- Physocarpus capitatus (Pursh) Kuntze (plants.sc.egov.usda.gov)
Pacific ninebark is a long-lived perennial shrub of the Rose family native to the Pacific Northwest. It grows rapidly with multiple stems achieving 2 to 4 meters in an erect to arching form with angled branches. The reddish papery bark peels off in long thin layers giving rise to the common name. Deciduous leaves that appear alternately along the stem are 3-10 cm long, 3-5 lobed and doubly toothed at the margin. They are deeply veined, shiny dark green above and lighter beneath with fine star-shaped hairs
- Seattle Neighborhoods: West Seattle — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
West Seattle – the oldest and the biggest of Seattle’s neighborhoods – is both a peninsula and a state of mind. The first Euro-American settlers arrived here (on Alki Point) in 1851, but left within a few months, moving to a more agreeable location on the other side of Elliott Bay (the site of present-day downtown Seattle). Orphaned at an early age, isolated by water on three sides, West Seattle has clung to its cultural independence, remaining determinedly aloof even while fighting tenaciously for the bridges, highways, and ferries that have brought it closer to its sprawling neighbor to the east.