Friday, July 16, 2010

Abbott's Lagoon

One of my favorite botanizing spots is Abbott's Lagoon at Point Reyes National Seashore. The terrain is haunting and windswept. The dunes and adjacent scrub covered hills are home to a spectacular array of coastal wildflowers.

San Francisco, particularly the western half of the City, consisted of this ecosystem before the arrival of Europeans. I enjoy looking out over the lagoon and imagining how San Francisco used to appear. Lake Merced, in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, used to be a coastal lagoon similar to Abbott's Lagoon.

Here are some of my favorite images from Abbott's Lagoon:

Grindelia hirsutula var. maritima
Cirsium quercetorum
Chorizanthe cuspidata
Dudleya farinosa
Camissonia cheiranthifolia
Anaphalis margaritacea
Symphyotrichum chilense
Silene scouleri var. scouleri
Monardella undulata var. undulata
Cirsium occidentale var. occidentale
Gentiana affinis var. ovata
Coastal Dunes, Abbott's Lagoon
Plagiobothrys reticulatus var. rossianorum

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Clarkia!

Late spring and early summer in California means Clarkia. These bright and lively members of the Onagraceae are a welcome sight as the green of spring turns into the golden summer in California. Here are some of the species I've photographed in California.

Clarkia rhomboidea
Clarkia concinna
Clarkia purpurea
Clarkia modesta
Clarkia rubicunda
Clarkia unguiculata
Clarkia purpurea ssp. quadrivulnera
Clarkia breweri
Clarkia gracilis
Clarkia epilobioides
Clarkia franciscana

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Mount Diablo State Park

Dichelostemma capitatum
Mount Diablo is my second-favorite open space featuring fabulous flowers in the immediate Bay Area. Located an hour's drive due east of San Francisco in Contra Costa County, the state park has about 20,000 acres that form the nucleus of an impressive collection of protected lands totaling over 90,000 acres.

The mountain is 3,864 feet high and stands alone, making it one of the most recognized and recognizable geographic features in the Bay Area and adjacent portions of the Central Valley. The views from the summit are spectacular in all directions. An elfin forest grows at the summit, with trees only a little taller than your average male hiker. Ceanothus cuneatus is a dominant species starting just above the middle of the moutain and reaching the summit. It grows thickly along the mountain's southern side and can produce a mass bloom in the spring that's breathtaking in appearance and almost overpowering in fragrance. A drive to the summit is heady and fragrant when the car windows are down.
Pinus sabiniana
 
The interaction of the Pacific and North American plates along coastal California is responsible for Diablo, along with the rest of the Coast Ranges. The mountain continues to grow several millimeters per year. Tectonic forces are also responsible for a rich variety of seemingly incongruous rocks and minerals on the mountain.

Diablo lies at range border for quite a few plants, producing an unusually high species richness. Prominent plant communities include mixed oak woodland, chaparral, and grassland. There is year-round water flowing from the mountain, particularly in Mitchell Canyon.

I first encountered my absolute favorite pine tree species on Diablo, Pinus sabiniana. The glaucous blue needles are instantly recognizable. It doesn't grow in dense stands, but as scattered individuals in chaparral and oak woodlands. And the cones! They're huge! The pine nuts are edible and were a source of food for the local Native Americans.
Ceanothus cuneatus

I've hiked three trails so far on Diablo - the Globe Lily Trail in Mitchell Canyon along the northern flanks of the mountain, the North Peak Trail near the summit on the southern flank, and the short loop trail directly below the summit. Each trail was filled with rich and interesting plant communities. The road to the summit along the southern flank can produce stunning displays of Eschscholzia californica and Ceanothus cuneatus.

Calochortus pulchellus
Diablo's signature flower is Calochortus pulchellus, a species of globe lily found only on Mount Diablo, primarily along the Globe Lily Trail in Mitchell Canyon. That trail also leads through a wonderful chaparral community dominated by Salvia mellifera and an almost pure white form of Eriodictyon californicum. Ericameria linearifolia grows alongside the trails in Mitchell Canyon and I wonder why that species isn't seen more in local gardens. I think it's just as beautiful as the shrub daisy from South Africa everyone grows.

Fritillaria affinis
I really enjoyed finding Fritillaria affinis and Ribes menziesii in a small pocket of woodland along the North Peak Trail. Further along in a grassland area were several delicate patches of Castilleja exserta, a favorite in the genus for me. There were even Cardamine californica in bloom! This is one of our first spring flowers but it was still blooming at ~3500 feet! Near the start of the trail we found lots of Arabis breweri on any boulder you stopped to investigate. We even found one of the rarest flowers in the Bay Area, Streptanthus hispidus, growing in gravel next to the trail.

I'll be back next year (if I'm still living here!) to see what more interesting things I can find!

Here are some additional photos from Mount Diablo:

Orobanche fasciculata
Allium serra
Phacelia breweri
Ribes menziesii