Canemah Bluff Nature Park- June 2023
This wildflower meadow sits on top of 15 million year old volcanic remnants from the Wanapum and Boring lava flows on the Willamette river. I’ve heard of this area a few times, but haven’t made the trip out here until last weekend. This site has an amazing diversity of wildflowers, which is mostly due to the rich indigenous history here. Before settler contact, Kalapuyan tribes of the Willamette Valley used this area as a resting place for their canoes near Willamette falls. Fire was used as a technique to clear areas for oak savannah and wildflower meadows for both hunting and food resources. The habitat here is much different from the surrounding areas (in the best way). Lots of madronas, ocean spray, oregon white oak, and endless wildflowers. It reminded me a lot of parts of the Eastern Columbia Gorge, which have my favorite landscapes for botanizing. Inaturalist says there was an observation of Calochortus tolmiei from two years ago… could be one of the last observations of it in the northern Willamette Valley. Hope I come across it one day.
Quercus garryana
Holodiscus discolor
Collomia grandiflora
Collomia grandiflora
Sidalcea campestris
Sidalcea campestris
Prunella vulgaris
Gilia capitata
Madia elegans
Madia elegans
Clarkia purpurea
Brodeia coronaria
Brodeia coronaria
Eriophyllum lanatum
Eriophyllum lanatum
Clarkia amoena
