Western Juniper “Juniperus occidentallis” Cypress Family (Cupressaceae). Evergreen tree up to 60′ tall, leaves are small blue-green scales dotted with resin on the back sides. The female cones are blue, resemble berries and are less than 1/3″ inch in diam, (Used to flavor gin.) Found in dry areas of Eastern Or. & Wa.
Photo: Hart Mt. in S.E. Or. 7/05/2008. © 2008 mkellar
Scaly Chanterelle “Gomphus kauffmanii” (not closely related to the edible chanterelles). Cylindric when young but it eventually forms a funnel. Light brown to light yellow and the inner surface is scaly. Up to 12″ tall and 10″ in diameter. Found in association with conifers.
Photo: Cone Peak near Sweet Home, Or. 8/28/2007. © 2007 mkellar
Subalpine Mariposa Lily “Calochortus subalpinus” Lily Family (Liliacea) Perennial bulb, plant 4-8″ tall, flowers, white and hairy with purple markings. Blooms midsummer in the higher elevations in the Cascade Mts. of Or. & Wa.
Photo: Cone Peak near Sweet Home Or. 6/18/2007 © 2007 mkellar
Field Chickweed “Cerastium arvense” Pink Family (Caryophyllaceae). Perennial, plant 6-18″ tall, flowers white with five deeply lobed petals and approx. 1/2″ in diameter . Blooms in meadows and on rocky outcrops in Or. & Wa. in Spring & Summer. (This isn’t the chickweed that grows in your garden.)
Photo: Cone Peak near Sweet Home, Or. 6/18/2007 © 2007 mkellar
Few-Flowered Lomatium “Lomatium martindalei” Parsley Family (Apiaceae). Perennial, plant 6-12″ tall, leaves bluish green, flowers pale yellow in umbel clusters. Blooms early summer in dry meadows and rocky outcrops from the Cascades to the coast in Or. & Wa.
Photo: Cone Peak near Sweet Home, Or. 6/04/07 © 2007 mkellar
Arrowleaf Balsamroot “Balsamorhiza sagittata” Sunflower Family (Asteraceae). Perennial, plant 8-36″ tall, flower stem 1-3″ tall with 4″ yellow flowers and the outer ray flowers are 1-2″ long. Blooms all summer east of the cascade in Or. & Wa.
Photo: Rowena Point, Or in the Columbia River Gorge 4/06/2007 © 2007 mkellar
Legend has it that Mt Mazama was destroyed in a battle between the sky god Skell and Llao the god of the underworld. This apparently took place around 5700 BC producing a caldera lake 5 or 6 miles across with a maximum depth of 1,949 feet. See (Crater Lake in Wikipedia)
Photo 8/29/2004 © 2004 mkellar
Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus). Mushroom 2-10″ tall, white cap shaggy with brown scales, cap and gills digest themselves starting from the edge of the cap turning into a black inky fluid. Edible and considered to be a delicacy if picked before they begin to liquefy.
Photo: Salem, OR. 10/29/2006 © 2006 mkellar