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

[Robert]

This section of the road actually had a good diversity of species. I was quite pleased and hiked back up the road to the truck to continue my journey up into the canyon.

After a short distance, the road widened and leveled off somewhat. I made another stop at 3,538 feet (1,078 meters) to explore around on foot.



In one area I found Ceanothus diversifolius in bloom. I very rarely see this species and was delighted to find it. It tends to be a low growing species with small trusses of lavender-blue flowers. Good forms of this species seem like they would be an excellent addition to the garden. The foliage is very attractive and forms with larger fuller flowers trusses would be superb.



Another delight at this time of year are the Paintbrushes, Castillejia. These pictured are labeled as C. foliolosa. They very well could be, however I have my doubts. I have to admit that at times there is so much to check on that I sometimes do not take the time to make a clear determination of a species. How a month and a half can change things. Now it seems I proceed at a snails pace checking every detail. My wife bought me a new copy of the 2012 Jepson Manual of Vascular Plants of California about a month ago. I think this has something to do with the slow methodical pace I have now. 



Whatever the species, they are very beautiful.



From the higher portions of the canyon the views were tremendous.

[Peterwg]

Robert,
            Your reports are eagerly anticipated and carefully read , and provide the sort of enjoyment I used to get from exploring the bush near Sydney before it became too difficult.   I hope that the recovery and repairs don't take too long - they always seem to be much more trouble than they should.    Best wishes. 

[Robert]

It was getting late in the day and there was still one site I wanted to check on. I drove up the road to Panther Creek to see what I might find there.



The section of Panther Creek where I stopped is very shaded and moist. The growing season lags behind that of the rest of the terrain in this area. Here I found the Dogwood, Cornus sessilis in bloom.



Ferns were everywhere. Cystopteris fragilis (pictured), Polystichum imbricans, and other fern species were abundant on the mossy shaded rock faces.



There were also huge colonies of Dicentra formosa getting ready to bloom. This population was very interesting. There was a tremendous diversity in the foliage among the individual plants. Some plants had extremely dissected lacy leaves others very broad wide foliage. At some point I would like to study this in more detail.



Scattered among the Bleeding Hearts were blooming plants of Trillium angustipetulum. This was a great treat to see them in bloom.

[Robert]

The day was now very late and I still had a long drive home.

I will end this with two more photographs of Trillium angustipetalum.



So off I went....  to be continued in Part II. 

[Robert]

Robert,
            Your reports are eagerly anticipated and carefully read , and provide the sort of enjoyment I used to get from exploring the bush near Sydney before it became too difficult.   I hope that the recovery and repairs don't take too long - they always seem to be much more trouble than they should.    Best wishes. 

Peter,

Exploring the bush near Sydney must have been a most enjoyable activity.  I bet you have many wonderful memories from your hikes in this area. The climate seems as though it is different than our California climate (a little more subtropical?). And of coarse, a completely different set of plants. Is this Cassowary country? or do they live farther to the north? (I hope this is not one of those stupid annoying questions that are sometimes asked    )

Anyway, we are coming along well and I feel sure that I will be back out next week. You are right sometimes this stuff can be much trouble, however the insurance companies have been great so far and very helpful. We already have an appointment to have our truck fixed.

It is great to hear from you and I am always encouraged by everyone's comments.

Thank you.

[Hoy]

Exciting as always, Robert

The brown trees seen in some of your pics - are they dead? Drought or fire?

I have been along with keen botanists on an expedition to Svalbard and I know what slow speed is! The speed is measured in inches an hour. A random spectator would think they were seriously ill or dead lying on their stomachs with the face down in the vegetation.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Just read about your accident, Robert. Glad you are both recovering well. Best wishes.

[Robert]

Exciting as always, Robert

The brown trees seen in some of your pics - are they dead? Drought or fire?

I have been along with keen botanists on an expedition to Svalbard and I know what slow speed is! The speed is measured in inches an hour. A random spectator would think they were seriously ill or dead lying on their stomachs with the face down in the vegetation.

Trond,

Yes, there are many dead trees! In this case the dead trees are due to the drought. Where I was traveling on this outing was just up the canyon from the Butte Fire that raged through the area last year. I wish that there was more public land in the Butte Fire burn area. The location would be a good place to study long term habitat regeneration in the Upper Sonoran Life Zone of California. Private Property makes such projects challenging.

Your second comment brought a smile to my face. I must be making progress as I am progressively getting slower and slower.    Fortunately I do not see many people when I am out, however when I am seen I do indeed get odd looks! I guess it goes with the territory. 

[Robert]

Just read about your accident, Robert. Glad you are both recovering well. Best wishes.

Ralph,

Thank you for the kind words. I am, more or less, back to 100% without any special treatment. My wife will need some more medical attention, however I am sure she will be okay too. The truck will be fixed and we will have a rental car while the truck is being fixed. Everything looks good that I will be out again next week. There will be a slight change to Thursday rather than Wednesday but this is not a big deal at all. 

Best wish for you too!

[Robert]

Part II

Rock Creek

With the following photographs I will be up-to-date with all of my past outings.

The photographs were taken, 1 April 2016, near Rock Creek, El Dorado County, California. In addition, I have a few photographs taken yesterday near Rock Creek, after having an estimate on the truck repairs.



Back in April everything was still lush and green from the winter and spring rains.

A large swath of Lupinus nanus. It was great to see them in such numbers this year.



A close-up of Lupinus nanus



Even in April the blooming season was advancing along.

Leptosiphon montanus is another native spring annual wildflower.



There were also some nice stems of Delphinium patens coming into bloom.



Petrorhagia dubia is a annual, non-native, invasive species. I did not see many last year, however this year they were out in numbers. The species is clearly very well adapted to our summer dry climate and intervals of drought conditions.

[Robert]

Dichelostemma capitatum is one of the first native bulbous species to come into bloom in our area. One feature that I enjoy with this species is their prolonged blooming season. They do not all bloom at once, but rather individuals bloom at different times throughout their blooming season.



Triteleia ixioides is a mid-season bloomer. They are all finished at the lowers elevations as of today, 3 June. The species grows over a considerable elevation range. Up in the high country they are most likely just waking up. I will find out more with my outing this coming week into the high country.



This photograph was taken on 15 April too, however at a much lower elevation, approximately 1,000 feet (305 meters). Nemophila maculata is a very common annual species higher in the Sierra Nevada. For me this was a low elevation record. Until this day, I had never seen this species anywhere near this elevation range. It is much more common to find Nemophila menziesii at this elevation.



At the same site Limnanthes alba was in bloom.

[Robert]

This series of photographs is from 2 June (yesterday). Much of the annual vegetation is brown now, especially with the near 40 C temperatures the last few days. The Buckeyes, Aesculus californica, have finished their bloom cycle and the Mockorange, Philadelphus lewisii are in their prime.



It is getting very dry, very quickly now. Delphinium hansenii blooming among the dry grasses. I have good success growing this Delphinium species in our gardens. They are a xeric species. Plants at the farm with no attention at all are blooming and thriving.



Eriophyllum lanatum still graces the canyon sides with the bright yellow flowers. This is variety grandiflorum, however I did see a few variety achilleiodes in other locations yesterday.



Also the late bulbous species are in bloom too. Dichelostemma volubile is a very common species in our area. It is a twining, vining species, having a flowering stem that can twine sometimes up to 1 meter in length over and through other plants.

[Robert]

Harvest Brodiaea, Brodiaea elegans, is another late season bloomer. It is somewhat similar to Brodiaea coronaria, a species generally found in the Sacramento Valley. With Brodiaea elegans the staminodes are held away from the stamens. With Brodiaea coronaria the staminodes lean toward the stamens. There are a number of other subtle difference, however this one is very easy to check when in doubt.



On a shady slope I found a some Collinsia tinctoria still with a few flowers.



The delight of the day was the Philadelphus lewisii in full bloom. Their fragrance is divine!

It was very nice to take the scenic route back into town. I did not have much time to look around however I greatly enjoyed what little time I did have.

All caught-up now.    Until next time, which will be Thursday this coming week........

[Maggi Young]

Oh for a scent button!  Real citrus blossom is my favourite scent of all but the Mock Orange flowers run a good second! Just thinking about these fragrances takes me on a trail of happy memories.

[Hoy]

Oh for a scent button!  Real citrus blossom is my favourite scent of all but the Mock Orange flowers run a good second! Just thinking about these fragrances takes me on a trail of happy memories.

Mock orange fragrance always make me think summer and cherries As a child I (and my cousin) always sat in the cherry tree eating almost ripe cherries when the mock orange was in flower. So the fragrance of mock orange and taste of cherries will always be interconnected - and connected to sunny day of summer!

Another summer scent  (can't call it a fragrance, can I?) is the smell of rotting seaweed! It is also connected to summer and happy days