Summary of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Date: July 10-12, 2012
Location: McCarthy, Kennicott, West Kennicott Glacier Trail
Region & Soil: Boreal Forest, Muskeg,  Glacier till
Weather: 1^st & 3^rd Day—rain, chilly / 2^nd Day—sunny with a clear sky


McCarthy

Orange Cup Fungus

Shelf Fungus—Ganoderma applanatum

Common Horsetail—Equisetum arvense

Grass Of Parnassus (Bog Star)—Parnassia palustris

Yellow Dryas—Dryas Drummondii

Single Delight (Shy Maiden)—Moneses uniflora

Prickly Rose—Rosa acicularis

Pink Pyrola (Wintergreen)—Pyrola asarifolia

Northern Yarrow—Achillea borealis

Coastal Paintbrush (Yellow Paintbrush)—Castilleja unalaschensis

Arctic Daisy—Chrysanthemum arcticum

Yellow Oxytrope- Astragalus umbellatus

Trembling Aspen-Populus tremuloides

Common Scouring-Rush- Equisetum hyemale

Soapberry—Sapindus drummondii

Alpine Bearberry—Arctostaphylos alpine

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Quaking Aspen—Populus tremuloides

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

Kennicott

Blue Bells- Mertensia paniculata

Crowberry- Empetrum nigrum

Common Blueberry- Vaccinium myrtilloides

Wild Red Currant- Ribes triste

Wild Sweet Pea- Hedysarum Mackenzii

Large-Flowered Wintergreen- Pyrola grandiflora

Northern Goldenrod- Solidago lepida

Monkshood- Aconitum delphinifolium, ssp. delphinifolium

Common Juniper- Juniperus communis

Siberian Aster—Aster sibiricus

Yellow Spotted Saxifrage—Saxifrage bronchialis

Kamchatka Rockcress—Arabis lyrata

Twin Flower—Linnaea borealis

Eskimo Potato—Hedysarum alpinum

Dwarf Fireweed (River Beauty)—Epilobium latifolium

Labrador Tea—Ledum palustris groenlandicum

Mistletoe

Paper Birch- Betula papyrifera var. papyrifera

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

West Kennicott Glacier Trail

Northern Red Currant- Ribes triste

Bluebells- Mertensia paniculata

Wild Red Currant- Ribes triste

Stiff Club Moss—Lycopodium annotinum

Dwarf Dogwood—Cornus Canadensis


Alpine Azalea—Loiseleuria procumbens

Western Columbine—Aquilegia formosa

Prickly Rose-Rosa acicularis

Lapland Rosebay- Rhododendron lapponicum

Monks hood- Aconitum delphinifolium, ssp. delphinifolium

Beautiful Jacobs Ladder- Polemonium pulcherrimum

Black Spruce—Picea mariana

White Spruce—Picea glauca

Paper Birch—Betula papyrifera

Alaskan Moose—Alces alces gigas

 We learned differences between Temperate rain forest and Boreal forest, and habitats each region. I think the class was great to learn about nature through actual observations; we could relate the lectures to our filed trips and understand relationships between each species and species and environments. Everything is connected and lives together. This simple fact is just amazing to me, and I really enjoyed the class. I’ve come to love nature of Alaska more than ever!

Round-Leaved Sundew

 Round-Leaved Sundew—Drosera rotundifolia is a very odd, distinguished small, 5-25 cm tall plant. Drosera came from droseros in Greek which means "dewy, watery." Leaves are very sticky and glandular, and blade round egg-shaped. They have long reddish glandular hairs that exude drops of sticky fluid. Flowers are small and white and fully open only in strong sunlight. They bloom in summer and early fall. They prefer sphagnum bogs, wet meadows at low to middle elevation, swamps, mossy crevices in rocks, damp sand along stream, lake, or pond margins. They may also grow on other moss or sedge peat soils. They were seen through the Pacific Northwest Coast. Rund-Leaves Sundew is very shade intolerant since it’s small, even sedges, grasses, and small shrubs may limit light. Insects are caught with the sticky glandular leaf hairs. The hairs digest the insects and enable the plant to absorb nutrients through its leaves. Insect capture is generally believed to enhance growth and reproduction. It’s known as “many hearts” in Haida and used as a lucky charm for fishing.

References:

http://ontariowildflowers.com/main/species.php?id=107

http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/aquatics/droserarot.html

Mineral Creek Trail

Date: July 26, 2012
Time: 1:30-4:00 p.m.
Weather: Sunny with strong sunlight and clear sky

Round-Leaved Sundew—Drosera rotundifolia

Wild Iris—Iris setosa

Dwarf Dogwood—Cornus Canadensis

Narrow-Leaved Cotton-Grass—Eriophorm angustifolium

Star Flower—Trientalis europea arctica

Brown-Stemmed Bog Moss—Sphagnum lindbergii

Crowberry—Empetrum nigrum

Tufted Clubrush—Trichophorum cespitosum

Few-Flowered Sedge—Carex pauciflora

Caltha-Leaved Avens—Geum calthifolium

Steven’s spirea—S. stevenii

Nagoonberry—Rubus arcticus

A Mountain-Ash—spp. Sorbus sitchensis

Siberian Aster—Aster sibiricus

Swamp Horsetail—Equisetum fluviatile

Highbush-Cranberry—Viburnum edule

Sitka Valerian—Valeriana sitchensis

Wild Geranium—Geranium erianthum

Coastal Paintbrush—Castilleja unalaschcensis

Alpine Bistort—Bistorta vivipara

False Hellebore—Veratrum viride

Black Alpine Sedge—Carex nigricans

Wild Celery—Angelica lucida

Goatsbeard—Aruncus Sylvester

 It was our last field trip with a perfect weather. We walked around open bog where was so beautiful. There were full of spongy mosses, green grasses, flowers, and cushiony mud. I enjoyed the feelings like a soft carpet. When we look down very closely, we could see lots of tiny though perfect shaped plants or flowers around there. It was a really great time!  

Star Flower

The Star Flower is what one of the flowered I identified on the Mineral Creek Trail.
I am going to go more in depth with the Star Flower.



Star Flower: Trientalis europea ssp arctica

Family: Primrose/Primulaceae
Habitat: Woodlands and low alpine slopes throughout most of Alaska south of the Brooks Range
Blooming time: June to early July
Description: A low perennial with redish runners. The oval pointed (often reddish) leaves are in a whorl around the stem. The flowers usually have 7 pointed whited petals and the seed is a small silver ball.
Commetns: An easily recognized plant. Another sub-species, europaea, has narrower more pointed leaves.

Mineral Creek Trail

Mineral Creek Trail
Today is 7/26/2012
It was gorgeous today and the sun was shining, it was a very good day to be on a class field trip.

The list we identified today:

Round-Leaved Sundew: Drosera rotundifolia
Dwarf Dogwood: Cornus canadensis
Narrow-Leaved Cotton Grass: Eriophorum angustifolium
Brown-Stemmed Bog Moss: Sphagnum lindbergii
Star Flower: Trientalis europea ssp arctica
Crowberry: Empetrum nigrum
Small-Flowered Lousewort: Pedicularis parviflora
Tufted Clubrush: Trichophorum cespitosum
Few-Flowered Sedge: Carex pauciflora
Caltha-Leaved Avens: Geum calthifolium
Steven's spirea: S.stevenii
Nagoonberry: Rubus arcticus
Mountain Ash: Sorbus, ssp.
Wild Iris: Iris setosa
Siberian Aster: Aster sibiricus
Swamp Horsetail: Equisetum fluviatile
Chocolate Lily:Fritillaria camschatcensis
Highbush-Cranberry: Viburnum edule
Wild Geranium: Geranium erianthum
Sitka Valerian: Valeriana sitchensis
Coastal Paintbrush: Castilleja unalaschensis
Bog Blueberry: Vaccinium uliginosum
False Hellebore: Veratrum viride
Black Alpine Sedge: Carex nigricans
Wild Celery: Angelica lucida
Goatsbeard: Aruncus sylvester

It was such a great class and I hope that others with enroll in it! :) Enjoy everyone and I hope everyone enjoyed learning about all the different plants and flowers we identified on our field trips!!!!