Jim Popenoe
Vegetation along the Rim Trail
in
Sue-meg State Park
Red alder (Alnus rubra), a deciduous tree, dominates the tree layer along much of the Rim Trail in Sue-meg State Park. Beneath the alder canopy are deciduous shrubs such as red elderberry (Sambucus callicarpa) [lower left] and salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) [lower right].
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) forest covers most of the park, with trees dating to the 1900s. There once was a rare stand of old-growth spruce called the "Octopus Trees Grove", but it blew down in a wind storm in the early 2000s. Only a few large snags remain.