Some plants to visit on your walk at the Washington Park Arboretum

Darmera peltata, commonly known as “Umbrella Plant”, is native to the West Coast of the United States, ranging from northern California to southern Oregon.
Umbrella Plant’s natural habitat is shady-to-partly shady stream banks and woodlands although it can be cultivated in full sun with proper watering.
In spring, Darmera sends up a cluster of small pink or white flowers on a single stalk before the umbrella-shaped leaves emerge. Under proper conditions, the leaves will produce a fiery display in the fall.
Darmera can be found in the Cascadia section of the Pacific Connections Garden as well as the stream banks of the Lower Woodland Garden. Compare and contrast how they grow in the different environments!

Native to China, dawn redwoods are endangered in their native habitat and the sole remaining member of the Metasequoia genus.
The ‘Ogon’ cultivar was selected from a collection of x-ray irradiated seeds in Japan in 1974.
Japanese for “gold coin” or “gold bullion,” Ogon is an apt description of the cultivar’s chartreuse yellow foliage. ‘Gold Rush’ is a trade name applied in 1996 when ‘Ogon’ was more widely distributed in western Europe.
Our specimen can be found in the Pinetum where its bright yellow foliage contrasts with its neighbors.

Critically endangered in its native Brazilian habitat to overharvesting and habitat loss, the pirana pine is not a true pine, but a close relative of the more commonly seen monkey puzzle tree.
Araucacia angustifolia is usually dioecious with male on female cones borne on different plants. Pollen cones on this species can be as large as seven inches.
Look for our Pirana Pine in the Pinetum, next to its Monkey Puzzle relative and compare the unusual flattened and whorled needles of both species.

Native to the western United States and Canada (including Alaska), Lysichiton americanus can be found growing in boggy areas and along stream banks. Find Skunk Cabbage next to the stream bed in the Lower Woodland Garden as well as other wet environments in the Arboretum.
As its common name would suggest, Skunk Cabbage produces an unpleasant odor that attracts the flies and beetles that pollinate it.
In the spring, Lysichiton americanus produces a large, almost tropical-looking yellow flower that gave rise to the species’ other common name of “Swap Lantern.”

Native to China, Pere David’s Maple’s other common name of Snakebark Maple describes the green, reptilian bark on younger trunks and branches. Several acer species share the common name, Snakebark Maple.
Acer Davidii’s leaves have only the very faint palmately-lobed shape of most common maples.
Look for this interesting maple specimen along the Arboretum Loop Trail in the future China eco-geographic display and other Snakebark Maple species throughout the Arboretum.

University of Washington Botanic Gardens