Vine Maple

Acer Circinatum (acer cerciNAtum)

Beautiful, preferring shade and a bit of moisture, its role at first will be limited in the revegetation of the Elwha Valley. But vine maple's habit of throwing lots of low stems, which, when they touch the ground, can root again, make it a valuable plant for colonizing dense thickets of vegetation.

Vine maple's winged helicopter seeds will also reliably disperse long distances from their parents, helping the tree vegetate more new ground.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Blue Wildrye

Elymus glaucus (ELLimus glaucus)

A beautiful blue-gray color, this grass will be a hardworking plant in Elwha Valley revegetation. Adaptable to either moist or dry soils, it manages well in shade or even full sun. Blue wildrye also provides a good forage for wildlife, and is a good strong early colonizer, with a fibrous root system that really holds the soil.

A good generalist, blue wildrye has hairy seeds that readily lodge in the fur of animals, ensuring the seeds' distribution across the landscape. Plants like blue wildrye are good at getting animals to do what they want.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Bitter Cherry

Prunus emarginata (prunus emergiNAta)

Aptly named, the dark clustered fruits of this tree are too bitter for people to eat, but useful for birds and animals who readily eat it.

The fruit is the secret to the trees' distribution: Animals pass the seeds in their waste, which fertilizes the young plants when they sprout. The trees also can send up new stems off their roots, forming dense thickets that make this tree valuable for controlling erosion on bare ground.

Quick to move into raw, disturbed ground and grow, bitter cherry are eventually shaded out by conifers as forests mature. But they are valuable early colonizers, providing food for animals and birds, leaf litter that builds the soil, and roots that hold new ground.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Pearly Everlasting

Anaphalis margaritaca
(aNNAphalis mar-gar-i-TA-cee-a)

An expert at dry rocky soils, pearly everlasting is expected to thrive in the tough substrates left behind at the bottoms of the reservoirs. It likes sunny places, and while a native of the Elwha Valley, it grows like a weed. It's a tough guy that spreads quickly, and its hairy leaves enable the plant to endure baking sun and drying wind.

The name pearly everlasting comes from the plant's round, pearly-white flowers, which can indeed last until winter.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Broad-leaved Stonecrop

Sedum spathulifolium
(sedum Spathu li FO lium)

Another champion of dry rocky sites, this low-growing plant, modest in appearance, can store its own water in its leaves. No mainstay, it is more a filler-in of spots in the revegetation of the Elwha Valley, adding to the diversity of plant species. Its seeds are tiny specks tucked in the dried flowers that carry them. They shake out in the wind, fall and take root, growing a fine, delicate root system.

Sedum is from the Latin "to sit," and it aptly describes this plant's ability to sit, growing, right atop a rocky outcropping.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Slide Alder

Alnus veridis sinuata (Albus ve ri dus)

This small alder grows only about 15 feet tall, but it's one tough plant. It can establish in newly disturbed ground and create the conditions for other plants that come after it by improving the soil. Its roots fix nitrogen, providing soil nutrients, and its leaves shed nutritious litter, building organic matter.

Slide alnus also grows densely, with multiple stems. This is a thicket you won't find your way out of.

Its seeds are tiny, housed within woody cones. Dustlike, they will blow on the wind and disperse for long distances -- also valuable in a big, bare landscape.

The name slide alder comes from the trees' expertise in colonizing rough new ground, such as after a landslide or avalanche.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Wild Ginger

Asarum caudatum (a SARE um cadatum)

Used in just a few spots in the revegetation of the Elwha Valley, this plant nonetheless is a great little thing. It roots freely, forming large mats. And its name comes from the lemony, ginger scent of its leaves when crushed. Many people know this plant, often seen by the trail. But they may never have noticed its beautiful purple flowers that grow under the leaves.

Its seeds have fleshy bits around them, and they are often carried off by ants that help disperse them.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)

Goat's Beard

Aruncus dioicus (a RUNcus diOicus)

This robust perennial will be a workhorse of Elwha revegetation. Also known as spaghetti flower for the dangling flowers that top it, this plant will be used heavily to help stabilize the bare soils left behind when the reservoirs drop.

A generalist, this tough plant can do well in wet or dry conditions, and in shade or full sun. With its big vigorous root system, it's just what's needed to colonize rough ground. It also produces tremendous amounts of seeds in its strandlike flowers. The seeds blow about on the wind, allowing the plant to multiply reliably.

Dioicus means "two houses" and refers to the plant having male and female flowers on separate plants. The male flowers are whiter than the creamy female ones, which carry the plant's seeds. The common name "goat's beard"refers to the plant's big, fluffy flowers.

To learn more about the project:
National Park Service and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: Elwha Revegetation Plan (PDF)