Where The Wild things Are Part 8-Fetid Adders Tongues

 "Virtually all native cultures that have survived without fouling their nests have acknowledged that nature knows best, and have had the humility to ask the bears, and wolves and ravens and redwoods for guidance". 

                Janine Benyus

I went and asked the Redwoods for guidance this past week. When we were kids our grandparents lived in the California Bay Area and it was always a treat when my parents decided we could take the long way down and it meant that we would go through the Redwoods. Even as a youngster I recognized something magical about a tree that could be 1400 years old growing right next to the highway. It had seen civilizations and cultures rise and fall, revolutions and tsunamis and all host of weather events and the eventual paving over of it's roots for a road. 

I asked the Redwoods about what this next chapter in life would look like for me and if I was on the right path. Now I wish I could say that much like ole treebeard the ent, in a Tolkien epic, it knelt down and gave me some advice. But I feel like the energy that was transmitted was clear enough. The answer was obvious. 

My grandma used to a live a short drive from the Armstrong Woods, and I have so many memories of picnics and walks, and playing in this grove as a kid. It was a fun walk down memory lane to speak with the trees.

The plant I was most hoping to see on this redwood adventure was the Fetid Adders Tongue, the Redwood Slinkpod, Brownies, Redwood  Toad Lily. It's a fascinating plant that I have been enamored with ever since I saw the enormous specimen in Mrs. Berry's Botanic Garden. There was this huge clump up by the soil bin right at the base of a big douglas fir. Jack Poff showed it to me and I was blown away. I love toad lilies and there was something similar about this plant. It makes sense since they are closely related. 

Scoliopus bigelovii in habitat

We were hiking and of course I left the Macro lens in the car so the subpar cell  phone photos will have to do.

These are plants of moist, deep shade. I have seen our Oregon  native Scoliopus halii a handful of times, mostly on fishing expeditions for late run winter steelhead in the coast range creeks where it calls home. The bloom time for S. hallii is usually March and then it quickly disappears as soon as the days warm and the buds begin to break on the Alders. 

One could certainly list poison oak among the companion plants as it was the  predominant groundcover.

Down in the shady redwood groves is the habitat for the slinkpod, where it was more than abundant the hike we took up to the top of "Islands in the Sky" with my cousin Jessie as a guide gave us some fantastic views of the Mendocino coast, Lupines in bloom, tons of Douglas Iris and while I was hoping for more diversity in the genus Fritillaria we did happen across one nice specimen of F. affinis.

If you are ever wondering if you are on the right path in life, I would encourage you to sit next to a 1000 year old redwood tree and ask the question. I can guarantee for at least that one moment the answer will definitely be yes.

Cheers, 

Mark