An endemic plant found only in Benton County of Washington State, Umtanum desert buckwheat (Eriogonum codium) is a long-lived perennial adapted to grow in an arid landscape. This compact, tufted plant forms a low-branching woody stem from a stout taproot and spreads 2-9 dm laterally but rarely reaching a height much higher than 8 inches. Leaves are basal, oblanceolate to elliptic in shape, and only 6-12 mm long x 3-6 mm wide. 

Each Year Rare Care recognizes volunteers for their outstanding contributions
Jane Engle is a relatively new Rare Care volunteer, having completed the training in 2022; however, she has come out of the gate running. Jane contributed over 147 total hours in 2023. As a first year seed collector, Jane collected seeds for Veronica schizantha in Gifford-Pinchot National Forest with the help of her assistant and mapper Duane Engle. 

Rare Care’s team has changed once again this year. We would like to welcome all of the new faces and recognize the returning staff who make our work possible.
In late 2023, Andrea Cummins was hired as the new Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator–most of you have probably already seen a flood of emails from her this year. Andrea is a past Rare Care volunteer (several years past) and is very pleased to once again be a part of a program that plays such an important role in plant conservation and lands managment across the state. 

Planting 672 plugs and sowing 45,000 seeds by hand takes no small effort. That was our goal this past fall when we planted Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow (Sidalcea oregana var. calva) at three sites in Chelan County and Umtanum desert buckwheat (Eriogonum codium) at one site in Grant County. Fortunately, we had three days, nine volunteers, seven agency partners, one graduate student, one faculty, two undergrads and three staff to get it all done. 

Scientific name: Prunus species
Various species:
P. Sato-zakura Group: Cultivars: ‘Shirotae’, ‘Shoetsu’, ‘Ukon’ ‘Chosho-Hizakura’, Sekiyama’
‘Ohochin’ ‘Oeshokun’
P. serrulata: Cultivars: ‘Asagi’ ‘Iohiyo’, ‘Shirofugen’, ‘Tai-Haku’, ‘Taoyome’ ‘Wase-Miyako’ ‘Horinji’
P. subhirtella: Cultivars: ‘Eureka Weeping’ ‘Pendula’ ‘Rosea’ ‘Stellata’ ‘Higan Weeping’ ‘Whitcomb’
P. sargentii: Cultivar: ‘Pink Flair’
Prunus x yedoensis: Cultivar: ‘Akebono’, ‘Shidare-yoshino’, ‘Somei-Yoshino’
P. x juddii
Common name: Japanese Ornamental Cherry
Family: Rosaceae
Native Range: Japan
In the Arboretum: Along Azalea Way
Issues: brown rot, cherry bark tortrix larvae, crown gall, root rot, low tolerance of compacted or wet soils

During spring’s first blossoms, I brag to anyone who will listen that the Japanese ornamental cherries at the Washington Park Arboretum are the most amazing display in the city and that they MUST go for a walk along Azalea Way to view this splendor. 

Scientific name: Trochodendron aralioides
Synonyms: Trochodendron longifolium
Common name: Wheel tree, parasol tree, birdlime tree, yamaguruma, nagaba-no-yamguruma, kun lan shu, ka-tang-lai
Family: Trochodendraceae
Native Range: Japan (south of Yamagata), Kyushu, Shikoku, Ryuku Islands, Taiwan
Height and Spread: May grow from 60-75 tall feet in the wild with trunks as large as 16 feet in diameter, typically 20-25 feet tall by 10-15 feet wide in cultivation. 

After our last volunteer shift of the Fall season on December 9th, the UW Farm has officially ended its 2023 growing season! One way that the farm team celebrated the end of the year was by coming together to construct a gingerbread farm for the annual School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) gingerbread competition. Some of the features of our gingerbread house included: different flavors of cake to represent stratified soil layers, gummy worms to represent soil organisms and microbial life beneath the surface, gingerbread versions of our interns, and even a bursting CSA box with veggies molded by students. 

Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Leptospermum
Species: Over 80
Origin: Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia
Height and Spread: From groundcovers to trees
Bloom time: Varies by species, mostly spring and early summer
Location: Several species can be seen in the Pacific Connections Australia Entry Garden, Leptospermum scoparium is also prevalent in the New Zealand Forest.
You may be familiar with tea trees from the myriad of products containing oils from these plants. 

Scientific name: Ailanthus altissima
Common name: Tree of Heaven, Stinking Sumac, Paradise Tree
Family: Simaroubaceae
Native Range: Taiwan and China, hardy to USDA Zone 4
Habit: Grows between 60-90 feet tall and can grow to around 25 feet in a single year. The bark is smooth and tan to gray in early growth. With age, bark will become rugged with heart-shaped leaf scars. 

Rare Care staff, volunteers and agency partners convened in June in the southeastern corner of the state for Rare Care’s annual monitoring weekend. Our goal was to help US Forest Service assess the impact of the 2021 Lick Creek wildfire on sensitive plant species. Located on the northeastern flank of the Blue Mountains, the Lick Creek area has some of the highest concentration of rare plants on the Washington side of the mountains.