Reddit mentions of Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast

Plants of the PNW Coast is by far the best book for this type of thing. I’m a biologist who has done many years of field work and this is my go-to.

In Plants of the PNW Coast, it mentions that Camas was harvested during or after flowering. It also mentions that many plots were maintained by families who, as you mentioned, would weed out the Death Camas. I think it also mentions that they would mark where Camas was present with sticks, but I can't recall if this bit was about Camas or another plant.

https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Pojar/dp/1772130087

This is a really good start for Oregon/Washington

https://oregonstate.edu/trees/

This expands on the trees of the northwest.

Many of the plants and trees in each source are found sierras north. I dont know of any sources for so-cal.

Three of my favorite:

Identification: https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Pojar/dp/1772130087

Herbal wisdom: https://www.amazon.com/Medicinal-Plants-Pacific-Michael-Moore/dp/0890135398

Foraging/edibles: https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Northwest-Foraging-Flavorful-Blueberries/dp/1604693525

As the province is so diverse, depending on where you are spending most of your time, a specific book is valuable:


https://www.amazon.ca/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Washington/dp/1772130087
https://www.amazon.ca/Plants-Northern-British-Columbia-MacKinnon/dp/1772130036

Pacific Northwest raptors, Duncan, BC

Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1772130087/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1482351420&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Pacific+Northwest&dpPl=1&dpID=61%2BsKupHUsL&ref=plSrch

A quick google turns up many local bc references.

It's not a field guide, but the Sunset Western Garden Book is pretty good for the west. I think there are versions of Sunset for the different regions, like East Coast Living and Southern Living. I'm sure they have a similar book that corresponds to wherever you live. And in case you happen to be in the Pacific Northwest, Pojar is pretty much the plant id bible, but it's not for gardens.

Quinault and Hoh rainforests are definitely worth your time. I've haven't been to the Queets or Bogacheil yet, so I'm not sure about them but I've been told the Queets is amazing even though there was a fire a ways into it a couple summers ago.

The Quinault valley has many largest of type trees in it. You can hike to the end of the valley to a place called "The Enchanted Valley" that has an old abandoned lodge in it and during the snow melt season has hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the cliffs behind it. It's truly beautiful. I went late spring last year and missed the most impressive melt time, but there were still tons of waterfalls and it was amazingly beautiful. The Olympic coast is also an exquisitely beautiful place to camp. I find the coastal spruce forests to be very magical, if somewhat ominous. My favorite plant book states that "the sharp needles of spruce were believed to give it special powers for protection against evil thoughts." There is definitely something very protective about them. Both the Quinault (some parts, check with the ranger to see if your specific campsite requires) and the coast (all areas) require bear cannisters which you can get for a couple dollar deposit at the Quinault ranger station or in Port Angeles.

The Snoqualmie Middle Fork area is also really awesome and much closer, however it's been mostly logged so the trees aren't massive like they are in ONP.

I also strongly recommend doing some mushroom hunting. In the spring, east of the mountains you can find Morels. I haven't been out morel hunting yet because I don't have a car, but I know they grow on burned areas. In the fall you can find tons of delicious edibles. Chanterelles abound. Make sure you have a good guide.

Closer in is Cougar, Squak and Tiger Mountains in Issaquah. We call them the Issaquah Alps. There're over 100 miles of trails and all three mountains have access within ~1 mile of a bus stop.

Not having a car I don't get far out as often as I'd like so I'm always looking for opportunities to go on nature adventures! Hit me up if you're ever interested.

Keeping definition of "tree" liberal, here are some native tree/plants that come to mind from the Portland area: hazel, pine, Indian plum, cherry, serviceberry, chokecherry.

Lots of others had less common or emergency-type food use, and many others had medicinal or other uses. This book is not only a really well made plant guide, but includes great information about historic uses of plants by humans:

https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Pojar/dp/1772130087