WILD CHERRY.
(Prunus emarginata var. mollis.)

This species is occasionally found as a small tree in moist soils along stream courses at the lower elevations of the park (up to 2500 feet). It is from 10-30 feet tall and 3-12 inches in diameter with dark chestnut-brown bark, marked with characteristic and conspicuous lenticels as in the case of the cultivated cherry trees. The leaves are narrow, with margins finely toothed, alternate, with short petioles and from 1-3 inches long. The flowers, borne in corymbs are showy, about 1/2 inch across, with five white petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is oblong in outline, about 1/4 of an inch in diameter and a bright red. Its flesh is thin and very bitter and the stone is large, pointed, grooved on one side and ridged on the other.

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WILD CRAB-APPLE.
(Pyrus diversifolia)

An occasional tree found at the lower elevations of the park, up to about the 2500 foot elevation, in moist locations, such as along water courses. It is a small tree, sometimes spiny, 10 to 30 feet tall and 3-10 inches in diameter with ovate-lanceolate leaves having minutely toothed margins that are sometimes three lobed. The flowers borne in cymes, are white with five petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is small, and apple-like oblong in outline, green to purplish in color and flattened at each end.

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TREE DOGWOOD.
(Cornus nuttallii)

This is the only dogwood of tree stature found in the Pacific Northwest and will be readily recognized in Mount Rainier National Park, where it is a rare tree, by its conspicuous, showy flowers (in the spring) and handsome red fruit (in the late summer and fall). The dogwood will be found most readily in the vicinity of the Ohanapecosh Hot Springs. Only rarely will it be noted within the park boundaries elsewhere, and then in moist situations at the very lowest elevations.

It is not a large tree. Good sized specimens are from 20-30 feet tall and from 4-8 inches in diameter with a slender straight trunk having smooth, thin, dark, ash-brown bark. The crown is rather narrow. Leaves are opposite, thin, 3-5 inches long and 2 - 2-1/2 inches wide, ovate in outline, and conspicuously veined. The small, greenish-yellow flowers are borne in compact heads which are encircled by 4-6 showy large cream-white bracts. These flower clusters with their showy bracts are conspicuous features of this tree in the spring; occasionally flowers are also produced in the late summer. The fruit consists of a cluster of bright red berries. The wood is heavy, fine grained and pale brown. It is apparently not a long lived tree although no records as to its age in this national park are available. Sudworth states that trees 6-12 inches in diameter are from 45-90 years old.

The tree dogwood will be found is moist, well-drained soils from the southern part of British Columbia southward along the Pacific Coast into northern California.

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MADRONA.
(Arbutus menziesii)

Like the Garry Oak, this species has not actually been found within the boundary of Mount Rainier National Park but is listed here in view of the fact that one or two small specimens were noted just outside the boundary in the Ohanapecosh section of the park in the summer of 1937. These trees were so close to the boundary and conditions under which they were growing were so similar to those within the park, in that particular section, that further investigation will likely reveal the presence of this species as a tree of rare occurrence within the park.

The Madrona is an evergreen, broadleaved tree. It can be readily recognized by its dark, shiny, deep green leaves of leathery texture and waxy consistency. (Leaves are light green on the underside). The trunk is generally short and covered with thin, reddish exfoliating bark. The branches are rather large and the crown rather broad and open. The white urn-shaped flowers are borne in handsome, conspicuous clusters while the fruit, a cluster of bright orange red berries, is an equally conspicuous feature in late summer and early fall. The wood is pale brown and soft.

This species is found along the coast from southern British Columbia to southern California. It is one of the most distinctive broadleaved species in the Pacific Northwest where it is very common at low elevations near salt water.

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