Located near Medford, Oregon, this popular natural area is a good botanical hike in many seasons

1. TABLE ROCKS IN
OREGON-A
BOTANICAL HIKE
Linda R. McMahan
Extension Botanist and Horticulturist
Oregon State University, Yamhill County
linda.mcmahan@oregonstate.edu

2. Here I am at
the top
This is a hike I’ve
wanted to do for a long
time, and I got the
chance this November
during a visit to Medford,
Oregon. In the
background you can see
Medford and Central
Point. Nearer the rocks
is the Rogue River as it
winds its way through
the valley. I climbed the
Upper Table Rock. Yes,
there are two, but this
was the shorter hike, so
having to drive home for
several hours
afterwards, I chose
accordingly.

3. Can You See
my Car
We are about 800 feet
above the valley floor. My
car is a tiny speck in the
parking lot located at about
2 o’clock in the picture.
According to an
article(http://www.npsorego
n.org/kalmiopsis/kalmiopsis
03/seevers_borgias.pdf),
the “tables” were created
by erosion. Originally lava
flows had filled in the basin,
perhaps 9.6 million years
ago. Gradual erosion
washed away most of the
softer flow materials, but
the Table Rocks were
harder material called
andesite, and remained.

4. Lava Features
The volcanic orgin was
evident everywhere,
from the tumbled rocks
making up the base
around the trail, to this
rock formation by the
trail.

5. Erosion is still
going on
At the inward edge of
Upper Table rock,
breakup of the plateau
still occurs. Huge
chunks of columnar
andesite are slowly
breaking away. Each
plateau is in a
horseshoe shape. The
shape apparently was
caused by former
meanders in the
Umpqua River.

6. Oregon White
Oak, Quercus
garryana
Being a botanist, I was
naturally interested in
the vegetation. Actually,
every hike for me turns
into a botanical
experience.
Fall color for the oaks
was very nice, at least
for Oregon. Lichens and
mosses were beginning
to swell from the first big
rains of the fall season.
Fortunately, the day’s
rain most held off until
after I finished the hike.
The ecosystem also has
the California black oak
(Quercus kellogii), but I
didn’t happen to snap
any pictures of them to
share.

7. Mistletoe on oak,
Phoradendron
favescens
Just like oaks in the
Willamette Valley to the
north, Oregon white oak on
the reserve have lots of
mistletoe. Mistletoe is a
partial parasite which is
able to produce energy
through photosynthesis but
needs the tree to obtain
other nutrients.
The land on the two Table
Rocks has mostly been
preserved by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM)
and The Nature
Conservancy. At one time,
there were possible plans
for development, which
fortunately, never
materialized.

8. Poison oak,
Rhus
toxicodendron
A namesake of oak also
caught my attention.
There was plenty of it—
the beautiful three-part
leaves were gone,
however. I only
recognized it by the
characteristic stick-like
growth form and the
berries.

9. More poison
oak
Excuse the fascination
for a sometimes
troubling native plant,
but on the way up the
trail, I kept wondering
why there were sticks
coming out of the
ground. On the way
down, I finally figured it
out. Fortunately, I didn’t
check it out too closely.

10. Madrone,
Arbutus
menziesii
Recent rains brought out
the magnificent color of
madrone bark. Older
bark peels off in layers
as the tree grows. Many
of the madrones in the
preserve have
recovered after fires,
which have periodically
visited the site for many
generations of plants.

11. On the
ground. . .
Shredded madrone bark
and fallen leaves pattern
the ground beneath the
trees.

12. White-leaf
manzanita,
Arctostaphylos
viscida
Large manzanita shrubs
dot the landscape, such
as this one under a
madrone at the edge of
the plateau. The
evergreen foliage is
excellent—I wish mine
would grow like this, but
I don’t have the good
drainage and warmer
climate that they require.

13. Wedgeleaf
ceanothus,
Ceanothus
cuneatus
A major component of
this fire-maintained
ecosystem, the
wedgeleaf ceanothus is
beautiful much of the
year. Blooms are
spectacular, but those
come at another time of
year—not in November!
Guess I will just have to
return.

14. View of the top!
At the top of each Table
Rock, visitors are
greeted by a massive
flat area with a thin
covering of soil that has
accumulated over time.
Fall vegetation is mostly
grasses, mostly alien
ones at that, but in the
spring, it is apparently a
much different story—
that’s when most people
visit who are interested
in the plants.
The inset shows the
moss, a major part of
the plateau vegetation.

15. Vernal Pools
Just this view shows
different patterns of
vegetation. Indentations
in the surface allow the
accumulation of water in
pools that dry up in the
summer. A successful of
colorful flowers,
sometimes in rings
around the water, draws
visitors in the springtime.
The pools are fragile
and becoming more rare
as special areas like
these are disappearing.

16. From where I am
standing, you can see
the other end of the
horseshe shape for
Upper Table Rock. In
the distance is Lower
Table Rock. Next time, I
will come armed with the
plant list and my
identification tools.

17. Time to plan your own visit?
© 2011 Oregon State University. All photos are by the
author. You may use of the presentation for educational
purposes. For other uses or more information, please
contact:
Linda R. McMahan
OSU Extension Service
linda.mcmahan@oregonstate.edu