Emergent

The tallest trees towering more then 200 feet above the canopy, scattered throughout the forest are emergents. These trees are the highest layer in the forest. Animals found in this layer include high flying birds.

Emergent: Photo Credit: http://dinets.travel.ru/canopycrane.jpg

Forest Canopy

Above the understory is the canopy. Here the treetops have densely packed leaves that form a 'green blanket' above the low lying plants. It shields out sunlight from the floor and understory making both layers very shady. Animals here include birds and tree-loving mammals.

Forest Understory

Immediately above the forest floor is the understory. It consists of tree trunks, saplings, small ground plants, and vines. Animal life here consists mostly of larger insects, snakes, frogs, and small mammals.

Forest Understory: Picture of Hoh Rainforest taken by Ellen Kimbro

Many plants have wonderful medicine:

• Ocean Spray - Treatment of smallpox & chickenpox

Our Vision, Goals & Plans

• We hope to create a more welcoming feeling for those entering the Longhouse Garden along the footpath by filling in the barren areas with tall, lively trees and shrubs. Ideally, we would bring some color into our area by planting trees or shrubs with colorful blossoms or berries.

• Work with the compost group to move the piles of non-compostable plant material from the back edge of our site, thus creating a more aesthetically pleasing garden site.

• Research how we could encourage the growth of colorful mushrooms and fungi on a log that lines the trail through our site.

What we accomplished:

• Plant identification - we used our resources to better understand what we had within our site. From there we were better able to work better with the plant and gain a greater understanding of each plant's importance within a forest.

• Identify areas of improvement

• Prune, cut, & trim - many of the Sword Fern and Trailing Blackberry needed some care and attention

categories [ Forest Understory A ] read more

“Composting is, in broadest terms, the biological reduction of organic wastes to humus (Pg. 1).”

Humus is decayed plant life in its final form. It is rich in nutrients and organic matter. It is perfect soil.

The oldest existing writings on compost were found on clay tablets from Mesopotamia one thousand years before the birth of Moses.

Plants in our site:

(Please see attachment for additional presentation materials)

Our Site at The Longhouse Ethnobotanical Garden

Forest Understory A

Our site is divided almost in half by a woodchip trail, most of our site lies on flat land, which slopes up slightly on the side of the trail farthest from the longhouse. On the farther side grow a few maples, as well as many fir trees. The understory is almost entirely covered by ivy, which is beginning to climb up a couple of the trees. On the inner side of the trail, closest to the footpath and longhouse, the predominant plant that grows is the fern. From the start of the footpath to just past where it begins to curve is relatively barren aside from some labeled plants. After the curve in the path, the inner corner of our site (closest to the longhouse) is lush with multiple types of small, low-growing plants, some of which resemble moss. In the back corner of our site (farthest from the start of the footpath), grows a cluster of trees so close together that the roots intertwine. Underneath, the ground slopes steeply down to meet the yardwaste piles. The understory includes many low-growing bushes of sharp-leaved plants which produce purple berries.

Habitat Components of a Forest

Forest Floor

This is where all life begins. On the damp ground lies fallen leaves, fruits, decaying trees, and fungi which enrich the soil and provide nutrition for young plants to grow. Many smaller animals and insects can be found here.