tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-08:318020A Professional Dilettantemmegaerammegaera2017-05-19T23:25:22Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-08:318020:562011Those mysterious Mima Mounds, with bonus wildflowers2017-05-19T23:25:22Z2017-05-19T23:25:22Zpublic2<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5798" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="479" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1-3-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The odd landscape of the Mima Mounds.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Mima mounds are one of those quasi-mysterious landforms that no one really has an explanation for. They occur in various places in North America and elsewhere, but the landform itself is named after the mounds on the Mima Prairie, which happens to be just down the road from where I live (I’m northeast of Olympia, Washington, and the mounds are about 10 miles south of Oly). This area is also one of the few examples of native prairie left in western Washington, as well as a prime example of the mounds. It’s now preserved as a <a href="http://www.dnr.wa.gov/MimaMounds">Natural Area Preserve </a>by the state of Washington, and as a Natural National Landmark by the federal government.</p>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5801" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/4-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="555" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/4-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/4-3-300x260.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Some of the theories of Mima mound formation, as posted on the visitor kiosk.</figcaption></figure>
<p>I’d been there once before not long after I moved to Washington, then I completely forgot about it. Which is really too bad, actually.</p>
<p>But the real draw for me, especially this time of year, is the flowers. Of course. I saw at least a dozen different kinds. Here are some of them.</p>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5799" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="479" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2-3-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Siberian miners lettuce. A ubiquitous woodland flower, found this time in the woods near the parking lot.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5800" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/3-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="552" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/3-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/3-3-300x259.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Desert parsley.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5802" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/5-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="434" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/5-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/5-3-300x203.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A serviceberry shrub. A similar species back east is known as shadblow.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5803" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/6-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="395" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/6-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/6-3-300x185.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Western serviceberry blossoms.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5804" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/7-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="420" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/7-3.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/7-3-300x197.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Salal. Another common woodland plant, related to both blueberries and rhododendrons. I found it at the edge of the prairie this time.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5806" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/9-2.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="479" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/9-2.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/9-2-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Camas plants are scattered like this all over the mounds. The yellow blossoms are western buttercups.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5807" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/10-2.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="565" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/10-2.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/10-2-300x265.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A close up of a camas bloom stalk.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5809" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/12-1.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="408" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/12-1.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/12-1-300x191.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The violets grew in patches, not scattered all over like the camas.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5811" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="526" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14-300x247.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Death camas, so-called because the bulb is poisonous. The bulb is almost indistinguishable from the regular blue camas, so the Indians used to dig these up and get rid of them when they were in bloom, which was the only time it was easy to tell them apart.</figcaption></figure>
<p>And two other non-flower photos.</p>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5805" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/8-2.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="507" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/8-2.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/8-2-300x238.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Not a flower, but this unfurling fiddlehead was just cool.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-5810" src="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/13-1.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="479" srcset="http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/13-1.jpg 640w, http://mmjustus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/13-1-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">It’s not often you find a sky as open as this in western Washington.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Oh, and by the way, it’s pronounced like lima bean, not like Lima, Peru.</p>
<p style="text-align: right"><small>Mirrored from <a href="http://mmjustus.com/those-mysterious-mima-mounds-with-bonus-wildflowers/" title="Read Original Post">M.M. Justus -- adventures in the supernatural Old West</a>.</small></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mmegaera&ditemid=562011" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments