Welcome to the Clarke Museum's Native Plant Garden

In 2021, the Clarke replaced and updated the planters outside of the museum to feature artwork by Jenna Catsos of Pen and Pine and native plants used for food, medicines, and tea. The intention is to have the garden as a tool that can be used to show visitors what these plants look like, how they are sustainably harvested and use them in museum programming. 

Thank you to our sponsors and donors who made this project possible.

Maggie Stimson
Pat Bitton
Barbara Buesch
Dennis Knapp
Lin Glen
​Julie Traub Perry 
Funds will be used for ongoing maintenance of the garden and printing informational brochures about the garden for visitors.

Plants in the Garden

Yarrow 

Woodland Strawberry
Scientific Name: Achillea millifolium
Yurok Name:  me-chaa-nep'
Karuk Name: achnat'apvuyhiich or kuchich'apvuuy
Other Names: gordaldo, nosebleed plant, old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, thousand-leaf, and thousand-seal
Uses: steeped in hot water and drank as a tea
Scientific Name: Fragaria Vesca
Wiyot (Soulatluk) name: lash and lashulwat
Other names: wild strawberry, alpine strawberry, Carpathian Strawberry, European strawberry, fraisier des bois
Where they can be found: Dunes, however the Wiyot have transplanted them to locations inland. They can also be found  in a wide range of habitats that include hardwood forests, mixed woods, swamps; edges of woods, cedar swamps; rocky woodland and damp ledges.

Oregon Grape
Scientific Name: Berberis aquafolium
Yurok Name: hl'oh-kohl 'wer-nerh
Hupa Name: dahl'o:l' (grape) xots'ine-mil-ya'mil (His legs, with it, one throws a rope up)
Karuk Name: thukinpirish, thithunan'aay
Uses: yellow dye in baskets and medicine

Huckleberry
Scientific Name: Vaccinium ovatum
Wiyot Name: vou'gul (huckleberry)/vou'gulhat (huckleberry bush)
Yurok Name: cheee-gery (berry) nerh-per-yuuep' (plant)
Hupa Name:  chwilch
Karuk Name: miithipar/mithipara (red huckleberry), purith (CA Huckleberry), purith'ipan (huckleberry bush)
Uses: berries for food and leaf tips for tea

Bearberry
Scientific name: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Yurok Name: chyer-'ery' 'uep-ya
Uses: edible berry

Yerba Buena
Sceintific Name: Clinopodium douglasii
Yurok Name: champinishich
Uses: edible leaves, can also be steeped in hot water for tea