2015 - Robert's adventures in the Northern Sierra Nevada - California

[Robert]

As I continued toward the summit the rock outcroppings were often covered with brightly colored lichen.



High up near the summit I found Pleiacanthus spinosus. This species is a member of the Asteraceae with lavender-pink flowers in the early summer. It is also another Great Basin species that has found its way into the high Sierra.



This route to the summit, 10,020 feet (3,054 meters), or should I say the false summit, is a steep but easy hike. The true summit is on the top of these ancient lava plugs. It take a bit of climbing skill to get to the top, but is not that difficult as the volcanic rock is hard and there are many hand holds.



From the summit the views are great in all directions. This is looking off towards Nevada and the Great Basin. Also off in this direction is Monitor Pass, someplace I would like to go to soon. Monitor Pass is east side habitat and has many different plant species.



The false summit had a number of interesting and beautiful species such as this Eriogonum rosense. It is such an attractive species with its silvery foliage and yellow flowers. In our area, it is easy to identify by its fused calyx base. All of our other yellow flowered species have a narrow and elongated calyx base, such as E. umbellatum.

[Robert]

Another great find on the summit was this maroon form of Eriogonum ursinum. Generally this species has cream or yellow flowers. Also the upper leave surface on this plant was almost glaberous, but all of this is still within the parameters of E. ursinum.



I was time to return back down the mountain. One last look south toward Ebbetts Pass. It has been a while since I have been there. There are many different species to see there too.



A look down to the northwestern valley on the way down.



An one last view to the Crystal Range to the north.

[Robert]

Robert:

Thanks so much for the wonderful tour.  I've been to the West Coast many times but never had the opportunity to see this area.  I'm sitting 3 miles from Times Square and this is quite a different landscape.

Arnold,

"I'm sitting 3 miles from Times Square and this is quite a different landscape."    Yes, clearly quite a bit different from Red Lake Peak.

Congratulation! I admire the beauty you have brought to the city. I am often fascinated by the species you post on the forum. I think that I should be thanking you.

Anyway, thank you for your comments. I hope that you have enjoyed your visits to the West Coast.

[Tim Ingram]

Robert, so many fascinating plants  - what a hike high up into the hills! I'm interested in the Angelica, is this a relatively small species? Does it grow in places with reasonable moisture or drier conditions? Those we know and grow here are large monocarpic species such as A. archangelica and the far eastern A. gigas, which has deep purple-red flowers. We also grow a much smaller species from Spain, A. pachycarpa (hispanica) which has shiny varnished leaves, a wonderful foliage plant and more adapted to a drier climate. The American species are different again and broaden a view of the genus (rather like the sanicles you have shown earlier which were completely new to me).

[Hoy]

Robert,

This was a very nice tour which I enjoyed very much Thank you!

The landscape looks a bit dry compared to what I am used to see here, still it is abundant with beautiful plants. You didn't mention snow but I assume that the high peaks and ridges get some snow in winter which clearly doesn't last through the summer.

Although I did like all the plants you show, some like Castilleja pilosa, Mimulus torreyi and Lupinus lepidus var lobbii look especially interesting. Also the maroon Erigeron ursinum looks great!

I can understand your interest for the rabbitbrush   We have no plants similar to that here but I did see some look-alikes in Argentina.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Wonderful Robert, I am learning so much! I didn't realise that there is an Eriogonum Society - http://eriogonum.org/

[Maggi Young]

A little "advert" for the SRGC Links pages : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?action=links

- one can find links to all sorts of interesting sites in these pages - and members are welcome to submit  additions to the lists
- and yes, there is already a link to the eriogonum society! 

[Robert]

Tim,

Angelica breweri is strongly perennial, growing about 1-2 meters tall. Where there is moisture they tend toward the 2 meter tall size, with less moisture (but not 100% xeric conditions) 1 meter tall.

We have about 10 Angelica species here in California. Unfortunately, most of them grow far way from my home. The one exception is Angelica lineariloba. It is an east side of the Sierra Nevada species and I was hoping to see it if I can get over to the Monitor Pass area (with good luck this coming week). Some of the habitat is perfect for this species in the Monitor Pass area.

In the garden, Angelica breweri seems like it will be easy to grow. I have some small plants coming on but have yet to plant any out. Reasonable drainage and moisture seems in order, at least in our garden and climate. I think that Angelica breweri is a lovely species, well worth growing in the garden, however it does get big, way larger than Angelica gigas, another attractive species.

[Robert]

Robert,

This was a very nice tour which I enjoyed very much Thank you!

The landscape looks a bit dry compared to what I am used to see here, still it is abundant with beautiful plants. You didn't mention snow but I assume that the high peaks and ridges get some snow in winter which clearly doesn't last through the summer.

Although I did like all the plants you show, some like Castilleja pilosa, Mimulus torreyi and Lupinus lepidus var lobbii look especially interesting. Also the maroon Erigeron ursinum looks great!

Trond,

The crest of the Sierra Nevada is an extremely high precipitation area, most of it being winter snow. Due to the on going drought what little snow there has been has not lasted. With average to above average precipitation, snow often lingers late into the season on the north facing slopes. Even with average precipitation, the south and west facing slopes can be very dry late in the season especially where the soil is thin and rocky. Once on the east side of the Sierra Nevada the precipitation amounts drop off quickly as one travels east and the summertime temperatures are much higher. This country is extremely dry, even more so than the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada near the farm.

Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii is a species I am determined to grow successfully. The best forms have very silky, silvery foliage. However, another interesting Lupinus species I saw on the summit ridge was Lupinus argenteus var. heteranthus. The plants were beat-up by the strong winds up there, however in favorable sites all forms of Lupinus argenteus are attractive with their silvery foliage and often silky inflorescence (var. montigenus).

I am a sucker for our annual Mimulus species and am very willing to keep them going in the garden (saving seed every season or with luck they will self sow too). This year I was finally able to gather a small amount of seed from M. torreyi and hope to get it established in the garden.

[Robert]

Wonderful Robert, I am learning so much! I didn't realise that there is an Eriogonum Society - http://eriogonum.org/

Ralph,

Eriogonums are quite diverse and interesting, very worth while in the garden, especially with climatic conditions like ours here in California.   

I have to admit that I am not a member of the Eriogonum Society even though I have a keen interest in the Genus. Being a member of too many plant groups gets overwhelming for me. I have been able to learn much more about the Genus Eriogonum from my own field observations, various floras of California, and membership in the California Native Plant Society (perfect for me!). A good botanical text is invaluable once one get familiar with them, and there is nothing better than seeing the plants first hand in the field. There is often much more regional variation with plants in the wild and there are certainly surprises from time to time.

[Robert]

I made it to Monitor Pass on Wednesday and had a full day to explore and check on the area. There is much to report on over the next few days. This will be a 3 part report. 



A view from Monitor Pass looking west back toward the Sierra Crest.

[Tim Ingram]

Robert - look forward to your report on Monitor Pass; in the meantime I thought you might be interested in this description of an article Lester Rowntree wrote for the Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society. I enjoy reading back through older volumes of the various society Journals - they are packed with good writing and fascinating information - and this is my take on Lester Rowntree's article, to a good extent in her own words:

‘No wonder, in the heady air, I go a little fey.’

The wide open spaces and botanical riches of North America have resulted in some of the most compelling writing on plants of anywhere in the world. Lester Rowntree makes you want to follow her into the mountains, deserts and forests of California, which she wrote about in innumerable articles and two books. In a ‘Sierra Trio’ (Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society Vol. 19, p. 346) she describes Pentstemon Davidsonii, Primula suffrutescens and Epilobium obcordatum, and places them in the context of where they grow, the climate and geography they experience, and the plants they grow with. Her writing is both accurate and poetic: ‘When alone on a mountain top with high alpines the plants seem as personal as the rosy finch that pecks about on the snowdrifts and yet there is no other spot that can be quite so impersonal as a lofty crest especially in a hard storm’. How many have come home shivering from the mountains when the weather turns? She describes how the penstemon blossoms ‘... vary a great deal in colour and size. Some are deep cobalt violet, others rich hyacinth blue... but I have seen pink and pale lavender forms as well as magenta in more or less violent shades’. Primula suffrutescens ‘... is at its best above Tyee Lake (altitude almost 12,000ft) in the southern Sierra, where a soft clear pink form with just a touch of yellow in it may be found. The buds are brilliant cerise, the tubes of the open flowers rich yellow and the reverses solferino purple’. Some of the mountain epilobiums are very choice plants with none of the territorial ambitions of more familiar species. The flowers of obcordatum ‘... are shaped as much like a Convolvulus as those of a primrose and are rose pink with a satiny sheen. In good years [with plenty of snowmelt] they entirely hide the grey-green leaves and they are followed by long narrow seed pods, shiny crimson, which hold the feathery seed’.

(from 12/1/2013 on the Discussion pages of the AGS website under 'Any Other Topics' - 'Random Nuggets from the Bulletin)

[Robert]

Tim,

Thank you so much for sharing the article. Lester Rowntree certainly must have been an amazing person. I can say that things have not changed much in the High Sierra, the plants are still fascinating in their endless variety. The scenery is stunning.

[Robert]

MONITOR PASS  PART I

Wednesday, 26 August 2015

Weather: Partly Cloudy
Temperature, High: 97 F (36 C)  Low: 60 F (15.5 C)



I started the day early as I had a long drive ahead and there was much I wished to accomplish once I arrived in the Monitor Pass area, 2-1/4 hours away.

Once across Carson Pass and the Sierra Crest, the route leads down Hope Valley (pictured). Hope Valley is one of a chain of valleys in this region sitting at the base of the High Sierra Peaks. Hope, Faith, and Charity Valleys are known for the beautiful autumn colors of the Quaking Aspen, Populus tremuloides, that grow there and the wildflower displays in the early summer. From here one can see the Summit of Red Lake Peak, 3,000 feet (914 meters) above the valley floor.



The West Fork of the Carson River drains this region.



The West Fork of the Carson River flows south to north in the Hope Valley region before turning east towards Nevada. Here it cuts through another range of mountains before reaching the Nevada border and the Carson Valley beyond.



To reach Monitor Pass I needed to follow the West Fork of the Carson River east toward the Nevada border and then travel south to the East Fork of the Carson River (pictured).



In this area, the East Fork of the Carson River forms a border between the Pinyon Pine dominated Forest (Pinus monophylla) on the east bank of the river and the Jeffrey Pine dominated forest (Pinus jeffreyi) on the west bank of the river.

[Robert]

Traveling south along the East Fork of the Carson River I could see the burn area ahead from last year's forest fire in this area.



The junction to Monitor Pass, up Monitor Creek, was at the center of this burn area. Many but not all of the trees and shrubs had burned. Many species had stump spouted and made good growth this season.



My first stop was on Monitor Creek near its confluence with the East Fork of the Carson River, 5,729 feet (1,746 meters). Bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata, was a shrub that I would see frequently this day.



Up a steep bank I saw a blooming plant, Eriogonum microthecum var. laxiflorum.



This species is found on the east side of the Sierra crest, with the variety laxiflorum growing taller than the type species. This would be the only specimen of this species I would see this day.