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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1880)
December, 1880 320 THE WEST SHORE. AN OKKCON KI'KINC. r. . Vl Ton. I low I should like lo write lo yuu, cel Spring, A lovely little Ming ImuI (lie liiids, Anil the ilrar, early flowers lull tlirn the thing It done mi often, thai I fear no words Could lie srleclrd, that would not trrin utiile, To one mi used Iii praise, anil you'll excuse My iliruing Ui i llure timei llirice told tale In the Kir tirecli of my ungraceful inune. Wc will therefore dispense with flights of fancy mid confine ourselves lo fuels. An Oregon Spring is iipt to lie showery, There is such an overplus of moisture in the earth that when the warm sun begins a rapid evaporation, the work has to lie dime over and over again; for no sooner doe the invisible vapor (jet " sky-high," than a cool cur rent of air conies down from the moun tains ami com ensing it at a touch, pre cipitates 1 lie- same moisture upon us thai we vainly fancied had been gotten rid of. And so we have Hying showers in plenty, and every now mid then a genuine pouting rain. Humanity grown nil her tired, some times, of this sul of thing. Hut the cm th enjoys it. If you do not believe it, come with me lo the woods, and I will prove il lo you aye, even in Mmch, The lull' in llie Ibil or hollow place is snaked will) waler, like a sponge, and if you do not step carefully you will press it out over your shoe tops ; lull by dint of quick eye ami agile movement, you will escape any serious mishaps. Climbing over logs, Jumping weather ditches, and crossing creeks, furnishes the necessary excite ment and exercise by which you keep oil' a chill; for If you were to sit down to Summer reverie at this time of year, the doctor would be in requisition di nt lly. Here wc ate at last, at (he very foot of the mountain ; and what does thin forest rcccs furnish us i What mag nificent great trees I Fir, cedar, and here and there along this little creek, a yew, a maple, or an abler. Hardly a ray of sunshine ever Kuet rates (his green and purple gloom. Soring and Fall, Winter and Summer arc much the Mine here a difference only of waler. In summer the creek is within hounds, ami you can lie on the mosses, if you feel disnscd. "What lie on the mow 1 every one of which seems such a marvel of beauty. What a won del ful what a charming unit! I never mi all my life !" No, of course you never saw any thing like it, this is the only country out of the tropics wlicic vegetation has such a remarkable growth. Here are a dozen kinds ol elegant green mosses in a group, to say nothing of the tiny gray and brown and yellow varieties with which we have always been fam iliar, besides lichens innumerable. Ob serve those laden trees. Their im mense trunks are swathed in elegant blankets of emerald brightness. See here, I can tear them off by the yard J enough on one tree to carpet a room I Look at that pendant moss two feet long at least and what a vivid yellow green ! Just step up a little higher; I will show you a wonder. Did you ever dream of anything so marvelous asW bank of moss? Six inches high, branch ing like a fern, yet line and delicate as that on ihecalynx of a moss-rose. Here is enough, if preserved, to furnish all the flower-makers; and glad would they be to get il. And ferns yes, in deed! Just look at this maidenhair. It is of every size, from the delicate plant three inches high, lo the mature one of fifteen or eighteen inches. And here are some that lmc stood all Winter in their Autumn dress, See how exquis itely they are tinted raw-sienna, for the body color, and such delicate mark ing in viindyke-browii on every leaf; or gold color, marked with burnt nienna ; and all relieved so beautifully by the polished black of their slender stems. There are all the other species lH-sides;btit I never pay much attention to the rest, when the dainty maiden hair is present. Hut we must nut stop long in this dense and damp shade; there might be an intermittent lurking in it for unac customed lown-folk. 1 thought I would give you an introduction to the place, ami let you prosecute the acquaintance at your own pleasure. Hut just note, as we retrace our steps, the great vaiie ly of plants, some of tlu ni very beauti ful, thai grow all Winter long in tbese solitary places. This handsome va riegated leaf comes from a bulbous root, anil beau a lily-s.hai.K-d flower, I am told; but U-ing new to me 1 cannot yet classify it. Wc are stdl too far from oH-n sunlight to be much among flow, crirg plants. Hut dircc:!v we come to occasional o,eningS r l(, ,jKwr 1)cldK.H of ground that get the light and drainage, we shall see adder-tongue, SolomonV seal, anemone, wild violet, and spring, beauty, putting up their leaves, waiting for sunny days enough to dare to bring out their blossoms. Here too, are two species of creeping vines, very delicate and graceful, trailing along the ground, with little fresh leaflets already grow ing. In April one of them will blos som, with dainty, pinkish-white, trumpet-shaped flowers, very lovely to behold. The botanical names of these trailing plants I am ignorant of. One is vulgarly called Oregon Tea, from the spicy flavor of its leaves, which make an agreeable infusion. Now we get down to the wood along the river-bank. Ah, here it really a blossoming shrub, the flower ing currant. In haste to brighten the dull March weather with a touch of color over the green and brown and purple tints that are ? o melancholy under a cloudy sky, the currant does not wait to put forth its foliage first, but crimsons all over with thickest flowers, in racemes of nearly a finger's length. There are two varieties of the red, and one of the yellow all beautiful and ornamental shrubs. In company with this still leafless shrub, is the glossy arbutus (misnamed laurel), with its fresh suit of light and blight green reflecting everjr ray of light from its polished surface. The arbutus grows all Winter, putting forth its delicate shoots from December to March, and flowering later in the Spring. Its cheerful light green makes it a perfect complement to the red of the currant when flowering ; and by not looking at all like an evergreen, which it really is, bewilders the be holder, who sees it growing luxuriantly all along the river banks, at this time of the year. Heie is another elegant shrub that does its growing in the Winter, and lakes the long dry Summer to ripen its fruit and be beautiful in the Berheris Aquifolium or holly-leaved barberry, commonly known as the Oregon grape. It is looking as fresh and piquant in March as though it had all of April and May behind it. All around us, on every hand, are plants and shrubs or trees growing. Ikhold these graceful little yew-trees, two feet high. They look as though they had come up in a day, so delicate and ntu they seem. Ex amine the ends of the fir-boughs; and