"Headwaters Forest Reserve" by Bureau of Land Management California , mark/1.0
HeadwatersCommon Plants |
Common Plants at Headwaters Forest Reserve (FR) in California. Published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
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Trees
Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Over 250 feet, evergreen,
coniferous forests.
Look for: Cones (pictured), bottle
brush sprays of soft needles.
Red alder
Alnus rubra
Up to 75 feet, deciduous, open and
damp habitats.
Look for: Scalloped leaves, catkins,
white gray bark.
2007, Neil Kramer
Headwaters Flora History
2007, Neil Kramer
Big leaf maple
Acer macrophyllum
Up to 75 feet, deciduous, open and
damp habitats.
Look for: Glossy dissected leaves,
scaly dark brown bark.
Headwaters Forest Reserve is home to approximately
3,000 acres of old-growth redwood forest, a
remaining refuge for some of the most rare, majestic
forest plants in the world. This ancient forest has
grown here for millions of years. Today, it includes
towering redwoods over 2,000 years old, and
reaching heights over 300 feet.
Grand fir
Abies grandis
2015, Christopher Christie
Up to 200 feet, evergreen,
coniferous forests.
Look for: Spray of flat needles with
notched tips, upper needle surface
green.
Sitka willow
Salix sitchensis
Up to 75 feet, deciduous, open and
damp habitats.
Look for: Soft white velvet on the
underside of the leaves.
Conifersoftheworld.com
Sitka spruce
Picea sitchensis
Up to 200 feet, evergreen,
coniferous forests.
Look for: Cones (pictured), short
stiff and sharp needles.
For Further Information:
Bureau of Land Management
Arcata Field Office
1695 Heindon Road
Arcata, CA 95521
707-825-2300
www.blm.gov/crld
2007,Toni Corelli
2002,Gerald and Buff Corsi
Tanoak
Notholithocarpus densiflorus
Up to 100 feet, evergreen, all forest
habitats.
Look for: Acorns with cup-like
cap, lower surface of leaves wooly.
BLM/CA/GI-2016/011+8600
Western hemlock
Please recycle after use
Tsuga heterophylla
Up to 200 feet, evergreen,
coniferous forests.
Look for: Cones (pictured), soft
needles, droopy branches.
2005, Bon Terra Consulting
Redwood
Sequoia sempervirens
Over 300 feet, evergreen, dominant
of mature forests.
Look for: Soft brown-red bark, flat
needles.
2001, Charles Webber
Take a stroll along the Elk River Trail through a
deciduous riparian forest community featuring red
alder, big leaf maple, and Sitka willow. As the trail
departs from the rivers’ edge, view tall second and
third growth redwood forest reaching for the sky,
while dense understory shrubs, ferns and herbs grow
in the dappled light below.
2008,Timothy Ives
BLM Photo
Western red
cedar
Thuja plicata
Up to 200 feet, evergreen,
conifours forests.
Look for: Small, dime
sized cones, flat sprays of leaves.
Headwaters
Forest Reserve
Common Plants
Ferns
Shrubs and Herbs
Deer fern
Blechnum spicant
Up to 1 foot, evergreen, damp
habitats.
Look for: Smaller, stiffer fronds,
lower to the ground.
Evergreen huckleberry
Vaccinum ovatum
Up to 10 feet, evergreen.
Look for: Fingertip sized leaves,
dark blue-black berries.
2006, Charles E. Jones
Sword fern
Polystichum munitum
Up to 4 feet, evergreen,
common in all habitats.
Look for: Larger fronds, most
commonly seen fern.
2007, Lynn Watson
Red
huckleberry
Vaccinum parvifolium
Up to 10 feet, evergreen, open and
forest habitats.
Look for: Alternative leaves,
red-orange berries.
BLM Photo
BLM Photo
Five fingered fern
Adiantum aleuticum
Up to 1 foot, evergreen, found on
damp banks.
Look for: Smaller, drooping
fronds, thin leaves.
Oso berry
Oemleria cerasiformis
Up to 20 feet, deciduous, open
and forest habitats.
Look for: Hanging white flowers
in the spring, elliptical leaves.
Lady fern
2002, Gerald and Buff Corsi
Athyrium
filix-femina
Up to 8 feet, dies back in the
fall, common in all habitats.
Look for: Single frond on tall
stalks.
2008, Keir Morse
Giant horsetail
Equisetum telmateia
Up to 3 to 5 feet, evergreen, open
and damp habitats.
Look for: Unique stem and leaf
appearance.
Blood currant
Ribes sanguineum
Up to 12 feet, deciduous, open
and damp habitats.
Look for: Five lobed leaves,
hanging pink flowers, bluish black
berries in late summer.
2002, Tony Morosco
2005, Bon Terra Consulting
Cascara
BLM Photo
Frangula purshiana
Up to 36 feet, deciduous, open
and damp habitats.
Look for: Long straight stems,
black berries, purplish stems.
2007,Louis M.. Landry
California blackberry
Rubus ursinus
Up to 10 feet, evergreen, open and
disturbed habitats.
Look for: Brambles with many
slender and straight prickles
on stems, fingertip sized, black
2005, Bon Terra Consulting
berries.
Himalayan blackberry
Rubus armeniacus
Up to 10 feet, evergreen. Open
and disturbed habitats, invasive
and not native.
Look for: Robust stems and wide
based, curved prickles.
Queen Anne’s lace
Daucus carota
Up to 4 feet, dies back in the fall,
open and disturbed habitats.
Look for: Large white flower head
with wispy leaves, not native.
2009, John Wall
BLM Photo
Red clintonia BLM Photo
Clintonia andrewsiana
Up to 2 feet, evergreen, mature
forests.
Look for: Waxy, rounded leaves,
pink to rose purple flowers.
BLM Photo
Fetid adderstongue
Scoliopus bigelovii
Up to 3 feet, evergreen, mature
forests.
Look for: Brown spotted leaves,
three parted, brown striped flower.
BLM Photo
Stinging nettle 1995, Saint Mary’s College of CA
Urtica dioica
Up to 8 feet, dies back in fall. Open
and damp habitats.
Look for: Fuzzy, heart-shaped,
opposite leaves. Do not touch!
Leaves have stinging hairs.
Salal
Gaultheria shallon
Up to 3 feet, evergreen, open to
forest habitats.
Look for: White, urn shaped
flowers, leathery green leaves,
purple berries.
Wild ginger
Asarum caudatum
Up to 1/2 foot, evergreen, shady
forest habitats.
Look for: Heart-shaped leaves,
three parted, wine colored flower.
Sweet coltsfoot
Petasites frigidus var: palmatus
Up to 4 feet, damp habitats.
Look for: Flowering stalks
emerging in the spring and large
palmate leaves.
BLM Photo
Wild cucumber
Marah oreganus
Climbing vine, open to forest
habitats.
Look for: Vines climbing in trees,
round, green fruit with prickles.
BLM Photo
BLM Photo