On Saturday we joined the hordes of people that flocked to the Gorge for some sun and wildflowers. Predictably, our destinations: Tom McCall Preserve/Rowena Plateau and Catherine Creek were over-run with people.

I don't think things were quite at their most spectacular--maybe next weekend would be better. But it was still great fun, and we managed to (at least around Catherine Creek) escape some of the people by heading up the cayon trail a ways toward the Coyote Wall loop.

Anyhow, while we were out at Rowena Plateau, I snagged a picture of a flowering shrub/tree/bush. It was a little taller than we were (maybe 7"?) and perched on a rocky place out near the edge of the plateau.

I'm no expert with plants, so I was wondering if anyone knew what it was?

Here's my shot of it:

There's a reason I usually try to do my wildflower trips on weekdays.

What you've got there is serviceberry.

By the way, whether you were early or late depends on what you're looking for.  I was at Catherine Creek on April 1, and I'd missed the best of the grass widows -- but I was too early for the camas!  (Is the camas finally blooming now?)  I got a lot of nice shots of shooting stars and yellow bells, though.  If you go back to the eastern gorge in early May, you'll find lots of bitterroot, balsamroot, and lupine.

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adamschneider.net
www.gpsvisualizer.com

If I'm not mistaken it's the "Lewis' Mock Orange" Philadelphus lewisii to compare photos and read more information about it check out Paul Slichter's web site.

http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us/science/ps/nature/gorge/4petal/mock/mock.htm

I might be mistaken as Adam says "serviceberry" the plants look very simular....

http://ghs.gresham.k12.or.us/science/ps/nature/gorge/5petal/rose/amelanchier/serv.htm

 

 

 

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"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."....Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984 US Nature Photographer)

According to Slichter's site, Lewis' mock orange blooms quite a bit later.

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adamschneider.net
www.gpsvisualizer.com

Thanks Adam....I'd never heard of the serviceberry, so a leason learned. I wonder if the photo I took of a simular plant was wrongly identified by me also.

Although I did photograph it in June so perhaps it is the Lewis' Mock Orange after all?

http://www.treknature.com/viewphotos.php?l=3&p=61161

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"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."....Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984 US Nature Photographer)

I agree on the serviceberry. I recently planted one in my yard.

I photographed this one in April(05) on the Labyrinth trail:

Another way to tell is to smell it! The mock orange is very fragrant.

Wow! Who knew they'd look so similar! I checked out the original photo, and based on two things, I'm thinking this one is a Serviceberry plant:
1) the color and thickness of the branches below the blooms--on the Mock Orange photos, they appear to be fleshier and green, whereas on the Serviceberry, they seem to be red and twiggier.
2) the number of petals on the blossoms and the way they're growing in the bunches. On the serviceberry, they have 6 petals, on the mock orange 4. There are one or two flowers in the picture that, when you look at the big version, you can see an approximate number of petals--there appear to be more than 4. Also, on the Serviceberry, they seem to grow in more upward-facing, clustery bunches. The mock orange seems to face more downward, and the buds seem to hang a little.

It looks like both are found in the Tom McCall and Catherine Creek areas, so without going back and checking it out, it could conceiveably be either!!

Since it's April, it's definitely serviceberry.  And it has 5 petals per flower (everything in the rose family does: apples, roses, plums, almonds, etc.), although can be hard to count in a photo because of the clusters.

meana39, yours is definitely mock orange.  4-petaled flowers are relatively rare -- most of them are in the mustard and cabbage families, although mock orange is in the hydrangea family -- and there's no mistaking the petal count on that one! 

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adamschneider.net
www.gpsvisualizer.com

Here's a serviceberry picture of mine where the petals are actually "countable" (look at the one in the center of the photo):

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adamschneider.net
www.gpsvisualizer.com