feet); type locality
along Clearwater River near Kamiah, Nez
Perce Co., Idaho.
cascara buckthorn (Rhamnus pur shiana).

30. Leaf margins with rounded teeth; gland tips
appressed, apparently lying between teeth;
leaves scattered along twigs, elliptic to oval,
often taper-pointed at tip, to 4 inches long
and nearly 2 inches wide; side veins 6-10
pairs; buds with several overlapping bud
scales; "berries" black, single or 2- to 3-
clustered in leaf axils; "seeds" notched at
tip, ridged down from top on outer sides;
spreading shrubs to 6 (or 10) feet high; wet
sites at higher elevations (to 7,000 feet or
more), e. Oreg., e. Wash.

alder buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia).
29. Side veins indistinct, not parallel, leaves some-
times net-veiny; leaf margin veins (or teeth, if
present) ending in gland-tipped hairs; leaf scars
with only 1 bundle trace.

31. Bud scales several, overlapping; flower-and-
leafv-shoot buds separate, opening about
same time, on last year's twigs.

32. End buds present; leaves clustered near
twig tips, to more than 1 inch long; seed
pods (capsules) splitting down along parti-
tions into 4 or ."> parts, cupped in calyx
lobes; erect shrubs usually 2-6 feet high,
poisonous, cause sheep losses; moist sites,

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

65

Buds naked (without bud
scales)

\ f

Alder buckthorn V

Rusty menziesia

66 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

F-494050

Westernbog blueberry

Cascades azalea

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 67

higher elevations, Cascades, Wallowa and
Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

rusty menziesia, Cascades azalea.
33. Flowers from end buds, in umbrella-
shaped clusters, greenish red or purple,
urn-shaped; leafy shoots from top side
buds, appearing whorled; leaves dull
bluish green; midrib tips nipple-shaped,
whitish, cartilaginous, protruding; herb-
age sticky, with rank odor; hairs whitish
often chaffy), appressed, gland-tipped,
on twigs, upper leaf-surfaces, under side
of midribs, on leaf- and flower stalks,
and fringing calyx lobes; tiny rusty
scales sometimes on young parts; bark
brownish, soon shredding; seed pods
4-parted.

rusty menziesia (Menziesia
ferruginea) ; probably not
specifically distinct from smooth
menziesia (M. glabella).
33. Flowers from side buds, single or 2- to
3-clustered, creamy white, open bell-
shaped; leafy shoots from end buds;
leaves shiny, bright green; midrib tip
not protruding; herbage not sticky, often
fragrant ; hairs reddish, appressed, not
gland-tipped, on twigs, upper leaf-sur-
faces, under sides of midribs, leaf- and
flower stalks and calyx lobes; bark
usually smooth, gray-brown; seed pods
(capsules) 5-parted.

Cascades azalea, or false-azalea
(Rhododendron albiftorum) .
32. End buds lacking (stem tip dying back to
tiny stub at base of bud in axil of top leaf) ;
leaves scattered along twigs, 3i inch long,
pale green, reversely lance- or egg-shaped,
wedge-shaped at base, nearly erect; leaf
margin slightly rolled under; flowers 1, 2,
or 3, from buds near tip of last year's twigs;
twigs round in cross section, rigid, ascend-
ing; berries blue, tipped by 4 (or 5) calyx
lobes; whitish "bloom" often on under
leaf-surfaces, twigs, berries; shrubs to 3
feet high, bogs or marshes, higher eleva-
tions, Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts.,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

westernbog blueberry

(Vaccinium occidentale) .

31. Bud scales only 2, meeting at edges, not

overlapping; true end buds lacking, stem tips

dying back to tiny stub at base of topmost

side bud in leaf (or leaf-scar) axil; flower and

68

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

leaf buds not separate; flowers single, from
axil of first (or also of second) leaf (or leaflike
bract) on new shoots, white or pink, urn- or
globe-shaped; berries red, blue or black,
tipped by calyx lobes.

whortleberries, bilberries,13 blueberries,
and/or "huckleberries" (Vaccinium spp.).

Grouse whortleberry

72(11

13 Dr. W. H. Camp who has made many special studies of blueberries and their
relatives, uses "bilberries" as the common name for this group of species. See
A Survey of the American Species of Vaccinium, Subgenus Euvaccinium. Brittonia
4: 205-247. 1942.

The name "huckleberry" is often misapplied to species of Vaccinium ; it should
be restricted to Gaylussacia.

The use by the Forest Service and the U. S. Department of Agriculture of
"whortleberry" for red- and black-fruited Vaccinium spp. stems from usage by
the late Dr. Frederick V. Coville in Standardized Plant Names and Department
publications. Dr. Coville long was the foremost American student of this genus
and the pioneer in introducing these plants in horticultural improvement and
cultivation for their fruits. "Whortleberry" is the common Old World English
name for the black-fruited V. myrtillis, to which our V. membranaceum and V.
ovalifolium are botanically closely related.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

69

34. Twigs grooved and/or angled).

35. Shrubs low (to 15 inches high), much-
branched, broomv; leaves to }i inch long,
oval or egg-shaped often pointed at both
ends; margins finely saw-toothed; twigs
very slender, bright green, deeply
grooved, sharply angled, hairless; berries
red; often in carpetlike patches under
lodgepole pine; Cascades, Wallowa and
Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

grouse whortleberry (Vaccinium

scoparium)
35. Shrubs tall (usually 2-6 feet high).
36. Leaf margins entire or faintly toothed
near base; leaves to 2 inches long,
elliptic or almost round in outline,
rarely oval, hairless, glandless, dull
green on upper surface, often with
whitish "bloom" on under surface;
flowers pink, blooming before leaves
unfold; berries blue, with whitish
"bloom", large, tart, used in jellies;
twigs spreading, rather deeply grooved
at first, greenish on angles, reddish in
grooves, soon almost round ; straggling
shrubs to 12 feet high in good sites,
sometimes low and broomv after
browse injury due to repeated sprout-

Ovalleaf whortleberry

F 194052

70 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ing from dormant basal buds; common
e. slopes of Cascades, Wash., n. Oreg.,
but scattered or rare in s. Oreg.

ovalleaf whortleberry
(Vaccinium ovalifolium) .
36. Leaf margins finely, sharply saw-
toothed; teeth ending in gland-tipped
hairs; leaves to 3 inches long, egg-
shaped, with tapering or pointed tips,
bright shiny green above, paler under-
neath, often with whitish, slightly
curved hairs and some glands on both
surfaces as well as on twigs; flowers
pinkish, blooming with or after unfold-
ing of leaves; twigs shallowly grooved,
slightly angled, often bright red in
sunny spots; berries wTine-colored to
purplish black, favorites for "huckle-
berry" pie; Cascades, Wallowa and
Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

big whortleberry
(Vaccinium membranaceum).1*
34. Twigs round or faintly angled; leaves
broader above middle; wedge-shaped at
base, net-veined, to \}{ inches long; flowers
white or pinkish; calyx scarcely lobed;
berries on recurved stalks, deep blue with
whitish "bloom", sweet; much-branched or
tufted shrubs usually less than 1 foot high,
often growing in patches and connected by
underground stems.

blueberries (Vaccinium spp.).
37. Leaves thick, pale dull green above, with
whitish "bloom" underneath, usually
rather broad and rounded at tip, hairless
and glandless; margins finely, often dis-
tantly toothed at least above the middle;
twigs rather coarse, usually with a
whitish "bloom"; flowers globe-shaped;
berries eaten raw and prized for pies;
much-branched shrubs of subalpine or
alpine meadows, common from 4500-
6500 feet, Cascades of Wash, and n.
Oreg., less common s. of the Three
Sisters; type locality Mt. Rainier.

delicious blueberry
(Vaccinium deliciosum).

14 In the Blue Mts. area of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington,
big whortleberry shrubs tend to be less coarse and not so tall as those of the
Cascades; also, their leaves are paler on the under surface, relatively broader,
shorter, more rounded at tip, and they have smaller marginal teeth. Their
flowers tend toward globe-shaped, their berries are more flat-topped, average
smaller in size and are less juicy. These big whortleberries of the Blue Mt. area
are referred to the Vaccinium globulare complex by some botanists. See W. H.
Camp, .1 Surrey of the American Species of Vaccinium, Subgenus Euvaccinium.
Brittonia 4: 205-247. 1942.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

71

K-4!)40.=;.'i F-304231

Big whortleberry

72 HANDBOOK 148. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Globeflower whortleberry

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

73

37. Leaves thin, bright green and often
glossy on upper surface, paler green
underneath, usually rather narrow,
pointed or rounded at tip; often hairy
and glandular on both surfaces; margins
finely but sharply saw-toothed; twigs
slender, shiny brown or hoary with tiny,
whitish, curved hairs, rarely with whitish
waxy "bloom"; flowers ellipsoid; low
tufted shrub of higher altitudes, often
on old lodgepole pine burns, Cascades,
Wallowa and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e.
Wash.

dwarf blueberry
(Vaccinium cespitosum).15

Enlarged flower

Dwarf blueberry

F-4f)40.r,4

15 At lower altitudes in mountain areas in both eastern Oregon and eastern
Washington, there are erect, taller, and coarser shrubs with redder twigs and
larger leaves than those of dwarf blueberry; these are referred by some botanists
to taller dwarf blueberry (Vaccinium cespitosum var. arbuscula) ; other botanists
regard these coarse shrubs as possibly polyploid and as a separate species (Vac-
cinium arbuscula).

74

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

14. Leaves narrow, mostly more than 4 times longer than
wide, threadlike to linear or narrowly elliptic to lance-
(or reversely lance-) shaped ; leaf margins entire or nearly
so ; half-shrubs or low to tall shrubs of dry or sometimes
alkaline sites. [Alternate 14, p. 52.]
38. Twigs (at least some) spurlike, to 1 inch long, pitted
by leaf scars, tipped by clustered leaves (often also
by 1 to 3 or 4, stalked, white to pinkish flowers
appearing with the leaves) ; leaves nearly stalkless,
to 2 inches long, narrowly and reversely lance-shaped,
softly and finely whitish-hairy (at least when young),
borne singly on fast-growing shoots; leaf margins
entire or finely and rather distantly toothed (each
tooth at first gland-tipped); "berries" (pomes) tipped
by 5 calyx lobes, yellowish to reddish brown, often
drying persistent on drooping stalks; rigidly much-
branched shrubs with smooth gray bark, to 6 feet
high; often with western juniper or ponderosa pine,
e. Oreg.; not reported from Wash.; type locality,
". . . dry hillsides near the Blue Mtns. of the Ore-
gon". . . squaw apple (P eraphy Hum ramosissimum).
38. Twigs not spurlike as above; flower heads with
distinctive cups (involucres), arranged in elongated or
roundish- to flattish-topped, often branched end
clusters; fruits (achenes) seedlike.

eriogonums, horsebrushes, rabbitbrush
goldenweed, rabbitbrushes.
39. Leaves densely woolly-hairy on under surface,
much less hairy to nearly hairless on upper surface,
often whorled or clustered at branch tips or joints
(nodes) ; roots and stem bases woody and with dark
brown, shreddy bark; stem bases often clustered
(caespitose) and much-branched; each flower jointed
to its stalk, several to many clustered in a lobed or
toothed cup (involucre) to form a flower head;
flower heads mostly stalked, in branched clusters at
tips of annual flowering twigs; "seeds" (achenes)
elongate, 3-angled.

eriogonums (Eriogonumsipp.).

Squawapple

H-494055

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 75

40. Leaflike bracts in a whorl near middle of flowering
stems; "seeds" hairy near tips.
41. Stem bases loosely tufted to nearly prostrate;

flower stems to 16 inches high; leaves to 2
inches long, linear to reversely lance-shaped,
yellowish-hairy on under side, clustered at
branch tips; leaflike bracts whorled at tips of
flowering stems and also at branching of rays
when flower-head clusters are compound ; flowers
dull yellow to whitish, drying reddish, hairless
or nearly so, each narrowed to stalklike base
(flower "stalks thus appearing jointed near
middle); flower-head cup top-shaped, hairy,
with 5-8 spreading or bent-back lobes; half-
shrubs of drv, often rocky sites, e. Oreg., e.
Wash. f ._, s

Wyeth eriogonum (Eriogonum heracleoides) .
41. Stem bases closely clustered, much-branched
from a stout woody root; flower stems to 6
inches high; leaves to % inch long, linear,
almost leathery, clustered at branch tips;
leaf edges tightly rolled under; flowers densely
white-woolly-hairy on outside, each narrowed
to very short, stalklike base, cream-, aging
rose-colored, in dense, ball-shaped clusters
(each cluster in hairy, top-shaped cup with
erect or slightly spreading lobes) ; rocky sites,
ne. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, along
Spokane River, Wash.
thyme eriogonum (Eriogonum thymoides).
40. Leaf like bracts lacking; bush-branching, scattered-
leafy shrubs to 1 foot high; leaves to 1 inch long,
reversely lance-shaped to almost linear, short-
stalked; leaf edges often rolled under; flowers
hairless outside, white, yellow, or rose-tinted, not
narrowed to stalklike bases; flower-head cups
hairy to almost hairless, single on each ray of the
3- to 6-times branched, flattish- to roundish-
topped flower-head clusters (compound corymbose
cymes); dry, rocky hillsides, e. Oreg., e. Wash.;
type locality, ". . . on the sides of hills, in
Oregon, east of Walla-Walla."

slenderbush eriogonum
(Eriogonum microthecus) .
39. Leaves equally hairy (or hairless) on both sides;
flower heads with bracted cups (involucres) ; flowers
yellow; "seeds" (achenes) usually hairy, crowned by
long, whitish to yellowish, slightly roughened or very
finely barbed, hairlike bristles (pappus).
42. Flower-head bracts 4, whitish- woolly-hairy, erect,
in a single row; disk flowers 4, all alike; ray
flowers lacking; blooming from May to Sept.;
flower-head clusters flattish-topped; much-
branched, strong-scented shrubs 2-4 feet high,

76 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

P-486434

Thyme eriogonum (flower head, enlarged)

Thyme eriogonum (flower-head cup, involucre, enlarged)

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

77

Flower head
Flowers densely white

woolly-hairy
Involucre with erect lobes

Enlarged involucre with
one flower,- flower stalks

Leaflike bracts in whorl
near middle of flower
stem

Thyme eriogonum (enlarged)

F-486433

Leaf edges rolled under x W
Involucre, flowers, enlarged W

F-49405C)

Slenderbush eriogonum

78

HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

poisonous to sheep especially in spring just before
flowering and when browsed together with sage-
brush horsebrushes (Tetradymia spp.).

43. Twigs with interconnected lines or ridges of
persistent white-woolly hairs; leaves to ){ inch
long, soon greening, losing much of their hairi-
ness, of 2 kinds: (a) almost needlelike, nearly
erect, soon-shed primary leaves, (b) broader,
somewhat fleshy, blunt-tipped, soon-spreading,

^\

Gray horscbrush

F-494057

Littleleaf horsebrush

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 79

clustered secondary leaves; branches slender,
wide-spreading; bark gray, shreddy; dry, open
sites, often with sagebrush, central and se.
Oreg., not reported from Wash.
littleleaf horsebrush (Tetradymia glabrata).

43. Twigs and leaves permanently grayish- to
whitish- woolly-hairy; leaves to \)i inch long,
linear to reversely lance-shaped, sometimes
with shorter and broader leaves clustered in
their axils; branches nearly erect; shrubs with
rough, shreddy bark, not so poisonous as little-
leaf horsebrush; dry scablands or sagebrush
areas, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, along
the Columbia River.

gray horsebrush {Tetradymia canescens).
42. Flower-head bracts more than 4, overlapping, in
several, often vertically ranked rows, papery,
leathery or leaflike, sometimes keeled; flowers
5-20 ' in each flower head; leaves sometimes
spirally twisted, 1- and/or 3- to 5-veined from
near base.

rabbitbrush goldenweed (Aplopappus

bloomeri); varieties (or subspecies) of

Douglas rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus

viscidiflorus) , and of rubber rabbitbrush

(C. nauseosus).

44. Twigs brittle; leaves to 2K inches long, thread-
like to linear or reversely lance-shaped, almost
hairless to finely, often stiffly, short-hairy, at
least along margins, sometimes resinous; flower-
head bracts in indistinctly vertical ranks; low
to medium-sized shrubs, usually not more than
3 feet high; dry or rocky hillsides at lower
elevations.

rabbitbrush goldenweed; varieties (or
subspecies) of Douglas rabbitbrush.

45. Flower-head bracts leaflike or at least green-
tipped, with cobwebby hairs near edges and
stiffer, spreading hairs on margins; flower
heads short -stalked, bell-shaped, to % inch
high, often surpassed by leaves, blooming
May— Aug., in somewhat elongated end
clusters (on well-developed plants) ; ray
flowers 1-5, strap-shaped; disk flowers 4-12,
tubular; "seeds" (achenes) 5-nerved; leaves
1 -nerved, usually resinous, especially near
flower heads.

rabbitbrush goldenweed
(Aplopappus bloomeri).

45. Flower-head bracts not leaflike or green-
tipped as above, firm-papery, mostly blunt-
tipped, not keeled, usually 15; flower-head
cups "(involucres)" narrow, tubular-bell-
shaped, to % inch high; flower heads not

471114 O-60-6

80 HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

surpassed by leaves, in flattish- to roundish-
topped (cymose) end clusters, blooming
July-Oct. ; ray flowers lacking; disk flowers
mostly 5 ; seed heads (at least some) persistent
until flower buds of following season appear;
"seeds" 5-angled, less than % inch long,
hairy; leaves 1-, 3-, and/or 5-nerved, often
sticky -resinous and spirally twisted; twigs
with white or pale green bark; mostly bushy
shrubs branched from near base; taproots
dividing near soil surface; characters variable,
sometimes intergrading in the following
varieties (or subspecies) of

Douglas rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) .
46. Twigs, leaves finely, more or less densely
hairy, especially near the usually small,
compact flower-head clusters; low shrubs,
rarely more than 2 feet high.
47. Leaves pale grayish-green, narrow, to
Yu inch wide.
48. Leaves to nearly 2 inches long and
1/25 inch wide, mostly 1 -nerved, often
twisted; shrubs to 20 inches high;
disturbed areas or on poor soils, with
sagebrush; rather common, e. Oreg.,
e. Wash.

downy rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus
viscidiflorus puberulus).
48. Leaves to I inch long, l/i2inch wide,
sometimes 3-nerved and slightly twist-
ed; to 1 foot high; dry plains, central,
s. Oreg.; type locality, plains of
Truckee River, Nevada Co., Calif.

Truckee (or low) rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus

humilis).
47. Leaves bright green, lance-shaped, to
2 inches long, l/4 inch wide, mostly 3-
and/or 5-nerved, seldom twisted, abrupt-
ly pointed at tips; stems stiffly erect,
to more than 2 feet high, e. Oreg., e.
Wash.

lanceleaf rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus

lanceolatus).
46. Twigs, leaves mostly hairless except for
fine, stiff marginal hairs, often sticky-
resinous.
49. Shrubs tall, to 4 feet or more high;
leaves bright or bluish green, to }i inch
wide, often 3-nerved, sometimes spirall}"
twisted ; flower-head clusters open, broacl,
often sticky-resinous; flower-head bracts

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

| Cymose flower-head clusters

81

Two flower heads enlarged
to show vertically ranked
flower-head bracts

Single disk flower with
pappus and immature
"seed" (achene)

F-49405S " 1

Douglas rabbitbrush (variety)

Rabbitbrush goldenweed

82 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

rounded at tips except for protruding
midrib tip; commoner in e. Wash, than in
e. Oreg.; type locality, barren plains,
Columbia River; typical variety (or sub-
species) of Douglas rabbitbrush

(Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) .
49. Shrubs low, to 1 Y2 feet tall ; leaves thread-
like to linear, to 2 inches long; flower-
head clusters small.
50. Leaves pale green, threadlike, to l)i
inches long, %> inch wide, 1 -nerved,
often twisted; flower-head clusters
compact; stony slopes, dry ridges, e.

Oreg small rabbitbrush

(Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
stenophyllus).
50. Leaves bright green, linear, to 2 inches
long, }{2 inch wide, often 3-nerved,
plane, or sometimes twisted; flower-
head clusters often lax; plains, foot-
hills, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

low Douglas rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus

pumilus).
44. Twigs flexible, loosely to tightly matted- woolly-
hairy (scraping often needed to detect hairi-
ness) ; leaves threadlike to narrowly linear, to
3 inches long, % inch wide, mostly 1 -nerved and
plane, often grayish- or whitish-woolly-hairy;
flower-head bracts keeled, 20-25, in 5 distinctly
vertical ranks; flower heads in roundish-topped,
sometimes elongate, compound end clusters;
"seeds" hairy; low to (usually) tall shrubs,
round-bushy, several-stemmed at base, with
tap roots; variable, often with intergrading
characters, poisonous to livestock under certain
conditions, sometimes rubber-producing; va-
rieties (or subspecies) often hard to tell apart.
rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus

nauseosus) .
51. Leaves threadlike (%5 inch wide), somewhat
resinous, very numerous, often nearly hair-
less; herbage with bad odor; twigs striate,
pale yellowish green with close-matted, felt-
like hairs; flower heads in elongate, cylin-
drical or pyramidal end clusters; flower-head
bracts often sticky, rarely hairy; to 5 feet
high; alkaline valleys, plains, Lake, Harney,
Malheur Cos., e. Oreg.; not reported from

Wash fetid rubber rabbitbrush

(Chrysothamnus nauseosus consimilis).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

83

51. Leaves linear (to % inch wide), usually hairy;
herbage not odorous; twigs not, or indis-
tinctly, striate, densely wooly-hairy; flower
heads in broad, round-topped end clusters;
flower-head bracts (at least lower ones)
hairy; shrubs to 6 feet high, often with big
sagebrush, e. Oreg., e. Wash., especially in
the Columbia River Basin area.
52. Twigs, leaves persistently, loosely white-
woolly-hairy.

whitestem rubber rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus nauseosus albicaulis) .
52. Twigs, leaves closely greenish- or grayish-
woolly-hairy tall rubber rabbitbrush

(Chrysothamnus nauseosus speciosus).

Enlarged flower head
Disk flowers

Flower-head bracts

Rubber rabbitbrush

F-296608B

PLANTS DECIDUOUS • SPRING AND

SUMMER

Leaves Alternate and Compound

1. Plants unarmed.
2. Leaves with 5 or more leaflets.

3. Sap milky; leaflets 7-31, coarsely toothed, whitened (glau-
cous) on under surface, often rich in tannin; twigs stout,
large-pithy, somewhat 3-angled; flowers small, greenish;
"berries" (drupes) red, sticky-hairy, massed in conspicuous,
much-branched, pyramidal end clusters (panicles) ; shrubs
usually not much over 6 feet high, rarely treelike, often in
large patches connected underground by long-running root
branches, not poisonous; along roadsides, in canyons, e. Oreg.,

e. Wash smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) .

3. Sap not milky.

4. Leaflets 5-7 (rarely 3), silky-hairy on both sides, narrowly
oblong or linear; margins entire, somewhat rolled under;
stipules conspicuous, grown to leafstalk base, persistent
on twig after leaf falls, flowers yellow; "seeds" (achenes)
very hairy, small, many; stems twisted; bark shreddy,
brown; low, bushy shrubs; moist mountain valleys or
meadows, lower altitudes, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

bush cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) .
4. Leaflets 7-17, with dotlike glands (often also hairy) at
points of attachment to "midrib" (rachis) ; margins toothed,
at least toward leaflet tips; the fragrant white flowers and
the orange to red or scarlet "berries" (pomes) in flat- or
roundish-topped end clusters (compound corymb) ; stems
few-branched; bark smooth; shrubs tall, often growing in
clumps; moist mountain sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

mountain-ashes (Sorbus spp.).
5. Leaflets 11 or more, lance- to oblong-lance-shaped, firm;
upper surface glossy, wrinkled, net-veined; margins finely,
singly or doubly saw-toothed to near base; stipules soon
falling; hairs (if any) white; buds shiny, sticky, brownish;
bark reddish; "berries" glossy, orange to scarlet, globe-
shaped, in dense, flat-topped clusters; seeds light brown,
oblong; shrubs to 13 feet high; Cascades, the only native
mountain-ash in Wallowa and Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., se.
Wash.

Greenes mountain-ash (Sorbus scopulina) .16 17
5. Leaflets 11 or less; stipules persistent; bark gray; Cas-
cades, Oreg., Wash.; not in Wallowa or Blue Mts.

16 Natural hybrids between Saskatoon serviceberry {Amelanchier aim 'folia)
and Greenes mountain-ash found in the Wallowa Mts*., near Cornucopia, Oreg.,
have been named XAmelasorbus jackii by the late Dr. Alfred Rehder in honor
of their discoverer and collector, J. G. Jack (Jour. Arnold Art). 6: 154. 1925).
' Both Greenes mountain-ash and Cascades mountain-ash have been confused
by some authors with Sitka mountain-ash (S. sitchensis Roem.) and/or with
Siberian mountain-ash (S. sambucifolia Cham, tfc Schlecht.), neither of which
occurs in Oreg. or Wash.

84

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

85

Bush cinquefoil

F-4D4050

86

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

6. Leaflets 7-11, dull bluish green on upper surface, thin,
oblong to oval, rounded or square-cut at tip; margins
entire below middle, with incurved teeth near tip;
leafstalks, twigs, buds finely reddish hairy; "berries"
ellipsoid, red, with a whitish waxy "bloom" (glaucous);
seeds chestnut-colored, flattened-egg-shaped, pointed
at base; shrubs 3-10 feet high; elevations from 4,000
feet in n. Wash, to 7,500 feet in s. Oreg.; type locality,
Cascades, 49° N. lat,

western mountain-ash (Sorbus occidentalis).

6. Leaflets 9-11, glossy on upper surface, firm, oval,
abruptly pointed at tip; margins coarsely saw-toothed
to below middle; hairs mostly whitish; buds shiny,
sticky, greenish-brown; "berries" globe-shaped, glossy,
scarlet; seeds dark brown, egg-shaped; shrubs to nearly
17 feet high; elevations from 3,000 feet in n. Wash, to
6,000 feet in s. Oreg.; type locality, Mt. Rainier, Wash.
Cascades mountain-ash (Sorbus cascadensis).17

Greenes mountain-ash

Cascad

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 87

2. Leaves with 3 leaflets; "berries" (drupes) whitish or red, in
erect or drooping clusters (panicles or panicled spikes).
7. End leaflet stalked; leaflets glossy, turning brilliant red in
fall, usually egg-shaped; "berries" whitish, shiny, ribbed or
lined; sap resinous or sometimes milky -whitish; leaf sears
crescent-shaped, distinct, with 5 bundle traces; almost all
plant parts poisonous to touch by susceptible persons although
often browsed by livestock without any ill effect.

poison-oak, poison-ivy (Toxicodendron) .
8. Leaflets blunt or rounded at tip; margins entire to bluntly
toothed or lobed; "berries" in loose, drooping clusters;
low to tall shrubs, or woody vines climbing by aerial root-
lets; dry woods, along roadsides, mostly w. of Cascades but
coming' through Columbia River gorge to e. of The Dalles
on both the Oreg. and Wash, sides of the river.

Pacific poison-oak (Toxicodendron diver silobum).
8. Leaflets sharp- to taper-pointed at tip; margins entire or
coarsely and sharply toothed or lobed; "berries" in dense,
erect or ascending clusters; low, erect or clambering shrubs
connected by creeping underground stems, not climbing
by aerial rootlets; sunny, rather moist sites, often common
locally, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

western poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans var.

rydbergii).
7. End leaflet stalkless (appearing stalked because of tapering,
wedge-shaped base), nearly as broad as long, shallowly to
deeply lobed or 3-parted; leaflets dull, reversely egg-shaped;
"berries" red, sticky-hairy, in dense, spikelike end clusters; leaf
scars and bundle traces indistinct ; low, much-branched shrubs
with disagreeable odor; not poisonous; often in dense stands in
dry sites, se. Oreg., not reported from Wash.

skunkbush (or lemonade) sumac (Rh us trilobata).
1 . Plants armed with prickles and or bristles.

blackberry, raspberries, salmonberry (Rubus spp.),

and roses (Rosa spp.).
9. Stipules attached to leafstalk only at base, flaring at tips, linear
or narrowly lance-shaped.

blackberry, raspberries, and salmonberry (Rubus spp).
10. Stems (canes) soft- woody, large-pithy, living 2 years, leafing
1st year (new canes), flowering, fruiting, dying second year
(old* cane) ; new canes each year from perennial, woody under-
ground parts and/or woody crown or from canes rooting
at tips; leaves with 3 and/or 5 or 7 leaflets, or sometimes
simple and lobed or parted; flowers white.

trailing blackberry, raspberries.
11. Stems trailing, long-running, rooting at tip, unbranched
except for short, erect flowering shoots on old canes;
prickles short, straight or hooked; tack-shaped glands on
flower stalks and sepals; male flowers larger than female,
often on separate plants; blackberries not hollow, not
falling free when ripe; burns, cut-over lands, common w.,
occasional e. of Cascades, Oreg., Wash.; type locality
Columbia River Valley.

trailing blackberry (Rubus macropetalus) .

88

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

11. Stems erect or arching, much-branched; raspberries and
salmonberries hollow, cap- or thimble-shaped, falling free
when ripe.
12. Leaflets hairy, at least on under surface.

13. Leaflets sparsely to densely gray-hairy on under
surface, usually long-tapered at tips; stems suckering
or with runners but not rooting at tips; new canes with
slight, whitish "bloom" (glaucous) ; old cane bark
flaking, peeling; bristles spreading; tack-shaped glands
present; coarse prickles lacking; raspberries red or
whitish, dry, crumbly when ripe; moist to rather dry
sites, open woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

American red raspberry (Rubus strigosus).18
13. Leaflets densely white- woolly on under surface; stems
clustered, over-arching, rooting at tips; new canes
with heavy white- waxy "bloom" (glaucous); straight
or hooked prickles on stems, leafstalks, midribs,
flower stalks; tack-shaped glands lacking; raspberries
grayish-downy, yellow to red or purplish black, firm,
juicy; moist sites, open woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.;
type locality, Oregon.

whitebark raspberry (Rubus leucodermis).
12. Leaflets hairless, green on both surfaces; stems with
slight whitish "bloom" soon rubbed or washed off
(pruinose) and then brown and shiny; prickles broad-
based, straight or hooked, on stems, leafstalks, midribs,
flower stalks; fine, gland-tipped hairs often on sepals;
raspberries black, without a whitish "bloom"; lower
altitudes, creek banks, ledges, ne. Oreg., se. Wash.; type
locality, Snake River Canyon at Wawawai and Almota,
Whitman Co., Wash.
northwestern blackcap raspberry (Rubus nigerrimus).
10. Stems (canes) woody, small-pithy, perennial, branched, erect
or somewhat arching, from spreading underground stems;
older bark loosely shredding; prickles few and weak or lack-
ing; leaflets usually 3 and hairless on both surfaces, often

This is not the cultivated red raspberry.

F-4(140tit

American red raspberry

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

89

M

Catkinlike spikes of scaly- raHJ
bracted flower buds
(enlarged)

Leafy-shoot bud hidden in
leafstalk axil \

Pacific poison-oak

F- (94062

90 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

lobed; margins coarsely and doubly saw-toothed; flowers
showy, reddish purple; salmonberries yellow to salmon-
colored or bright red, soft and watery but sweet; moist woods
along streams; common w., occasional e. slopes of Cascades,
Oreg., Wash.; type locality, banks of the Columbia River.

salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) .
9. Stipules attached for most of their length along leafstalk base
(sometimes for more than half of leafstalk length), narrow but
conspicuous; berrylike fruits (hips) single or clustered.

roses (Rosa spp.).
14. Leaflets 5-9, shiny green on upper surface, broadly oval,
thin; margins doubly saw-toothed; teeth gland-tipped; stems
usually green, armed with intermixed bristles and straight,
slender prickles; tack-shaped glands on leafstalks, stipule
margins, leaf "midribs" (rachises), and flower stalks; flowers
usually solitary, small, early blooming; fruits (hips) soon
losing their crown of calyx iobes (as indicated by common
name of "baldhip" rose), ellipsoid or globe-shaped, to ){ inch
across; "seeds" (achenes) few (1-7), large, hairless; small,
shade-tolerant shrubs; woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type
locality, shady woods, Oreg.

baldhip rose (Rosa gymnocarpa).
14. Leaflets 5-7, dull green on upper surface; margins singly
saw-toothed; teeth not gland-tipped; stems often brown or
red where exposed to sun, usually armed with straight, slen-
der, paired prickles; tack-shaped glands lacking; stipule
margins with gland-tipped teeth; fruits with persistent crown
of calyx lobes; "seeds" many (more than 7), small, hairy;
not shade tolerant; in moist sites along streams, on hillsides,
in open thickets or openings in woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

interior rose and Spalding rose.
15. Leaflets narrowly oval or reverse-egg-shaped, wedge-
shaped at base, firm; flowers small, rose-colored, later
blooming, clustered, each cluster with a basal leaf- or
stipule-like bract; calyx lobes smooth or finely hairy on
back; fruits *4 to % inch across, clustered; leafy shoots
sometimes arching a little and overtopping flowering or
fruiting branches; bark with a whitish "bloom"; shrubs
to 9 or 10 feet high, often in clumps.

interior rose (Rosa ultramontana) -19
15. Leaflets broadly oval, rounded at base, thin; flowers
large, pink, earlier blooming, usually solitary on slender,
hairless, somewhat prickly flowering branches; fruits globe-
shaped, %-l inch across; branches usually not arching;
bark without any whitish "bloom"; bushy shrubs about
3 feet high Spalding rose (Rosa spaldingii) .20

ly Interior rose is sometime* confused with the peafruit rose (Rosa pisocarpa)
from west of the Cascades where it grows in low, moist sites (often near the ocean)
in Oregon and Washington. The type locality of peafruit rose is Multnomah Co.,
Oreg.

!n Spalding rose is sometimes confused with Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) from
west of the Cascades where it grows in moist sites, especially near the seashore
or salt marshes in Oregon and Washington. The type locality of Nootka rose is
Nootka Sound in British Columbia.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

91

F-494063

Spalding rose

Whitcbark raspberry

PLANTS DECIDUOUS • SPRING AND

SUMMER

Leaves Opposite and Simple

1. Leaves lobed or variable, at least lobed on vigorous shoots.
2. Leaves palmately lobed or parted.

3. Plants dwarf, rigid or matted shrubs of dry, sandy, rocky
sites; odor sweet-musky; leaves cut into 3-7 needlelike parts,
opposite near stem base, alternate and crowded near stem tips,
often with single needlelike leaves in their axils; twigs pale,
more or less glandular-hairy; e. Oreg., e. Wash.

granite gilia (Leptodactylon pungens).
3. Plants erect or trailing shrubs or trees of moist sites.
4. Leaves shortly 3-lobed above middle, often also unlobed;
dotlike glands on leaf margin near leafstalk; margins
toothed; flowers white, in flatfish-topped, compound
clusters (cymes); "berries" (drupes) red, squashy, each
with single stone; tall straggling shrubs of cool sites, e.
slopes of Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., se.
Wash.

moosewood (or squashberry) viburnum (Viburnum edule).

4. Leaves 3- to 11 -lobed; dotlike glands lacking; fruits ("keys"

or paired samaras) seedlike, winged, stalked, usually

clustered maples {Acer spp.).

5. Leaves broadly egg-shaped, 3- to 5-lobed, or sometimes
3-parted; lobes taper-pointed, margins sharply toothed;
leafstalks long, often red; fruits hairless, their wings
usually spread at a little less than right angles to each
other; erect shrubs or small trees; e. slopes of Cascades,
Wallowa and Blue Mts., commonest maple of e. Oreg.,
e. Wash.

Douglas maple {Acer glabrum var. douglasii).
5. Leaves circular in outline, with 5 or more lobes.

6. Lobes 7-11, irregularly and doubly saw-toothed; twigs
slender; fruits hairless, their wings in a nearly straight
line; erect shrubs or small trees in open sites, or trailing
and with vinelike twigs that dip and root at tips to
form thickets in wet shady sites; common w., occasional
e. slopes of Cascades and in Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg.

vine maple (Acer circinatum).
6. Lobes usually 5, deep, entire- or wavy-margined; twigs
coarse; fruits in elongated clusters, yellowish-hairy on
the "seeds", their wings usually spread at less than
right angles to each other; trees; the only native maple
of Oreg., Wash, with milky sap (easily seen by break-
ing leafstalk); common w., occasional e. slopes of
Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) .
2. Leaves (at least on some of the young shoots) pinnately lobed,
mostly entire and oval, dark green above, paler beneath, short-
stalked; shriveled tips of last season's twigs often persistent
between topmost pairs of new twigs; pith usually brownish; leaf

92

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

93

K-4H4004

Vine maple

94 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

rT\

Leaf scar with single bundle
trace (enlarged)

Basal bud-scale bracts
(enlarged)

Washington snowberry

ft

Basal bud-scale bracts
(enlarged)

wig tip shriveled, between
topmost pair of new
twigs. Basal bud-scale
bracts (enlarged)

Whortleleaf snowberry

Sharpleaf snowberry

Flower (enlarged)

F-49406S

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 95

scars small, raised, often with ragged edges, connected around
the twig by lines or ridges; bundle trace 1, indistinct; "berries"
(drupes) white, each with 2 "seeds" (nutlets); erect or trailing

shrubs snowberries (Symphoricarpos spp.) .

7. Shrubs erect, spreading by suckers or underground stems.
8. Pith hollow; twigs, leaves usually hairless; leaves often
lobed, seldom crowded, thin; flowers open-bell-shaped,
lobed to near middle, densely hairy in throat, unsymmet-
trical near base, to % inch long, clustered in upper leaf axils
and near twig tips; "berries" nearly globe-shaped, about
)i inch in diam.; bark gray, usually smooth; shrubs to 10
feet high, often thicket-forming; native snowberry (also
cultivated), common at lower altitudes, e. Oreg., e. Wash,
(tvpe localitv, Holmes Creek, near Laurel, Klickitat Co.,
Wash.)

Columbia snowberry (Symphoricarpos rivularis).

8. Pith solid; twigs, leaves usually densely hairy with fine,
whitish, short, curved hairs; leaves seldom lobed, often
crowded, firm, veiny, with slightly thickened, rolled-under
margins; flowers tubular-bell-shaped, shallowly lobed, a
little hairy deep in tube, symmetrical near base, to % inch
long, drooping singly or in pairs from upper leaf axils;
bark dark brown, smooth or shreddy; shrubs to 5 or 6 feet
high; moist to dry sites, higher elevations, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

whortleleaf snowberry (Symphoricarpos vaccinioides) .
7. Shrubs trailing; stems sometimes rooting at joints (nodes);
bark gray, shreddy; leaves thin, much paler and prominently
net-veined on under surface; flowers open-bell-shaped, lobed
to near middle, symmetrical at base; "berries" nearly globe-
shaped, to Y4 inch in diameter.

9. Branches erect, short; stems long-trailing (to 10 feet);
young twigs often with a few soft, fine hairs; leaves some-
times lobed, nearly hairless and finely net-veined on upper
surface; margins finely hairy-fringed; flowers 2-5, in small
end clusters (racemes) ; gravelly slopes, lower altitudes,
open woods, Blue Mts., se. Wash., otherwise only w. of
Cascades (type locality, Upper Valley, Nisqually River,
Pierce Co., Wash.)

Washington snowberry (Symphoricarpos hesperius).
9. Branches loosely spreading, 2 feet long; stems trailing,
rooting at joints; young twigs, leaves, and leafstalks densely
soft -velvety-hairy; leaves often lobed; flowers single or in
pairs in upper leaf axils, densely hairy in the throat;
Klamath and Swan Lake Valleys, Keno and Crater Lake
areas, s. Oreg. (Tvpe locality, Lassen Peak, Calif.)

sharpleaf snowberry (Symphoricarpos acutus).
1. Leaves not lobed.
10. Margins toothed.

11. Plants low (to 2 feet high), clump-forming half-shrubs with
unpleasant odor; stems woody, spreading and much-branched
at base; seasonal shoots erect; leaves bright green, leathery,
to 2 inches long and nearly 1 inch wide, narrowly lance- to
egg-shaped, abrupt- or taper-pointed at tip and short-
stalked on leaf}* snoots, stalkless or clasping, few and bract-

471114 O-60-7

96 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

like on the unbranched flowering shoots; leaf margins
coarsely, unevenly, sharply toothed; flowers yellowish, with
violet lines in throat, glandular inside and out (often dust-
collecting), tubular, unevenly 5-lobed (upper lip shorter),
to y2 inch long; stamens 5: 4 with purple-black anthers, 1
without anthers and usually hairless; anther sacs splitting
wide open in an almost straight line; seed pods (capsules)
cartilaginous, }{ inch long, egg-shaped, pointed at tip, split-
ting downward into 2 parts, persistent; seeds tiny, numerous,
honeycomb-pitted under a lens; dry sites, basaltic soils or
lava-rock cracks, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
scorched (or hot-rock) penstemon {Penstemon deustus).

11. Plants tall (to 12 or 15 feet high), straggling shrubs; branches
slender, greenish, 4-angled; leaves thin, to 4 inches long,
lance- to egg-shaped or oblong, sharp- to taper-pointed at
tip, short-stalked; margins finely saw-toothed; flowers 1
to several, on long, slender, drooping flower stalks, with
spreading, brownish purple petals and a dark red, fleshy disk;
seed pods (capsules) deeply 3- to 5-lobed, smooth or warty,
splitting along middle back of each lobe; seeds usually 2 to
each lobe, each covered by a fleshy red outgrowth (aril) ;
along wooded streams, e. slopes Cascades, Oreg., Wash,
(type locality, Oreg.)

western wahoo or burningbush {Euonymus occidentalis).
10. Margins entire or nearly so.

12. Leaves with 3 (rarely 5) major veins from leaf base, lance-
to egg-shaped, somewhat hairy on margins and veins; tall
shrubs with up-curving branches; bark checking, finally
flaking off; flowers numerous, conspicuous, white, very fra-
grant; seed pods (capsules) top-shaped, partly enclosed in
calyx-tube, 4- to 5-celled, splitting down middle back of each
cell, persistent; very common, moist sites along roads or in
open woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Lewis mockorange (Philadelphus lewisii).
12. Leaves with single major vein (midrib).

13. Twigs, under leaf-surfaces brown-scurfy with silver-
fringed scales; flower buds clustered in leaf axils or at
old-wood joints, formed in summer, not opening until
following spring; male and female flowers on separate
plants; fruits berrylike, reddish; shrubs much-branched,
to 6 feet high; open woods, middle altitudes, Blue Mts.,
ne. Oreg., rare in e. Wash.

russet buifaloberry {Shepherdia canadensis).
13. Twigs, under leaf-surfaces not brown-scurfy.

14. Plants vines; stems coiling or twining; upper leafpair
bases fused, at least uppermost pair like a single leaf
through which stem has grown; leaves green above,
with whitish "bloom" beneath, hairy only along mar-
gins; flowers large, orange, trumpet-shaped, clustered
at stem ends or in upper leaf axils; berries red; high-
climbing, often over trees; open moist woods, e. slopes
of Cascades, Wallowa and Blue Mts.

western trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

97

F 194066

98 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Desert sage

Bearberry honeysuckle

F-494067

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 99

14. Plants erect or spreading shrubs.

15. Leaves shiny-resin-dotted on both sides, silvery-
hairy, fragrantly aromatic, to 2 inches long, elliptic
or oval, narrowing to short leafstalk; branches ashy-
white; flowers blue, in purplish-bracted, whorled,
ball-like clusters near twig ends; "seeds" (nutlets)
4 to each flower, jellylike when wet; low shrubs of dry
or alkaline sites, common in sagebrush areas in central
Wash., less common in Oreg.

desert sage (Salvia carnosa).
15. Leaves not as above; leaf scars with 3 bundle traces;
shrubs of moist sites.
16. Branches bright to purplish red, pliable, osierlike,
without bud-scale bracts at base; leaves with 5-7
pairs of parallel veins upcurving near margin;
flowers small, whitish; "berries" (drupes) whitish
or lead-colored, in flat- or roundish-topped end
clusters; stems often lodging, rooting at tips, form-
ing runners (stolons); streambanks or along road-
sides or in open woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) .
16. Branches not as above; twigs with distinctive basal
bud-scale bracts; bark straw-colored or gray to
dark or reddish brown, flaking, peeling, or shredding;
pith whitish, solid; flowers and berries twinned,
each pair with 2 outer bracts and 4 inner bractlets
which drop off or are variously modified (grow
together, enlarge, or become fleshy and colored)
as berries ripen, stalked, in leaf axils; stems erect or
spreading, often suckering near base.

honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.)
17. Twigs coarse, 4-angled, straw-colored; basal bud-
scale bracts conspicuous, lower recurved, upper
leaflike; leaves 2-6 inches long; flowers yellowish
to reddish; flower stalks (peduncles) to* 2 inches
long; the 2 outer flower bracts and the 4 inner
bractlets enlarging, reddening as twin berries
ripen to shiny black, sometimes withered-per-
sistent on last year's twigs; shrubs to 10 feet high;
commonest honeysuckle in e. Oreg., e. Wash.
bearberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involu-

crata).

17. Twigs slender, round or slightly 4-angled; leaves

to 2 (sometimes to 4) inches long; berries bright

to dark red or nearly black; shrubs to 5 (or 6)

feet high; mountain areas, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

18. Bud-scale bracts sharp-pointed, in 4 vertical

rows, appearing tightly laced around base of

twigs, persistent for 1 or more years; leaves

thick, pointed at tip, wedge-shaped at base;

flowers dark red to purplish; flower stalks

(peduncles) to 1 inch long; 2 outer flower bracts

small, scalelike, soon falling; 4 inner bractlets

100

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

tiny, bump- or scale-like or lacking; twin
berries dark red to nearly black, joined to near
tips.

purpleflower honeysuckle (Lonicera con-

jugialis).
18. Bud-scale bracts not as above, not long-per-
sistent; leaves thin; flowers yellowish.
19. Branches spreading; bark gray; basal bud-
scale bracts spreading at tips, thin-papery,
purplish-tinged, pale-veiny; leaves net-veined,
rounded at both ends or somewhat heart-
shaped at base, egg-shaped, oval, or elliptic;
flower stalks (peduncles) % inch long; 2 outer
flower bracts small, like bud-scale bracts,
not persistent; 4 inner bractlets tiny or
wanting; twin berries joined at base, wide-
spreading at tips, bright red.

Utah honeysuckle (Lonicera utahensis).
19. Branches ascending; bark dark reddish
brown; lower basal bud -scale bracts recurved,
upper leaflike; leaves oblong or narrowly
reverse-lance-shaped ; leafstalks breaking off
near base, their stumps hiding leaf scars;
flower stalks (peduncles) % inch long; 2 outer
flower bracts awl-shaped, hairy; 4 inner
bractlets united into a red fleshy sac enclos-
ing twin berries, thus appearing as a single
red berry (drying bluish-black) ; subalpine
meadows s. from Mt. Adams along Cascades,
lower sites, e. side.

red mountain-fly honeysuckle (Lonicera

cauriana) .

j (Twin berries enveloped in

S^] fleshy, joined, inner 4
bractlets,- the 2 awl-
shaped outer flower
bracts

Basal bud-scale bracts
(enlarged)

Red mountain-fly honeysuckle Purple-flower honeysuckle

fhm K-494068

Utah honeysuckle

PLANTS DECIDUOUS • SPRING AND

SUMMER

Leaves Opposite and Compound

1. Plants woody climbers with branched and coiling leafstalks; stems
ridged and grooved; bark stringy; pith hollow; "joints" (nodes)

swollen clematis, virginsbower (Clematis spp.) .

2. Stems low-climbing or clambering over rocks; leaflets 3; flowers

large, purplish, single at "joints" on old wood; moist open woods,

middle altitudes, Wallowa and Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

Columbia rock clematis (Clematis verticillaris var.

columbiana).
2. Stems high-climbing, often over trees; leaflets 5-7; flowers
smaller, white, in clusters at "joints" on new wood; along
streams at lower altitudes, common in e. Oreg., e. Wash.

western virginsbower (Clematis ligusticifolia) .

Columbia rock clematis

Western virginsbower

1- 194069

101

102 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ha

F-304244

Blueberry elder

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

103

1. Plants erect shrubs or trees; leaflets 5 or more; moist sites.
3. Leaflets distinctly toothed, not symmetrical at base, taper-
pointed at tip; pith large; fruits berrylike (drupes).

elders (Sambucus spp.)-
4. Twigs, under leaf-surfaces and fruits whitened (glaucous);
pith white to yellowish; stipules lacking; leaflets 7—11, pale
green, thick, usually hairless; margins finely saw-toothed;
flowers whitish, in large, flat-topped, several-rayed end
clusters; "berries" sky blue; large, several-stemmed shrubs or
small trees with fissured bark; commonest elder in e. Oreg.,
e. Wash.; along fence rows or stream valleys.

blueberry elder {Sambucus glauca).
4. Twigs, under leaf-surfaces and fruits not whitened as above;
pith yellowish to dark brown or sometimes whitish in new
shoots; stipules usually present on line or ridge between the
leaf pairs on younger twigs; leaflets 5-7, dark green above, paler
beneath, thin, hairy at least when young; flowers creamy or
yellowish, in round-topped or pyramidal end clusters with
single main axis; "berries" shiny, black or red; shrubs, several-
stemmed from base, with warty bark on older branches; open
woods at higher altitudes.

5. Leaflets coarsely saw-toothed, almost hairless; stipules
dark, glandlike, crescent-shaped, usually 2, flattened
against stem; older branches reddish brown, smooth or
with corky pores (lenticels) ; "berries" shiny black; "seeds"
(nutlets) cross-wrinkled (rugose) ; occasional, e. slopes of
Cascades, common in Wallowa and Blue Mts.

blackbead elder (Sambucus melanocarpa) .

Blackbead elder

I- 194070

104 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Blackbead elder

F-88624

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

105

3.

5. Leaflets with sharply incurved teeth along margins, often
hairy on midrib beneath; stipules thin, straplike, to % inch
long, often callus-tipped; older branches dark brown, warty;
"berries" red; "seeds" (nutlets) smooth; shrubs with
spreading stems, forming loose, open clumps; woods along
Cascades, Oreg., Wash., not reported from Wallowa or
Blue Mts.; type locality, near Crater Lake, Oreg.

western red elder (Sambucas leiosperma).2[
Leaflets entire or faintly toothed, symmetrical at base, abruptly
pointed at tip, lance- to egg-shaped or reversely lance- to
reversely egg-shaped; pith small; fruits (samaras) dry, seedlike,
winged from to]), in loose branched clusters at leaf scars of
preceding year, on female trees; common in river valleys, w.,
rare e. of Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia).

Oregon ash

Western red elder

F-494071

21 Field notes arc needed to determine relationship between western red elder
and Pacific red elder (Sambucus callicarpa); the latter is typically a tall shrub or
small tree, shade tolerant and growing with the redwoods of the California Coast
Ranges. Pacific red elder was originally described by Dr. E. L. Greene (Flora
Franciscana, p. 343. 1802.) as having light brown, flaky rather than fissured
bark, white pith, and the young twigs and leaves with sparse, short, stiff hairs.
Stipules are described as straplike, the leaves with 2-5 pairs of leaflets which are
often with conspicuous stipellae, or the later leaves on sucker shoots as being
doubly compound (bipinnate). The flowers were noted as white, the fruit bright
red and in small but broad and flat-topped clusters. Some authors regard these
two red-berried elders as a single species, S. callicarpa.

PLANTS DECIDUOUS ■ FALL AND

WINTER

Buds, Twigs Alternate
Plants Armed

1. Twigs spiny-tipped.
2. Shrubs with sagebrush odor and taste, to nearly 2 feet high,
much-branched, densely whitish-hairy; bark shreddy; twigs of
2 kinds: (a) short, rigid, spiny-tipped twigs, (b) stouter, un-
armed, big-budded twigs that leaf out in late winter and shed
in early summer; desert or alkaline areas of Lake, Harney, and
Malheur Cos., s. Oreg., not reported from Wash.

bud sagebrush (Artemisia spinescens).22
2. Shrubs without sagebrush odor and taste.

3. Twigs bright green, ridged and lined; leaf scars raised, hidden
by dark, swollen leafstalk bases to which 2 tiny, pointed
stipules often remain attached; buds small, in leafstalk-base
axils; bud scales several; stems often arching; much-branched
shrubs to 10 feet high; dry, rocky limestone areas, Harney
Co. to Snake River canyons in ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

Snake River greasebush (Forsellesia stipulifera) .
3. Twigs not as above; fruits and/or leaves sometimes persistent;
buds without bud scales, the tiny, undeveloped, whitish-
scurfy-hairy leaves naked in axils of leaf scars or of persistent
leafstalk stumps; shrubs of dry, rocky soils or of alkaline sites.
4. Fruits top-shaped with encircling wing near middle, some-
times persistent in leaf-scar axils on the spiny-tipped twigs
or leaving a pocketlike cavity lined with fine, white, pro-
truding hairs after falling; spiny-tipped twigs sometimes
with dark stubs of male flower-scale stalks scattered along
their withered tips, often with somewhat spongy bark;
twigs ridged downward from middle of the broadly V- or
U-shaped (sometimes opposite) leaf scars; bundle traces 3;
leaf scars often partly covered by membrane which is split
down on 1 side between 2 bundle traces by the bud which
emerges at an angle to left or right from the leaf-scar axil;
buds sometimes 2 (1 above the other) in some of the leaf-
scar axils; much-branched shrubs to 8 or 10 feet high, with
whitish to gray or brownish stems and hard, greenish,
fibrous wood; often in almost pure stands in alkaline flats
or low, moist sites; poisonous to sheep if eaten to excess;
s. and e. Oreg., e. Wash.

black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus).
4. Fruits not as above; shrubs to about 4 feet high.

5. Buds evident, globe-shaped, the tiny, undeveloped leaves
white-scurfy, clustered in axils of persistent leafstalk
stubs which hide leaf scars; fruits saclike, reddish, rarely
winter-persistent; bushy shrubs with brown to dark gray,
shreddy bark; dry, rocky sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa).

22 See Evergreen Key for low sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula) which often has
weakly spiny-tipped twigs.

106

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

107

F-494072

Stubs of male flower-scale
stalks
Black greasewood

108 HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Shadscale saltbush

F-486444

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

109

5. Buds not evident; spiny-tipped twigs rigid, short, tan or
straw-colored, with indistinct leaf scars in axils of which
are usually 3 to several tiny stumps where flowers or
fruits were attached; roundish leaves persistent on lower
twigs, densely whitish-scurfy with branlike scales as are
also the few ieaflike fruits sometimes persistent on spiny-
tipped twigs; compact, rounded shrubs of dry alkaline
sites, Lake, Harney, and Malheur Cos., se. Oreg., not
reported from Wash.

shadscale saltbush (Atriplex confertifolia) .23
Twigs not spiny-tipped; plants armed with thorns (aborted twigs,
not leaf-bearing), with spines (strong, woody, sharp-pointed
outgrowths mostly from the wood of the twig or stem), and/or with
prickles (small, weak, spinelike outgrowths borne irregularly on
the bark).

6. Plants with thorns in leaf scar axils (thorns sometimes lacking
on young or sucker shoots); buds small, globe-shaped; bud
scales several, overlapping; "berries" (pomelike drupes) per-
sistent; small trees or erect shrubs, often thicket-forming; moist
sites, flood plains, river valleys, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

hawthorns (Crataegus spp).

23 See Evergreen Key for fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), the twigs of
which are weakly spiny-tipped and the leaves are winter-persistent.

,.j \ ^ Undeveloped
eaves

F-49407.!

110 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7. Thorns stout, to 1 inch long; twigs shiny, reddish brown,
hairless or nearly so; "berries" purplish black, hairless; com-
monest hawthorn in e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Douglas hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii).
7. Thorns slender, to 2l/2 inches long; twigs brown.
8. "Berries" dark red to purplish, hairless; thorns averaging
shorter, straight; shrubs or small trees, to 15 feet high.

Columbia hawthorn (Crataegus columbiana) .
8. "Berries" coral red, hairy; thorns longer, often reflexed;
shrubs to 10 feet high.

Piper hawthorn (Crataegus piperi).2i
6. Plants without thorns.
9. Spines present.

10. Twigs densely white-woolly-hairy; spines recurved or
spreading, formed from hardened, persistent midribs of
primary leaves; buds and leaf scars indistinct, in spine
axils; flower-head bracts 5-6 in a single series, persistent;
stiff, much-branched shrubs to 5 feet high; dry, sandy or
alkaline sites, se. Oreg., not reported from Wash.

cottonthorn horsebrush (Tetradymia spinosa).
10. Twigs not densely white-woolly-hairy, often with scattered
prickles and/or bristles in addition to simple or 3- to 9-
parted spines bordering the usually narrow leaf scars;
bundle traces 3; buds evident, somewhat egg- or spindle-
shaped; bud scales papery, several, overlapping, persistent
after buds open; short, spurlike twigs common; pith
spongy; erect or spreading shrubs, often with arching
branches and crown-sprouting or layering after fire or top
injury; alternate hosts of white pine blister rust.^

currants, gooseberries (Ribes spp.).
11. Spines 3- to 9-parted, usually to about % inch long;
prickles and/or bristles commonly present, especially in
sunny sites; twigs brown or deeply straw-colored; buds
symmetrical, at 30° angle to twig; fruit-cluster stalks
(peduncles) elongate, often drying-persistent with 4-20
bracted berry stalks (pedicels) attached; berries with
gland-tipped bristles, usually not persistent- _ currants.
12. Twigs with gland-tipped bristles; spines rigid, rather
stout; buds rounded at tips, end buds about same size
as side buds; stiff-branched shrubs to 4 feet high; on
rocky exposed sites at higher (often subalpine)
altitudes .gooseberry currant (Ribes montigenum).
12. Twigs finely whitish-hairy but bristles not gland-
tipped; spines less rigid, rather slender; buds pointed
at tips, end buds larger than side buds; much-branched
shrubs, erect and to 3 or 4 feet high, or, if in shade,
trailing and with weaker spines and prickles; moist
sites in open mountain woods; very susceptible to
white pine blister rust.

prickly (or swamp) currant (Ribes lacustre).

24 Piper hawthorn is listed in the Check List of Native and Naturalized Trees
of the United States (U. S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Handb. 41. 1953) as a synonym of
Columbia hawthorn; these need field study.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

111

Prickly (or swamp) curra

471114 O-60-8

Columbia hawthorn

Douglas hawthorn

112 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1 1 . Spines single or 3-parted; prickles and/or bristles present
or lacking; twigs distinctly ridged or lined downward
from ends of leaf scars; bark often split and peeling
somewhat spirally; fruit-cluster stalks (peduncles) some-
times persistent but berry stalks (pedicels) falling with

the berries gooseberries.

13. Twigs hairless or nearly so, usually without prickles
or bristles.
14. Spines mostly single; end buds about same size as
side buds.
15. Twigs whitish or pale straw-colored; spines few,
weak, short (V4 to % inch long); side buds ap-
pressed, flattened on side next to twig; older
bark reddish brown; branches often drooping or
trailing; moist to rather dry sites along streams;
widely distributed, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; susceptible
to white pine blister rust.

whitestem gooseberry (Ribes inerme).
15. Twigs yellow or deeply straw-colored, often long-
arching; spines strong, to about l/% incn l°ng»
straight, spreading at almost right angles to twig;
side buds somewhat egg-shaped, about % inch
long, not appressed or flattened on side next to
twig; older bark gray; shrubs often thicket-form-
ing, growing along dry, rocky ledges; from
northern Crook Co. through John Day Gorge
to Blue and Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg., upper
Snake River canyons, se. Wash, (type locality,
5 miles w. of Tmnaha, Wallowa Co., ne. Oreg.).
Goodding gooseberry (Ribes gooddingii).
14. Spines often 3-parted, to nearly 1 inch long, ascend-
ing on younger shoots, spreading or recurved on
older branches, darker than buds and the cinnamon
or reddish-brown twigs; prickles and bristles lacking
or few, weak, short, reflexed; older bark dark gray;
buds sometimes clustered at twig tips; fruit-cluster
stalks (peduncles) to 2 inches long, slender, droop-
ing, often persistent; berry stalks (pedicels) very
slender, sometimes persistent with the large, bluish
black berries; widely branching shrubs to 13 feet
high; rocky banks or gravelly soils in moist sites
along streams of ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

snow gooseberry (Ribes niveum).

13. Twigs hoary with whitish or grayish hairs; spines,

prickles and or bristles usually reflexed; fruit-cluster

stalks (peduncles) short (to about 1 inch long),

sometimes persistent.

16. Spines mostly single except on vigorous twigs

where they are often 3-parted, to nearly V2 inch

long; prickles and/or bristles usually on older parts

of twigs; twigs pale gray or straw-colored, with

very fine, short whitish hairs, not glandular; erect

shrubs to 10 feet high, with widely spreading

branches; somewhat susceptible to white pine blister

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

113

rust; along; streams, Wallowa, Blue Mts., ne. Oreg.,
se. Wash, (type locality, Blue Mts., lat. 46° 33').
Idaho gooseberry (Ribes irriguum) .
16. Spines mostly 3-parted, to slightly more than y2
inch long; prickles and bristles often numerous;
twigs rather densely whitish- or grayish-hairy, with
many gland-tipped hairs; stems slender, long-arch-
ing, somewhat vinelike, to 13 feet long; along
streams, ne. Oreg., e. Wash, (type locality along
Umatilla River near Pendleton, Oreg.),

Umatilla gooseberry (Ribes cognatum).

(Enlarged portion of
vigorous shoot)

Idaho gooseberry

Spongy pith

Enlarged tip of vigorous
shoot; part of older stem
and berry about natural
(Enlarged twig, near tip) size

Goodding gooseberry Snow gooseberry

(Enlarged portion
of twig)

Side bud

Leaf scar
' j Simple spine

F-43407.'.

Whitestem gooseberry

114 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

9. Spines lacking; prickles and/or bristles present.

17. Fruits berrylike, red, showy, persistent; shrubs with erect
or arching, perennial woody stems; prickles often paired
beneath the very narrow leaf scars; buds small, often
slightly above the leaf scar; end buds present; stipule

scars lacking; bundle traces 3 roses (Rosa spp.).

18. Calyx lobes persistent on fruits; twigs hairless or nearly

so, brown or red; not shade tolerant, growing in open,

moist sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

19. Fruits large (to more than l/2 inch across), usually

single (sometimes 2 or 3 together) ; stems or branches

usually not arching; twigs brown, without a whitish

"bloom," sometimes bristly in addition to the paired,

straight prickles under the leaf scars; bushy shrubs,

usually about 3 feet high.

Spalding rose (Rosa spaldingii).25
19. Fruits smaller (less than y4 inch across), usually
clustered; fruiting branches often arching a little;
twigs reddish, with a slight whitish "bloom"; vigorous,
sterile shoots often overtopping the fruiting steins;
tall, often clumpy shrubs, to 9 or 10 feet high.

interior rose (Rosa ultramontana) .
18. Calyx lobes not persistent on the small, somewhat
egg-shaped, single fruits; twigs green, often with inter-
mixed bristles and straight, slender prickles; tack-
shaped glands on fruit stalks, also on the often per-
sistent leafstalks; small, straggly shrubs of shady woods.

baldhip rose (Rosa gy mnocarpa) .
17. Fruits not berrylike (aggregate drupes), their whitish cores
sometimes persistent; prickles and/or bristles scattered
on stems; buds egg-shaped, with several overlapping bud
scales, in axils of persistent leafstalk stumps; bundle
traces 3; older bark flaking or peeling.

salmonberry, raspberries (Rubus spp.).
20. Twigs and branches zigzag; stems erect, woody, per-
ennial; prickles straight, few, short and weak, or lacking;
shrubs spreading by underground stems;. moist woods
along streams, common w., occasional e. slopes of
Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis).
20. Twigs and branches not zigzag; stems (canes) erect or
spreading, soft-woody, large-pithy, living only 2 years
(leafing first year, flowering, fruiting and dying second
year), suckering or with runners at base but not arching
and rooting at tips (as does white-bark raspberry), often
with whitish waxy "bloom"; tack-shaped glands on
younger parts and on the often persistent leafstalks;
stiff bristles usually present, sometimes gland-tipped
when young; straight prickles sometimes present; moist
to rather dry sites, open woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

American red raspberry (Rubus strigosus).26

25 Spalding rose of eastern Oregon and Washington has often been confused
with Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) of western Oregon and Washington. Nootka
rose has prickles usually Large, stout, and more or less flattened near their bases.

26 This is not the red raspberry of cultivation.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

i

115

Fruit without persistent
calyx lobes

Tack-shaped
glands

End bud

F-494076

Leafstalk stump

American red raspberry

PLANTS DECIDUOUS • FALL AND WINTER

Buds, Twigs Alternate

Plants Unarmed • With Catkins

[Willows, oak, aspen, Cottonwood, hazelnut, alders, and birches]

1. Catkins hidden in buds until late winter or spring; leaf scars often
on raised cushions; bundle traces 3 or more; stipule scars linelike
or ridgelike, at ends of leaf scars; buds in the % arrangement on
twigs (each bud at 144° around twig from bud next below or above).

willows, oak, aspen, cottonwood.
2. End buds lacking, twig tips dying back to topmost side bud;
bud scale 1, caplike, centered over leaf scar, opening on side
next to twig, membrane-lined; catkin buds sometimes larger
than leafy-shoot buds and opening before them (as in the pussy
willows); pollen- and seed-producing catkins on separate plants,
usually erect or spreading; twigs and buds often highly colored
(red, yellow, orange, or bronze), shiny or dull, or with bluish
or whitish "bloom" easily rubbed or washed off (pruinose) ;
twigs flexible near tips, brittle near base, often breaking off and
rooting in moist soils; bark very bitter, in some species known
to contain the antirheumatic and tonic glucoside (salicin)
formerly a source of aspirin; shrubs or trees commonly stump-
er root-sprouting or layering, often thicket-forming; along
streams, on sand or gravel bars, or sometimes in open woods
(as, for example, the 2 common upland species, Bebb and Scolder

willows) willows (Salix spp.) .

2. End buds present, like side buds but often larger; bud scales
several to many, spirally overlapping; pith somewhat 5-angled
in cross section.

Oregon white oak, quaking aspen, black cottonwood.
'A. Twigs, buds finely fuzzy with yellowish-rusty, star-shaped
or clustered hairs; buds clustered at twig tips; egg-shaped,
bluntly pointed at tip, to % inch long; bud scales many, in
5 nearly vertical rows; pollen-producing catkins stringlike,
soon withering, drooping from buds near tip of last year's
twigs, on same plant as the single or paired acorn-producing
flowers in leaf axils of new twigs; bundle traces to 12; stipules
narrowly strap-shaped, persistent or leaving small, indistinct
stipule scars; usually trees (shrubby at higher elevations),
stump- or root-sprouting; common w., abundant locally e.
slopes of Cascades, Yakima Valley, Wash., and southward
to Mt. Hood National Forest, Oreg.

Oregon white oak {Quercus garryana).
'A. Twigs, buds shiny, usually hairless or nearly so; buds res-
inous, not clustered at twig tips, egg- or cone-shaped, taper-
pointed, often curved at tip; bud scales 6 or 7, the lowest
(smallest) one centered over leaf scar; catkin buds plumper
than leafy-shoot buds and opening before them; twigs often
somewhat spurlike and roughened by raised, crowded leaf
sears; bundle traces 3, simple or compound; pollen- and seed-
producing catkins on separate trees, drooping, stalked, from

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

117

*i

;

t%

Topmost
side
bud

F-49407

118 HANDBOOK US. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

g&jji* Pollen-producing flower
with stamens and flower
scale

Catkins with 3-parted seed]
4 pods (capsules)

Pollen-producing flower
and scale

Quaking aspen

Black cottonwood

F-494078

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 1 1 9

1/2 to nearly 8 inches long, many-flowered; each flower in
shallowly cup-shaped disk attached to deeply cleft, hairy-
fringed, often soon-falling flower scale; seed pods (capsules)
greenish, to ){ inch long, cone- or globe-shaped, splitting down
from top into 2 or 3 parts (valves); seeds many, tiny, silky -
or cottony-hairy -tuf ted ; fast-growing trees, stump- or root-
sprouting; moist sites along river valleys, or on cut- or burned-
over mountain areas. .quaking aspen and black cottonwood.
4. End buds to 3/8 inch long, only slightly resinous, reddish
brown, little (if any) larger than the often appressed and
incurved side buds; twigs with 5-lobed pith; pollen-pro-
ducing catkins to 2 inches long, each flower with 6-12 red,
maroon, or purple anthers; seed-producing catkins to 4
inches long in fruit, each flower tipped by 2 slender, 2-lobed
pollen-receiving organs (stigmas) ; flower scales 3- to 8-cleft ;
seed pods cone-shaped, thin-walled, splitting into 2 parts;
bark of young trees greenish to chalky white, with dark
scarlike patches; trees, often in almost pure stands, com-
monly 20-40 feet high, often much taller, widely distributed
at middle elevations, mountains of e. Oreg., e. Wash.

quaking (or golden) aspen (Populus tremuloides).
4. End buds to nearly 1 inch long, very resinous (drops of
fragant reddish resin often on bud scales), orange brown,
often curved and a little larger than side buds; twigs with
5-sided pith (star-shaped when dry); pollen-producing
catkins to 3 inches long, each flower with 30-60 purplish
anthers; seed-producing catkins to nearly 8 inches long in
fruit ; each flower tipped by 3 broad, deeply lobed pollen-
receiving organs (stigmas) ; flower scales cleft into many,
narrow (almost threadlike) lobes; seed pods globe-shaped,
thick-walled, hairy, splitting into 3 parts; bark of young
trees smooth, greenish to yellow or gray; large trees (to
more than 100 feet high in river valleys w. of Cascades),
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa).27
1. Catkins visible in fall and winter; pollen-producing catkins pre-
formed and out of the bud by late summer, tassellike, erect or
drooping, single or clustered; pollen- and seed-producing flowers
on same plant; twigs with small, compressed or triangular pith.

hazel, alders, and birches.
5. Only pollen-producing flowers in catkins; hazelnuts sometimes
persistent, in bristly-hairy, brownish, fringe-beaked husks, sin-
gle or 2- to 4-clustered at twig tips; catkins hoary, tan or straw-
colored, 1-3 inches long, erect at first, soon spreading or droop-
ing, appearing almost stalkless but at tips of very short side
twigs; hazelnut-producing flower buds globe-shaped, plumper
than leafy -shoot buds, each with 2 bright red, short, threadlike
pollen-receiving organs (stigmas) visible at tip in early spring;
end buds lacking; leaf scars triangular to half-round, 2-ranked;
bundle traces 3 to several, scattered and indistinct; both buds

27 The very similar balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) has egg-shaped, hairless
seed pods that split into only 2 parts; it is introduced in Multnomah Co., Oreg.,
otherwise not reported from Oregon or Washington.

120 HANDBOOK 148. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

and leaf scars in V2 arrangement on twigs (each bud or leaf
scar 180° around twig from bud or leaf scar next below or
above); twigs slender, zigzag, with spreading yellowish (often
gland-tipped) hairs; clustered shrubs (sometimes treelike and to
25 feet high), often suckering from base, sometimes thicket-
forming; mostly w., occasionally e. of Cascades.

California hazel (Corylus cornuta var. calif or nica).
5. Both pollen- and seed-producing flowers in catkins; buds and
twigs somewhat resinous; leaf scars with 3 simple (or sometimes
compounded) bundle traces; buds and leaf scars in V3 arrange-
ment on twigs (each bud or leaf scar 120° around twig from bud

or leaf scar next below or above) alders and birches.

6. Seed-producing catkins conelike, persistent, with woody,
mostly 5-lobed scales, stalked, in stalked clusters at twig
tips; twigs faintly 3-angled, smooth, with pale, dotlike pores
(lenticels) but not warty with resin dots; pith triangular in
cross section; end buds present, stalked; roots often with (pre-
sumably nitrogen-fixing) nodules; buds in clockwise spiral on

twigs alders (Alnus spp.).

7. Bud scales overlapping, at least 3; buds stalkless or nearly
so (except end buds), sharply taper-pointed at tips, dark
purplish; "seeds" (nutlets) tissue-papery -winged; last sea-
son's seed-producing catkins long-stalked ; next season's seed-
producing catkins hidden in the bud until leaves unfold;
seasonal twigs yellow brown, shiny-resinous as are also the
pollen-producing catkins; tall, slender shrubs or small trees,
often thicket-forming; along cool mountain streams, Cascade,
Wallowa, and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata).
7. Bud scales meeting at edges but not overlapping (valvate),
2 or 3; buds distinctly stalked, bluntly pointed or rounded
at tips; last season's seed-producing catkins short-stalked to
almost stalkless; next season's seed-producing catkins out
of the bud by winter but small and undeveloped (white
alder usually earlier than red alder).

8. Trees, commonly to 40 feet high, often much taller; bark

pale grayish or whitish, smooth except on lower trunks;

new twigs and pollen-producing catkins shiny-resinous.

9. Inner bark and sapwood turning orange or bright red

when freshly cut; pollen-producing catkins brownish to

red; "seeds" with narrow (often nearly encircling)

papery wings; seasonal twigs often clear bright red;

buds dark red; valuable hardwood trees, often in almost

pure stands on cut- or burned-over areas; mostly w. of

Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

red (01 Oregon) alder (Alnus rubra).
9. Inner bark and sapwood not as above; pollen-produc-
ing catkins pale green to olive brown, becoming red-
dish; "seeds" narrowly margined, scarcely winged;
twigs greenish at first, becoming dark orange red; buds
bright red; both sides of Cascades, common along
streams e. Oreg., e. Wash.

white alder (Alnus rhombifolia) .

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

121

Hazelnut-producing flower
bud

-producinq catkins

California hazel

Last season's long-stalked
seed-producing catkins

Sitka alder

Winged "seed" and
woody "cone" scale

F-4940711

122 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Western paper birch

F-494080

Seed-producing catkin
Northwestern paper birch

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 123

8. Tall shrubs or small, straggly trees; bark gray brown and
smooth on young stems, reddish brown and scaly on old
trunks; pollen-producing catkins and seasonal twigs dull-
waxy-resinous, minutely ashy-hairy; last season's seed-
producing catkins commonly disfigured by disease;
"seeds" narrowly margined, scarcely winged; commonest
alder of e. Oreg., e. Wash.

thinleaf (or mountain) alder (Alnus tenuifolia).
6. Seed-producing catkins somewhat conelike or tassellike,
stalked, single (sometimes clustered), erect or drooping at
tips of dwarf side twigs, not persistent except for their cen-
tral, erect or recurved stalks from which the 3-lobed papery
scales fall — either with or after shedding of the tissue-papery-
winged "seeds" (nutlets or samaras) ; next season's seed-pro-
ducing catkins hidden in the bud until leaves unfold in spring;
twigs slender, round, sparsely resin-dotted or densely warty
with resin glands when young, becoming smooth and marked
with pale pores (lenticels) ; pith compressed, somewhat 3-sided;
end buds lacking, stem tips dying back to topmost side buds
except on dwarf side twigs; buds only slightly resinous, to ){
inch long, stalkless but sometimes appearing stalked at tips
of dwarf side twigs; bud scales at least 3, spirally overlapping;
leaf scars somewhat crescent-shaped; bundle traces 3; buds
and leaf scars in counterclockwise spiral on twigs; shrubs or
trees of moist sites, sometimes thicket-forming.

birches {Betula spp.).
10. Bark shredding or separating into papery layers at base
of old trunks; seasonal twigs sparsely resin-dotted but not
warty with resin glands; seed-producing catkins rather
plump, soon drooping, their scales sometimes persistent
until late fall; trees to 60 or 90 feet high.

paper birches (varieties of Betula papyrifera) .
1 1 . Seasonal twigs orange brown, with a few straggly white
hairs; bark of lower trunk warm brown, shredding to
show orange brown or creamy layers underneath; large
trees to 90 feet high; both sides of Cascades in n. Wash,
and on the Colville Indian Reservation, also in Blue
Mts., se. Wash.; not reported from Oreg.

western paper birch (Betula papyrifera var.

commutata).
11. Seasonal twigs finely hairy or almost hairless, reddish
brown to gray; bark of lower trunk dark silvery gray,
peeling to show purplish or whitish, shreddy layers
underneath; trees to 60 feet high, sometimes with clus-
tered trunks; rather rare, in Wallowa Mts. of ne. Oreg.,
Blue Mts. of se. Wash.

northwestern paper birch {Betula papyrifera var.

subcordata).

10. Bark not shredding or separating into layers as above;

twigs densely warty with resin glands, minutely hairy

under a lens: seed-producing catkins often erect; shrubs

or small trees, often thicket-forming.

124 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

12. Bushy trees to 40 feet high, or tall shrubs; branches
wandlike, ascending; bark bronze, dark red to purplish
brown or gray, shiny, marked with elongated, brownish
pores (lenticels); twigs with mostly reddish or amber
colored resin glands; seed-producing catkins rather stout,
usually single, erect or drooping; "seeds" broadly
winged; wooded areas along streams; commonest birch
of e. Oreg., e. Wash.

water birch (Betula occidentalis).28

12. Much-branched, spreading shrubs to 8 or 10 feet high;
brandies flexible; twigs dark reddish brown with whit-
ish, warty resin glands; seed-producing catkins rather
slender; "seeds" narrowly winged; often in dense
thickets in mountain bogs, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

bog birch (Betula glandulosa).

11*

Bog birch

F-494081

28 A drooping-branched variety of water birch (Betula occidentalis Hook., var.
fecunda Fern., Rhodora 47:317. ' 1945.), with paired or clustered seed-producing
catkins and dark bronze bark, was originally described by Piper and Beattie in
The Flora of the Palouse Region, p. 55, 1901, from material growing on bprmgy
hillsides near Almota," Garfield Co., e. Wash., but was not given any name,
being merely the third "B". Perhaps this is the same as Guthrie birch [Beta la
guthriei Sudw., A New Western Birch. Amer. For. and For. Life 33 (4Ul):3So-
387. Mav 1927.), which Major Guthrie found in 1924, "in northeastern Oregon
growing along the Imnaha River and its tributary canyons from the mouth of
the river to a point 35 miles above, reaching elevations of from about 2.5UU to
4,500 feet."

PLANTS DECIDUOUS • FALL AND WINTER

Buds, Twigs Alternate

Plants Unarmed * Without Catkins

1. Plants with sagebrush odor, taste; low, rigidly branched shrubs
to 2 feet high, losing their (mostly deeply 3- to 5-cleft) leaves by
late fall; twigs tan to brownish, finely white-woolly-hairy to almost
hairless; older bark stringy-fibrous, dark; buds present except on
the dead (but drying-persistent) annual seed-head twigs, small,
to }i inch long, topmost bud larger than side buds; bud scales sev-
eral, overlapping, hard to see (even under lens) because of dense,
white-woolly hairs; leaf scars often edged with torn leaf-base rem-
nants, bundle trace 1; shrubs not layering or root-sprouting; poor
rocky soils, common locally in scablands, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; typo
locality, plains of Snake River.

stiff sagebrush (Artemisia rigida).29

:'/Jk Topmost bud

Leafy-twig tip

B

Annual riowering twig, dy-
ing in fall after "seeds"
are shed

I

Leaves falling in late
October

Leafy-twig tip

Single bundle trace

Twig, much enlarged to
show buds, bud scales,
leaf scars, and bundle
traces

Stiff sagebrush

l CMOS.'

29 In spring and summer, stiff sagebrush is often confused with threetip sage-
brush (Artemisia tripartita) which is evergreen, as are also low sagebrush (A. arbus-
cula), silver sagebrush (A. carta) and big sagebrush (.1. tridentata) . Bud sagebrush
(A. spinescens) also sheds its leaves, but it has spiny-tipped twigs.

125

126 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1 . Plants without sagebrush odor or taste.
2. Seed-head or fruit clusters persistent, distinctive (even after
seeds have fallen), often conspicuous at a distance.

[Alternate 2, p. 136.]

3. Shrubs fall-blooming; flower heads braeted, with tiny, }'ellovv
disk flowers, ray flowers lacking; seed heads stalked, narrowly
cylindrical or bell-shaped, in usually broad (elongate in fetid
rubber rabbitbrush), roundish-topped end clusters; seed-head
bracts firm-papery, often keeled, overlapping, in 4 or 5 more
or less vertically ranked rows; "seeds" (achenes) hairy,
crowned by ring of whitish or tawny, hairlike bristles (pappus) ;
leaves often drying-persistent, threadlike to (mostly) linear,
1- and/or 3- to 5-nerved, plane or spirally twisted; leaf buds
not developing until spring or, when moisture and tempera-
ture favorable, clusters of tiny leaves remain in leaf-scar or
leaf-base axils; usually round-bushy shrubs 1-6 (or 8) feet-
high; common, often with sagebrush, in dry (sometimes in
alkaline) sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

rabbitbrushes (Chrysothamnus spp.).
4. Twigs flexible, whitish or greenish, hairy (loosely white-
woolly-hairy, or grayish- to greenish-feltlike and so resin-
matted that scraping twig is necessary to detect hairiness),
not or indistinctly striate; seed heads to }{ inch long; seed-
head bracts to 25, in distinctly vertical ranks; leaves usually
1-nerved, plane; stems often with appreciable rubber con-
tent; shrubs with deep taproots, sprouting from base after
cutting but rarely after burning; reportedly somewhat
poisonous to livestock under certain conditions; varieties
(or subspecies) with various intergrading characters, often
hard to tell apart.

rubber rabbitbrushes {Chrysothamnus nauseosus).

4. Twigs brittle, white to pale green, hairless or minutely
stiff-hairy (finely sand-papery to the touch), sometimes
shiny, often sticky-resinous near seed heads or with resin
drops in leaf or leaf-scar axils, striate; seed heads to % inch
long; seed-head bracts to 15, often in indistinctly vertical
ranks, sometimes broadest near their bent-inward tips;
leaves 1- and/or 3- to 5-nerved, often spirally twisted,
usually linear (sometimes to nearly ){ inch wide); stems
usually much-branched from near base; varieties (or sub-
species) with various intergrading characters, often hard to
tell apart.

Douglas rabbitbrushes (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) .

3. Shrubs not fall-blooming (mallow ninebark, shinyleaf spires,

creambush rockspirea, deerbrush ceanothus, redstem ceano-

thus, smooth sumac, mountain-ashes, Pacific poison-oak,

west ern poison-ivy) .

5. Bark peeling in many layers; seed pods (follicles) usually
2 for each flower, in drooping, somewhat umbrella-shaped
clusters (corymbs) at tips of short side twigs; sucker shoots
common, usually stouter, taller than other branches, and
with smooth, deep reddish or purplish bark; buds with sev-
eral overlapping bud scales; leaf sears with 3 (rarely 5)
bundle traces and with a stipule scar on either side at top

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

127

Rubber rabbitbrush

F-486427

edge of loaf scar: star-shaped hairs on twigs, seed pods and
bud scales; rootstocks long-spreading, with yellow pith:
much-branched, erect shrubs to 6 feet high; burned or cut-
over areas, rocky dry hillsides, washes, open woods or
roadsides: common. Wallowa and Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., se.
Wash.. mallow ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus).

Bark not peeling in many layers as above, sometimes loose-
stringy or flaking off in small, thin patches on older stems.
6. Fruits more or less seedlike (achenes, follicles, capsules),
massed in distinctive clusters; true end buds lacking,
stem tips dying back to topmost side bud.

471114 O-60-9

12S HANDBOOK 14S, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7. Seed-head clusters roundish- to flattish-topped (corym-
bose), to 4 inches across, at tips of erect, shiny, tan-
to brown-barked, low, often unbranched stems which
grew from buds on shallow, trailing, woody under-
ground stems; seed pods (follicles) splitting down from
top along inner groove; buds tiny (to % inch long) ; bud
scales several, overlapping; leaf scars indistinct, bor-
dered by torn edges of leafstalk base; bundle trace
single; buds, bud scales, leaf scars hard to see without
hand lens; stipules, stipule scars lacking; low shrubs
to 2 or .3 feet high, stems sometimes dying back to near
ground line; commonest spirea of middle altitudes; dry
hillsides, open woods; Cascades, Wallowa and Blue
Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

shinyleaf (or birchleaf) spirea (Spiraea lucida).

7. Seed-head clusters elongate, narrow to broad, some-
times much-branched, nearly erect, ascending or droop-
ing, at twig or stem tips; bud scales 2 to several, about
equally sized, overlapping little if any, soon spreading,
sometimes falling, exposing tiny, densely hairy, un-
developed leaves; bundle traces 3 (sometimes appear-
ing fused into 1 in ceanothus).

8. Seed pods (achenes) tiny, long-white-hairy, beaked,
5 for each flower, on a disk, opposite the 5 persistent

Twig enlarged to show
buds, bud scales, leaf
scars, and stipule scars

Mallow ninebark

F-404083

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

129

p dying back

(follicles) en-
ged

and leaf scar
bundle trace

V 194084

130

HANDBOOK 14S. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

calyx lobes, massed in much-branched, pyramidal,
drooping end clusters; twigs, bud scales finely, often
thinly hairy; buds to ){ inch long; bud scales 2 (or 3),
purplish brown, with leaflike veining toward tips,
soon spreading, falling, exposing tiny, densely
white-hairy, undeveloped leaves, buds then appear-
ing naked ; leaf scars crescent- or broadly V-shaped,
cushioned ; stipules, stipule scars lacking; twigs lined
or ridged downward from leaf scars; erect, bushy
shrubs with slate-gray bark; stems, branches often
arching near tips, 3-20 feet high; open woods, cut-
over lands or canyon bottoms, e. Oreg., e. Wash.;
type locality, Clearwater River, Idaho.
creambush rockspirea, or oceanspray (Holodiscus

discolor).
Seed pods (capsules) 3-parted, sticky-resinous,
mostly fallen from their stalked, cuplike disks which
persist in elongated, branched, compound, stalked
clusters; twigs dotted with tiny, reddish resin blis-

Enlarged, persistent calyx
lobes, disk, "seed"

Topmost side bud

Jft Outer bud scales somewhat
leaflike, often spreading
and falling

Side bud

Ridged stem

+ -J

Enlarged twig showing leaf
scars, bundle traces,
buds, and bud scales

Bundle traces 3, largest in
middle of leaf scar

Creambush rockspirea

I- CMOS--

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

131

ters; side buds often stalked; bud scales several, dark,
resembling stipules, spreading to expose tiny, densely
hairy, undeveloped leaves and/or flower-bud clusters;
stipule scars reddish-resinous-glandular, on either
side at top edge of leaf scar; bundle traces 3 but
often appearing single because of a resinous-corky
substance soon covering the leaf scar; loosely
branched or erect shrubs 3-12 feet high, stump-
sprouting after cutting.

ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.).

Redstem ceanothus
(note stalked buds)

F-48fi43!>

132 HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1). Leaves (at least a few) winter-persistent, entire-
margined; seed-pod clusters to 6 inches long, 4
inches wide; leaf scars present on lower part of
the 3- to 5-inch long stalk (peduncle) bearing the
seed-pod clusters; side buds erect or nearly so,
stalkless or short -stalked, slender; outer bud scales
lance-shaped ; twigs and branches greenish, tan or
reddish brown, slender, often slightly drooping,
usually hairy; loosely branched shrubs 3-12 feet
high; rare e. of Cascades; along roads near Colum-
bia River, Klickitat Co., Wash., Hood River Co.,
Oreg.

deerbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus integerrimus).
9. Leaves not winter-persistent; seed-pod clusters
2-4 inches long, on 2- to 3-inch long stalks (pedun-
cles) that have no leaf scars; side buds at an angle,
often stalked, mostly globe-shaped ; outer bud scales
broad, rounded or somewhat pointed at tips; twig's
and branches reddish purple, rather stout but flex-
ible, hairless or nearly so; erect shrubs to 10 feet
high; along streams, in thickets, in open woods or
on burns or sunny hillsides; e. lower slopes, Cas-
cades, Wallowa and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.
redstem ceanothus (Ceanothus sanguineus) .
6. Fruits berrylike, winter-persistent, clustered.

10. "Berries" red (sometimes orange or scarlet); bark
usually dotted with pale pores (lenticels).
11. "Berries" (drupes) sticky, red-glandular-hairy, each
bearing single, bony seed; true end buds lacking;
sap resinous, thin-milky, soon hardening and black-
ening after exposure to air, not poisonous; stipules,
stipule scars lacking.

skunkbush and smooth sumacs.
12. Flower buds conspicuously scaly, catkinlike, in
mostly compound spikes at (or near) twig tips;
leafy-shoot buds without bud scales, tiny, hairy,
each borne singly and almost hidden between
twig and persistent stump of leafstalk base; leaf
scar at tip of leafstalk stump, nearly circular,
covered with dried resinous sap which makes the
7 or 8 bundle traces hard to see; "berries" with
mixed red-glandular and clear whitish (hyaline)
hairs, in small, elongate clusters near twig tips;
slenderly much-branched shrubs to 4 or 5 feet
high, flowering before leaves appear, with un-
pleasant aromatic odor when crushed; dry hills,
se. Oreg., not reported from Wash.

skunkbush (or lemonade) sumac
(Rhus trilobata).
12. Flower buds, leafy-shoot buds not as above; leaf
scars large, somewhat C-shaped, nearly encircling
the small, roundish, hairy buds which lack bud
scales; bundle traces easy to see, several, often
in 3 groups of 3 each; "berries" with mixed red-

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

133

Densely hairy unde-
veloped leaves

Topmost side bud

Dark, spreading outer bud
scales

Seed-pod-clusters stalk,

£fjr from bud on second-year

wood; leaf scars lacking

Second-year wood

Leaf scar,- stipule sea

— either side above lea

scar c . ,

btipule sea

3 bundle traces in leaf sea

Stalked capsule cups

Topmost side bud in axil
of topmost leafstalk

Winter-persistent leaf

i<J Outer bud scales spreading
V'" to expose densely hairy,
undeveloped leaves in-
side

3-parted capsule !

First-year wood

Stalked capsule cups

Redstem ceanothus

Leaf scars

Seed-pod-clusters stalk
leaf scars present

F-49408fi

ush ceanothus

134

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

11

glandular and red-stained hairs, in large, much-
branched, pyramidal end clusters; few- and
staghorn-branehed shrubs with coarse, 3-sided
twigs, to 6 feet or more high, flowering after
leaves appear; often in large patches connected
underground by long-running root branches, along
streams, extending to roadsides and upward along
dry, rocky hillsides, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

smooth sumac (Rhus glabra).
"Berries" (pomes) not as above, hairless or nearly
so, 2- to several-seeded, in usually large, flat- or
roundish-topped end clusters (compound corymbs) ;
true end buds present, mostly larger than side buds,
ellipsoid or somewhat conical, about % inch long;

Berries" red with whitish-
waxy "bloom"

F-494087

Skunkbush sumac

Cascades mountain-ash

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 135

bud scales several, unequal, overlapping, sometimes
appearing twisted, outer ones stipulelike, less hairy
than inner ones; stipules sometimes remaining at-
tached to base of persistent leafstalks after leaflets
fall; stipule sears absent; leaf scars crescent- to
broadly U- or V-shaped, raised on narrow darkened
ledges, often with band of tiny reddish glands along
inner border or around bud base; bundle traces
usually 5, arranged in a single curved line; low to
tall, few-branched mountain shrubs often growing
in clumps in or near clearings in moist wooded
sites, Cascades, Blue and Wallowa Mts., e. Oreg.,

e. Wash. mountain-ashes (Sorbus spp.).

13. Buds dull brown, finely yellowish- to gold-brown-
hairy; lowest bud scales often red or purplish;
"berries" red with whitish-waxy "bloom," ellips-
oid, 14-40, in roundish-topped clusters; seeds
dark or chestnut brown, oval to egg-shaped,
somewhat flattened; pointed and lop-sided at
base; bark gray; pores (lenticels) oblong; shrubs
2-10 feet high; Cascades (also Coast Ranges), at
4,000 feet in n. Wash, to 7,500 feet in s. Oreg.;
type locality, Cascades, 49° X. lat.

western mountain-ash (Sorbus occidentalis).
13. Buds shiny, sticky or gummy, greenish or green-
ish-brown, white-hairy (sometimes only sparsely
so) ; "berries" globe-shaped.
14. "Berries" glossy, orange to scarlet, 80-200, in
dense, flat-topped clusters; seeds light brown,
oblong; bark reddish, thick; pores elongate;
bud scales usually sparsely white-hairy; shrubs
to 13 feet high; conspicuous on lower slopes,
e. watershed of Cascades; the only native
mountain-ash in Wallowa and Blue Mts., ne.
Oreg., se. Wash.; type locality, near Pagosa
Peak at 9,000 feet alt., sw. Colo.
Greenes mountain-ash (Sorbus scopulina) .30
14. "Berries" scarlet, often with whitish-waxy
"bloom", 30-60, in somewhat roundish-topped
(convex) clusters; seeds dark brown, egg-
shaped, flattened; bark gray; pores nearly circu-
lar; bud scales (at least the inner) often rather
densely white-hairy; shrubs to nearly 17 feet
high; mostly w. side of Cascades, at elevations
of 3,000 feet in n. Wash, to 6,000 feet near
Crater Lake, s. Oreg.; type locality, Frog
Heaven, Mt. Rainier. Wash.

Cascades mountain-ash (Sorbus
cascadensis).30

30 Greenes mountain-ash and Cascades mountain-ash have both been confused
with Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis) and with Siberian mountain-ash
(<S. sambucifolia) neither of which occurs in ^Yashington or Oregon; both Sitka
mountain-ash and Siberian mountain-ash have the yellowish- or golden-brown
hairiness characterise of western mountain-ash (Sorbus occidentalis).

136 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

10. "Berries" (drupes) whitish, shining, appearing ribbed
or lined, their papery outer coats finally shed and
exposing waxy, fibrous inner coats surrounding hard,
ridged, single seeds, borne in dense erect or ascending
clusters (racemes) or in lax, spreading or drooping
clusters (panicles) in leaf-scar axils; true end buds
lacking; buds without bud scales, the tiny, hairy,
undeveloped leaves exposed; leaf scars crescent-
shaped; bundle traces mostly 5, arranged in a single
curved line; sap resinous, milky, poisonous to the
touch for humans; shrubs or vines often browsed by
cattle and sheep.

poison-ivy and poison-oak (Toxicodendron spp.).
15. Stems simple or erect-branched, sometimes clam-
bering but not vinelike, oft en connected underground ;
leafstalks persisting awhile after their 3 leaflets have
fallen; "berries" in dense, erect or ascending clus-
ters; shrubs to ,3 or 4 feet high ; in sunny but rather
moist sites, often common locally, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
western poison-ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii).31
15. Stems often vinelike, climbing by aerial rootlets;
leafstalks not persisting after leaflets fall; "berries"
in loose, drooping clusters; slender-branched, often
tall shrubs; dry woods, roadsides, mostly w. of Cas-
cades but coming through Columbia River Gorge to
e. of the Dalles on both the Oregon and Washington
sides of the river.

Pacific poison-oak (Toxicodendron diver silobum).
2. Seed-head or fruit clusters not persistent and distinctive as
above. [Alternate 2, p. 126.]
16. Buds undeveloped or tiny and hard to see.

17. Twigs densely white- woolly-hairy, at least in intercon-
nected ridges or lines and around buds; seed-head bracts
4, in a single row, a few persisting until late fall; leaf-
cluster scars resembling very short spurs; low, strong-
scented shrubs of dry open sites; poisonous to sheep,
especially in spring just before flowering and when browsed
together with sagebrush.

horsebrushes (Tetradymia spp.).
18. Branching rather rigid, broomlike; woolly-hairiness
close, evenly matted, thinning with age especially below
the tiny, spurlike leaf-cluster scars; shrubs with rough,
shreddy bark, not so poisonous as littleleaf horsebrush;
dry scablands or sagebrush areas, e. Oreg., e. Wash.;
type locality along the Columbia River.

gray horsebrush (Tetradymia canescens).
18. Branching slender, spreading; woolly-hairiness in fluffy,
interconnected lines or ridges, persistent, twigs bare or
nearly so between them; more poisonous than is gray
horsebrush; bark gray, shreddy; dry open sites, often
with sagebrush, central and se. Oreg., not reported from
Wash_ .littleleaf horsebrush (Tetradymia glabrata).

31 Some authors reduce Toxicodendron rydbergii to synonymy under T. radicans.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

137

I 19408R

Pacific poison-oak

Western poison-ivy

138 HANDBOOK 14S, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

17. Twigs not as above, reddish to purplish brown and finely
gray- or yellowish-hairy when young, becoming dark gray
and nearly hairless; spurlike twigs numerous, densely leaf-
scarred, to 1 inch or more long, sometimes branched, often
with drooping-stalked, 4- to 6-seeded "berries" (pomes)
hanging near tips until late fall; end buds and side buds
similar, about % inch long, abruptly pointed at tips; leaf
scars narrow, slightly raised; bundle traces 3, tiny; stipule
scars lacking; rigidly much-branched shrubs with smooth
gray bark, to 6 feet high; often growing with western juniper
or ponderosa pine, e. Oreg., not reported from Wash.;
type locality, "... dry hillsides near the Blue Mountains
of the Oregon."

squawapple (Peraphyllum ramosissimum) .
16. Buds not as above.

19. Leafstalk stumps and their attached stipules persistent,
partly surrounding the oblong or egg-shaped buds, dis-
tinctive; true end buds lacking; leaf scars raised, cushioned
on leafstalk stumps between the stipules; bark brown,
shreddy or peeling in thin layers; low to tall shrubs.
20. Twigs soft-woody, canelike, dying back from tips, some-
times slightly zigzag, nearly hairless to densely and
stiffly glandular-hairy; stipules lance-shaped, brittle,
more or less twisted and bent back; leaf scars shriveled,
often torn, with 3 indistinct bundle traces, hard to see;
tiny secondary (collateral) buds sometimes produced
near base and at side of other buds; stem joints (nodes)
appearing knotted and ragged with buds, persistent
leafstalks, stipule remnants, and bud scales; outer bud
scales 2 or 3, brownish or purplish, broad, rounded at
tips, with indistinct midribs; inner bud scales several,
densely pale-silky-hairy; dried, branched thimbleberry
stalks tipped by 5 persistent calyx lobes surrounding
the hairy disk from which fruit has fallen, remaining
through late fall or early winter; several-stemmed shrubs
to 6 feet or more high, from erect, woody, elongated
root crowns; moist, shady woods, mountain areas,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

western thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus).32

20. Twigs not soft-woody or canelike as above; leaf scars

raised, cushioned on leafstalk stubs between the stipules;

bundle trace 1.

21. Short, spurlike twigs numerous (especially on old,

stagnated growth), scarred with persistent leafstalk

stumps which, with their attached stipules, overlap

like bud scales and appear partly telescoped into each

other; vigorous new twigs often appearing jointed

because of encircling stipule scars (when leafstolk

stump pulled off, 1 bundle trace is from it and the 2

outer ones for the stipules); tiny, wedge-shaped,

winter-persistent leaves with 3-lobed tips sometimes

ee Plants Armed Key for winter characters of salmonberry (Riibus
spectabilis) .

KEY TO IMPUKTAXT WOODY PLANTS

139

present; typically tall and rigidly branched shrubs or
else moundlike and with arching brandies, but often
low and prostrate after long overgrazing; open places
in ponderosa pine woods or with sagebrush, e. Oreg.,
e. Wash, antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata).

Leafstalk stumf

K-49408S1

Western thimbleberry

Enlargement of young, fast-
growing twig

Antelope bitterbrush

140 HANDBOOK 14S, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

21. Short, spurlike twigs lacking; leafstalk stumps con-
spicuous, 3-nerved (outer 2 nerves apparently pass-
ing up and out to near tips of the attached, tan to
brownish, tissue-papery stipules), nearly enclosing the
comparatively large buds and almost encircling the
twigs; bud scales about 4, striate; bark tan to cinna-
mon or dark reddish brown, mostly finely silky-hairy
(hairs usually from tiny, pimplelike bases), soon
shreddy; low, bushy or straggly shrubs less than 5
feet high, often with twisted stems and the lowest
twigs almost stolonlike; moist mountain valleys or
meadows, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

bush cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa).
19. Leafstalk stumps, stipules, and leaf scars not as above.
22. Leaf scars with only 1 bundle trace.

23. True end buds lacking, stem tips dying back to tiny
stub at side of topmost side bud; fruit berries.
24. Bud scales 2, meeting at edges but not overlapping
(valvate).
25. Twigs grooved and/or angled.

26. Shrubs low (to 15 inches high), broomy with
fine bright green, deeply grooved, sharp-angled
twigs; berries red; often in carpetlike patches
under lodgepole pine; Cascades, Wallowa and
Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.
grouse whortleberry {Vaccinium scoparium).
26. Shrubs tall (to 3 feet or more high).

27. Twigs often bright red (sometimes green in
shady sites), ascending to somewhat spread-
ing, shallowly grooved, slightly angled, often
hoary with tiny, whitish, curved hairs, rarely
with white-waxy "bloom"; flowering with or
after leaf-unfolding; berries purplish-black,
flattened-globe-shaped; e. slopes of Cascades,
Wallowa and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.
big whortleberry {Vaccinium
membranaceum) .33
27. Twigs reddish in grooves, greenish on
angles, hairless, glandless, with slight white-
waxy "bloom," rather deeply grooved near
tips, nearly round toward base; flowering
before leaves unfold; berries blue with white-
waxy "bloom," globe-shaped; usually strag-
gling shrubs (to 12 feet high in good sites);
common on e. slopes of Cascades, Wash, and
n. Oreg., scattered or rare in s. Oreg.

ovalleaf whortleberry {Vaccinium

ovalifolium) .

33 In the Blue Mountains area of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Wash-
ington, big whortleberry shrubs tend to be less coarse and not so tall as those
of the Cascades, and their berries are more flattened and less juicy. These big
whortleberries of the Blue Mountain area are referred to the Vaccinium globulare
complex by some authors. (See Dr. Ray J. Davis' Flora of Idaho, 1952; also
Dr. W. H. Camp. Britt. 4: 205-247. 1942.)

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

141

Enlarged twig, angled,
grooved

Grouse whortleberry

Stipules &7h

Leafstalk stumps with at-
tached stipules

Bush cinquefoil

Topmost side bud

Stem tip dying back

F-494090

Leaf scar
Single bundle trace

Enlarged twig, buds

Big whortleberry

IP

142 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

25. Twigs round or very slightly angled; low, much-
branched or tufted shrubs to 1 foot high, often
in patches connected by underground stems;
berries deep blue with white-waxy "bloom,"
tipped by disklike flange (calyx); moist sites in
mountains, usually at higher altitudes, Cascades,
also in Wallowa and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e.

Wash. blueberries (Vaccinium spp.).

28. Shrubs densely tufted, usually less than 8
inches high ; twigs slender, shiny brown or
hoary with tiny, whitish, curved hairs, rarely
with a white-waxy "bloom"; often in patches
in old lodgepole pine burns.
dwarf blueberry (Vaccinium cespitosum).3i
28. Shrubs much-branched, to nearly 1 foot high;
twigs relatively coarse, pale with a white-
waxy "bloom," hairless; moist subalpine mea-
dows, limited to and common in Cascades,
Wash, and n. Oreg., less common south of the
Three Sisters.

delicious (or Cascades) blueberry
(Vaccinium deliciosum).
24. Bud scales several, overlapping; buds tiny (about
)i inch long); leaf scars distinct, semicircular;
bundle trace easily seen; twigs round, rigid, as-
cending, often with a white-waxy "bloom"; berries
blue, 1 to 3, from scaly buds near tips of second-
year twigs; much-branched shrubs to 3 feet high, in
mountain bogs or marshes, Cascades, Wallowa and
Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

westernbog blueberry (Vaccinium occidentale).
23. True end buds present; leafy-shoot and flower buds
separate; larger buds with several overlapping bud
scales at or near twig tips; smaller side buds often
with only 2 visible bud scales, especially near twig
base; seed pods (capsules) persistent, stalked, gland-
ular-hairy, split clown from top into 4 or 5 parts and
separated from central core; calyx lobes persistent
at seed-pod base; twugs often appearing whorled;
erect shrubs usually 2-6 feet high, poisonous, some-
times causing sheep losses on poorly managed summer
range; moist mountain sites, Cascades, Wallowa and
Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.
29. Seed pods split into 4 parts, shallowly cupped in
4 tiny, glandular-hairy-fringed calyx lobes, clus-
tered at tips of second-year twigs and between
bases of 2 usually unequally sized first-year twigs
(the larger twig usually tipped by a flower-cluster
bud and the smaller twig by a leafy-shoot bud) ;

34 At lower altitudes in mountain areas in both e. Oreg. and e. Wash., there are
erect, taller and coarser shrubs with redder twigs than those of dwarf blueberry.
These are referred by some botanists to taller dwarf blueberry (Vaccinium ces-
pitosum var. arbuscula) ; other botanists regard these coarse shrubs as possibly
polyploid and as a separate species (Vaccinium arbuscula).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

143

flower-cluster buds larger and with more and
variously sized bud scales than the leafy-shoot
buds which have fewer and nearly equally sized
bud scales; buds, twigs, and seed-pod stalks hoary
with tiny, whitish, curved hairs (often also glandu-
lar-hairy); bud scales white-hairy-fringed, with
rather coarse, often bent-back, white hairs at tips
and yellowish- or white-chaffy hairs along middle
back; bark brownish, often shreddy; moist, crushed
twigs often witli rank odor_ rusty menziesia.

(Menziesia ferruginea); probably not specifically
distinct from smooth menziesia (M. glabella).

Seed-pod cluster, with

Western bog blueberry

^Leaf scar with single bun-
dle trace

Rusty menziesia

471114 O-60-10

Dwarf blueberry

F -404001

144 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

29. Seed pods split into 5 parts, more deeply cupped
in 5 conspicuous calyx lobes, often with flat-tipped
style persistent and extending out from central
core; flower buds several, along first-year twigs
below leafy-shoot buds which are at or near twig
tips; buds and new twigs with rather coarse, ap-
pressed, dark- or coppery-red hairs; bark smooth,
gray brown; moist, crushed twigs often somewhat
fragrant.

Cascades azalea, or false-azalea (Rhododendron

albiflorum).
22. Leaf scars with 3 bundle traces.

30. Buds without bud scales (tiny, brownish, hairy, un-
developed leaves and flowers exposed) ; true end buds
lacking, topmost side bud larger than other side buds
on same twig; leaf scars oval, slightly raised; stipule
scars present; new twigs green, hairy; older twigs
red brown, hairless or nearly so; "berries" (drupes)
black, often emetic-cathartic, stalked, in stalked,
umbrellalike clusters in leaf-scar axils; "seeds"
(nutlets) 2 or 3, smooth on outer side; bark (cascara
sagrada of drug trade) smooth, gray, often stripped
for medical use; tall shrubs or small trees, stump-
sprouting after cutting; moist sites, mostly w. of
Cascades, also in e. Oreg., e. Wash, at lower altitudes
(3,000 feet) ; type locality along Clearwater River near
Kamiah, Nez Perce Co., Idaho.

cascara buckthorn (Rhamnus purshiana).
30. Buds with bud scales.

31. Twigs zigzag, 2-ranked, that is, each bud half way
(180 degrees) around twig from bud next above or
below, often distorted by witches' brooms (fungus
disease) ; pith closely chambered, at least near
"joints" (nodes) ; true end buds lacking; buds small,
almost globe-shaped; bud scales 4, overlapping,
2-ranked; "berries" (drupes) slender-stalked, borne
singly in leaf-scar axils on new twigs, dull orange
to dark cinnamon- or reddish-brown or purplish,
with single bony "seed" (nutlet) ; small trees or
shrubs with smooth or warty bark; rocky canyon
slopes, or valleys along streams, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata).35
31. Twigs not zigzag or 2-ranked as above; pith not
chambered; bud scales several to many spirally
overlapping, 2 lowest above leaf-scar ends, fruits
berrylike (drupes or pomes), or true berries.
32. Buds usually clustered at twig tips, sharp-
tipped; many side buds nearly as large as end
buds; stipule scars present; fruit-cluster stalks

35 Netleaf hackberry is a very variable species, with many intergrading forms.
Svns. Celtis douglasii', C. laevigata var. reticulata; C. occidentalis var. reticulata.
The type locality of netleaf hackberry is "Base of the Rocky Mountains," Colorado
or New Mexico; the type locality of Douglas hackberry (Celtis douglasii) is along
the Columbia River.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

Leafy-shoot bud

145

Twig, buds, enlarged

Leafy-shoot bud
(enlarged)

Hairs mostly dark- or
coppery-red

Leaf scar with tiny side bud
in its axil, and single
bundle trace (enlarged)

S) Flower-cluster buds

F-494092

Cascara buckthorn /

Netleaf hackberry

146

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cascara buckthorn

F-486442

(sometimes with dried fruits attached) on second-
year twigs, often winter persistent; bark bitter,
dotted with pale pores (lenticels) ; trees in favor-
able sites, shrubs sometimes thicket-forming in
poor sites; in mountain areas, near streams, or
woods after fire or clearing, e. Oreg., e. Wash.;
also w. of Cascades.

common chokecherries, bitter cherry.
33. Bud scales many, all about same size, brown-
ish, rounded and thin-papery along upper
edges, often slightly notched at "midrib" tips
buds often to Yz lnc^ long; twigs hairless or

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

147

Leaf scar, enlarged to show
3 bundle traces

nearly so; bark hard to peel, with strong or
peach-pit odor when freshly bruised; varieties

hard to toll apart after chokecherries fall.
common chokecherry (Primus virginiana).
34. Ripe fruits bright red, often drying dark
purplish and persistent, less astringent and
sweeter than black common chokecherry;
type locality, "Plains of the Oregon (Colum-
bia) towards the sea, and at the month of
the Wahlamet (Willamette)."

western common chokecherry
(Prunis virginiana var. demissa).
34. Ripe fruits black, astringent, often falling
with stalks attached, leaving circular, mostly
callus-covered scars on the persistent fruit-
cluster stalks.

black common chokecherry
(Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa).
'.V.]. Bud scales several, lower usually shorter than
upper, often shiny-sticky, somewhat hairy and
glandular-fringed; stipules sometimes persist-
ing at bud bases; buds small, to V4 incn long;
twigs shiny red and nearly hairless to dull,
dark gray brown and finely but densely hairy;
outer bark easily separated from inner, very
bitter bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata).

Bitter cherry

F-4940<t.'i

Chokecherry

148

HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

32. Buds rarely clustered at twig tips; bark not
bitter or with peach-pit odor.

currants, alder buckthorn, serviceberries.
35. Twigs ridged or lined downward from leaf-scar
ends; pith porous or spongy; bark of new twigs
thin-papery, splitting, shredding or peeling,
soon shed; pale pores (lenticels) lacking; leaf
scars narrowly U- or V-shaped to broadly
crescent- or heart-shaped, slightly raised; spur-
like, leaf-scarred twigs common; buds often
short-stalked; true end buds present; fruit-
cluster stalks sometimes persistent; alternate
hosts for white pine blister rust, some species
more susceptible than others. [Alternate 35,
p. 155.]

currants (Ribes spp.)

36. Buds, new twigs yellow-resin-dotted; buds to

/8 inch long; wood sometimes with bad odor;

branches few, erect, ascending or sprawling;

coarse-stemmed shrubs of moist woods.

37. Leaf scars heart-shaped; buds egg- to

globe-shaped, hairless, brown to purple

Heart-shaped
leaf scar

r?

Golden currant

Yellow resin drops on buds
and new twigs,- replaced
by black pinpoint dots
on second-year twigs

Blood currant

F-494094

Western black currant

F-486438

Stink currant

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS
Buds bright red k Loose bud scales

End bud

149

Blood currant

F-486447, 486448, 486454

.37.

reddish ; resin dots few; older bark dark
gray or brown; shrubs to 12 feet high;
common w., occasional e. slopes of Cas-
cades; type locality near mouth of Colum-
bia River.

stink currant (Ribes bracteosum).
Leaf scars crescent-shaped, extending %
way around twig; buds pinkish, oblong,
pointed at tips, finely, shortly whitish-
hairy; twigs mostly hairless; yellow resin
dots replaced by black pinpoint dots on

150 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Fast growing shoots, with
2/5 arrangement of buds
and twigs

Branches with spurlike twigs

— . . F-486453, 486450, 486451

vjolden currant

second -year twigs; highly susceptible to
white pine blister rust, blamed for many of
first long-range rust introductions into
Inland Empire areas ; shrubs to 6 feet high ;
mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, w.
base, Rockv Mts., lat. 48-52°.
western black currant (Ribes petiolare).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 151

36. Buds, new twigs not yellow-resin-dotted as
above.
38. Buds red, conspicuous, to 3/4 inch long,

slender, pointed at tips; bud scales often
3-veined (veins merging near bud-scale
top, protruding beyond it in a dark,
glandular tip), lower shorter than upper,
spreading at tips; fruit -cluster stalks erect,
usually with a few stalked glands and dark
glandular dots; leaves finely whitish-hairy-
matted on under surface, sometimes per-
sistent; shrubs to 12 feet high, often culti-
vated for its beautiful red flowers; common
in moist soils w., occasional along road
cuts or streams, e. slopes of Cascades; type
locality, Columbia River.

blood currant (Ribes sanguineum).
38. Buds not red or as above.

39. New twigs shiny, pale to golden- or
reddish-tan, usually hairless (rarely with
fine, short, whitish hairs or with longer,
gland-tipped hairs) ; end buds about
same size (% inch long) as the usually
appressed side buds; leaves rolled
lengthwise (convolute) in the bud, other
native Oreg. and Wash, currants have
leaves accordion-pleated (plicate) in
the bud; sometimes cultivated for its
spicy-fragrant, golden-yellow blossoms;
shrubs to 8 feet high; common along
streams, moist hillsides, or often in rocky
sites with sagebrush, e. Oreg., e. Wash.;
type locality, "On the banks of the rivers
Missouri and Columbia."

golden currant (Ribes aureum).
39. New twigs, buds not as above, some-
times sticky-shiny (viscid) or sugary-
crystalline-) waxy; young bark reddish
brown to reddish tan, with fine, short,
ashy-white hairs; older bark gray,
smooth ; bud scales very finely glandular-
hairy-fringed on margins.

sticky currant, wax currant.
40. Gland-tipped hairs short, rather
coarse, present on new twigs; young
bark peeling off in patches; end buds
like side buds but larger (to y2 inch
long), broadly egg-shaped, with
pointed tips; bud scales broad, thin-
papery, finely gland-dotted, pale pink-
ish tan to purplish brown, often 3-
veined (veins merging near bud-scale
top, protruding beyond it in a short,
dark glandular tip) ; stiffly branched,

152 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Sticky currant

F-486437

bushy shrubs to 5 feet high, with tap-
roots, not sprouting or layering, heavy
seed-producers; highly susceptible to
white pine blister rust; not very
shade tolerant; on open ridgetops,
cut- or burned-over areas or along
rights-of-way in wooded areas; often
with western larch, lodgepole, or
ponderosa pine, also at higher eleva-
tions with subalpine fir; Cascades,
Wallowa and Blue Mts., Oreg., Wash.;
type locality, Rocky Mts.
sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum) .

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

153

Wax currant

(Showing branching habit and short, branchlike twigs)

F-486440

154 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Wax currant

(Yq arrangement of buds on fast-growing shoots)

F-4 88455

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 155

40. Gland-tipped hairs lacking from twigs;
the reddish or yellowish, sticky-shiny
resin on buds and twigs often drying
sugary-waxy; young bark splitting,
shredding; end buds like side buds,
about Yi inch long, oval, mostly blunt
at tips; buds in 3/8 arrangement 36 on
the twig (buds of all other native
Oreg. and Wash, currants are in 2/5
arrangement); much-branched shrubs,
to 6 feet high; common, dry woods,
rocky hillsides, e. Oreg., e. Wash. ; type
locality, upper Columbia River in
Wash __ wax currant (Ribes cereum).
35. Twigs not ridged or lined downward from leaf-
scar ends; pith continuous (not spongy or
porous) ; bark of new twigs not splitting,
shredding or peeling; fruits berrylike (drupes or
pomes). [Alternate 35, p. 148.]
41. Buds egg-shaped, to Vi inch long, true end
buds lackihg; bud scales 5, lowest 2 longer,
sheathing base of upper 3; stipule scars
present; the usually 3 bundle traces some-
times fused into 1 ; "berries" (drupes) black,
juicy but bitter, stalked, mostly single, in
leaf-scar axils on new twigs, their disk-
tipped stalks often persistent; "seeds" (nut-
lets) 3, ridged near tips; twigs reddish brown,
becoming gray; spreading shrubs to 6 (or
10) feet high; wret sites, mountain meadowrs
to 7,000 feet or more elevation, e. Oreg., e.
Wash.

alder buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia).
41. Buds conical, often asymmetrical, varying
in color, hairiness, size, often conspicuous;
true end buds present on some twigs (on
fruiting twigs, the topmost side bud at base
of persistent stub of the fruit-cluster stalk
functions as an end bud) ; visible bud scales
usually 6, often twisted, finely white-hairy-
fringed (ciliate) on margins (sometimes red-
glandular-tipped or -edged) ; inner bud scales
usually finely long-white-hairy; bark of new
twigs red, reddish brown, or purplish, dotted

36 In the 3/s bud arrangement, the 8th bud above or below any given bud on
the same twig (and of a single season's growth) is the first bud directly above or
below it and exactly 360 degrees around the twig from it; each bud on the twig is
135 degrees (Y$ of 360 degrees) around the twig from the bud next above or below it .
This is best seen on a fast-grown twig.

In the 75 bud. arrangement, the 5th bud above or below any given bud on the
same twig (and of a single season's growth) is the first bud directly above or below
it and exactly 360 degrees around the twig from it; each bud on the twig is 144
degrees (% of 360 degrees) around the twig from the bud next above or below it.
See diagrams on p. 3.

156 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

with pale pores (lenticels); pith slightly 5-
angled; leaf scars narrowly crescent-shaped;
stipule scars lacking; "berries" (pomes)
sometimes drying-persistent, tipped by 5
bent-back (rarely nearly erect) calyx lobes
rimmed around inside base by 10-20 per-
sistent anther stalks; seeds 4-10, small,
smooth, dark brown, sometimes asymmetri-
cal; species often hard to tell apart; slender
shrubs or small trees, in exposed sites or
when overbrowsed sometimes dwarfed and
prostrate; moist sites, open woods or springy
hillsides in drier sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.)
42. New twigs purplish red, hairless, with
whitish-waxy "bloom" or slightly glossy;
buds conspicuous, to V2 inch or more long,
purplish red, hairless except for white-
hairy fringe on bud-scale margins; branches
many, slender, wandlike, flexible; shrubs
to 10 feet high; common on basaltic ledges
along rivers, e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type local-
ity, "On stony hillsides, Union County,
Oregon."

Cusick serviceberry (Amelanchier

cusickii).
42. New twigs and buds not as above, finely
soft-white-hairy (sometimes only sparsely
so), hairs not matted.
43. Bud scales (at least some) densely long-
hairy; buds 1/4 to % inch long, dark pur-
plish; twigs dark reddish or purplish
brown, slender, erect; slender shrubs 3-
15 feet high, or sometimes small trees;
mostly w. of Cascades, sometimes in
Columbia Gorge area, Oreg., Wash.;
type locality, "Northwest America,"
probably along the lower Columbia
River, near Vancouver, Wash.

Pacific serviceberry (Amelanchier

florida) .
43. Bud scales (at least some of them)
sparsely, shortly silky-hairy; buds to V4
inch long, reddish to dark brown; twigs
reddish brown; bark of older twigs dark
gray; shrubs or small trees to 20 feet or
more high; e. slopes of Cascades, Wal-
lowa, Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.
saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier

alnifolia).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS
Topmost side buds

157

i „

F-494095

Cusick serviceberry

Saskatoon serviceberry

F-486428

Pacific serviceberry

PLANTS DECIDUOUS ■ FALL AND WINTER

Buds, Twigs Opposite

1. Plants woody climbers or vinelike shrubs.
2. Stems climbing by tendrillike leaflet stalks, ridged, grooved,
swollen at joints; leafstalks persistent, hiding leaf scars; old

bark shredding in long strips; buds conspicuous at joints of old
wood; "seeds" (achenes) with long, hairy tails, clustered, some-
times persistent; moist sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

clematis and virginsbower (Clematis spp.).
3. Leafstalks with 5 7 leaflet stalks; stems high-climbing, often
over trees; common in stream valleys.

western virginsbower (Clematis ligusticifolia,.

3. Leafstalks with only 3 leaflet stalks; stems low-climbing or
clambering over rocks; moist sites in open mountain woods.

Columbia rock clematis (Clematis verticillaris

var. columbiana).
2. Stems and leafstalks not as above; leaf scars visible, each pair
connected by ridge or line; bundle traces 3 ; in moist woods.

4. Stems spirally twining, to 30 feet long, often climbing over
trees; pith hollow; buds pale straw-colored, hairless; end buds
present; bud scales lance-shaped, at least 2 pairs visible, equal
in size; berries orange to bright red, in short-stalked heads,
rarely persistent but leaving tissue-papery bracts at their
darkened attachment scars; e. slopes of Cascades, Wallowa
and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

western trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa).

4. Stems reclining or arching and rooting at tips to form tangled
thickets; pith solid, white to yellowish; buds bright red, tiny
(/s inch long), bluntly pointed or white-hairy-tufted at tip,
white-hairy-fringed around base; true end buds sometimes
developed but usually the top 2 side buds erect at twig tips;
fruits ("keys," or samaras) long-stalked, their wings in a
nearly straight line, sometimes persistent at twig tips; com-
mon w., occasional e. of Cascades, Oreg., Wash., Wallowa Mts.,
ne. Oreg. vine maple (Acer circinatum).*1

1. Plants erect shrubs (sometimes with arching or reclining branches)
or trees.
5. End buds lacking, twig tips dying back to top pair of side buds.

(See also vine maple, under "4".)

6. Leaf scars conspicuous, crescent- or shield-shaped, meeting
or connected by line or ridge on which dark glandlike or
wartlike stipules or stipule scars are sometimes present;
bundle traces 5 (or 3-7); buds solitary or multiple, stalked or
stalkless; several pairs of bud scales visible; pith large, soft,
white to yellowish or dark brown; branched fruit-cluster
stalks persistent after "berries" (drupes) fall; tall shrubs or
small trees of moist sites elders (Sambucus spp.) .

■■" In open sites vine maple grows also as an erect shrub or as a small tree; how-
ever it is not included again in this winter key.

158

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

159

Twigs, "berries" waxy-whitened (glaucous); stipules, stip-
ule scars lacking; buds relatively small, egg-shaped; pith

white to yellowish; "berries" blue, in flat-topped, several-
rayed clusters ; "seeds" (nutlets) cross-wrinkled; tall shrubs
or trees; roadsides or stream valleys, lower to middle alti-
tude's; commonest elder of e. Oreg., e. Wash.

blueberry elder (Sambucus glauca).

Western virginsbower

471114 O-60-11

F-49409G

Columbia rock clematis Western trumpet honeysuckle

160

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7. Twigs, "berries" not waxy- whitened; stipules (or stipule
scars) usually present; buds relatively large; pores (lenti-
cels) corky or warty, often conspicuous; pith yellowish to
brown; "berries" in rounded or pyramidal end clusters with
central axis; shrubs of moist mountain woods.
8. Stipules black, glandlike, crescent-shaped, usually 2,
flattened against line or ridge between leaf scars; buds
almost globe-shaped; "berries" shiny-black; "seeds" cross-
wrinkled; erect shrubs; stems sometimes arching or re-
clining, often in patches; e. slopes of Cascades, Wallowa
and Blue Mts., e. Oreg., e. Wash.

blackbead elder (Sambucus melanocarpa) .
8. Stipules strap-shaped with callus tips, not winter-persis-
tent but leaving several wartlike scars along line or ridge
between leaf scars; buds egg-shaped, with pointed tips;
"berries" red; "seeds" smooth; shrubs with spreading
stems, forming loose, open clumps; Cascades, Oreg.,
Wash., not reported from Wallowa or Blue Mts.; type
locality, Crater Lake area, Oreg.

western red elder (Sambucus leiosperma).™
6. Leaf scars not as above.

9. Clustered seed pods (capsules) conspicuous even at a dis-
tance, stalked, top-shaped, 3- to 5-celled, splitting down
middle-back of each cell; sterile shoots with bright reddish-
tan, cross-checked bark; leaf scars with thin, tissue-papery
membranes covering buds until they start swelling, then
splitting down between the 3 bundle traces; branches up-
curving, wide-spreading; common in moist sites in open
woods or along roads, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

Lewis mockcrange (Philadelphus lewisii).

Withered stem
Topmost pair of side buds

everal wartlike stipule
scars

landlike, crescent-shaped
stipules

Blackbead elder

F-494097

Three bundle traces in le^^Oa
scar

Western red elder

8 Field observations needed to determine relationship between western red
elder and Pacific red elder (Sambucus callicarpa) typically a shade-tolerant tall
shrub or small tree of the redwoods area of the California Coast ranges.
Pacific red elder was originally described by Dr. E. L. Greene (Flora Franciscana,
p 343 1892.) as having white pith, small winter buds and strap-shaped stipules
with callus tips. Some authors regard these two red-berried elders as one species.
Sambiicus callicarpa.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

161

9. Clustered seed pods lacking; white berries often persistent;
leaf scars indistinct, with only 1 bundle trace; twigs slender;
side buds tiny (about y% inch long), with several pairs of bud

scales visible snowberries (Symphoricarpos spp.).

10. Pith hollow; twigs hairless; bark of older branches gray;

berries globe-shaped, clustered at twig tips; commonest

snowberry of lower and middle altitudes, e. Oreg., e.

Wash.; tvpe locality, Holmes Creek, near Laurel, Falcon

Valley, Klickitat Co., Wash.

Columbia snowberry (Symphoricarpos rivularis).

F-404098

Columbia snowberry

162

HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

10. Pith solid; twigs faintly hoary with fine, whitish, curved
hairs; bark of older branches dark brown; berries ellips-
oid, single or in pairs at upper joints; moist to dry
sites, at higher altitudes, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
whortleleaf snowberry (Symphoricarpos vaccinioides) .
End buds present, twig tips not dying back.
11. Buds (at least some) stalked.

12. Twigs and buds brown-scurfy with silvery-fringed scales;
leaf scars with only 1 bundle trace; buds of 2 kinds: (a)
tiny, globe-shaped flower buds in branched clusters, and
(b) larger leaf buds with only 1 pair of bud scales visible;
shrubs to 6 feet high; open woods, medium altitudes, Blue
Mts., ne. Oreg., rare in e. Wash.

russet buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis) .
12. Twigs and buds not brown-scurfy; leaf scars with 3 bundle
traces.

Whortleleaf snowberry

F--194099

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

Stolon

1()3

Russet buffaloberry

Red-osier dogwood

164 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Purple-flower honeysuckle

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 165

13. Stems bright or purplish red, pliable, sometimes lodging,
rooting at tips and forming stolons; fruit -cluster stalks
branched, persistent at twig tips after the whitish or
bluish "berries" (drupes) fall; plumper end buds contain
flower-bud clusters, side buds and other end buds are
leafy-shoot buds with a single pair of leaflike bud scales
visible; stream banks or moist sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera).
13. Stems not as above.

14. Bud scales brown, outer pair fused at edges, appearing
as a single bud scale, last year's bursted scales often
hanging collarlike around twig bases; buds hairless, to
% inch long; squashed reddish "berries" (drupes)
persistent, in stalked, branched clusters; tall straggling
shrubs; moist sites; occasional, e. slopes of Cascades,
Wallowa and Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., se. Wash.^
moosewood (or squashberry) viburnum (Viburnum

edule).
14. Bud scales bright red, outer pair meeting at edges
(valvate) but not fused as above, sometimes spreading
at tip to show second pair, hairless outside, densely
white-woolly-hairy inside; fruit-cluster stalks persist-
ent; fruits ("keys," or samaras) with wings erect or
nearly so, forming an acute angle with each other; erect
shrubs or small trees; e. slopes of Cascades, Wallowa
and Blue Mts.; commonest maple of e. Oreg., e.
Wash.

Douglas maple (Acer glabrum var. douglasii).™

11. Buds stalkless.

15. Only 1 pair of bud scales visible.

16. Leafstalks broken off near base, their persistent stubs
hiding leaf scars; bundle traces 3; twigs ascending, with
a few straggly hairs; bark dark reddish brown; sub-
alpine meadows; s. from Mt. Adams along Cascades and
lower sites on e. slopes.

red mountain-fly honeysuckle (Lonicera cauriana).

16. Leafstalks not as above; leaf scars visible; bundle trace
1; twigs slender, green, ridged or lined; pith greenish,
spongy; buds purplish, to % inch long; seed pods (cap-
sules) long-stalked, deeply 3- (or 5-) lobed; seeds with
red fleshy outgrowths (arils); tall, erect or straggling
shrubs; moist woods along streams; occasional e. slopes of
Cascades; type locality near Vancouver, Wash., along
Columbia River.

western wahoo or western burningbush
(Euonymus occidentalis).
15. More than 1 pair of bud scales visible (except in poorly
developed buds of bearberry honeysuckle).

17. Leaf scars with 3 bundle traces; buds sometimes one
above the other (superposed) ; pith solid; shrubs of moist
sites, often at higher elevations, in mountains, e. Oreg.,
e. Wash. honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.).

39 For vine maple (Acer circinatum) see under vinelike shrubs.

166 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

18. Bud scales firm, in 4 vertical rows, pointed at tips,
persistent, appearing tightly laced around twig base
for several months; bark grayish brown; shrubs to 5
feet high; at higher sites.

purpleflower honeysuckle (Lonicera conjugialis).
18. Bud scales thin-papery, not as above.

19. Twigs 4-lined or 4-ridged, appearing square, often
coarse, finely hairy, glandular-hairy, or hairless;
bud scales about equal in size, straw-colored, pointed
at tips; berry bracts stalked, dark reddish, drying-
persistent after berries fall, on youngest twigs (stalks
often persisting for 2 years) ; erect or straggling
shrubs to 10 feet high; middle to higher altitudes;
commonest honeysuckle in e. Oreg., e. Wash.

bearberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata).
19. Twigs not as above; lower bud scales smaller and
straw-colored, upper ones larger, purplish with
whitish veins, rounded at tips; bark gray or straw-
colored; branches widely spreading; erect shrubs to
5 feet high; at higher sites.

Utah honeysuckle {Lonicera utahensis).
17. Leaf scars with 5 or more bundle traces; twigs coarse,
their bark with small, whitish pores (lenticels) ; end buds
about }i inch long, larger than side buds; fruits (samaras)
with winged "seeds" (nutlets), stalked, in stalked,
elongated clusters, often winter-persistent ; valuable
hardwood timber trees; on rich, moist soils, river
valleys; common w., occasional or rare e. side of
Cascades, Oreg., Wash. ash, maple.

20. Bundle traces many, fused into a band; leaf scars
broadly U-shaped to half-round, not meeting or con-
nected by line or ridge around twig; buds dark brown
to nearly black, conical; end buds pointed at tip, with
4 pairs of bud scales visible, sometimes with an erect
leafstalk at one side; fruits persistent, in stalked
clusters (panicles) from leaf scars on second-year
wood, each "seed" tipped by a single wing which runs
down on each side to near its base; twigs somewhat
brownish-scurfy -hairy at first, becoming nearly hair-
less and a shiny dark reddish brown.

Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia).
20. Bundle traces 5-7, distinct; leaf scars narrow, V-
shaped, meeting or connected by line or ridge around
twig; buds about same color as twigs; end buds with 3
pairs of bud scales, almost globe-shaped, abruptly
pointed or rounded at tip; fruits in stalked, elongated
clusters (racemes) at tips of twigs on female trees, each
2-winged and with 2 yellowish-hairy "seeds," the
wings at almost right angles to each other; twigs pale
to bright green or dark reddish, often with whitish,
waxy "bloom"; the only native maple in Oreg. and
Wash, with milky sap; often planted for shade in cities.
bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

167

M

\r

End bud

Berry stalks'

Upper purplish bud scales
Lower, smaller bud s

Leaf scar 3 bundle tra

I

Jerry bracts

Utah honeysuckle

End bud

Leaf scars with fused bun

die traces
Side buds

Leaf scar with 7 bundle
traces

Winged fruits on second-

year twig

Oregon ash

Berri

Bearberry honeysuckle

Bigleaf maple

PLANTS EVERGREEN, or With Winter-Persistent

Leaves

Leaves scale-, awl-, or needlelike.

2. Plants producing berrylike cones requiring 2 years to mature,
often with strongly aromatic or resinous odor and taste; "berry "-
and pollen-producing flowers usually on separate plants; trees
or prostrate, high-altitude shrubs. Junipers (Juniperus spp.).
3. Leaves mostly scalelike, overlapping, close-pressed to twigs
(leaves on young twigs sometimes awllike and slightly spread-
ing) ; winter buds without bud scales (naked) ; trees, or in un-
favorable sites sometimes shrubby.

4. Twigs round in cross section, rather stout, reddish, paper-
scaly; leaves in whorls of 3, resin-dotted, gray green; ripe
"berries" blue black with a whitish "bloom"; trunk bark
cinnamon brown, long- and flat -ridged and widely and
shallowly furrowed, stringy; trees, usually 15-30 (rarely
over 60)' feet high; e. slopesof Cascades, Oreg., Wash., often
growing with sagebrush, commonest juniper of mountain
areas of e. Oreg., rather rare in e. Wash., occasional in
Snake and Grande Ronde River valleys, se. Wash.; type
locality, "Common on the higher parts of the Columbia at
the base of the Rocky Mountains."

western (or Sierra) juniper (Juniperus occidentalis).
4. Twigs flattened, slender, brownish; leaves opposite, each
pair at right angles to pair next above or below (decussate),
gland-pitted, dark green, often with a whitish "bloom";
ripe "berries" bright blue with a whitish "bloom"; trunk
bark reddish brown, with a network of low, narrow ridges
and furrows, shreddy; trees (or sometimes shrubby), often
15-20 feet high, or sometimes more than 45 feet high in
favorable sites; Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg., near Spokane,
e. Wash.

Rocky-Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum).
3. Leaves all awllike, spreading, chalky- white on upper surface,
dark green on lower surface, in whorls of 3; winter buds scaly;
"berries" bright blue, with a whitish "bloom"; prostrate
shrubs with stout branches; dry slopes, at higher altitudes,
Cascades, Oreg., Wash.

mountain common juniper (Juniperus communis var.

saxatilis).

Western juniper

1(>8

Rocky-Mountain juniper

F-484KW

Mountain common juniper

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 169

2. Plants not producing berrylike cones as above; shrubs heath-
or heatherlike, matted or clumped, to 2 feet high; flowers bell- or
urn-shaped, 4- or 5-lobed, stalked, in somewhat umbrellalike
end clusters; stamens 8-10; anthers opening by end pores; seed
pods (capsules) 4- or 5-celled, globe- or egg-shaped; subalpine

or alpine bogs or wet meadows mountain heaths, cassiope.

5. Leaves fir- or heathlike, alternate, to about y<i inch long,
crowded near ends of branches, stiffly ascending or spreading,
jointed to erect "leafstalks" grown fast to twig; midrib
prominent on under surface, paralleled by 2 grooves lined
with glands and stomata; margins rolled under; seed pods
splitting down from top along partitions between cells.

mountainheaths (Phyllodoce spp.)40
6. Flowers bell-shaped, reddish; calyx lobes % as long as corolla ;
flowers and flower stalks nearly hairless, or with a few
gland-tipped hairs; leaves glandular-hairy only on margins
or along edges of midrib; straggly shrubs; Cascades,
Wallowa and Blue Mts., Oreg., Wash.

red mountainheath (Phyllodoce empetriformis).
6. Flowers urn-shaped, yellowish; calyx lobes % as long as
corolla; flowers densely glandular-hairy as are also flower
stalks; leaves glandular-hairy on both sides as well as along
margins; bushy shrubs; Cascades, Oreg., Wash.: Wallowa
Mts., ne. Oreg.

cream mountainheath (Phyllodoce glanduliflora).
5. Leaves scale- or heatherlike, opposite, to V4 inch long, 4-
ranked, overlapping, erect or ascending; flowers white, bell-
shaped, few; stamens with pair of recurved awns at anther
tips; seed pods splitting down middle-back of each cell;
Cascades, Oreg., Wash.; Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg.

Mertens cassiope (Cassiope mertensiana) .
1. Leaves not scale-, awl-, or needlelike.
7. Leaves simple. [Alternate 7, p. 202.]

8. Leaves opposite or whorled (3 or more at a joint). [Alternate
8, p. 177.]

9. Leaf margins spiny-toothed (hollylike), leaves broadest
above middle, wedge-shaped at base, thick and leathery,
to \)i inches long and % inch wide, shiny green on upper
surface, whitish between veins on under surface; stipule
bases swollen, somewhat corky, persistent ; flowers blue,
fading lavender, stalked, in small, somewhat umbrellalike
clusters; seed pods (capsules) globe-shaped, borne in
cup-shaped disks, 3-celled, each cell prominently horned
and also wrinkled, ridged or crested near tip; prostrate
shrubs with rigid branches to 6 inches high and dark,
creeping stems often rooting in contact with soil but not
crown-sprouting after fire or cutting, forming mats to 10

40 Red and cream mountainheaths sometimes crossbreed where their ranges
overlap, producing hybrids with characteristics variously intermediate between
those of the two parents (see W. H. Camp, Phyllodoce Hybrid*. The New Flora
and Silva 12: 207-211. Aug. 194Cb. For descriptions, illustrations, and discus-
sion of leaf structure, see Herbert F. Copeland, .1 Study, Anatomical and Taxo-
nomic, of (he Genera of Rhododendroideae. Amer. Midi. Nat. 30: 533-627. Nov.
1943, and also Fred Stoker. The Genua Phi/llodoce. The New Flora and Silva
12: 30-42. Nov. 1939.

170 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

feet across; in dry, burned- or cutover pine woods, e. slopes
of Cascades from Klamath Co., s. Oreg., n. to Klickitat
Co., s. Wash.

squaw-carpet (or Mahala-mat) ceanothus
(Ceanothus prostratus).
9. Leaf margins and leaves not as above.

10. Leaf margins entire, rolled under on young leaves;
leaves sometimes in whorls of 3, to nearly 1 inch long,
almost stalkless, green on upper surface, whitish and
with prominent midrib on under surface ; flowers openly
bowl-shaped, pink or pale purplish, stalked, in somewhat
umbrellalike end clusters, each flower with 10 pouches
where anthers rest until stamen stalk is tripped by
insect (or touched with a pin) when they spring out and

Flowers

F-481216, 481825, 404104

Mertens cassiope

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 171

Cross-section of leaf (en-
larged)

Red mountainheath

F-494105

HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Squaw-carpet ceanothus

>d stipules

F-49410I-,

dust pollen from end slits in the anther sacs; seed pods

(capsules) globe-shaped, 5-celled, splitting along parti-
tions between cells (and also part way down middle-
back of some cells), at last falling and leaving a flanged
core topping their stalks; dwarf alpine or subalpine
shrubs less than 2 feet high, with several stems from
underground rootstocks; poisonous to livestock; Cas-
cades, Oreg., Wash.; Blue and Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg.
alpine bog kalmia (Kalmia polifolia var. microphylla).
10. Leaf margins toothed; shrubs or half-shrubs of moist
sites in open or dense woods.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

173

\ Flowers showins pouches
for anther sacs

Leaves, enlarged to show
upper and lower sur-
faces, and rolled-under
margin

Alpine bog kalmia

174 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

11. Stems vinelike, trailing, to 4 or 5 feet long, slender,
slightly woody, leafing, rooting, or sending up short
(to 8 inches high), finely glandular-hairy shoots at
stem joints (nodes) or tips; leaves to nearly 1 inch
long, variable, usually round in outline and wedge-
shaped at base, dark shiny green on upper surface,
pale and veiny on under surface; margins scallop-
toothed; flowers pinkish, tubular-bell-shaped, to }{
inch long, stalked, in pairs at tips of nearly leafless
flowering shoots; twin, awl-shaped bracts near base of
each flower and at tip of flowering shoot; seed pods
(capsules) egg-shaped, glandular-hairy, yellowish,
crowned with 5, sharply pointed, soon-falling calyx
lobes; common in favorable sites, e. Oreg., e. Wash.
American twinflower (Linnaea borealis var. ameri-
cana).
11. Stems not vinelike or trailing.

12. Shrubs to 3 or 4 feet high, much-branched; branches
spreading or ascending, dark, rigid, 4-sided, ridged,
usually very leafy; leaves variable, egg- to spatula-
shaped, to 1% inches long; margins finely saw-
toothed (at least above the middle), often slightly
rolled-under; flowers greenish or reddish, small, few,
in nearly stalkless clusters in leaf axils; seed pods
(capsules) pale, egg-shaped, to ){ inch long, splitting
down from top into 2 valves; seeds 1 or 2, shiny
brown or black, more or less enclosed by whitish,
deeply fringed outgrowth (aril) ; Blue and Wallowa
Mts., at middle elevations, also in the Cascades;
type locality, Lolo Trail near Hungry (Lolo) Creek,
n. Idaho. myrtle (or mountain-
lover) pachistima (Pachistima myrsinites).
12. Half-shrubs to 1 foot high, clumped or matlike,
erect, from long, scaly, underground stems; leaves
shiny, sharply toothed, in annually produced whorl-
like clusters or (mostly) opposite, green and per-
sistent 3-8 years before long-stalked flower clusters
appear at shoot tips; buds in leaf axils not opening
until after flowering, then developing into leafy
branches which bear smaller flower elusters at their
tips; flowers 1-9, stalked, whitish or pink to purplish,
saucer-shaped ; calyx lobes finely toothed, persistent ;
stamen stalks swollen, white-hairy near base; anther
sacs erect at first, hanging when mature, shedding
pollen from round pores at tips; seed pods (capsules)
globe-shaped, 5-angled, opening along middle-backs
of the 5 cells, topped by persistent, close-fitting,
shield-shaped stigma; seeds many; moist evergreen
woods; middle altitudes, Cascades, mts. of e. Oreg.,
e. Wash.
pipsissewa, or princes-pines ( Chimaphila spp.).41

41 See Herbert F. Copeland. Observations on the Structure and Classification of
the Pyroleae. Madrono 9: 65-102. 1947.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

175

Seed pod (enlarged)

Myrtle pachistima

F-494108

471114 O-60-12

176 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Leaves bright green, broadest near tips, to 3
inches long, in 3-8 whorllike clusters; stems
yellowish green, to 1 foot high; bud scales narrow,
soon falling; flowers 3-9; common e. Oreg., e.
Wash.; type locality, Pine Creek valley, near
Farmington, Latah Co., Idaho
western pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata

var. occidentalis).
Leaves dark green, sometimes white-mottled
along veins, broadest at or below middle, to 2
inches long, often with only 1 whorllike cluster of
3, other leaves opposite or scattered; stems often
dark reddish, to 4 inches high; bud scales broad,
persistent; flowers 1-3; less common, e. Oreg., e.
Wash.; type locality, nw. coast of America.
Menzies pipsissewa (Chimaphila menziesii).

F-494109

F-481825

Western pipsissewa

F-481826

Menzies pipsissewa

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

177

8. Leaves alternate. [Alternate 8, p. 169.]

14. Leaves 3-veined from near base, broadly elliptic, to 'A
inches long, shiny green (bronze in winter) and sticky-
varnished on upper surface, pale-velvety on under surface:
odor spicy-resinous; leaf margins with fine, gland-tipped
teeth; flowers creamy white, in umbrellalike hunches
massed in showy end clusters; seed pods (capsules) cupped
in shallow disks, stalked, somewhat globe-shaped, 3-lobed,
smooth or slightly roughened and/or with tiny crests at
lobe tips, often sticky-glandular; roots with (probably
nitrogen-fixing) nodules; round-topped shrubs with spread-
ing branches, 2-15 feet high; rather common, Cascades;
mts. of e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality, "Subalpine hills
near the source of the Columbia, and at Kettle Falls,"
(Wash.)_ snowbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus).A2

V ■■■-■■ '.' 'jFJbi-

Flower (enlarged)

§S ' "''-■(■'$■ Flower clusters

/

Seed pod (enlarged)

1 104110

42 See the Summer and Winter Keys for deerbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus
integerrimus) , the leaves of which are somewhat winter-persistent.

178 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

14. Leaves with 1 main midrib.

15. Leaf margins entire. [Alternate 15, p. 189.]
16. Under leaf-surfaces (often also leafstalks;> young
twigs, bud scales and seed pods) dotted with tiny
yellow resin drops (glistening in the sun), whitened
(glaucous) ; upper leaf-surfaces dark green, finely
crinkly with vein network; leaves oblong to broadly
egg-shaped, to 2 inches long, abruptly pin-pointed at
tip, clustered near branch tips, fragrant; leaf margins
not rolled under; end buds larger than side buds, with
spirally overlapping bud scales, producing umbrella-
like clusters of small white flowers; petals 5, separate;
stamens 10, with long stalks white-hairy below; each
anther sac with pore near tip; seed pods (capsules)
splitting up from base along partitions between their 5
cells; seeds tiny, white, long-tailed; erect shrubs to 6
feet high in favorable sites; probably somewhat
poisonous to livestock if browsed; wet mountain
meadows or subalpine bogs, Cascades; Wallowa and
Blue Mts., ne. Oreg., not reported from se. Wash.
western ledum, or smooth Labrador-tea (Ledum

glandulosum). i3
16. Under leaf-surfaces not resin-dotted.
17. Leaf margins rolled under.

18. Leaves dark green and shiny resinous on upper
surface, white- or yellowish-hairy on under
surface, aromatic, single or clustered near tips of
spurlike twigs; twigs brown, whitish-hairy, soon
gray and smooth; flowers in leaf axils near twig
tips; petals lacking; calyx soft-hairy, abruptly
flaring top part falling after stamens shed pollen,
tubular lower part persistent around long-,
twisted-, feathery-tailed "seed" (achene) ; tall,
straggly shrubs or small trees with hard, brittle,
mahogany-colored wood; warm, dry, rather rocky
ridges or slopes in pine woods openings or with
sagebrush, mt. areas, e. Oreg., Blue Mts., se.
Wash.
curlleaf cercocarpus (Cercocarpus ledifolius).u
18. Leaves (as well as rest of plant) densely white-
(aging rusty-) hairy with both star-shaped and
straight hairs, linear, to 2 inches long, erect, often
with smaller leaves clustered in their axils,
winter-persistent; seed leaves (cotyledons) broad,
green; scaly winter buds lacking; pollen- and

43 C. Leo Hitchcock in a recent paper, The Ledum Glandulosum Complex (Lean.
West. Bot, 8 (1): 1-8. 1956.), states (p. 4), ". . there is a complete transition
between 'columbianum' and L. glandulosum, . ."; he regards L. columbianum
Piper as a subspecies of L. glandulosum.

44 In southern Oregon, curlleaf cercocarpus sometimes crossbreeds with longtail
birchleaf cercocarpus (Cercocarpus betuloides var. macrourus), producing hybrids
with characters intermediate between the two parents. See p. 193 for illustration.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

179

Flower clusters

Flower, enlarged to show
5 separate petals, 10
stamens, and anther
sacs opening by end
pores

Seed pod, enlarged to
show splitting from base
toward top along the
partitions between cells

d-pod clusters

Western ledum

K-494 ! I I

180 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Section of flower showing
n rows on inside
(enlarged)

Curlleof cercocarpus

F-29fifi(W B

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

181

seed-producing flowers usually on same plant
(sometimes only seed-producing flowers present);
pollen-producing flowers smaller, above the larger,
long-white-silky-hairy seed-producing flowers in
the leafy-bracted, spikelike end clusters; low half-
shrubs, much-branched at base, with several to
many stems from a deep taproot; dry, alkaline
soils; locally, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

common winterfat (Eurotia lanata).

Pollen-producing flowers,
one enlarged

dli/f -

Mi 11 . i

Seed-producing flowers,
one enlarged

Leaves, one enlarged to
show rolled-under mar-
gin and prominent mid-
rib on under surface

Much-branched base and "v.

taproot

Enlargement to show hairs
and new clustered leaves
in old leafstalk axil

Common winterfat

F-4941 12

182 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

17. Leaf margins not rolled under.

19. Leaves densely silvery-hairy or white-scurfy,

narrow.

20. Plants with sagebrush odor and taste; freely

branching at base ; shoots erectly parallel, of 2

kinds: (a) perennial, evergreen-leafy, and (b)

annual, drying-persistent after producing leafy-

Annually produced flower-
head shoots, drying per-
sistent

K -IS I SMI

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

183

bracted flower heads in loose- or narrow-
branched end clusters during July, Aug.; leaves
densely silvery-hairy, linear or reversely lance-
shaped, entire, pointed at tip, rarely with 1 or 2
irregular teeth or lobes, to 21, inches long; scaly
winter buds lacking; rounded shrubs 2-3 (or 5)
feet high, often root-sprouting or layering after
top injury or fire; locally in big sagebrush areas,
central and s. Oreg., not in Wash.

silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana).Va

i

W&)

H

r

Annual, drying-persistent
flower-head shoots

Perennial, evergreen-leafy

Silver sagebrush shoo,s

(winter condition) f-481883

45 See George H. Ward. Artemisia, Section Seriphidium, in North America.
A Cytotaxonomic Study. Dudley Herb. Contrib. 4 (6): 155-205. Dec. 30, 1953.

184

HANDBOOK 14S. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Seed-producing flower (en
larged)

Pollen-producing
(enlarged)

flower

Seed-producing plant

Fourwing saltbush

Pollen-producing plant \i

20. Plants without sagebrush odor or taste, usually

salty to taste; branches spreading; twigs pale
straw-colored to white-scurfy with branlike
scales, often becoming sharp- or spiny-tipped;
leaves white-scurfy, narrowly oblong, to 2

inches long and % inch wide; scaly winter buds
lacking; pollen- and seed-producing flowers
usually on separate plants; fruits 4-winged,
clustered and persistent along end twigs; much-

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

185

Fourwing saltbush

F-486446

branched shrubs 2-6 (or 10) feet high; dry,
sandy to strongly alkaline soils; locally e. Oreg.,
e. Wash.

fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) .46
19. Leaves green, narrow to broad; bark reddish,
purplish, chocolate, or dark reddish brown, smooth
and polished or rough-scaly and shreddy; flowers
urn-shaped, white, pink or rose, usually 5-lobed,
stalked, in scaly-bracted end clusters; stamens
10; anther sacs tipped by recurved awns, opening
by end pores; "berries" (drupes) creamy white to
yellowish brown, red, or brown to blackish;
"seeds" (nutlets) 4-10, fused or separable; mat-
forming, low and depressed, or erect shrubs with
crooked branches and to several feet high.

bearberry (or kinnikinnick) and manzanitas

(Arctostaphylos spp.).
21. Shrubs low and depressed, or prostrate, stems
often rooting or branches layering, not forming
burls at ground line and crown-sprouting after
fire; leaves narrow, broadest above middle, to
1 inch long, short -stalked; "berries" red.

46 See Plants Armed sections of Summer and Winter Keys for shadscale saltbush
(Atriplex confertifolia).

186 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

22. Stems long-creeping; branches flexible, to 8

inches high; bark rough-scaly, shreddy, dark
reddish brown; leaves rounded or broadly
and shallowly notched at tips; stomata only
on under surface; trailing or matted shrubs
with bright red "berries"; often on acid or
granitic soils; at lower as well as higher
elevations. Cascades; Wallowa, Blue Mts.,
ne. Oreg., se. Wash.

bearberry, kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos

uva-ursi).
22. Stems much-branched from near base;
branches rigid, to 2 feet high; bark smooth
after scaly flaking; leaves mostly abruptly
sharp-pointed at tip (mucronate or cuspidate) ;
stomata on both surfaces; "berries" light red;
often on basaltic soil; usually at elevations
over 4,000 feet; Cascades, Wallowa and Blue
Mts., ne. Oreg.; tvpe locality, Sierra Nevada,
Calif., at elevations of 8,000 to 10,000 feet,
pinemat manzanita (Arctostaphylos

nevadensis) .

21. Stems erect or spreading, to 8 feet high; leaves

broad, oval to egg-shaped in outline, to 2 inches

long, often somewhat pointed at tip; stomata

on both sides; twigs, leafstalks, flower-cluster

Branch of older plant, with
flowers

Seedling

F-481216

Pinemat manzanita

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

1S7

Bearberry, or Kinnikinnick

Upper and lower leaf-
surfaces of pinemat man-
zanita

F-4'.M1 14

188 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

branches and the awl- to broadly lance-shaped
or triangular flower bracts often glandular-
hairy; shrubs, often layering and in large
patches or thickets; open pine woods at moder-
ate altitudes, mostly e. of Cascades from near
Mt. Hood (possibly from s. Wash.), s. and e.
to Lake Co., Oreg.

pine and greenleaf manzanitas.47
23. Bark scaling off; leaves erect or erect-
spreading; sepals almost circular, tissue-

Pine manzanita

F-48042!)

47 The original descriptions of pine and greenleaf manzanitas have been rather
closely followed here.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 1 <S9

papery-margined; "berries" creamy white
to yellowish brown, shining, splitting irregu-
larly (often while still on plant), mealy flesh
curling back to expose 3-5 smooth, light
brown "seeds" ; layering but not forming burls
or crown-sprouting, killed by fire; type
locality, 7,500 feet elevation, Mesa Co., w .
Colo. '

pine manzanita (Arctostaphylos parryana

var. pinetorum).
23. Bark smooth; leaves spreading or drooping
(never vertical) on leafstalks; "berries"
chestnut brown to blackish; "seeds" often
fused into a deeply, irregularly lobed body;
crown-sprouting after fire, forming burls,
sometimes layering after heavy snows; not
killed by fire; type locality, ". . . dry rocky
ridges in pine woods of middle altitudes in
the Sierra Nevada, California."
greenleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos
patula). i8
15. Leaf margins toothed or lobed. [Alternate 15, p. 178.]
24. Leaves broad, oval or elliptic to almost round, egg-
shaped or reversely egg-shaped in outline; short-
stalked to almost stalkless.
25. Dwarf, much-branched shrubs; stems creeping and
rooting or trailing and prostrate; branches often
with rusty, gland-tipped hairs; leaf margins finely
toothed, each tooth ending in gland-tipped hair
pointed toward leaf tip; flowers small, white,
broadly bell-shaped, single at tips of short, bracted
stalks in leaf axils; "berry" (capsule enclosed in
fleshy calyx) spicy, juicy, bright red, smooth or with
gland-tipped hairs, often hidden under leaves;
usually on moist mountain slopes; Cascades, Oreg.,
Wash.; Blue and Wallowa Mts., ne. Oreg., not
reported from se. Wash.

wintergreens (Gaultheria spp.).

48 L. R. Abrams (Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States 3: 314. 1951.) and
J. E. Adams (.4 Systematic Study of the Genus Arctostaphylos Adans. Elisha
Mitchell Sci. Soe. Jour. 56: 1-62. i940.) regard both Arctostaphj/los parryana
var. pinetorum (Rollins) Wiesl. & Schreib. (1939) and -4. obtusifolia Piper (1902)
as synonyms of .4. patula Greene (1891). However, for the present at least, it
seems preferable to keep the nonsprouting pine manzanita separate from the
crown-sprouting greenleaf manzanita (.4. patula). Recent Forest Service field
studies of large patches of manzanita plants (apparently typical Arctostaphylos
obtusifolia) from Black Butte, Oreg., (the type locality of .4. obtusifolia) have
proved these plants to be nonsprouting and without burls. Moreover, this
material was compared with Cusick's type specimen of A. obtusifolia (in the
Herbarium of the University of Oregon at Eugene) and both seemed to be identical
with the nonsprouting pine manzanita. If indeed .4. pinetorum Rollins (1937)
and .4. obtusifolia Piper (1902) prove to be synonymous, the latter name (having
35 years' priority) should stand for both. It would not be surprising if further
field studies prove that the crown-sprouting greenleaf maznanita is rare (if present
at all) in this Oregon area, and that the correct scientific name of the common
nonsprouting manzanita there is A. obtusifolia Piper.

190 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

section of "berry
(enlarged)

manzanita

404115

26.

26.

Leaves to % inch long, oval to almost round in
outline; margins very finely toothed or almost
entire (gland-tipped hairs mark position of the
tiny teeth) ; flowers, "berries" hairless or nearly
so; corolla little longer than calyx; plants matlike,
with leafy shoots to 4 inches high, sometimes
with a few gland-tipped hairs ; higher elevations (to
subalpine slopes.

western wintergreen (Gaultheria humifusa).
Leaves to ll/2 inch long, egg- or somewhat heart-
shaped in outline; veins impressed on upper sur-
face; margins finely but distinctly toothed; flowers
and "berries" with gland-tipped hairs; corolla
much longer than calyx; plants with trailing or
prostrate stems and bushy-spreading branches to
1 foot high, often rather densely hairy with
rusty, gland-tipped hairs; lower elevations; type
locality, "Cascade Mountains, borders of British
Columbia, Washington Territory, and northern
Oregon."

Oregon wintergreen (Gaultheria ovatifolia).

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

191

Western wintergreen

C*H

'/%

€■

'"■" - V."'' '

■

-

■ I

Vi

V

Oregon wintergreen F 481827

471114 O-60-13

192 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

25. Tall shrubs or small trees; wood hard, brittle,
mahogany-colored; leaves elliptical to egg- or re-
versely egg-shaped, wedge-shaped at base, single
or clustered near tips of short, scarred spurlike
twigs; side veins 4-10 pairs, parallel from midrib to
tips of marginal teeth; "seeds" (achenes) long-,
twisted-, hairy-tailed; ponderosa pine woods; Cas-
cades, Deschutes Co., s. to Lake and Klamath Cos.,
Oreg., not in Wash.

cercocarpus (Cercocarpus spp.).
27. Mature leaves to IV2 inches long, narrowly
reverse-egg-, or egg-shaped to elliptical; side
veins 4-6 pairs; marginal teeth short, broad,
triangular, abruptly short-pointed; small tree, to
26 feet high; type locality, "mountains of Santa
Barbara, California: April."
birchleaf cercocarpus (Cercocarpus betuloides).
27. Mature leaves to 3 inches long, broadly reverse-
egg- to egg-shaped; side veins 6-10 pairs;
marginal teeth coarse, egg-shaped or triangular;
"seeds" to % inch long, with tails to 4 inches long;
shrub or small tree to 16 feet high; type locality,
"on rocky hillsides, Modoc County, California."

longtail birchleaf cercocarpus

(Cercocarpus betuloides var. macrourus).™

24. Leaves not as above, narrow and wedge- or reversely

lance-shaped, or broader and fan-shaped, 3- (or 4-

to 9-) toothed or lobed at tips, stalkless or nearly so;

very bitter to taste, aromatic.

antelope bitterbrush and sagebrushes.
28. Leaf margins rolled under (revolute); leaves green
or softly white-hairy, or (under lens) finely gland-
dotted on upper surface (more coarsely so on
margins), white- woolly-hairy between veins on
under surface, to % inch long, winter-persistent,
single on fast-growing shoots, or (mostly) clustered
near tips of short, scarred, spurlike twigs; twigs
brown, whitish-hairv, sometimes with tack-shaped

49 In southern Oregon, eurlleaf and longtail birchleaf cercocarpus sometimes
crossbreed, resulting in hybrids with characters intermediate between those of the
two parents. Near Logan, Utah, where some winter deer-feeding experiments
were made with native browse plants, eurlleaf and mountain cercocarpus (Cercocar-
pus montanus) have crossbred. Concerning the hybrid, Arthur I). Smith reports
(Feeding Deer on Browse Species during Winter, Jour. Range Mangt. 3: 130-132.
1950.): "Mountain mahogany {Cercocarpus ledifolius) p(r)oved most desirable of
all the plants offered. Next' in importance in the list, although based upon but
one offering, was material from a hybrid between C. montanus and C. ledifolius."
More field notes are needed on the occurrence, reproduction, and browse values of
cercocarpus hybrids.

Plants of the Cercocarpus genus are almost universally known in the West as
"mountain-mahogany." However, in the new Forest Service Check List "cerco-
carpus" (which perhaps might better be abbreviated to cercocarp) was adopted
as the approved common name. This action stems from Federal Trade Commis-
sion hearings on fair trade practice in "mahogany" in which the old Forest Service
ruling that "mahogany" should not be employed for any plants but species of the
genus Swietenia was cited.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

Curlleaf cercocarpus

193

-r:

Longtail birchleaf cercocarpus

Birchleaf cercocarpus

K-494117

194 HANDBOOK 14S, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Upper leaf-surface

Antelope bitterbrush

K-494118

glands, appearing jointed because of encircling
stipule scars; scaly winter buds in axils of persistent
leafstalk bases to which stipules are attached,
developing into leafy spurlike twigs; bundle trace 1
for leaf and 1 on either side for the attached stipules;
flowers funnel-shaped, with 5 yellow spreading
petals, solitary at tips of short side twigs; "seeds"
(achenes) to }{ inch long, spindle-shaped, grooved,
tipped by persistent tapering style; typically tall
and rigidly branched shrubs or else moundlike and
with arching branches, but often low and prostrate
after long overbrowsing; open places in ponderosa
pine or with sagebrush, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

antelope bitterbrush (Pwshia tridentata) .
28. Leaf margins not rolled under; leaves densely
white- gray- or silvery-hairy on both sides; variable
in size and shape (especially new spring leaves and
the often entire ones on the flowering shoots), single
or clustered and in all stages of development; twigs
and branches erectly parallel, of 2 kinds: (a)
perennial, evergreen-leafy shoots and (b) annual,
leafy-bracted, drying-persistent, flowering shoots;
scaly winter buds lacking; dwarf to tall shrubs with
sagebrush odor and taste; arid places, e. Oreg.,

e. Wash sagebrushes (Artemisia spp.).50

29. Leaves of evergreen-leafy shoots mostly reversely
lance-shaped and deeply 3-lobed at tips (lobes
sometimes again 3-cleft), or some entire and
linear (as are many on the flowering shoots), or a
few lobed to the middle (pinnatifid), to nearly \)'i
inches long; flower-head clusters (panicles) usually
much-branched, rarely spikelike; leafy bracts of
flower heads not overtopping end clusters (as

50 See George H. Ward. Artemisia, Section Seriphidium, in North America.
Ci/totaxonomic Study. Dudley Herb. Contrib. 4 (6): 155-205. Dee. 1953.

.4

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

195

Enlarged twig tip with end
bud and scaly winter
buds in leafstalk base
axils. One leafstalk
base (with 2 attached
stipules) removed to
show leaf and stipule
scar

Diagram of twig with en-
circling stipule scars

Enlarged short, scarred,
s p u r I i k e twig. Two
twigs, about natural size,
showing short spurlike
branches and buds

Antelope bitterbrush

Two single leaves with
stipules (enlarged)

F-494110

196 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Flower (enlarged) // -^ |J&A»

Z(Wt\

"Seed" with persistent style

Antelope bitterbrush

F-494120

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

197

Three-tip sagebrush

i 4S1SS1, -t'.IIJi

they usually do in stiff sagebrush — compare
illustrations) ; flower-head buds appearing in June,
not opening until early Sept.; rounded or bushy
shrubs to 4 feet high, branched from near base,
often root-sprouting, sometimes layering; locally,
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

three-tip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita).51

51 For stiff sagebrush (Artemisia rigida), which sheds its leaves in winter, see
pages 41 and 125.

198 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

29. Leaves of evergreen-leafy shoots mostly wedge-
to fan-shaped and 3-toothed or 3-lobed at tips,
sometimes entire, never pinnatifid; plants not
root-sprouting, seldom layering.
30. Tall, rounded shrubs with short trunk, few-
branched from near base (or sometimes spread-
ing and topped by long-stalked flower-head
clusters), 2-15 feet high; leaves of evergreen-
leafy shoots mostly wedge-shaped and bluntly
3-toothed at tips, to 2 inches long, silvery- or

Stiff sasebrush

F-481217

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

199

gray-hairy and often slightly sticky; flower
heads usually comparatively small and in
much-branched end clusters; flower buds ap-
pearing in June, not opening until late Sept.
or Oct.; type locality, plains of the Columbia
and Snake Rivers; commonest sagebrush of
e. Oreg., e. Wash.

big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata).

Big sagebrush

F-494122

200 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Low sagebrush

F-481870

I 194

Dwarf, spreading shrubs to 16 inches high;
leaves of evergreen-leafy shoots usually broadly
wedge- or fan-shaped and not more than V2
inch long; leafy bracts of flowering shoots
sometimes narrowly and deeply 3-lobed at tips ;
flower heads comparatively large (small in se.
Oreg. form with reddish flowering shoots),
usually in spikelike clusters; flowering shoots
often becoming sharp- or weakly spine-tipped
after "seeds" fall; type locality, arid plains of
Snake River; often on scablands; Columbia
plateau, slopes of Cascades, Chelan, Yakima,
and Kittitas Cos., Wash., and s. and e. Oreg.
low sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula) .

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

%

201

^5&m

Part of twig, enlarged to
show leaf scars

M

Aj#&

Desertsweet

202 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7. Leaves compound. [Alternate 7, p. 169.]
31. Stems unarmed; erect or prostrate shrubs.
32. Leaflets finely divided, fern- or tansy-like, winter persistent,

clustered near tips of short, leaf-scarred, spurlike twigs or
scattered along flowering shoots, with both reddish gland-
tipped and white-woolly star-shaped hairs, fragrant;

stipules lance-shaped, entire, leaving scar with a single
bundle trace at either end of leaf scar when they finally
fall; leaf scars with 3 bundle traces; twigs reddish, with
tack-shaped glands, often very resinous; flowers white, in
branched, pyramidal end clusters (panicles); seed pods
(follicles) splitting across top and down on inner side, 5 for
each flower, united at base and cupped in persistent, 5-lobed
calyx fringed inside by many drying-persistent stamens;
central fruit-cluster stalk hardening and becoming sharp-

Scaly underground stem

Leaflet, with typically
rounded tip

Creeping mahonia or Hollygrape

F-481829

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

203

tipped after fruits fall; erect, often straggly shrubs, to 6 feet
high; among lava rocks in dry sites, Deschutes and Crook
Cos., s. and e. in Oreg. ; not reported from Wash.

desertsweet, or tansybush (Chamaebatiaria

millefolium).

32. Leaflets broad, hollylike, 3-23, odd-pinnately compound

(or end leaflet sometimes lacking) ; berries blue, with whitish

waxy "bloom" (glaucous), in end clusters (racemes) ; shrubs

with yellow wood and very bitter inner bark.

mahonia, hollygrape, and Oregongrape (Mahonia spp.).
33. Stems prostrate, runnerlike or short-upright, from long,
much-branched, scaly underground stems; leaflets
usually 5 (3-7), thin-leathery, with 1 main midrib, dull
bluish green on upper surface, whitish with microscopic
"pimples" (papillae) on under surface, rounded at tip,
turning brilliant red in fall except where leaflets overlap
or where growing in shade ; hillsides or open pine woods ;
common, e. Oreg., e. Wash.

creeping mahonia, or hollygrape (Mahonia repens)

End bud

Leaflet with typically
pointed tip, shiny-green
on both sides

F-49412R, 1^

Oregon-grape

204 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

4

Leaflet, 3-veined from near
base

End bud with showy, sharp-
tipped bud scales per-
sistent

Cascades mahonia

K-481828, 494127

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS

205

31.

33. Stems erect; leaflets glossy green, pointed at tips;

common w., occasional e. side of Cascades and mountain
areas of e. Oreg., e. Wash.; type locality for both, the
Cascades of the Columbia River.

Cascades mahonia and Oregon-grape.
34. Leaflets 7-23, each 3- to 5-veined from near base,
thick-leathery; leaves nearly erect, clustered near
stem tip; stems usually single, unbranched, to 1 or 2
feet high, arising from long, scaly underground stems
and ending in showy bud %. to 2 inches long; bud scales
rigid, sharp-tipped, persistent.

Cascades mahonia {Mahonia nervosa).
34. Leaflets 5-9, with 1 main midrib, turning red, bronze,
or purplish in winter; leaves spreading, scattered along
branches; stems often clustered, branched, and sucker-
ing at base; end buds with triangular, soon-falling bud
scales about }{ inch long; shrubs to 10 feet high, or
sometimes dwarfed; flowers in clustered, somewhat
drooping racemes; often cultivated; the Oregon State

flower Oregon-grape {Mahonia aquifolium) .

Stems armed with curved and hooked prickles (as are also
the leafstalks, the midribs and veins on under side of leaflets,
the flower stalks, and the flower-cluster stalks), coarse, angled,
much-branched, often to 10 feet long, perennial, vinelike,
creeping on ground or clambering over other plants, rocks,
etc. ; leaves of the main stems with 5 leaflets, leaves on flower-
ing shoots with 3 leaflets (or sometimes only 1); leaflets
deeply and variously cleft or parted; flowers mostly pink or
rose-colored; blackberries large and juicy; somewhat weedy;
naturalized from the Old World; commoner w. of the Cas-
cades; occasional e. Oreg., e. Wash.

cutleaf blackberry {Rubus laciniatus).

Cutleaf blackberry

F-49 1 1 28

NOTES ON FORAGE VALUE

Acer spp.

The foliage of maples is of fair palatability for domestic stock.
Leaves are also eaten by big game and in the fall and winter deer and
elk heavily browse the twigs.

Alnus spp.

For livestock, deer, and elk, the palatability is rather low. Forage
value is further depreciated by frequent inaccessibility of the plants.
Seeds are relished by doves and some other birds.

Amelanchier spp.

Palatability of most species of Amelanchier appears to be fair to good
for livestock, and good to excellent for deer and elk. Serviceberries
are considered to be among the more valuable and nutritious browse
plants of the region. Some Idaho studies suggest that on sheep range
the proper-use factor for A. alnifolia is 60-65 percent.

Aplopappus bloomeri

Is of low value to worthless for livestock.

Arctostaphylos spp.

A. nevadensis and A. ura-ursi are unpalatable to domestic livestock.
Deer and elk make limited use of them, particularly in the winter.
Tender shoots, buds, and leaves of A parryana var. pinetorum are
palatable to sheep and especially deer, but older parts are of small
forage value except when there is a near shortage of winter browse.

Artemisia arbuscula

Various species of sagebrush; particularly A. arbuscula, are impor-
tant year-long food items for pronghorn antelope on Hart Mountain,
Oreg., range.

Artemisia carta

In most localities where this species occurs, it is considered to be of
little value for sheep feed, and of no value for cattle.

Artemisia rig id a

Fair forage for sheep and particularly liked by horses.

Artemisia spinescens

Probably its most important use in some places has been as sheep
browse. Use by antelope has been noted.

Artemisia tridentata

Although of low palatability, big sagebrush is important because of
its wide distribution, abundance, and its unwanted invasions of some
depleted range lands. With the exception of sheep use on desert
winter ranges, the species is considered to be of almost no value for
livestock. Big sagebrush is a moderately palatable winter food supply
for elk and mule deer, and apparently very palatable for antelope.
There is also an eastern Oregon record of considerable summer use of
big sagebrush by elk. Body weights, health, and productivity of deer

20(i

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 207

are not maintained by a winter diet of mostly sagebrush, despite its
rather high phosphorus and protein content.

Artemisia tripartita

Value of this species for domestic stock is very low.

Atriplex spp.

Flowers, leaves, and twigs of A. canescens have a good palatability
rating for all classes of livestock except horses. The seeds are highly
palatable. Deer freely use this shrub, especially on winter range.
A. canescens is considered as one of the better spring and winter feeds
for antelope. Nutritive value is high. There is speculation that elk
would use A. canescens and .4. confertifolia if the animals ever again
get into the sagebrush plains.

Betula spp.

The western species appear to be fairly palatable to livestock and
big game.

Cassiope mertensiana

This alpine plant may furnish forage for mountain goats. Known
to be nibbled by mountain sheep.

Ceanothus integerrimus

This species is good to excellent summer browse for domestic
livestock and probably a year-round food item for deer. Protein
content is fairly good, but declines about the time seed matures.

Ceanothus prostratus

Is of little forage value for any class of domestic livestock, but is one
of the species preferred by deer. Its protein content in summer is
rather good.

Ceanothus sanguineus

Both leaves and twigs are considered to have a fair to good palat-
abilitv for livestock. It is probably equal or better in palatability
than C. velvtinus for big game, but it is of lesser importance because
of its tendencv to grow out of reach of browsers and its lesser abun-
dance. Proper-use level suggested by some Idaho studies for C.
sanguineus is 60 percent where the shrub is grazed in late summer and
early fall.
Ceanothus velutinus

Although this species is purported to be worthless for cattle and
horses and of onlv slight palatability for goats and sheep, domestic
livestock will consume it in fall and winter during a feed shortage.
Protein content of snowbrush, at least in the summer, is relatively
high. Deer will eat C. velutinus at any season and it is part of the elk
diet from late summer to spring. According to studies in eastern
Oregon and eastern Washington, the three most important species in
the winter diet of deer and elk are C. velutinus, Purshia tridentata, and
Cercocarpus ledifolius. According to clipping studies made in eastern
Oregon, the level of use for maximum sustained production of C.
velutinus on winter ranges is 35 to 40 percent.

Celtis reticulata

Is eaten by livestock where it occurs on then winter ranges.

471H4 O-60-14

208 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Cercocarpus spp.

C. betuloides and C. ledifolius are used to a limited extent by domestic
stock in fall and winter where available. These highly nutritious
species are relished feed for deer. C. ledifolius is rated as one of the
three most important winter browse plants for deer and elk in eastern
Oregon and eastern Washington. The old and tall plants of C.
ledifolius can be easily highlined and converted to trees whose twigs
cannot be reached by big game animals. Varying degrees of pollard-
ing have been tried, with fair success, to induce good quantities of
accessible twigs and leaves. Benefits of this rather expensive measure
are short-lived if overuse by browsing animals continues. It lias been
suggested that the level of winter use for maximum sustained produc-
tion of C. ledifolius is about 50 percent.

Chamaebatiaria millefolium

Probably a fair browse for sheep and goats and of slight value for
deer.

Chimaphila spp.

These partially herbaceous species are fair forage for elk, but of
lower value for deer.

Chrysothamnus spp.

Palatability of C. nauseosus is ordinarily low for livestock, but
rated as good for antelope. It is a. poor to fair white'1 browse for deer
and elk where it is available to them. Clipping studies in Oregon
have shown it could withstand heavy winter browsing. Attempts to
eradicate it from overgrazed ranges by fire and some mechanical
methods have not been very successful. It has been noted, however,
that it will succumb to girdling by rodents. The species produces
chrysil, a good rubber which vulcanizes readily. C. viseidiflorus is
another species of low value for livestock, yet it is used on some winter
ranges or when feed is in short supply. Use by antelope has been
noted. C. viseidiflorus var. lanceolatus is considered as poor to worth-
less for forage.

Clematis spp.

Domestic stock have been reported to use lightly various species of
Clematis when the plants are young and tender. Importance of the
species to big game is also slight.

Cornus stolonifera

This species is rated as of slight importance to sheep and of no value
to cattle. Deer and elk probably browse it occasionally.

Corylus californica

Is of low palatability to domestic stock and only slightly used by big
game.

Crataegus spp.

Although a little use by domestic stock and big game has been
reported, the thorny species are rated as poor forage.

Eriogonum spp.

The various species are of little importance to livestock or big game,
but both classes of animals do eat the flowers and fruits and antelope
will eat the foliage.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 209

Euonymus occidentalis

Not used by livestock.

Eurotia lanata

On some winter ranges it is a valuable source of food for deer, elk,
antelope, and all classes of livestock. Its protein content is above
minimum level for cattle nutrition.

Forsellesia spinescens

Use of this shrub by both sheep and deer has been reported for
certain ranges.

Fraxinus latifolia

A fair to good browse for sheep and cattle.

Gaultheria spp.

So far as can be determined from available records, G. humifusa
and G. ovatifolia are of no forage value in eastern Oregon and Wash-
ington. However, in other areas some elk and considerable deer use
has been noted on other species of the genus.

Grayia spinosa

A good winter forage for sheep, cattle, and antelope.

Holodiscus spp.

Palatability is poor for cattle and sheep, and fair for deer and elk.
Results of clipping studies in eastern Washington suggest that the level
of winter use for maximum sustained production of H. discolor is about
60 percent.

Juniper us spp.

There is considerable variation in the acceptability by big game of
even one species of juniper from place to place. Supposedly the
berries are freely eaten by mule deer whenever available, but browsing
mainly occurs during the winter. Winter use of juniper by elk has
been reported for several species of juniper. Palatability of J.
occidentalis for antelope is rated as good in the fall.

Kalmia polifolia var. microphylla

This and one other species of Kalmia are unpalatable and poisonous
to domestic livestock. Use occurs only when stock are short of other
forage.

Ledum glandulosum

This rather poisonous species is seldom eaten by domestic livestock
and it is also of low palatability to big game.

Leptodactylon pungens

New growth in spring is a fairly good feed for livestock.

Linnaea borealis var. americana

Tins rather herbaceous creeper is eaten by elk and probably by
deer, but not by livestock.

Lonicera spp.

A poor to worthless forage for livestock, but sheep may use con-
siderable amounts of it in some localities. According to clipping

210 HANDBOOK 148, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

studies in Idaho a proper-use factor of 60-65 percent should be applied
to L. utahensis where it is grazed by sheep.

Mahonia spp.

M. repens, a low-growing species, is acceptable to deer and elk
during the snow-free periods of the winter. Use of the other species
of Mahonia by deer and elk is also low to fairly good, depending upon
the availability of better feed. M. aguifolium, the State Flower of
Oregon, is important in ornamental horticulture.

Menziesia ferruginea

Is of fair palatability for sheep and low for cattle; is also eaten b}r
elk. The closely related M. glabella is poisonous to sheep when eaten
in quantity.

Pachistima myrsinites

A palatable winter browse for deer and elk and may receive light
summer use by sheep. It is reported to have caused sickness in sheep
when heavily browsed in west-central Washington. Needs further
study.

Penstemon deustus

Of slight value to livestock or big game. Limited use of the
herbaceous parts has been observed.

Peraphyllum ramosissimum

A fair browse for sheep and cattle in spring and fall and for deer in
the winter.

Philadelphus lewisii

In some localities it is of fair palatability to cattle and sheep, but
relished by deer and elk.

Phyllodoce spp.

P. empetriformis is of no value for livestock forage and probably of
little or no value for big game. Furthermore, it is suspected of being
poisonous. It would appear that P. glanduliflora is also practically
worthless as forage.

Physocarpus malvaceus

A poor forage for cattle and fail- for sheep. It is very palatable to
elk in the winter.

Populus spp.

Fair browse for cattle, sheep, and deer. It is a preferred species
for elk.

Potentilla fruticosa

Is of rather low palatability and practically of no value for cattle.
Used some by sheep and on some winter ranges by deer and elk.

Prunus spp.

Species of this genus are poor to fair forage for livestock; under cer-
tain conditions P. virginiana can be fatal to livestock if large quantities
sue eaten. Palatability of these species rates from fair to good for deer
and elk. Protein content of P. emarginata is known to be relatively
high and it is a preferred species for deer and of moderate palatability
for elk.

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 211

Purshia tridentata

One of the three most valuable browse species in the Pacific North-
west for antelope, deer, and elk. Its palatability and nutritional
value is generally good to excellent and it is commonly cropped by
sheep, goats, and cattle, but not horses. Periods of use by big game
are most commonly late fall, winter, and spring, but it may be grazed
throughout the year. According to clipping studies made in eastern
Oregon, the level of use for maximum sustained production of this
shrub on winter range is 60 to 65 percent on best sites, and 50 percent
on poorer sites.

Quercus garryana

Palatability of leaves is rated as poor to fair for cattle and fairly
good for sheep.

Rhamnus spp.

Forage value of the species is low. Cattle make no use of them and
sheep only browse them lightly. They appear to be of fair palatability
to deer and elk. Fruits relished by birds and R. purshiana is an
important medicinal species.

Rhododendron albiflorum

An unpalatable species; contains some toxic substances.

Rhus spp.

Palatability is low for livestock and big game.

Ribes spp.

Species of this genus are generally of poor palatability for cattle and
fair for sheep, deer, and elk. Important food sources of many birds,
such as grouse and prairie chickens, and of smaller wildlife such as
rodents.

Rosa spp.

Although roses are generally regarded as being rather poor forage,
R. gymnocarpa, R. spaldingii, and R. ultramontana are above the group
average in palatability. They are rated as fair for cattle and fair to
good for sheep, deer," and elk. Clipping studies on an Idaho sheep
range suggest that the proper-use factor for roses is 60 to 65 percent.
Valuable producers of food for birds and small wildlife.

Rubus spp.

Species of this group, while valuable food sources for many birds
and small mammals, are generally of secondary palatability to live-
stock, although R. macro petalus, R. parviflorus, and R. spectabihs rate
as fair sheep forage. These three species are also the most palatable
of the group for deer and elk, and rated as fair to good. R. leucodermis
is one of the most important feeds for the Olympic wapiti and Roose-
velt deer.

Salix spp.

Willows are a common and important source of browse along streams
and in moist meadows. Palatability varies with species, but they are
generally considered as fair forage for cattle and good for sheep.
Deer and elk will utilize some willows at all times, particularly m the
winter. The tall species are easily highlined, but if, following over-

212 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

use, they are given protection for a few years, new shoots from the
plant base will replace the destroyed parts.

Salvia carnosa

Palatability is low.

Sambucus spp.

These shrubs have a good to high palatability in the fall. Their
importance is sometimes downgraded because they are not as abundant
as some of the other palatable shrubs. Cattle, sheep, deer, and elk
all eat shrubs of this genus.

Shepherdia canadensis

Palatability is low for domestic stock but the plant is taken quite
well by deer and elk in eastern Oregon.

Solanum dulcamara

Probably eaten by deer and elk.

Sorbus spp.

Palatability of $. occidentalis and <S. scopulina is fair to good for
sheep. They are also eaten by deer and elk. Mildly toxic. Has been
known to poison rabbits.

Spiraea spp.

Palatability of the group is generally low for domestic stock and
big game. S. menziesii is above the group average in palatability,
rating fair to good, and S. lucida is rated as a fair browse for livestock
in eastern Oregon.

Symphoricarpos spp.

Species of Symphoricarpos are of low palatability for cattle and elk,
but of fair palatability for sheep and deer.

Tetradymia spp.

These are poor to worthless forage species. Some species may be
poisonous to sheep if a large amount is eaten.

Toxicodendron spp.

Although most people are susceptible to being poisoned (rhus
dermatitis caused by the oil urushiol), livestock and game can eat the
leaves without harmful effects. However, in the Northwest they are
considered worthless for cattle and of low value for sheep.

Vaccinium spp.

In general these plants are of low value for cattle, and but little
better for sheep. Deer, and especially elk, consume stems and twigs
in fall and winter. V. membranaceum, probably the most palatable
of the group, is fair forage for sheep and good browse for deer and elk.

Viburnum edule

Value for livestock is low. A little use by elk has been observed.

Selected References

The preceding information on various woody species of eastern
Oregon and eastern Washington is based largely on published observa-
tions and studies of several authorities and U. S. Forest Service range

KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 213

workers. The following publications were consulted, and in many
instances they will supply additional details for the interested reader:

Dayton, William A.

1931. IMPORTANT WESTERN BROWSE PLANTS. U. S. Dept. Agl\ MisC. Pub. 101,

214 op.
DeNio, R. M.

1938. elk and deer foods and feeding habits. Third North American
Wildlife Conference Trans., pp. 421-427.
Dixon, Joseph S.

1934. A study of the life history and food habits of mule DEER IN CALI-
FORNIA. Calif. Fish and Game 20: 3-4.
Einarsen, Arthur S.

1948. THE PRONGHORN ANTELOPE AND ITS MANAGEMENT. 238 pp. Wildlife

Mangt. Inst., Washington, D. C.
Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture

1937. range plant handbook. [842 pp.]
Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture

1950. PLANT use factors EASTERN OREGON AND EASTERN WASHINGTON.

Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Expt. Sta. and Region 6. 12 pp.
Garrison, George A.

1953. effects of clipping on some range shrubs. Jour. Range Mangt.

6 (5): 309-317.
Hagen, Herbert L.

1953. NUTRITIVE VALUE FOR DEER OF SOME FORAGE PLANTS IN THE SIERRA

Nevada. Calif. Fish and Game 39 (2): 163-175.
Jameson, Donald A.

1952. NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BROWSE ON MONTANA WINTER RANGES. Jour. Range

Mangt. 5 (5): 306-310.
Lassen, Robert W., Ferrel, Carol M., and Leach, Howard

1952. FOOD HABITS, PRODUCTIVITY AND CONDITION OF THE DOYLE MULE DEER

herd. Calif. Fish and Game 38 (2) : 211-224.
Mason, Ellis

1952. food habits and measurements of hart mountain antelope. jout.
Wildlife Mangt. 16 (3): 387-389.
Murie, Olaus J.

1951. the elk of north America. 376 pp. Stackpole Co., Harrisburg, Pa.
Reid, Elbert H.

1942. IMPORTANT plants on national forest RANGES OF EASTERN OREGON AND
eastern Washington. Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Expt.
Sta. 64 pp.
Smith, Arthur D.

1952. DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME NATIVE FORAGES FOR MULE DEER. Joiir. Wildlife

Mangt, 16 (3): 309-312.
Van Dersal, William R.

1938. native woody plants of the united states, their erosion-control

and wildlife values. U. S. Dept, Agr. Misc. Pub. 308, 362 pp.
Young, Vernon A., and Payne, Gene F.

1948. utilization of "key" browse species in relation to proper grazing
practices in cutover western white pine lands in northern-
IDAHO. Jour. Forestry 46 (1): 35-40.

INDEX

Accepted scientific names appear in boldface type, synonyms in ordinary italic,
and accepted common names in ordinary type.

Acer; maple Paee

circinatum; vine m 92, 158

douglasii. See A. glabrum var. douglasii.

glabrum var. douglasii; Douglas m 92, 165

= A. douglasii

macrophyllum; bigleaf m 92, 166

Alder; Alnus

red; A. rubra 22, 120

Sitka; A. sinuata 22, 120

thinleaf; A. tenuifolia 22, 123

white; A. rhombifolia 22, 120

Alnus; alder

oregona. See A. rubra.

rhombifolia; white a 22, 120

rubra; red a.. 22, 120

= A. oregona
sinuata; Sitka a 22, 120

= A. sitchensis
sitchensis. See A. sinuata.

tenuifolia; thinleaf a 22, 123

Amelanchier; serviceberry

alni folia; saskatoon s 62, 156

cusickii; Cusick s 60, 156

= "A. ftorida" of some authors, NOT Lindl.

florida; Pacific s 62, 156

utahensis; Utah s .__. 62

X Amelasorbus jackii. See Amelanchier alniiolia and Sorbus scopulina.
Aplopappus (also spelled Haplopappus) ; goldenweed

bloomeri; rabbitbrush g 79

— Chrysothamrtus bloomeri
Arctostaphylos; manzanita

nevadensis; pinemat m 186

obtusifolia. See A. parryana var. pinetorum.

parryana var. pinetorum; pine m 189

= A. obtusifolia

= A. pinetorum
patula; greenleaf m 189

= A. platyphylla

= A. pungens var. platyphylla
pinetorum. See A. parryana var. pinetorum.
platyphylla. See A. patula.
pungens platyphylla. See A. patula.

uva-ursi; bearberry (kinnfkinnick) 186

Artemisia; sagebrush

angusta. See A. tridentata.

arbuscula; low s 200

= A. tridentata ssp. arbuscula

= A. tridentata var. arbuscula

cana; silver s 183

rigida; stiff s 41, 125

spinescens; bud s 5, 106

= Picrothamnus desertorum
tridentata; big s 199

= A. angusta

= A. tridentata var. angustifolia

= A. vaseyana
tridentata angustifolia. See A. tridentata.
tridentata arbuscula. See A. arbuscula.

214

INDEX 215

Artemisia; sagebrush — Continued

tridentata trificla. See A. tripartita.
trifida. See A. tripartita.

tripartita; three-tip s ' •*'

= .4. tridentata ssp. trifida
= A. tridentata var. trifida
= A. trifida
vaseyana. See A. tridentata.

Ash, Oregon; Fraxinus latifolia.-- 1()o' "','

Aspen, quaking (includes golden a.); Populus tremuloides 28, 119

Atriplex; saltbush

canescens; fourwing s *°°

= ".4. nuttallii" of some authors, NOT S. Wats.

confertifolia; shadseale s o, 10.1

nuttallii. See A. canescens.
Audibertia incana. See Salvia carnosa.

Azalea, Cascades; Rhododendron albiflorum 67, 144

Azalea. See Rhodendron.
Azaleastrum. See Rhodendron.

Bearberry (or kinnikinnick) ; Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 1°»

Berberis aquifolium. See Mahonia aquifolium.
Berberis nana. See Mahonia repens.
Berberis nervosa. See Mahonia nervosa.
Berberis repens. See Mahonia repens.
Betula; birch

fontinalis. See B. occidentalis.

glandulosa; bog b -"' -'

guthrie'; Guthrie b ' ~4

microphylla. See B. occidentalis.

occidentalis; water b _• 2b, 1^4

= B. fontinalis

= "B. microphylla" of some authors, NOT Bunge
occidentalis. See B. papyrifera commutata.

papyrifera var. commutata; western paper b 24, 12.5

= "#. occidentalis" of some authors, NOT Hooker
= B. papyrifera var. occidentalis
papyrifera occidentalis. See B. papyrifera commutata.
papyrifera var. subcordata; northwestern paper b_-_ -4, 1---S

= B. subcordata
subcordata. See B. papyrifera subcordata.
Bigelovia. See Chrysothamnus.

Bigelovia douglasii. See Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus.
Bigelovia graveolens albicaulis. See Chrysothamnus nauseosus

albicaulis.
Bilberry; Vaccinium (in part)
Birch; Betula

bog; B. glandulosa -- - "> J~4

Guthrie; B. guthriei J-4

paper ; B. papyrifera. - - - ----- - - - - - - - --• \ jf

northwestern paper; B. papylnfera var. subcordata - *% i*o

western paper; B. papyrifera var. commutata -4- 14&

water; B. occidentalis "iqq ioj

Bitterbrush, antelope; Purshia tridientata_ _ ^M, l.»4

Blackberrv; Rubus

cutleaf ;' R. laciniatus -£>

trailing; R. macropetalus

Blueberry; Vaccinium

delicious; V. deliciosum 7« 1.I9

dwarf; V. cespitosum !_.' j4~

taller dwarf; V. cespitosum var. arbuscula. <p |4_

westernbog; V. occidentale ("> 14ii

Bryanthus. See Phyllodoce.
Buckthorn; Rhamnus

alder; R. alnifolia ° • }JJ

cascara; R. purshiana 4i

216

INDEX

Buffaloberry, russet; Shepherdia canadensis 96, 162

Burningbush, western (or western wahoo) ; Euonymus (Evonymus)

occidentalis 96

Caprifolium ciliosum. See Lonicera ciliosa.

Cassiope mertensiana; Mertens cassiope 169

Ceanothus; ceanothus

integerrimus; deerbrush c 48, 132

prostratus; squawcarpet c. (Mahala-mat c.) 170

sanguineus; redstem c 48, 132

velutinus; snowbrush c 177

Ceanothus; Ceanothus

deerbrush; C. integerrimus 48, 132

redstem ; C. sanguineus. _ _ 48, 132

snowbrush; C. velutinus. 177

squawcarpet (or Mahala-mat) ; C. prostratus 170

Celtis; hackberry

douglasii. See C. reticulata.
laevigata reticulata. See C. reticulata.
occidentalis reticulata. See C. reticulata.

reticulata; netleaf h 51, 144

= C. douglasii

= C. laevigata var. reticulata
= C. occidentalis var. reticulata
Cerasus. See Prunus.

Cercocarpus; cercocarpus (mountain-mahogany)
betulaefolius. See C. betuloides.

betuloides; birchleaf c 192

= C. betulaefolius

= C. betuloides var. multiflorus

= C. douglasii

= C. montanus var. glaber

= C. parvifolius var. betuloides

= C. parvifolius var. glaber

betuloides var. macrourus; longtail birchleaf c 178, 192

= C. macrourus

= "C. montanus" of Abrams' Fl. Pacif. States, in part.
= C. montanus var. macrourus
betuloides multiflorus. See C. betuloides.
douglasii. See C. betuloides.

ledifolius; curlleaf c 178

macrourus. See C. betuloides macrourus.
montanus glaber. See C. betuloides.
montanus macrourus. See C. betuloides macrourus.
parvifolius betuloides. See C. betuloides.
parvifolius glaber. See C. betuloides.
Cercocarpus (or cercocarp) ; Cercocarpus

birchleaf ; C. betuloides 192

curlleaf; C. ledifolius m 178

longtail birchleaf; C. betuloides var. macrourus 178, 192

Chamaebatiaria miIlefolium;desertsweet or tansybush 203

Cherry, bitter ; Prunus emarginata 53, 147

Chimaphila; pipsissewa or princes-pine

menziesii; Menzies pipsissewa 1'6

occidentalis. See C. umbellata occidentalis.

umbel lata var. occidentalis; western pipsissewa 176

= C. occidentalis
Chokecherry; Prunus

common; P. virginiana 54, 14/

black common; P. virginiana var. melanocarpa 54, 147

western common; P. virginiana var. demissa 54, 417

Chrysothamnus; rabbit brush

bloomeri. See Aplopappus bloomeri.

consimilis. See C. nauseosus consimilis.

humilis. See C. viscidiflorus humilis.

lanceolatus. See C. viscidiflorus lanceolatus.

nauseosus; rubber r 82, 126

INDEX 217

Chrysothamnus; rabbit-brush -Continued

nauseosus albicaulis; whitestem rubber r. — 83

— Bigelovia graieolens albicaulis
= Chrysothamnus speciosus albicaulis
nauseosus artus. See C. nauseosus consimilis.

nauseosus consimilis; fetid rubber r 82

= C. consimilis
= C. nauseosus artus
= C. oreophilus
= C. oreophilus artus
nauseosus graieolens. See C. nauseosus speciosus.

nauseosus speciosus; tall rubber r 8.-J

= e. nauseosus graieolens
= C. speciosus
oreophilus artus. See C. nauseosus consimilis.
puberulus. See C. viscidiflorus puberulus.
pumilus. See C. viscidiflorus pumilus.
speciosus. See C. nauseosus speciosus.
speciosus albicaulis. See C. nauseosus albicaulis.
stenophyllus. See C. viscidiflorus stenophyllus.

viscidiflorus; Douglas r 80,82,126

= Bigelovia douglasii

viscidiflorus humilis; Truckee r 80

= C. humilis

viscidiflorus lanceolalus; lanceleaf r 80

= C. lanceolatus

viscidiflorus puberulus; downy r 80

= C. puberulus

viscidiflorus pumilus; low Douglas r 82

= C. pumilus

viscidiflorus stenophyllus; small r 82

= C. stenophyllus

Cinquefoil, bush; Potentilla fruticosa 84, 140

Clematis; clematis, virginsbower

columbiana. See C. verticillaris columbiana.

ligusticifolia; western v 101, 158

verticillaris var. columbiana; Columbia rock c 101, 158

= C. columbiana

Clematis, Columbia rock; Clematis verticillaris var. columbiana 101, 158

Cornus stolonifera; red-osier dogwood 09, 165

Corylus; hazel or filbert

californica. See C. cornuta var. californica.

cornuta var. californica; California h 20, 120

= C. californica
= C. rostrata californica
rostrata californica. See C. cornuta var. californica

Cottonwood, black; Populus trichocarpa 28,119

Crataegus; hawthorn

brevispina. See C. douglasii. .

columbiana; Columbia h ____ -,-. 19, 110

columbiana piperi. See C. piperi.

douglasii; black (or Douglas) h 18, 110

= C. brevispina

piperi; Piper h '•', 1 I"

= C. columbiana var. piperi
Currant; Ribes

blood; R. sanguineum 48,151

golden; R. aureum 42,151

gooseberry; R. montigenum 11, 110

prickly (or swamp) ; R. lacustre 11, HO

sticky ; R. viscosissimum 48, 152

stink; R. bracteosum '-. 149

swamp ; R. lacustre 11, 110

wax; R. cereum 17, 155

western black; R. petiolare 45, 150

Dasiphora fruticosa. See Potentilla fruticosa.

Desertsweet (also called tansybush); Chamaebatiaria millefolium 203

21$ INDEX

Distegia involucrata. See Lonicera involucrata.

Dogwood, red-osier: Cornus stolonifera 99, 165

Elaeagnus canadensis. See Shepherdia canadensis.

Elder; Sambucus

blackbead ; S. melanocarpa 103, 160

blueberry; S. glauca 103, 159

Pacific red; S. caliicarpa 105, 160

western red; S. leiosperma 105, 160

Eremosemium spinosum. See Grayia spinosa.

Eriogonum; eriogonum

heracleoides; Wyeth e 75

microthecum; slenderbush e 75

thymoides; thyme e 75

Eriogonum; Eriogonum

slenderbush ; E. microthecum 75

thyme; E. thymoides 75

Wyeth; E. heracleoides :__ 75

Euonymus ( = Evonymus) occidentalis; western wahoo or western burn-
ing bush 96

Eurotia lanata; common winterfat 181

Filbert (or hazel), California; Corylus cornuta var. californica 20, 120

Forsellesia; greasebush
= Glossopetalon
spinescens. See F. stipulifera.

stipulifera; Snake River g 5, 106

= "F. spinescens'' of some authors, NOT (A. Gray) Greene
= " Glossopetalon spinescens" of some authors, NOT A. Gray
= Glossopetalon stipuliferum

Fraxinus; ash

latifolia; Oregon a 105, 166

= F. oregona
oregona. See F. latifolia.

Gaultheria; wintergreen

humifusa; western w 190

= G. tnyrsinites
rnyrsinites. See G. humifusa.
ovatifolia; Oregon w 190

Gilia pungens. See Leptodactylon pungens.

Gilia, granite; Leptodactylon pungens 92

Glossopetalon. See Forsellesia.

Goldenweed, rabbitbrush; Aplopappus bloomeri 79

Gooseberry ; Ribes

desert; R. velutinum 17

Goodding; R. gooddingii 17, 112

Idaho; R. irriguum 13, 113

Klamath; R. klamathense 13

Mt. Adams; R. watsonianum 11

snow; R. niveum 16, 112

Umatilla; R. cognatum 13, 113

Watson: R. watsonianum 11

whitestem; R. inerme 13, 112

Grayia spinosa; spiny hopsage 8, 106

= Eremosemium spinosum

Greasebush, Snake River ; Forsellesia stipulifera 5, 106

Greasewood, black ; Sarcobatus vermiculatus 8, 106

Grossularia. See Ribes.

Hackberry, netleaf (includes Douglas h.) ; Celtis reticulata 51, 144

Haplopappus. See Aplopappus.

Hardhack; Spiraea

Hawthorn; Crataegus

black (or Douglas) ; C. douglasii 18, 110

Columbia; C. columbiana 19, 110

Piper; C. piperi 19, 110

Hazel (filbert), California; Corylus cornuta var. californica 20, 120

Hollygrape (or creeping mahonia) ; Mahonia repens 203

INDEX 219

Holodiscus; rockspirea
= Schizonotus
— Sericotheca
discolor; creambush r. or oceanspray 56, 130

= Schizonotus argenteus var. discolor

= Schizonotus discolor

= Sericotheca ariaefolia

= Sericotheca discolor

= Sericotheca discolor var. ariaefolia

— Spiraea discolor

microphyllus var. glabrescens; glandular littleleaf r 56

= Sericotheca glabrescens

Honeysuckle; Lonicera

bearberry; L. involucrata •l!). 166

purplefiower; L. conjugialis 100, 166

red mountain-fly; L. cauriana 100, 165

Utah: L. utahensis 100, 166

western trumpet; L. ciliosa 96, 158

Hopsage, spiny: Grayia spinosa 8,106

Horsebrush ; f etradymia

cottonthorn: T. spinosa 10, 110

grav : T. canescens 79, 136

littleleaf: T. glabrata '■»• ]36

"Huckleberry." See Vaccinum.

Juniper; Juniperus _ _

mountain common; J. communis var. saxatilis 168

Rocky-Mountain; J. scopulorum 168

western (or Sierra) : J. occidentalis 1 68

Juniperus; juniper
= Sabina

communis var. saxatilis; mountain common j. 168

= J. communis var. sibirica

— J. nana

= J. sibirica
communis var. sibirica. See J. communis var. saxatilis.
nana. See J. communis var. saxatilis.

occidentalis; western (or Sierra) j '68

= Sabina occidentalis

scopulorum; Rocky-Mountain j 168

= Sabina scopulorum
sibirica. See J. communis var. saxatilis.
Kalmia, kalmia

glauca microphylla. See K. polifolia var. microphylla.
microphylla. See K. polifolia var. microphylla.

polifolia var. microphylla; alpine bog k ' ' -

= K. glauca var. microphylla
= K. microphylla
Kalmia, alpine bog; Kalmia polifolia var. microphylla <~

Kinnikinnick (or bearberry); Arctostaphylos uva-ursi - 186

Kunzia. See Purshia.

Labrador-Tea, smooth; Ledum glandulosum j^°

Ledum glandulosum; western ledum (smooth Labrador-tea). ''8

Lepargyrea canadensis. See Shepherdia canadensis.
Leptodactylon
= Gilia, in part
pungens; granite gilia .
=Gilia pungens
Linnaea borealis var. americana; American twinflower 1 »4

Lonicera; honeysuckle

cauriana; red mountain-fly h ,,',,' ,0°

= "L. coerulea" of some authors, NOT L.

= "L. villosa" of some authors, NOT (Michx.) Roem. & Schult.
ciliata. See L. utahensis.

ciliosa; western trumpet h Jo, loo

= Capri folium ciliosum
coerulea. See L. cauriana.

220 INDEX

Lonicera ; honeysuckle — -Continued

conjugialis; purpleflower h 100, 166

— Xylosteon conjugiale

involucrata; bearberry h 99, 166

= Distegia involucrata

= Xylosteon involucratum

utahensis; Utah h 100, 166

= "L. ciliata" of some authors, NOT Muhl.
villosa. See L. cauriana.

Mahonia; mahonia, hollygrape, Oregon-grape
= Berberis, in part
= Odostemon

aquifolium; Oregon-grape 205

= Berberis aquifolium
= Odostemon aquifolium
= Odostemon nutkanus

nervosa; Cascades mahonia 205

= Berberis nervosa

= Odostemon nervosus

repens, creeping mahonia, or hollygrape 203

= Berberis nana, B. repens
= Odostemon repens

Mahonia; Mahonia

Cascades ; M. nervosa 205

creeping (or hollygrape) ; M. repens 203

( )regon-grape ; M. aquifolium 205

Manzanita; Arctostaphylos

greenleaf ; A. patula 189

pine; A. parryana var. pinetorum 189

pinemat ; A. nevadensis . 186

Maple; Acer

bigleaf; A. macrophyllum 92, 166

1 )ouglas ; A. glabrum var. douglasii 92, 165

vine; A. circinatum 92, 158

Meadowsweet ; Spiraea

Menziesia; menziesia

ferruginea; rusty m 67, 143

glabella; smooth m 67, 143

Menziesia; Menziesia

rusty; M. ferruginea 67, 143

smooth; M. glabella 67, 143

Mockorange, Lewis; Phi lade I ph us lewisii 96, 160

Mountain-ash; Sorbus

Cascades; S. cascadensis 86, 135

Greenes; S. scopulina 84, 135

western; S. occidentalis 86, 135

Mountainheath; Phyllodoce

cream ; P. glandu li Mora 169

red ; P. empetriformis 169

Mountain-mahogany; Cercocarpus 178, 192

Nightshade, bitter ; Solanum dulcamara 52

Ninebark, mallow; Physocarpus malvaceus 42, 127

Oak, Oregon white; Quercus garryana 20, 116

Oceanspray ; Holodiscus discolor 56, 130

Odostemon. See Mahonia.

aquifolium. See Mahonia aquifolium.
nervosus. See Mahonia nervosa.
nutkanus. See Mahonia aquifolium.
repens. See Mahonia repens.

Opulaster. See Physocarpus.

Oregon-grape; Mahonia aquifolium 205

Pachistima (also spelled Pachystima) myrsinites; myrtle (or mountain-
lover) pachistima 174

Padus. See Prunus.

Penstemon deustus ; scorched penstemon (or hot-rock p.) 96

INDEX 221

Peraphyllum ramosissimum; squawapple__. 74,138

Philadelphia lewisii; Lewis mockorange 96, 160

Phyllodoce; mountainheath

= Bryanthus

empetriformis; red m 169

— Bryanthus empetriformis

glanduliflora; cream m 1 69

Physocarpus; ninebark

= Opulaster

malvaceus; mallow n 42, 127

= Opulaster malvaceus
= Physocarpus pauciflorus

pauciflorus. See P. malvaceus.
Picrothamnus desertorum. See Artemisia spinescens.
Pipsissewa (or princes-pine) ; Chimaphila

Menzies; C. menziesii 176

western ; C. umbellata var. occidentalis 176

Plum, Klamath; Prunus subcordata 54

Poison-ivy, western; Toxicodendron radicans var. rydbergii __ 87, 136

Poison-oak, Pacific; Toxicodendron diversilobum 87,136

Populus; aspen, cottonwood

aurea. See P. tremuloides.

hastata. See P. trichocarpa.

tremuloides; quaking a 28, 1 19

— P. aurea

= P. tremuloides var. aurea
tremuloides aurea. See P. tremuloides.
trichocarpa; black c 28, 119

= P. hastata

= P. trichocarpa var. hastata
trichocarpa var. hastata. See P. trichocarpa.
Potentilla; cinquefoil

fruticosa; bush c 84, 140

= Dasiphora fruticosa
Prunus; cherry, chokecherry, plum
= Cerasus
= Padus

demissa. See P. virginiana var. demissa.
emarginata; bitter cherry 53, 147

= Cerasus emarginata

= Cerasus mollis

= Prunus emarginata var. crenulata

= Prunus emarginata var. erecta

= Prunus emarginata var. mollis

= Prunus emarginata var. villosa
emarginata crenulata. See Prunus emarginata.
emarginata erecta. See Prunus emarginata.
emarginata mollis. See Prunus emarginata.
emarginata villosa. See Prunus emarginata.
melanocarpa. See Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa.
oregana. See Prunus subcordata.
subcordata; Klamath plum 54

= Prunus oregana

= Prunus subcordata var. oregana
subcordata oregana. See Prunus subcordata.
Virginia; common chokecherry -- 54, 147

= Padus virginiana
virginiana var. demissa; western common chokecherry. _ 54, 14*

= Cerasus demissa

= Padus demissa

= Prunus demissa
virginiana var. melanocarpa; black common chokecherry 54, 147

= Cerasus demissa var. melanocarpa

= Padus melanocarpa

— Padus virginiana var. melanocarpa
= Prunus melanocarpa

222

INDEX

Purshia; bitterbrush
= Kunzia

tridentata; antelope b 139; 194

= Kunzia tridentata

Pyrus. See Sorbus.

Quercus garryana; Oregon white oak 20, 116

Rabbitbrush; Chrysothamnus

Douglas; C. viscidiflorus 80, 82, 126

downy; C. v. puberulus 80

fetid rubber; C. nauseosus consimilis 82

lanceleaf; C. v. lanceolatus 80

low Douglas; C. v. pumilus 82

rubber; C. nauseosus 82, 126

small ; C. v. stenophyllus 82

tall rubber; C. nauseosus speciosus 83

Truckee (also called low r.) ; C. v. humilis 80

whitestem rubber; C. nauseosus albicaulis 83

Ramona incana. See Salvia incana.

Raspberry; Rubus

American red; R. strigosus 88, 114

northwestern blackcap ; R. nigerrimus 88

whitebark ; R. leucodermis 88

Rhamnus; buckthorn

alnifolia; alder b 64, 155

purshiana; cascara b 64, 144

Rhododendron albiflorum; Cascades azalea (also called Cascades false-
azalea) 67, 144

Rhus; sumac
= Schmaltzia

canadensis trilobata. See R. trilobata.
diversiloba. See Toxicodendron diversilobum.

glabra; smooth s 84, 134

— R. glabra var. occidentalis
= R. occidentalis
glabra occidentalis. See R. glabra.
occidentalis. See R. glabra.

radicans rydbergii. See Toxicodendron radicans var. rydbergii.
toxicodendron. See Toxicodendron radicans var. rydbergii.

trilobata; skunkbush (or lemonade) s 87, 132

= R. canadensis var. trilobata
= Schmaltzia trilobata

Ribes (= Grossularia); currant, gooseberry
ambiguum. See R. watsonianum.

aureum; golden c 42, 151

bracteosum; stink c 42, 149

cereum; wax c 47, 155

cognatum; Umatilla g 13, 113

= Grossularia cognata
divaricatum inerme. See R. inerme.
divaricatum irriguum. See R. irriguum.
divaricatum klamathense. See R. klamathense.

gooddingii; Goodding g 17, 112

inerme; whitestem g 13, 112

= Grossularia inermis
= Ribes divaricatum var. inerme
inerme klamathense. See R. klamathense.

irriguum; Idaho g 13, 113

= Grossularia irrigua
= Ribes divaricatum var. irriguum

klamathense; Klamath g 13

= Grossularia klamathensis
-Ribes divaricatum var. klamathense
= Ribes inerme var. klamathense

lacustre; prickly (or swamp) c 11, 110

lacustre molle. See R. montigenum.
lentum. See R. montigenum.

INDEX 223

Ribes (=Grossularia) ; currant, gooseberry— Continued

molle. See R. montigenum.

montigenum; gooseberry c 11. HO

— Ribes lacustre var. molle
= Ribes lentum

= Ribes molle
niveum; snow g • 16, 112

= Grossularia nivea

petiolare; western black c 45, 150

sanguineum; blood c 48, 151

velutinum; desert g 17

= Grossularia velutina

viscosissimum; sticky c 48, 152

watsonianum; Watson (or Mt. Adams) g 11

= Grossularia watsoniana

= Ribes ambiguum S. Wats., NOT Maxim.
Rockspirea; Holodiscus

creambush; H. discolor 56, 130

glandular littleleaf; H. microphyllus var. glabrescens 56

Rosa; rose

californica ultramontana. See R. ultramontana.

gymnocarpa; baldhip r 90,114

nutkana. See R. spaldingii.

pisocarpa ultramontana. See R. ultramontana.

spaldingii; Spalding r 90, 114

=^"R. nutkana" of some authors, NOT Presl
ultramontana; interior r 00, 114

= R. californica var. ultramontana

= R. pisocarpa var. ultramontana

= R. woodsii var. ultramontana
woodsii ultramontana. See R. ultramontana.
Rose; Rosa

baldhip; R. gymnocarpa 90, 114

interior; R. ultramontana ' 90, H4

Nootka; R. nutkana 90, 114

peafruit ; R. pisocarpa 90

Spalding; R. spaldingii 90, 114

Rubacer. See Rubus.

Rubus ( — Rubacer) ; blackberry, raspberry, salmonberry, thimbleberry
hesperius. See R. nigerrimus.
idaeus melanotrachys. See R. strigosus.
idaeus peramoenus. See R. strigosus.
idaeus strigosus. See R. strigosus.

laciniatus; cutleaf b . 205

leucodermis; whitebark r 88

leucodermis nigerrimus. See R. nigerrimus.

macropetalus; t railing b 87

= R. ursinus" of some authors, NOT Cham. & Schlecht.

= "R. vitifolius" of some authors, NOT Cham. & Schlecht.
melanolasius. See R. strigosus.
nigerrimus; northwestern blackcap r 88

= R. hesperius

= R. leucodermis var. nigerrimus
nutkanus. See R. parviflorus.
parviflorus; western t 42, 138

= Rubacer parviflorum

= Rubus nutkanus

spectabilis; salmonberry 90, 114

strigosus; American red r 88, 114

= R. idaeus var. melanotrachys

= R. idaeus var. peramoenus

= R. idaeus var. strigosus

— "R. melanolasius" of some authors, NOT Focke
ursinus. See R. macropetalus.

vitifolius. See R. macropetalus.
Sabina. See Juniperus.
Sage, desert ; Salvia carnosa 99

471114 0-60-15

224 INDEX

Sagebrush; Artemisia

big; A. tridentata 199

bud; A. spinescens 5, 106

low; A. arbuscuia 200

silver; A. cana i 183

stiff ; A. rigida 41

three-tip ; A. tripartita 197

Salix; willow 30, 1 16

amygdaloides; peachleaf w 32

argophylla; silverleaf w 31

barclayi; Barclay w 38

bebbiana; Bebb w 37

bella. See S. drummondiana var. bella.

caudata; whiplash w 32

commutata; undergreen w 40

drummondiana var. bella; beautiful w 34

= S. bella

drummondiana var. subcoerulea; blue w 34

= S. subcoerulea

exigua; coyote w 31

gey eriana; Geyer w =. 1 _ _ 37

lasiandra; Pacific w 32

lasiolepis; arroyo w 37

lutea; yellow w 38

mackenziana; Mackenzie w 38

melanopsis; dusky w 31

monochroma; greensides w 40

nuttallii. See S. scouleriana.

pseudocordata; firmleaf w 38

= S. pseudomyrsinites, in part

scouleriana; Scouler w 34

= S. nuttallii

sitchensis; Sitka w 34

subcoerulea. See S. drummondiana var. subcoerulea.

Salmonberry; Rubus spectabilis 90, 114

Saltbush; Atriplex

fourwing; A. canescens 185

shadscale ; A. confertifolia 6, 109

Salvia ( = Audibertia; Ramona); sage

carnosa; desert s 99

= Audibertia incana
= Ramona incana

Sambucus; elder

callicarpa; Pacific red e 105, 160

cerulea. See S. glauca.

glauca; blueberry e 103, 159

= S. cerulea

leiosperma; western red e 105, 160

melanocarpa; blackbead e 103, 160

Sarcobatus vermiculatus; black greasewood 8, 106

Schizonotus. See Holodiscus.

Schmaltzia. See Rhus.

Sericotheca. See Holodiscus.

Serviceberry; Amelanchier

Cusick; A. cusickii , 60, 156

Pacific; A. florida 62, 156

saskatoon; A. alnifolia 62, 156

Utah ; A. utahensis 62

Shepherdia; buffaloberry

canadensis; russet b 96, 162

= Elaeagnus canadensis
= Lepargyrea canadensis

Snowberry ; Symphoricarpos

Columbia; S. rivularis 95, 161

sharpleaf; S. acutus 95

Washington; S. hesperius „ 95

whortleleaf; S. vaccinioides 95, 162

INDEX 225

Solanum dulcamara; bitter nightshade. _ 52

Sorbus ( = Pyrus, in part); mountain-ash

cascadensis; Cascades m 86, 135

= S. sambucifolia of some authors in part, NOT Cham. & Schlecht.
= S. sitchensis of some authors in part, NOT Roem.

occidentalis; western m 86, 135

= Pyrus occidentalis
= Sorbus pumila
pumila. See S. occidentalis.
sambucifolia. See S. cascadensis and S. scopulina.

scopulina; Greenes m 84, 135

= Pyrus dumosa of some authors, NOT (Greene) Fern.
= S. sambucifolia of some authors in part, NOT Cham. &Schlecht.
= S. sitchensis of some authors in part, NOT Roem.
sitchensis. See S. cascadensis and S. scopulina.
Spiraea; spirea (also called hardhack, meadowsweet, and ste'eplebush)
arbuscula. See S. densiflora.
betulaefolia. See S. lucida.
cuneifolia. See S. menziesii.

densiflora; subalpine s 58

= 5. arbuscula
= S. helleri
discolor. See Holodiscus discolor.

douglasii; Douglas s _--_ 58

douglasii menziesii. See S. menziesii.
helleri. See S. densiflora.

lucida; shinvleaf s 58, 128

= "S. betulaefolia" of Amer. authors, NOT Pall.

menziesii; Menzies s °8

= S. cuneifolia
= S. douglasii var. menziesii
Spirea; Spiraea

Douglas; S. douglasii 58

Menzies ; S. menziesii - 58

shinvleaf; S. lucida 58, 128

subalpine; S. densiflora ■-- 58

Squawapple ; Peraphyllum ramosissimum 74, 138

Steeplebush; Spiraea
Sumac; Rhus

skunkbush; R. trilobata »'. Jj»*

smooth; R. glabra 84, 134

Symphoricarpos; snowberry

acutus; sharpleaf s 95

= S. mollis of some authors, NOT Nutt.
acutus. See S. vaccinioides.
albus. See S. rivularis.
albus var. laevigatus. See S. rivularis.
albus var. mollis. See S. hesperius.

hesperiu?; Washington s , 95

= S. albus var. mollis of some authors, NOT Keck.
= S. mollis of some authors, NOT Nutt.
= S. pauciflorus of some authors, NOT Robbins.
mollis. See S. acutus and S. hesperius.
oreophilus. See S. vaccinioides.
paucifolius. See S. hesperius.
racemosus. See S. rivularis.
racemosus var. laevigatus. See S. rivularis.

rivularis; Columbia s 95, 161

= S: albus of some authors, NOT (L.) Blake.
= S. albus var. laevigatus.
= S. racemosus of some authors, NOT Miehx.
= S. racemosus var. laevigatus
rotundifolius. See S. vaccinioides.

vaccinioides; whortleleaf s . 95, 162

= S. acutus of some authors, NOT Dieck

= S. oreophilus of some authors, NOT A. Gray

= S. rotundifolius of some authors, NOT A. Gray

226 INDEX

Tansybush (desertsweet) ; Chamaebatiaria millefolium 203

Tetradymia; horsebrush

canescens; gray h 79, 136

= T. canescens var. inermis
= T. inermis

glabrata; littleleaf h 79, 136

inermis. See T. canescens.

spinosa; cottonthorn h 10, 110

Thimbleberry, western; Rubus parviflorus 42, 138

Toxicodendron; poison-ivy, poison-oak
= Rhus. in part

diversilobum; Pacific poison-oak 87, 136

= Rhus diversiloba
hesperium. See T. radicans var. rydbergii.

radicans var. rydbergii; western poison-ivy 87, 136

= T. hesperium

= T. rydbergii

= Rhus radicans var. rydbergii

— "Rhus toxicodendron" of some authors, NOT L.

Twinflower, American; Linnaea borealis var. americana 174

Vaccinium; bilberry, blueberry, "huckleberry," whortleberry
arbuscula. See V. cespitosum var. arbuscula.

cespitosum; dwarf blueberry 73, 142

cespitosum var. arbuscula; taller dwarf blueberry 73, 142

= V. arbuscula

deliciosum; delicious blueberry 70, 142

globulare; globeflower whortleberry - 140

macrophyllum. See V. membranaceum.

membranaceum; big whortleberry 70, 140

= V. macrophyllum
microphyllum. See V. scoparium.
myrtillus microphyllum. See V. scoparium.

occidentale; westernbog blueberry 67, 142

ovalifolium; ovalleaf whortleberry 70, 140

scoparium; grouse whortleberry 69, 140

= V. microphyllum of some authors, NOT Reinw.
= V. myrtillus var. microphyllum

Viburnum; viburnum

edule; moose wood (or squashberry) v 92 165

= V. pauciftorum
pauciflorum. See V. edule.

Viburnum, moosewood (also called squashberry v.); Viburnum edule 92, 165

Virginsbower, western; Clematis ligusticifolia 101, 158

Wahoo, western (western burningbush); Euonymus occidentalism. 96

Whortleberry; Vaccinium

big; V. membranaceum 70 140

globeflower; V. globulare ' 140

grouse; V. scoparium 69 140

ovalleaf; V. ovalifolium 70 140

Willow; Salix 30' 116

arroyo; S. lasiolepis 37

Barclay ; S. barclayi 38

beautiful ; S. drummondiana var. bella 34

Bebb; S. bebbiana 37

blue; S. drummondiana var. subcoerulea 34

coyote ; S. exigua 31

dusky; S. melanopsis 31

firmleaf; S. pseudocordata 38

( lever ; S. geyeriana 37

greensides ; S. monochroma 40

Mackenzie ; S. mackenziana 38

Pacific; S. lasiandra 32

1>( sachleaf; S. amygdaloides 32

Scolder ; S. scouleriana 34

silverleaf; S. argophylla 31

-mi ku; S. sitchensis 34

INDEX 227

Willow; Salix — Continued

undergreen ; S. commutata 40

whiplash; S. caudata 32

yellow; S. lutea 38

Wmterfat, common; Eurotia lanata 181

Wintergreen ; Gaultheria

Oregon; G. ovatifolia 190

western; G. humifusa 190

Xylosteon. See Lonicera.

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