Yarrow

Yarrow

You Can Learn Series. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

Yarrow aka Achillea millefolium is from the Aster family that can grow anywhere from 10 to 100 cm tall. The leaves have a fern like characteristic that are pinnately dissected. Flowers range from white to pink or reddish in color and in the form of a compound umbel. The Yarrow produces a hairless, flattened achenes that lack pappus. This plant can be found on dry or moist sites, meadows, rocky slopes, gravel bars, and at low to high elevations. The specific Yarrow found at Valdez Glacier was along a rocky/gravel area at a low elevation.  

Pojar, Jim, A. MacKinnon, and Paul B. Alaback. "Aster." Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska. Redmond, WA: Lone Pine Pub., 1994. 279. Print.

Valdez Glacier

Valdez Glacier

11/6/14, 13:35

34 degrees 4, mostly cloudy with some sun, winds up to 10 MPH

Chugach Mountains, Valdez Glacier, glacier karst, glacier lake

·         Arctic Willow (Salix arctica)

·         Devils Club (Oplopanax horridus)

·         Barclays Willow (Salix barclayi)

·         Dwarf Fireweed (Chamerion latifolium)

·         Pineapple Weed (Matricaria discoidea)

·         Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

·         White Clover (Trifolium repens)

Having been to both Valdez and Worthington Glaciers allows us to compare these ice masses and see how they impacted their surrounding environments. At Worthington Glacier we saw that it was hanging glacier that was sitting high up in between two mountainsides. Valdez differs in the fact that it is not a hanging glacier but a Valley Glacier. However, the Valdez Glacier at one point in its history was a Tidewater glacier meaning that it reached out all the way to Prince William Sound. Although these are two different types of glaciers, they both clearly showed signs of glacial karst left behind along with lakes. 

Pineapple Weed,

Matricaria discoidea

Pineapple Weed. (2010, June 22). Retrieved from https://tracingterroir.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/pineapple-weed/

The Pineapple Weed has a habitat found mainly in waste places. The weed is small and yellow. It has a feathery look and feel to it. This plant can grow up to 5 to 8 inches. They tend to bloom around July and August. They have a small yellowish head that are known for looking similar to the fruit of a pineapple and somewhat even smell like them. This plant is commonly seen in Alaska. The heads of the flower can be squished and used to make tea. They can be used if they are dried out or fresh. Another name the Pineapple weed goes by is Wild Camomile. 

Pratt, Verna E. Alaskan Wildflowers. N.p.: AlaskaKrafts, 1989. Print

Valdez Glacier 

November 6th 

1:45pm

30 degrees

Sunny, little wind

Glacial till, caved in mountains, flat ground

Plants: 

Cow Parsnip, Heracleum lanatum

Arctic Willow, Salix arctica 

Fire weed, Epilobium angustifolium

Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea

White Clover, Trifolium repens

Yarrow, Achillea borealis

The glacier in Valdez is different than the Worthington glacier in may ways. Worthington is more of a mountain glacier. It is on a higher lever of ground whereas Valdez is on mostly one level. You don't have to hike or climb anything to reach Valdez glacier. Also, there was a lot more glacial till at Worthington compared to Valdez. There were more rocks with layers showing it being pulled down by ice or snow at Worthington. Valdez was more flat, and had water showing pieces of ice in it. 

Reference Guide. (1994). In J. Pojar (Ed.), Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast (p. 528). Canada: Lone Pine Publisher

Pratt, Verna E. Alaskan Wildflowers. N.p.: AlaskaKrafts, 1989. Print

                                 Lady Fern, (Athyrium filix-fermina)

                                       







         















File:Lady Fern frond - normal appearance.jpg. (2013, June 10). Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Fern_frond_-_normal_appearance.jpg


         The lady fern has a height of 2 m tall, rhizomes stout, that is filled with scales and old leaf bases. The leaves are shaped in stripes and are short but very fragile. The base if the leaf is very scaly and much shorter than the blades. The blades are shaped broadly lanced and tapering at both ends. The leaflets are in twenty to forty pairs, and the top and bottom leafs get reduced over time. The Lady Fern is found in moist and wet forests, thickets, openings, slide-tracks, gullies, meadows, and swamps.

Reference Guide. (1994). In J. Pojar (Ed.), Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast (p. 528). Canada: Lone Pine Publisher