A Five and a half mile hike
---- Tamanawas Falls ----
Thursday, June 26, 2014

This is the path we followed

The first part of the trail parallels Highway 35.
Then over a hill to the falls.
On the return we followed the river.

We did have to jump across one small stream

However, there was a nice bridge across the main stream.

Most of the trail was quite nice

At one point there were some big rocks

We stopped now and then to rest and chat.

The falls are beautiful

If you are daring enough, you can walk behind the falls

No one in our group did that.

On the way back we walked along the stream. It was very pleasant.

Goat's beard
Also called: buck's beard or bride's feathers (Aruncus dioicus)

Goat's beard (Aruncus dioicus) is a perennial that grows up to 6 feet tall.

In some parts of Italy the young shoots are eaten as a delicacy. They are usually boiled in herb infused water, and then cooked with eggs and cheese.

In the Italian town of Friuli, it is one of the ingredients in the local home-made soup called 'pistic'

Goat's Beard attracts a wide array of insects. The insects visit this plant for its sweet nectar.

Goat's Beard is a host to the larva of the Dusky Azure Butterfly.

Some Goat's Beard plants produce male flowers and some plants produce female flowers. The plants with the male flowers produce showier and more erect plumes than do the plants with female flowers. Unfortunately, when you seed these plants you have to wait until they mature to know if a plant wil produce male or female flowers.

Twin Flower
Scientific Name: Linnaea borealis

The Twinflower plant is a perennial and a member of the honeysuckle family.

The flowers usually occur in pairs (although, there may only be one). The flowers droop from a long stalk and they are colored white or pink, with red stripes inside the bell.

The leaves of the Twinflower plant are evergreen and they last two years before being shed and replaced.

The plant's scientific name Linnaea refers to the fact it was named in honor of the 18th century Swedish naturalist, Carl Linné, who developed the widely used system to identify all species. That is, to identify the five Kingdoms of life on Earth: plants, animals, fungus, single and simple multi-cell organisms and bacteria.

From: www.arkive.org/twinflower/linnaea-borealis/

Click Here for More information

Coral Root
The Genus Corallorhiza

The are four species of Coralroot in the Columbia Gorge
1)Spotted Coralroot: Corallorhiza maculata -

2) Merten's Coralroot: Corallorhiza mertensiana -

3) Striped Coralroot: Corallorhiza striata -

4) Northern Coralroot, Yellow Coralroot: Corallorhiza trifida

Click Here for Detailed Information

Biscuitroot

Biscuitroot plants are what is generally called Lomatium.
There are lots of different kinds of Biscuitroot.

There are approximately 80 species of Lomatium. They’re known by such common names as carrot leaf, fern leaf, desert parsley, parsley, konse, and whiskbroom.

The roots of Lomation are edible. The mildly flavored roots can be boiled, roasted, or eaten raw.

Lewis and Clark encountered Indians who ate Lomation roots. The Shoshone tribespeople made thin biscuits, called konse,( that were about 1 foot by 2 feet wide) to trade for goods carried by the explorers. The large biscuits were prepared from the dried roots of Lomatium.

If you'd like to make traditional konse, you can dry Lomation roots, then grind them into a flour and mix with water and shape into a tortilla-like biscuits.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/biscuitroot-edible-wild-plant-zmaz83mjzraw.aspx#ixzz36H1Xm86D

The plant shown here is probably Nineleaf Biscuitroot (Lomatium triternatum)