https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/242338425 (Week 4)
Yet again I have stumbled across something that I had no idea existed. While walking a dog I am dog sitting I came across this plant that caught my eye right away. It was the most brightly colored plant among all of the plants in that area because it was the only thing that didn’t appear to be dying. I later discovered that this very brightly colored plant I am talking about is called a Rose Spiraea (Spiraea douglasii). The reason that they are so brightly colored is that they actually began to flower from June to September. You can find Rose Spiraea “naturally from southern Alaska south to northern California and east to western Montana” (USDA) and are typically found in “damp meadows, riparian zones, bogs, marshes, open swamps, and the margins of ponds and lakes” (USDA). I found this very interesting because I found them in a relatively dry place right next to the University of Alaska Southeast Upper Housing Lodge, so it makes me wonder if they were planted here or if they are truly part of the natural plants within that area. While researching these I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to be able to find a way that people use these because at first look the only thing I thought they could be used for is pigment because of their bright colors. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As it turns out Rose Spirea has many uses for people. “Native Americans made minor use of this plant. At least one tribe used the seeds to make a tea for the treatment of diarrhea. The branches were used to spread and cook salmon, hang salmon for drying and smoking, and make brooms” (USDA). Unfortunately, I was unable to figure out which tribe used them, however, I am still hoping to figure it out.
Citation:
USDA. Rose Spirea Plant Fact Sheet, plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_spdo.pdf. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024.
Comments
Well done, Gianna, getting your observation and Journal post up so early in the week! That's helpful this week in particular because we've just added in MLA Format to the requirements of the work in iNaturalist for our class, so this means I can give you some feedback that should allow you to make corrections before the week closes. :)
Lovely job identifying the author as an organization and using that for your Works Cited entry! Also, great work correctly using that author name in the parenthetical citations! I'll make just a couple of comments for things to change:
1). titles should be in quotation marks, so the title in your Works Cited entry should look like so: "Rose Spirea Plant Fact Sheet."
2). there is a way to format digital files (such as this PDF you're using) that is different than websites, and you can find that information by looking in the left hand menu on our owl.purdue website and selecting the link to "Other Common Resources" (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_other_common_sources.html); scroll down to the bottom and you'll see there how to format your Works Cited entry as a PDF. (I'm sorry, but iNaturalist will not let me paste in a snip I took of the section from owl.purdue that has this information).
Unrelated to MLA Format, I wanted to comment that I think you're right that this plant is what is left from a planting at some point in the past. It is a cultivated plant gone feral, and that is interesting to observe -- it allows us to see the ways humans impact the landscape even when they have stopped cultivating a particular aspect of that landscape.
Thanks for a great post, Gianna! Email if you have questions about MLA Format.
Best,
Brooke
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