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

[Robert]

There was still plenty of time to explore, so I decided to find a trail where I could work my way up the canyon side toward the rim of the canyon.

The recent rainfall had brought the Goldback Ferns, Pentagramma triangularis, out of dormancy. Other summer dormant ferns such as Adiantum jordanii, were still brown and yet to show new growth, as pictured above the Goldback Fern. I will be very curious to see if and when the Adiantum break dormancy. This should be in the next 30 days.



Other plants coming into growth after their summer rest were the Lomatiums. Pictured is L. marginatum. In other locations I found L. utriculatum coming into growth too. Back at the farm, the seed pans with low elevation Lomatiums are germinating now.



Phacelia imbricata is a very tough perennial Phacelia. They are often found on south facing rock faces, often growing in cervices with very little soil. Within this species, most of the plants have survived 4 years of drought. Unfortunately, it is not the most attractive Phacelia species. If it was, it would certainly be worth growing in our region.



Dudleya cymosa most often grows in semi-shaded north facing rock cervices. This day, some of the plants I observed were still green and plump.



Others were brown and dry looking. After further examination, I found that all of the dry looking rosettes had a healthy green center, ready to start into new growth.

[Robert]

Soon I found a trail that moved up the canyon side. Shortly the trail crossed a small trickle of a creek with a charming waterfall.



Wild grapes, Vitis californica, grew abundantly in this well watered ravine. Most of the grapes had gold or yellow autumn foliage, however I found one with leaves that were turning red.



Many of the Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia, still had their bright red berries. The birds will finish them off some time this winter.



I always like to check on the autumn leaves of our native deciduous trees and shrubs. California Black Oak, Quercus kelloggii, generally has yellow autumn foliage, however occasionally there will be a tree with scarlet-red foliage. Most of the time it is only part of the tree that turns red, however today I saw a large tree next to the highway where the whole tree had turned scarlet. There were no acorns on this species, anywhere, this season. When there is a good crop of acorns I would like to return to the scarlet colored tree and gather a few and see if any of the seedlings have scarlet autumn foliage.



This season many of the leaves were brown rather than yellow on the Black Oaks. This is not completely unusual, however it appears that the drought increased the number of brown leaves this fall.

[Robert]

Another species with consistently good autumn foliage is our Bigleaf Maple, Acer macrophyllum.



I have never seen any other autumn color other than yellow on this species.



However, Bigleaf Maples can still be extremely attractive in the autumn, especially with a back drop of dark green conifers. This species always needs some sort of summer water source as well as a somewhat shaded location. In the hot parts of California the foliage will get burned-off the tree where there is too much exposure to the hot summer sun.



Another interesting feature of this species is the "snake bark" on the young branches. Some trees express this trait much better than others.



Very occasionally, larger branches will retain this characteristic, however I have never found a tree where the older branches or trunk retain this trait as do the true "snake bark" maples.

[Robert]

Finally I reached the top of the canyon rim at 1,346 feet (410 meters). There was not much of interest in this location, except for a small area that had burned from a fire a year or two ago.



Nearby the seed heads of Clematis lasiantha were still looking good as the vine scrambled over some evergreen oaks.



In California, burn areas are always worth investigating. A burn can renew an area as many long dormant or suppressed bulbs and native annuals have a chance to grow.



Ericameria arborescens frequently recolonizes burned areas. One rarely sees them except in areas that have burned. It makes me wonder where the seeds come from. Is the seed long dormant in the soil? The pappus on this species is like a parachute, so they could easily fly in on the wind. In addition, this species does not waste time coming into bloom. Some plants a year or two old where in bloom this day.



After a fire, many of our species will stump sprout from the base, such as this Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni.

[Robert]

I never have enough time on my outings. Too soon it was time to return to the farm.

On the trail back down to the river there was a beautiful vista of the Middle Fork Canyon looking east toward the Sierra crest.

Until next time!

[Maggi Young]

After a fire, many of our species will stump sprout from the base, such as this Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni.

 Good to see that, Robert -  it gives such  hope for the future.

[Robert]

Maggi,

The annual wildflowers can be spectacular after a fire. Some of my previous postings show the display of annuals after the King Fire, here in El Dorado County.

My guess is that the same thing happens in South Africa, parts of Australia, etc. after a fire.

Even here at the farm I have started to burn things off to renew the land. There has been enough rain and cold weather where I have already started this season.

[Robert]

I like to make corrections to my postings as soon as I discover my errors. Generally I find my mistakes quickly. This one is a mess and an enigma to me (i.e. how did I manage this one) based on my field / journal notes and photographs.



I was reviewing my photographs and journal entries of this past year. I found a huge discrepancy between the names on the photographs and the names in my journal entries. A review of my text on the forum was complete nonsense!

The above photograph is one of three correctly labeled Viola sheltonii. My first journal entry of this species is 25 Marsh 2002 from the ridge top above the Rubicon River west of the Buckeye Flat Trail. In my journal it is labeled as V. lobata, based on my 1960 edition of the Jepson Manual. Later that season I made my first accession of this species, it too labeled V. lobata and still growing at the farm to this day! The clear beginning of this embarrassing blunder.

Get this!    I have 3 photograph on my computer dated; 5 March 2015, 1 April 2015, 16 April 2015, all labeled V. sheltonii. The text on the forum, based on these photographs is complete nonsense!    No, I do not take drugs, including prescription drugs. No, I quit drinking alcohol when I was 25 years old. I am 60 now. I have been under a huge amount of stress (mega understatement! ). I am not sure what to make of this situation.        

My journal entries continue to list V. sheltonii as V. lobata until 2004 when farming prevented me from doing much field work. I can clearly remember those journal entries and remember the plants as V. sheltonii even though I labeled them as V. lobata.

There are no Viola sheltonii or V. lobata entries in my journal until 2015. Everything from 2015 on is still labeled as V. lobata in my journal!  However, from a journal entry from 21 May 2015 at Flemming Meadow it is clear that my mind realized that something was not quite correct. The photograph below was correctly labeled Viola lobata and my journal entry is also correctly labeled V. lobata, however I have a comment that it was blooming far too late in the season, maybe the drought conditions. V. lobata does bloom very late in the season compared to V. sheltonii. This comment is nonsense!



At a later date, I have a note that Viola sheltonii may or may not have club-shaped hairs on the lateral petals and that on V. lobata there may or may not have cylindrical hairs on the lateral petals. All of this is based on the latest Jepson Manual. However, it was not until I reviewed my computer photographs last week that I realized I had made a huge embarrassing blunder.        

I sincerely apologize for this mistake. If anyone needs any clarification on these two species I will do my best to help out the best I can.

End of this saga.

[Maggi Young]

Mercy, Robert, don't beat yourself up about this - you made a mistake -  discovered it  - and have corrected it honestly.  That's a "win"  in my book.

Besides, with the level of stress being put upon you by the  drought conditions at the farm and the poor health of your dear parents it is lucky for us that you are able to take the time to share your  trips and knowledge with us - many in your shoes would just be lying in a darkened room.
 Thank you!

[Gerdk]

No problem, Robert!
Errors may occur or 'Problem erkannt - Problem gebannt' - as we say in German (problem detected - problem averted)
I won't tell you how many wrong identifications I had provided, especially with Vv. reichenbachiana and riviniana
with their numerous hybrid offspring.

Gerd

[David Nicholson]

Robert, to put things in context I set off walking today to the local post box (about 250 yards from home) with a letter in my hand to post. When I got to the post box-no letter. So I set off walking home again, eyes cast down all the way-no letter. Still haven't found it.

[Gerdk]

Robert, to put things in context I set off walking today to the local post box (about 250 yards from home) with a letter in my hand to post. When I got to the post box-no letter. So I set off walking home again, eyes cast down all the way-no letter. Still haven't found it.

David, at least it seems you found your way back home!   

Gerd

[Robert]

Gerd,

Now that I know what I am looking at (maybe better is, put the correct name to what I am looking at), Viola sheltonii is quite abundant in our area. The drought certainly has had its effect on this species. This species is among the first to emerge and bloom in the spring. This past spring, very few plants emerged from the ground and I only found one plant that had flowered. I am not sure if this was due to dry conditions or to mild temperatures, or maybe both. I am looking forward to this coming spring and checking on the Violas. So far we have had average precipitation to-date and temperatures have finally cooled, at least more often. This past 3-4 days have been near record high temperatures for this time of year. In 2 days snow is forecast and near record low temperatures. 

I have found Viola sheltonii somewhat easy to cultivate.

This past spring /summer I had to take a second and third look at some of the Viola bakeri I found. They grow and bloom with V. purpurea so they could have been hybrids as they appeared to have some of the characteristics of V. purpurea (I am still not sure, more study needed). I certainly want to check on these again! I have a keen personal interest in our California Viola species and am quite eager to report on my findings.

It is, so far so good, bringing Viola bakeri into cultivation here at the farm. I have a few plants that survived the summer in excellent condition. Now I am hoping to get them through the winter and into bloom this coming spring.

Anyway, I certainly enjoy studying and growing our native Viola species (now other non-native species too). And, I always enjoy sharing my experiences good and not so good with those who are interested.

[David Nicholson]

David, at least it seems you found your way back home!   

Gerd

It was my greatest achievement of the week Gerd !

[Robert]

A big snowstorm is to arrive tomorrow. I had a few hours to check on some plants near Camp Creek (there was still some snow on the ground from the last storm) before everything gets buried in snow. Polystichum imbricans in various forms was found. This was quite interesting.

It was a beautiful but very chilly day.

I will report in a few days.