Pacific Northwest Roadtrip -5
Summer 2026
Native Flora Images
The images are best experienced on a computer monitor.
Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) Note: Native to Europe & Asia, but widespread across North America
I love this simple- yet very busy- image of small, spreading, daisies among a forest floor of leaves and pine needles. The use of black and white highlights the shapes and patterns much better than a color image would have done. A wide range of focus levels, with only a few flowers poking out clearly, also adds to the feeling and texture of the image. It is both busy and loud, and soft at the same time.
Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
This is another upclose image of plants in a Pacific Northwest forest. This quartet of leaves belongs to a tall bigleaf maple. The morning backlighting brought the leaf veins clearly into view. With this kind of shot you are never quite sure how it will turn out. This one exceeded my expectations. The super high contrast background of evergreen trees was also a pleasant surprise. It took me a couple of minutes to appreciate the abstract nature of the background. The bright circular spots reminded me of looking at plant cells with a microscope. The detailed leaves and abstract background provided an interesting juxtaposition.
Olympic NP, Washington State
Nurse Logs
It is common in the forests of Olympic National Park to see new plants growing on dead trees that have toppled over. They are known as nurse logs. Often, there is a lot of organic matter on the forest floor making it difficult for seeds to germinate and grow. That reality combined with the fact that a lot of sunlight is blocked by the tree canopy, is something nature needs to address to maintain a healthy ecosystem. This image demonstrates how plants have evolved to grow on the shoulders of others. Instead of beginning life on the ground floor, they take advantage of fallen trees that “nurse” the new growth. The decaying trees provide nutrients, water , and protection to the next generation.
The American Forests website has an article called “Nurse Logs: Healers of the Forest”. It explains in detail how this process works and it has some nice photos.
