Pinnacles National Monument

One of the best day trips so far this wildflower season has been to Pinnacles National Monument, about 2.5 hours south of San Francisco. Pinnacles is the highly eroded partial remains of a volcano that erupted directly on the San Andreas fault over 20 million years ago. In the intervening time, the volcano was split in two by the northerly motion of the Pacific Plate sliding past the North America plate and the two halves are now approx 120 miles apart!

Pinnacles is most famous for being a reintroduction site for the California Condor and as a destination for rock climbing. Less known but just as important is the wide variety of plant species found in the Monument.

Wyethia helenioides

Nhu and I entered from the less crowded West entrance, and before we even entered the monument we were stopping to photograph Wyethia helenioides, Allium crispum, Viola pedunculata, Pholistoma auritum, and Collinsia heterophylla.

Once we stopped and paid the day fee at the Ranger's Station we headed for the main loop trail. We encountered fading Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta at the start of the trail, still looking really attractive. There were brilliant white trumpets of Calystegia subacaulis ssp. subacaulis in spots along the start of the trail. Next we started seeing Clarkia modesta and various Delphinium species, including Delphinium parryi ssp. parryi. The most exciting find early in the trail for Nhu was a waning bloom of Allium fimbriatum var. fimbriatum.  There were even more Clarkias, including Clarkia epilobioides and lots of intensely deep rich purple Clarkia purpurea ssp. quadrivulnera. Other species encountered included Chorizanthe membranacea, Toxicoscordion fremontii, Leptosiphon parviflorus, Crassula connata, and Dudleya cymosa.

Allium crispum

The flat part of the trail ended and we entered the eroded portion of the volcano. We took a small detour around the first large building-sized boulder and encountered Lewisia rediviva var. rediviva growing in cracks on the rock, a spectacular sight. Next was the sclerophyllus local cherry, Prunus ilicifolia subsp. ilicifolia growing side by side with Rhamnus ilicifolia, all with the local pipe stem Clematis lasiantha scrambling here and there. Looking down at our feet there were many lovely yellow Triteleia lugens, one of the more attractive California geophytes.

Lewisia rediviva var. rediviva

Next we entered the main part of the loop trail. This took us up several hundred feet through a series of gentle switchbacks with spectacular and dramatic scenery at every turn. Here we got some amazing habitat shots of Pinus sabiniana. Drifts of Clarkia unguiculata covered the sides of the switchbacks and near the top we started seeing early blooming individuals of Calochortus venustus. A highlight for me in this section was the twining snapdragon, Antirrhinum kelloggii. Other beautiful species encountered were Cirsium occidentale, Streptanthus glandulosus ssp. glandulosus, Emmenanthe penduliflora, Mimulus fremontii, and an invasive but lovely grass, Lamarckia aurea.

Pinus sabiniana

All in all the hike was easy, the scenery among the best I've ever seen, and the plants always interesting. I hope to make a return visit at a different time of the spring bloom in the future!

Click on any of the photos to be taken to a gallery containing all the photos I took on the hike.

More photos from the day:

Drifts of Clarkia unguiculata painted the landscape in purple

Calochortus venustus

Cirsium occidentale

Clarkia purpurea ssp. quadrivulnera

A talus cave

Calochortus Parade, part 4

The fourth and final installment of Calochortus Parade features the Star Tulips. I've only encountered two species of Star Tulips in the wild - C. umbellatus at Ring Mountain and C. minimus from Yosemite National Park. Both species are incredibly enchanting.

C. umbellatus is a lovely pale/blush pink flower that blooms early - with the early spring annuals, starting in mid-March, staying in bloom for about 4 to 6 weeks at Ring Mountain. The flowers are small, about 2 inches across, nestled in the grass in many places, turning them into little hidden jewels.

C. minimus is an even smaller pure white flower, approximately one inch in diameter. It was easy to step on them before I realized what was underfoot! It blooms in the Yosemite 'spring' - a time that is always dependent upon the snowmelt. I saw it in early to mid-June but I imagine it could be found later or earlier depending upon how much snow has to melt from the higher meadows.

Calochortus Parade, part 3

Serpentine is the 'common name' for serpentinite, a shiny, smooth, mostly green metamorphic rock that is present in fairly large quantities throughout California. It is produced at the margins of the continental crust, particularly on ocean floors, through a complex process involving seawater reacting with mafic and ultramafic rocks to form serpentinite. It is the state rock of California.

Soils derived from serpentine rock are high in several metals, particularly magnesium, and low in most plant nutrients. This prevents most plants from growing in serpentine soils, except those that have evolved a special ability to tolerate these unusual conditions. These plants are called serpentine endemics. There are also plants that are tolerant of serpentine but that can also grow in regular soils.

Calochortus are one of the groups of plants with a high number of serpentine endemic and tolerant species. Perhaps the most famous is Calochortus tiburonensis, a species only discovered in the early 1970s growing in serpentine outcrops on Ring Mountain, in southern Marin county, at the base of the Tiburon peninsula.

The third installment of the Calochortus Parade will focus on the Cat's Ears floral style, of which C. tiburonensis is a member.

Species, from top to bottom: C. tiburonensis, C. monophyllus, C. tolmiei, C. tiburonensis, C. tolmiei, C. tiburonensis

Calochortus Parade, part 2

There are over 70 species of Calochortus, ranging from southern British Columbia and Alberta to extreme southern Mexico and adjacent Guatemala and east to the western Dakotas. Utah's state flower, the Sego Lily, is Calochortus nuttallii.

There are four major floral forms in Calochortus: The Mariposa Lilies, The Cat's Ears, the Globe Lilies, and the Star Tulips.

Today's Calochortus Parade will be the Globe Lilies:

Species, from the top: C. amabilis, C. pulchellus, C. albus, C. amoenus, C. albus, C. amabilis

Calochortus Parade, part 1

California's state flower is Eschscholzia californica, the California Poppy. Some accounts indicate it won out over competitors Romneya coulteri and flowers in the genus Calochortus, the Mariposa Lilies.

People tend root for the underdog and as such I personally wish a species of Calochortus, or perhaps the entire genus, were the state flower. They come in a wide variety of shapes, forms, and colors, and have a long bloom period, starting in late March and in some places ending up in August!

So to honor my underdog, here is the first installament of the Calochortus Parade: the Mariposa Lilies!

Species, from top: C. superbus, C. leichtlinii, C. venustus, C. luteus, C. argillosus, C. vestae

Happy Nature Photography Day!

The North American Nature Photography Association sponsors Nature Photography Day on June 15 every year.

I actually didn't know about this until June 16, and as I was traveling to Portland, Oregon, on the 15th, I wasn't out in nature on the day, so I'll cheat a little and present a sampling of images I've taken in nature on the days leading up to Nature Photography Day!

Calochortus luteus, Yellow Mariposa Lily
Skaggs Springs Road, near Healdsburg,
Sonoma County, California

Monardella villosa ssp. franciscana, Coyote Mint
Sneath Lane Trail, SFPUC Watershed,
adjacent to Sweeney Ridge,
Golden Gate National Recreation Area,
San Mateo County, California

Postelsia palmaeformis, Sea Palm
Salt Point State Park, Sonoma County, California

Oak Woodland
Forest Highway 7, Mendocino County, Mendocino National Forest, California

Fritillaria recurva, Scarlet Fritillary
Forest Highway 7, Mendocino County,
Mendocino National Forest, California

Clarkia rubicunda, Farewell to Spring
Edgewood County Park, San Mateo County, California

Bibb County Glades - a botanical wonderland

Through a Flickr contact in Minnesota, Dr. Brian O'Brien at Gustavus Adolphus College, outside of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, I learned of a very special botanical preserve in Alabama, the Kathy Stiles Freeland Bibb County Glades Preserve, located 90 minutes southwest of Birmingham. 

Cedar Glade - notice the forest ends abruptly
where the ultramafic soil begins?

This spectacular botanical wonderland was undiscovered until 1993, when a fish biologist and botanist went on a canoe trip to survey the Little Cahaba River.  What they found astounded them: 8 new species of plants and several others that had not been seen in decades, one of which was presumed extinct. Species of Castilleja, Liatris, Onosmodium, Silphium were all found to be new to science!

Solanum pumilum, a new record for
this species in Alabama

I had to visit this place! I grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham and return infrequently to visit family. My last return home in May 2009 I made plans to visit the Bibb Glades. It rained 4 of the 7 days I was in Birmingham but I was determined to make it to the Glades, so I headed off one morning in a drizzle that thankfully was gone by the time I reached the glades. I'd forgotten about the humidity and mosquitos of Alabama, though, which made the visit that much more interesting.

Castilleja kraliana, new
species to science

Briefly, the glades are special because of their soil. A particularly pure form of limestone, Dolomite, is found at the surface of the earth here. This limestone weathers into a soil that is toxic to most but not all plants, known as ultramafic. The mixed broadleaf-pine forests that dominate most of Alabama cannot grow in this soil. This leaves a large opening in the forest canopy and a fascinating mix of ultramafic-tolerant plant species.

Leptopus phyllanthoides

The place was simply amazing. So much of Alabama has been farmed, developed, planted, etc. that everything you see that's green and growing is disturbed by human touch. About the only native plants left are the trees. Walking through the Bibb Glades I felt like I was really back in a place and time very few people have experienced, particularly in such a developed area.

Marshallia mohrii, a previously
undiscovered population and the
plant that alerted the botanist
there was something special on
the Little Cahaba River

The glades are now owned by the Nature Conservancy and are open to visitors during daylight hours. Click on any of the photos in this post to see the incredible diversity of plants I encountered and photographed at the Glades that day.

Vernal Pools

Vernal Pools are one of the more fascinating features of the California landscape. A vernal pool is a temporary body of water that is dry part of the year. In California they are formed during the winter rains and then go dry over the summer.

Navarretia leucocephala
ssp. bakeri

These pools are home to very specialized plant and animal communities, uniquely adapted to the challenging and rapidly changing conditions of the pool. They are especially known for their rare and diverse populations of amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, made possible by the lack of fish. They also harbor really interesting annual flowering plants that put on an ever-changing show as the pool dries up every summer.

Plagiobothrys bracteatus, vernal
pool popcorn flower

The most famous vernal pools are found in California's Central Valley, where very few remain after over a century of development, but we have one relatively close to San Francisco, at Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve, in Marin County: Hidden Lake.

Navarretia leucocephala
ssp. bakeri and
Juncus xiphioides

I visited Hidden Lake in late May just as the first ring of wildflowers was blooming along the eastern edge of the receding lake: Navarretia leucocephala ssp. bakeri. There were drifts of this tiny white flower starting to bloom, turning the edge of the lake white. Interspersed among the Navarretia was Plagiobothrys bracteatus, vernal pool popcorn flower, along with Juncus xiphioides, Iris-leaved Rush. Another amazing occurrence: tens of thousands of Pacific Tree Frogs swarming all around the edge of the lake - a fantastic sight.