2016 - Robert's adventures in the Northern Sierra Nevada - California

[Robert]

Trond,

Here is the follow-up to my whirlwind outing on Saturday.

I checked on many of the local low elevation Erythronium sites. I took the time to examine the plants closely. There were plenty of flower buds, including the site visited the previous day (the "Giant Chaparral Site).    I was very pleased and I intend on taking photographs of the blooming event later in the spring.



At the "Giant Chaparral Site" I found mature plants of Garrya.



Taking my time and having my close-up glasses I identified the Garrya as G. congdonii. It is very easily identified by the hairs on the bottom side of the leaves and the hairs on the inflorescence. Abaxially the foliage of G. fremontii is glaborous.



Also at the "Giant Chaparral Site" I found many large Quercus dumosa. Large for this species is about 3-4 meters tall and as wide. The plants must have been ancient.

[Robert]

More follow-up to the whirlwind outing.



I was out looking for vernal pools. This is a view (looking west) from a hill overlooking the Sacramento Valley. The coastal mountains and Mount Diablo can be seen faintly in the distance.



Another view looking south and the southern Sacramento Valley.



The tiny village of Latrobe - at the edge of the Sacramento Valley.

I did not find any vernal pools this day, however I saw many bulbous plant (nothing in bloom yet in this area). I will have to return later. This may be a good site to find Calochortus luteus (common in California but rarely seen in our area now). There are also many dirt roads to explore in this part of the valley where I might find vernal pools.

[Robert]

On another short outing I went up to Peavine Ridge to check on the snow.



Peavine Ridge is at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) plus and minus. Generally there is somewhere between .3 and 1 meter of snow up here this time of year. The temperature this day was 60 F (15.5 C) at this site. Way too warm. In some shady sites there was about .3 meters of snow.



There was more snow on some of the surrounding ridges a little farther up the mountain.



The Crystal Range in the distance still has a good covering of snow, however the recent snow survey revealed that we are now below average on our snow pack for this time of year. Given the warm weather and lack of precipitation this is not surprising.



Peavine Ridge is an extremely interesting place to study plants. There are at least 3 species of Arctostaphylos that grow in this area, with many inter-grading types in between. I enjoy carefully observing all of them, especially with a hand lens. This reveals much.

Another interesting plant up here is what I call "the high elevation form" of Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii.

[Robert]

It is the blooming season for Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii here at the farm.



Our local Primula (Dodecantheon) are certainly a favorite for me. I grow many seedlings each season - plants from other geographic regions in California as well as the local ones that grow naturally here on our farm property.



One of the most interesting is the high elevation form of Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii. It is clearly different from the lower elevation forms. Here is a pot full at the farm. There are flower buds, but the plant still has a long way to go before it blooms. A great way to extend the blooming season for this species.

This form still has "rice grains" as do the lower elevation forms, however the leaves are of a different shade of green (more blue-green) and of a much thicker texture. Jepsons Manual suggests that there are polypliod forms and this indeed may be one (something for me to investigate     ). They are certainly widespread in our area. I have found them growing from 3,500 feet to 5,000 feet (1,067 meters to 1,524 meters) in elevation. I have never seen the lower elevation types at the higher elevations i.e. there appears to be no mixing of the two types. All of this requires much more study on my part. But then I enjoy doing such things.     

[David Nicholson]

Keep going Robert, as usual most interesting.

[Hoy]

Trond,

I think that your Torreya looks great, or is the tall one from seed? The seed of Torreya californica indeed looks like a whole nutmeg. I do not see seed on the trees to often, but it is interesting when I do.

Cardamine californica makes a tuber kinda' like a small white potato. For some reason my plant did not return this spring.    I like them a lot and will try to re-establish them in the garden.

Robert, if you look closer you will notice that the Torreya is rather flat like a branch! It is from a cutting I got from a friend. Seeds are rarely available.

Most Cardamines I have in my garden make a tuber or similar. An exception is the weedy Cardamine pratensis. A meadow nearby a few years ago:

[Hoy]

Trond,

Here is the follow-up to my whirlwind outing on Saturday.

I checked on many of the local low elevation Erythronium sites. I took the time to examine the plants closely. There were plenty of flower buds, including the site visited the previous day (the "Giant Chaparral Site).    I was very pleased and I intend on taking photographs of the blooming event later in the spring.


At the "Giant Chaparral Site" I found mature plants of Garrya.


Taking my time and having my close-up glasses I identified the Garrya as G. congdonii. It is very easily identified by the hairs on the bottom side of the leaves and the hairs on the inflorescence. Abaxially the foliage of G. fremontii is glaborous.


Also at the "Giant Chaparral Site" I found many large Quercus dumosa. Large for this species is about 3-4 meters tall and as wide. The plants must have been ancient.

Robert, I like that; "plenty of flower buds"

Still many interesting species! Like Garrya congdonii  -  never heard of that one before

Beautiful Primula/Dodecatheon!

I like the landscape also

Seems you are in for more rain and even cold weather in a week!

[Robert]

Keep going Robert, as usual most interesting.

David,

You bet I'll keep going!     

[Robert]

Trond,

We have "weeds" like the Cardamine pratensis that we would never want in our gardens too. 

Yes, it looks like we might start getting some rain again. Maybe what we call a "March Miracle" and an "Amazing April" here in California. We shall see. As of today, we are at least better off than we were last year at this time.

[Gabriela]

It is the blooming season for Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii here at the farm.
Our local Primula (Dodecantheon) are certainly a favorite for me. I grow many seedlings each season - plants from other geographic regions in California as well as the local ones that grow naturally here on our farm property.
 

The shooting stars are such great spring flowers, they should be cultivated more. I didn't look into this - are we supposed to call them Primula now?
It never ends....

[fermi de Sousa]

...  are we supposed to call them Primula now?

Only if you believe in taxonomists
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

The shooting stars are such great spring flowers, they should be cultivated more. I didn't look into this - are we supposed to call them Primula now?
It never ends....

Gabriela,

I think that Fermi has the correct answer! I would quote a paragraph from one of my university geology text that sums things up well too, but it would take too much time (I will find the text if you do want to read it).

Anyway, personally I find that much of the DNA sequencing and changes in taxonomy make sense. I have even been participating in this, if even in a very, very small way. Some of the folks that I have become acquainted with are wonderful people and I have learned a great deal from them.

I also believe it is important for all of us the question this. Things like, the results are such and such because I did it, does not fly with me. My mentors have kindly shared their results with, and in a way that I can mostly understand. I have benefited greatly from this and my ability to understand the complexities and subtleties of these topics has grown rapidly.

Gabriela, I think that you are right on too with the correct answer "It never ends......"       

[Tim Ingram]

Probably the most wisely written book on plants that I have is 'The Living Garden' by E.J.Salisbury who was a Professor of Botany and one time Director of Kew Gardens, and he opens his chapter on Plant Names with the quotation: 'Words are wise men's counters: they do but reckon by them, but they are the money of fools' (Hobbes). This sums up plant names for me because they are there to help us observe and understand and this will differ for different people viewing plants from different perspectives. I am fascinated by the immense variety of plants so names are really important in making some logical sense of this and it can be difficult to think of a genus such as Primula also including Dodecatheon and Dionysia as some botanists suggest, just as Anemone including Pulsatilla or Actaea, Cimicifuga, or Aster being subdivided into numerous new and hard to remember genera. A gardener views these much more visually than a systematist or taxonomist working in a herbarium, or molecular biologist in a laboratory. I have found the recently published 'Flowering Plant Families of the World' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flowering-Plant-Families-World-Heywood/dp/1554072069) to be a really valuable guide to up to date thinking - and simply a very beautiful book!

[Tim Ingram]

Another book which I don't have - written by a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen - is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flowering-Plants-Handbook-Practical-Families/dp/0992999308/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456908237&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Flowering+Plants+Handbook%3A+A+Practical+Guide+to+Families+and+Genera+of+the+World

This is not presently in print but I think may be republished by Plant Gateway Ltd in the future.

[Maggi Young]

Tim - you may be able to acces this book in electronic form via JSTOR  ?   http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13xd350     eISBN: 978-0-9929993-1-5