Ferns And Maples – Washington

Ferns And Maples – Olympic National Park, Washington

A symphony of swords ferns and big leaf maples flourishes in the dim light beneath the Hoh Rain Forest canopy. The Hoh, one of several temperate rain forest valleys within Olympic National Park, receives more than 12 feet of precipitation a year. Towering Sitka spruce, western red cedar, western hemlock, and Douglas fir are the dominant conifers that create a dense canopy up to 300 feet high. The canopy filters sunlight so that only splashes and trickles reach the ground. Adapted to the filtered light, ferns, devils club, and moss cover the ground in an enchanted mosaic of green. The old growth, temperate rain forests of the northwest once stretched unbroken from Oregon to Alaska. Today, little remains outside the protected boundaries of parks and preserves.