Читать книгу Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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Deciduous trees are less common than conifers, but they mix with the evergreens at all lower elevations, and in some areas leafy trees actually outnumber those with needles. Especially abundant are bigleaf maple and red alder. On the drier hills you will find woodlands of Oregon white oak, while in the wet bottomlands of the river valleys there are black cottonwoods. From mid-October to mid-November both bigleaf maple and black cottonwood grace the area with their bright yellow leaves.

Get off the elevator at the second floor of our forests, and the doors will open up to a whole array of smaller tree species. Most notable of these is the vine maple, another great fall-color species. This short understory tree has many-pointed leaves that turn a striking reddish-orange color in October. Another second-story species is the Pacific yew, a fascinating conifer that lives in shady forests and uses red berrylike fruits, instead of cones, to reproduce. Pacific dogwood, with its showy white blossoms in April and May, also deserves mention. Other common small trees on the second story include Pacific willow, Sitka alder, black hawthorn, and Oregon ash.