Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus)

Wahclella Falls Trail (Tanner Creek), Columbia Gorge, OR, 5/2015.

This flowering shrub is native to the northwest coast and Cascades, and seems to turn up in the Idaho panhandle as well.  The common name refers to the notion that the “shredding” or peeling bark has nine distinct layers, which seems an exaggeration.  Some Native American tribes believed it to be poisonous, but used it medicinally, others used the peeled wood for knitting needles (!).  Capitatus refers to the head-like flower clusters.

Wahclella Falls Trail (Tanner Creek), Columbia Gorge, OR, 5/2015.

 

Devil’s Rest Trail, Columbia Gorge, OR, 7/2020.

Devil’s Rest Trail, Columbia Gorge, OR, 7/2020.

Devil’s Rest Trail, Columbia Gorge, OR, 7/2020.