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Plant Community Design Palette <br />Appendix A provides detailed information on each of the plant species listed below for the <br />different plant communities. This includes the areas where each species could be used, its <br />requirements for light and moisture, the ecological functions it provides, its landscaping <br />qualities, and finally its average height, canopy spread and growth rate. Species for the Riparian <br />Floodplain and Upperbank/Midbank communities include shade - loving forest plants as well as <br />sun - loving species. In part this is because the mature plant communities in each zone may <br />intentionally range from forest to forest gaps to more open habitats. In addition, even in areas <br />designated for forest, it will take many years for planted trees to reach large enough size that they <br />will shade the ground sufficiently to support forest understory species. The urban habitat type is <br />not specifically described below, but would be comprised in large part of native species selected <br />from the following lists, as well as selected non - invasive introduced species that require minimal <br />supplemental water, fertilization or pest or disease control. <br />Riparian Floodplain Zone: This is the area located closest to the river's edge where the plants <br />generally have direct access to the groundwater and the hyporheic zone, where there is active and <br />important exchange between belowground flows of water moving roughly in tandem with active <br />channel flows. The elevation for this habitat zone varies between 400' and 408' and encompasses <br />approximately 1.0 acres. This area currently has a moderate to high density of riparian trees at <br />least one row wide along much of the river's edge. Due to the narrowness of the current <br />floodplain benches and steepness of these north and east facing banks, there is not sufficient <br />canopy space remaining between the river's edge and the current bike path for the addition of <br />many more large trees (see Appendix A for average canopy widths of the proposed species). We <br />therefore recommend a focus on planting large trees in areas where none exist and potentially <br />infilling some of the currently treed areas with smaller trees, shrubs and herbaceous species. The <br />addition of more large- canopied trees in areas where the banks will be laid back and also in the <br />Upperbank/Midbank areas closest to the Riparian Zone will greatly increase the effective width <br />and shading capacity of this zone. The species listed directly below are tolerant of wet soils as <br />well as high water flows. They can also serve to slow the speed of higher flows, provide erosion <br />protection and bank stabilization as well as provide shade to help maintain lower river water <br />temperatures. <br />Tree species could include: <br />Alnus rhombfolia <br />Alnus rubra <br />Fraxinus latifolia <br />Populus trichocarpa <br />Forb species could include: <br />Scutellaria later flora <br />Stachys cooleyae <br />Urtica dioica <br />Shrub and small tree species could include: <br />Cornus sericea <br />Crataegus suksdorfi <br />Malus fusca <br />Physocarpus capitatus <br />Salix hookeriana <br />Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra <br />Salix sitchensis <br />Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus <br />Viburnum ellipticum <br />Grass, rush and sedge species could include: <br />Carex obnupta <br />Carex hendersonii <br />Carex interupta <br />Juncus effusus ssp. pacificus (do not confuse with <br />invasive J. effusus ssp. effusus) <br />Juncus occidentalis <br />IM <br />