Healing Gardens

Lorn Brace-Wessel

Healing Gardens

Weekly Reflection #1

1.         The explanations of ecosystems and zones in Keeping It Living was very precise.  It outlines four different types of climate zones that occur in the Puget Sound area.  Each zone is named for the plants it is most dominated by, the topography and the climate of the region.  In the Natural History of Puget Sound Country, it uses the idea that the Puget Sound could be considered an ecosystem of its own, or one could break it down into a group of interconnected ecosystems that over lap each other, but yet can still be separated.  Any one piece of the ecosystem can stand apart from the rest and be looked at as unique.  It then goes on to explain many different systems for differentiating ecosystems in the Puget Sound including the floristic approach (concerned with all organisms present in an area, p 119) and vegetation analysis (concerned with form and function of plants in area, p 119).  It finally uses a system very similar to that in Keeping It Living for differentiating ecosystems and zones

2.         Cultural systems are man made.  A culture is just a pattern of activity that is constantly played out because of the symbology and meaning it has to the people who take part in it.  Natural Systems are all systems that happen beyond human control.  Many cultural systems are governed by and only occur because of natural systems (like a certain crop might grow well in a certain area, so it might be more culturally significant to the people that live there).

3.         The plants that were read about that I can identify are: Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) (KIL, p.11), Salal Berries (Gaultheria shallon) (KIL, p 13, NHoPSC, p 128), Cattail (Typha lafiola) (KIL, p 13), Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) (KIL, p 13), Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) (NHoPSC, p 128), Oregon Grape (Berberis nervosa) (NHoPSC, p 136), Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) (NHoPSC, p 136), Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) (NHoPSC p 136), Birch (Betula papyrifera) (NHoPSC, p 138), White Pine (Pinus monticola) (NHoPSC, p 138), and Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) (NHoPSC, p 138)

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