Binomen Art - Brassica

Left: Brassica in Red Cabbage; Right: Shredding Red Cabbage

In this Binomen Art piece, we spell out “Brassica” using red/purple cabbage – Brassica oleracea. B. oleracea is part of the Brassicaceae (Cabbage) family. The B. oleracea species includes many of our common foods like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, and others. How can this be? It is because these vegetables we know by the same genus and species name are subspecies. B. oleracea has seven groups of subspecies of which cabbage is under the Capitata Group. All subspecies of B. oleracea came from the wild cabbage. There is a wonderful article on The Botanist in the Kitchen site called The extraordinary diversity of Brassica oleracea. In the article, the author explains how the very different looking vegetables arise from emphasizing different aspects of the plant body. For example, the leafy B. oleracea vegetables, like kale and collard greens, have been domesticated to emphasize the leaves. B. oleracea like cabbage have been domesticated to emphasize the terminal bud – hence one big head. The cut up cabbage went into a wonderful batch of sauerkraut like this one from a few months ago.

Left: Sauerkraut Overflow; Right: Shredded Red Cabbage

Lo Fi Performance Gallery Mural

We stopped by the Lo Fi space to see if anything was up with the “mural” wall. The golden owl is gone, replaced by a stylized “Lo Fi”.

KEXP Mural

KEXP (90.3 FM) is a public radio station in Seattle featuring primarily alternative rock. The KEXP studio moved to its current location, 113 Dexter Avenue North, in 2001. The mural photos are of the west side of the building. The mural’s theme is stacked speakers against a Seattle skyline.

Two Black Figures – Handsom Hank

I have no idea what these figures mean or what “Handsom Hank”, above the figures, means or even if I’m reading it right. Oh well, it’s a cool design. The wall is located on the north wall of Urban Crossfit, on Dexter Avenue in Seattle.

Lake Wenatchee – Cabin Flora

Left: Mist Through the Trees; Right: Mist Over Lake Wenatchee

Just over a year ago we were here (Lake Wenatchee Misty Fall Day- Plants We Noticed on a Sunday Morning) at the cabin and it was a misty fall day. Today: blue skies and perfect weather for a little investigation of the flora around the cabin. Most of the trees cabin lot are Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) and fir or hemlock (I got stuck on the identification key where it asks “twigs warty where old needles have fallen of”). The understory is composed of Oregon Grape (Mahonia), Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), Birchleaf Spiraea (Spiraea betulifolia), Oregon boxleaf (Paxistima myrsinites), Elderberry (Sambucus), Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), and Western Mountain-Ash (Sorbus scopulina) to name a few.

Left: Nightstand Insect Visitor (Dead); Right: Birchleaf Spiraea


Left: Oceanspray; Right: Birchleaf Spiraea

Binomen Art – Larix (Larch)

Left: Larix Spelled in Needles in the Snow; Right: Larch Branch on Carne Mountain

“It’s a matter of elevation” the young man informed us. When trying to decide what kind of larch you are looking at, think about your elevation. According to him, since we were near the top of Carne Mountain, and we were above 6,000 feet, we were looking at subalpine (or just alpine) larch, Larix lyallii. The other type of larch in the Northwest is the western larch, Larix occidentalis.

In this Binomen Art series post, we are spelling out Larix, the scientific name for the larch genus. We spell out the name with the golden needles of larch on snow. Larch are conifers and deciduous. They shed their needles, but before they do, there is site to behold.

The young man –we had about 20 years on him – was carrying a book. Really, he was clutching it, and it being Northwest Trees: Identifying and Understanding the Region’s Native Trees by Stephen Arno and illustrated by Ramona P. Hammerly. The first edition of this book appeared in 1977. When our copy arrived a few days later, we immediately took a liking to it. This beautifully illustrated guide book really captures the “character” of the trees in an engaging way that books full of detailed photographs often miss.

The chapters on western larch and alpine larch sounded strangely familiar as the book-clutcher has recited quite literally from the book as we’ll do:

In the Cascades, alpine larch can be found from central Washington’s Wenatchee Mountains northward about 120 miles (190 km) just into the southern edge of British Columbia. It is found mainly above 6000 feet (1800 m) … [Northwest Trees, p 49]

On the Carne Mountain hike, we hit the larches as we entered the Carne Basin (a cirque I believe) at about 6,100 feet. So by elevation, it was most likely L. lyalli. According to Northwest Trees [p 43], the western larch (L. occidentalis) grows up to about 6,000 feet. Beyond elevation you can also use other simple diagnostics to distinguish between the two species. According to Pacific Coast Tree Finder [pocket manual] and other sources, if the needles are four-sided, it’s an alpine larch. If the needles are three-sided, it’s a western larch. If only we thought to twirl the needles between our fingers. Another way to help distinguish between the two species of larches is to look at the current-year twigs: for alpine larch they are woolly and for western larch they are not.

According to Quattrocchi, the generic name origin is:

From the Latin classical name larix, icis “a larch, larch tree,” used by Plinius and Vitruvius; see P. Sella, Glossario latino italiano. Stato della Chiesa – Veneto – Abruzzi. Città del Vaticano 1944.

As an aside: there really is a Glossario latino italiano. And, if you search inside the book for “larice” (larch in Italian), you see there is an something written. Unfortunately, we can’t see much of it. We’ll trust Quattrocchi on this.

The specific epithet occidentalis means “western”, while lyalli honors the Scot David Lyall (1817–1895).

Left: Trail Through Carne Basin to Carne Mountain and Area of Larch (Google Earth); Right: Larix spelled with Larch Needles in the Snow


Left: Larch Trees in Carne Basin; Center: Trail from Carne Basin to the Carne Mountain Peak; Right: Larch Cones on Carne Mountain