KEY TO IMPORTANT WOODY PLANTS 99 



14. Plants erect or spreading shrubs. 



15. Leaves shiny-resin-dotted on both sides, silvery- 

 hairy, fragrantly aromatic, to 2 inches long, elliptic 

 or oval, narrowing to short leafstalk; branches ashy- 

 white; flowers blue, in purplish-bracted, whorled, 

 ball-like clusters near twig ends; "seeds" (nutlets) 

 4 to each flower, jellylike when wet; low shrubs of dry 

 or alkaline sites, common in sagebrush areas in central 

 Wash., less common in Oreg. 



desert sage (Salvia carnosa). 

 15. Leaves not as above; leaf scars with 3 bundle traces; 

 shrubs of moist sites. 

 16. Branches bright to purplish red, pliable, osierlike, 

 without bud-scale bracts at base; leaves with 5-7 

 pairs of parallel veins upcurving near margin; 

 flowers small, whitish; "berries" (drupes) whitish 

 or lead-colored, in flat- or roundish-topped end 

 clusters; stems often lodging, rooting at tips, form- 

 ing runners (stolons); streambanks or along road- 

 sides or in open woods, e. Oreg., e. Wash. 



red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) . 

 16. Branches not as above; twigs with distinctive basal 

 bud-scale bracts; bark straw-colored or gray to 

 dark or reddish brown, flaking, peeling, or shredding; 

 pith whitish, solid; flowers and berries twinned, 

 each pair with 2 outer bracts and 4 inner bractlets 

 which drop off or are variously modified (grow 

 together, enlarge, or become fleshy and colored) 

 as berries ripen, stalked, in leaf axils; stems erect or 

 spreading, often suckering near base. 



honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.) 

 17. Twigs coarse, 4-angled, straw-colored; basal bud- 

 scale bracts conspicuous, lower recurved, upper 

 leaflike; leaves 2-6 inches long; flowers yellowish 

 to reddish; flower stalks (peduncles) to* 2 inches 

 long; the 2 outer flower bracts and the 4 inner 

 bractlets enlarging, reddening as twin berries 

 ripen to shiny black, sometimes withered-per- 

 sistent on last year's twigs; shrubs to 10 feet high; 

 commonest honeysuckle in e. Oreg., e. Wash. 

 bearberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involu- 



crata). 



17. Twigs slender, round or slightly 4-angled; leaves 



to 2 (sometimes to 4) inches long; berries bright 



to dark red or nearly black; shrubs to 5 (or 6) 



feet high; mountain areas, e. Oreg., e. Wash. 



18. Bud-scale bracts sharp-pointed, in 4 vertical 



rows, appearing tightly laced around base of 



twigs, persistent for 1 or more years; leaves 



thick, pointed at tip, wedge-shaped at base; 



flowers dark red to purplish; flower stalks 



(peduncles) to 1 inch long; 2 outer flower bracts 



small, scalelike, soon falling; 4 inner bractlets 



