THE ABILITY OF ASPIRIN to reduce pain and fever is well known; what is less well known is that willow bark contains the same active compound. People have been using it for about two thousand years to treat a variety of ailments. Willows grow in most places, primarily in the northern hemisphere; its roots can invade pipes and become a nuisance. The multiple trunks here are all part of the same willow tree. Willows send up shoots from their roots and can cover wide areas with what is really one tree.

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The presence of this row of oaks reminds us that much of Bear Creek Valley was once oak woodland, the driest type of forest that occurs in this region. The open understory of the oak woodland, or savannah, was maintained by fire, which burned off the brush and encroaching conifer seedlings. These fires started naturally or were set by the Indians. Processed acorns were a staple food of the local Takelma, who preferred acorns from black oaks like the ones before you. Black oaks (Quercus kelloggii) grow best in woodlands and have leaves with pointed lobes. The typical white oak (Quercus garryana) setting is an open grassy hillside; the lobes of their leaves are rounded. Are any of these trees white oaks?

The weedy star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) covering open areas along the path is native to the Mediterranean and is widespread in California and Oregon. It is an annual that can grow up to 2.5 feet high. The yellow flowers bloom July through September, and have nasty three-quarter inch spines just below the flower head. This foreign invader crowds out many native species, as well as good forage plants, and thrives on the poor, marginal soils of roadsides and waste places. When horses eat the plant, they suffer from a nervous disease called "chewing disorder," which renders them unable to eat or drink; they can eventually starve.