2017 - Robert's botanical adventures in Northern California

[Robert]

SNOW MOUNTAIN

Middle and North Forks of Stony Creek

Part II

High water levels and sheer rock cliffs along the creek bank eventually prevented my progress up the canyon. At this location flooding during the winter season had left large debris piles and scoured out huge pockets into the streamside. Somehow, Clematis ligusticifolia had survived the mayhem and was sending its vining stems into the air looking for something to cling to.



There was one location where I might be able to scrabble (in some cases climb) up out of this area into the surrounding chaparral. After several attempts I finally climbed out into an extremely steep serpentine wash. I spotted a Toyon plant, Heteromeles arbutifolia, with red fruit. This is unusual for this time of the year. Generally by this time the wildlife has eaten them all.

…., but now I had more climbing to do!



On the lower slopes before entering the chaparral there were a few Erysimum capitatum var. capitatum in bloom.



At the edge of a cliff face as I pulled myself up over the side I found, to my surprise, Allium falcifolium in bloom.



The plants were right at eye level and were beautiful to examine in detail, close up!

[Robert]

At this point I continued up the steep slope in a serpentine filled ravine.



The ground was somewhat barren of plant life, however I did encounter this beautiful specimen of Calochortus amabilis.



Often rare and/or unusual plants can be found in serpentine barrens. Streptanthus breweri is such a species. I found this annual serpentine endemic scattered throughout this site.



Castilleja foliolosa grew at the edges of the wash where there was more soil.



When I reached the top of the wash, I traversed the slope into the surrounding chaparral. In one clearing, consisting of serpentine rubble, there was a large colony of Lewisia rediviva in full bloom. What a sight!

[Robert]

There was a full range of colors, including many white flowering specimens.



Others had deep pink flowers.

I was very pleased to find this isolated population.



In another nearby area there were sheets of Minuartia douglasii in bloom. They too grew in the rubble of serpentine rock. Here they can be seen with Acmispon wrangelianus (yellow flowers) and a gray Eriophylllum lanatum (lower right).



Where ever I hiked I sooner or later came across Mimulus kelloggii.



Hiking through the dense scrub of the chaparral was extremely difficult. At this point I had only progressed 1 mile (1.6 km) into the canyon. I made the decision to return to the Outback and check the North Fork of Stony Creek. I also wanted to see some different territory on my return to the Outback, so slowly snaked my way through the brush and back toward the Outback.

[Robert]

In some places the chaparral was so thick it was easier to lower myself down a cliff face or a steep slope of loose gravelly serpentine than attempt to blaze my way through the brush. Eventually the chaparral thinned to the point where there were open grassy areas that were very easy to hike through.



The chaparral was dominated by Chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum. Coastal Whiteleaf Manzanita was one component of the chaparral. In this photograph one can barely see the glandular outer surface of the berries.



In places the vining flowering stems of Dichelostemma volubile could be found twinning through the shrubbery.



A very interesting find was this blooming specimen of Solanium parishii scrabbling through a dwarf Leather Oak, Quercus durata var. durata.



Slowly I worked myself down out of the chaparral and toward the entrance to the canyon. The Leather Oak, Quercus durata var. durata, pictured looks like a giant bonsai. The rock lined trail can also be seen below the oak.

[hamparstum]

Thanks Robert for your report!. I was wondering about the amount of annuals in bloom. Perhaps they start up early keeping pollinators busy until perennials come into bloom. I used to grow Eryophilum lanatum (hairy sunflower). It was a compact grey leaved rounded mound covered in yellow flowers. Perhaps not the same ssp. I also noted that very beautiful annual Mimulus. Are there any perennial Mimulus growing there? So many of the wildflowers have garden potential! (including the annuals!). Needless to say the Calochortus and Allium have caught my eye!. Thanks Arturo

[Robert]

At this point I was very close to the “fishermen’s” trailhead and the entrance of the Middle Fork canyon. As it turned out it was a very short hike down the dirt road to the North Fork of Stony Creek.



Along the dirt track, Gilia tricolor ssp. tricolor could be seen blooming among taller grasses.



Here the terrain was dominated by serpentine, however there was a single outcropping of a dark hornfels (also a metamorphic rock) consisting of very dark small crystal minerals (i.e. the original rock was very dense and cooled quickly).



I found a number of species growing on the hornfels outcrop that I found nowhere else during this outing. One species was Cheilanthes gracillima.



The hornfels outcrop was very sunny and exposed. Dichelostemma volubile growing at this site was well advanced in growth compared to other plants I saw during the day.

[Robert]

Sedum laxum shared the rock cervices with the Cheilanthes fern. This species too was only found growing on the hornfels rock formation.



There were some very impressive clumps of Triteleia laxa growing on the hornfels outcrop.



It was now getting late in the day. I left the hornfels outcrop and started hiking up a dirt track toward the ridge top between the Middle and North Forks of Stony Creek. On a bank along the track I spotted a few specimens of Toxicoscordion fremontii. Later in the day after I exhausted the memory of my camera, I also found Toxicoscordion micranthum.



A bit higher on the ridge there were scattered drifts of Leptosiphon latisectus growing in the rocky scree.



It would have been good if I could have reached the top of the ridge. From there I could survey the land and perhaps see possible sites to visit in the future. Unfortunately I only made it to 1,907 feet (581 meters), about ¾ of the way to the ridge top.

I did find Lomatium macrocarpum in bloom! Sadly, there was no memory space remaining in my camera when I found the dramatic yellow umbels of Lomatium californicum. Lomatium californicum also has striking ternate, wedge-shaped, glaucous foliage. I found them growing out of shear rock faces and in dry serpentine rubble.

[Robert]

On my return trip I continued to find interesting plants (and no memory space on my camera). Near Fouts Spring there was a nice colony of Viola purpurea ssp. purpurea in full bloom. This was a low elevation site for this species. Another good find was Lathyrus vestitus ssp. vestitus growing and blooming near the Viola purpurea. Baccharis salicifolia ssp. salicifolia (in bloom), Wyethia glabra (in bloom), Arctostaphylos manzanita ssp. elegans, Ceanothus parryi (in bloom), and Platystemon californicus (in bloom) were some of the other noteworthy species observed on my way back to the village of Stonyford.

Despite the fact that I covered very little territory and I used all of my camera memory before the day ended, this was an excellent outing. I logged 142 different taxa in a relatively small area. I also spotted a few elk and some deer.

With so much to see this time of year now I need to decide where to go next week.

Until next time…..

[Robert]

Thanks Robert for your report!. I was wondering about the amount of annuals in bloom. Perhaps they start up early keeping pollinators busy until perennials come into bloom. I used to grow Eryophilum lanatum (hairy sunflower). It was a compact grey leaved rounded mound covered in yellow flowers. Perhaps not the same ssp. I also noted that very beautiful annual Mimulus. Are there any perennial Mimulus growing there? So many of the wildflowers have garden potential! (including the annuals!). Needless to say the Calochortus and Allium have caught my eye!. Thanks Arturo

Arturo,

Yes, this time of year there are many annual species in bloom. As one travels higher into the mountains the percentage of annual species decreases and the perennial species increase. At lower elevations the peak blooming season is in the spring, however there are some tough, drought tolerant species that will blooming in the late summer and autumn even at lower elevations. Madia species come to my mind.

We have many beautiful annual and perennial Mimulus species, not to mention our native Calochortus and Allium species. Allium falcifolium and Calochortus amabilis are quite common within their range, never-the-less very beautiful and very garden worthy. Allium falcifolium is blooming at our Sacramento home at this time and well as Calochortus monophyluus.

[Hoy]

Robert,

I enjoyed this outing very much! Thank you. (I have several things to do at home today or else I would be on an outing too!) Difficult to pick one favorite among all your beautiful plants 

Although the weather here has warmed slightly the last two days not many plants have come into bloom yet. But the birch trees will leaf out today!

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, some nice plants in that area, the Leptosiphon reminds me of Androsace. It looks a bit unstable in some of the gullies. We only have fairly small outcrops of serpentine in the UK but they do contain uncommon plants.

[Gerdk]

Robert,
Many thanks for these impressions - especially for showing the serpentine sites!

Gerd

[Robert]

Thank you for all of the comments

Now for some background information:

My wife and I both took college classes in geology. Just enough to get us into trouble!    I brought home a sample of the "Hornfels". Now we are debating what the sample represents. To me it looks a bit like Peridotite. "...but it is not green!", "yes, but there are black forms of Peridotite."    and so it goes.  For the time we are calling it hornfels, as hornfels can consist of almost anything. Now we will do more research and find out what type of rock the sample represents. The plant life was very different in this rock formation. It would be good to have a better understanding of what is going on.

Gerd,

I wanted to get a photograph of the Viola purpurea. They looked superb. In addition, they were growing at a very low elevation - not impossible or unlikely just at a very low elevation limit. I checked and re-checked the plants just to make sure they were indeed Viola purpurea. The good news is that they are easily accessible but not obvious. I can easily observe the plants though the season as I return to the Snow Mountain area.

Trond,

Our weather is starting to warm. In a few days the forecast is for 30 C. In a month is could easily near 40 C. Typical weather in our part of California. More on this later.... 

Ian,

Leptosiphon is a Polemoniaceae, however I can clearly see a resemblance to Androsace.

Sorry, I have been very busy for the past week. I haven't been able to follow along with your diary. I will get back to it soon enough.

Serpentine in the UK! Thank you for sharing that bit of information.

[Robert]

I will be very busy the next two days. This week's outing will be on Thursday. I am still undecided as to the destination. This time of year there are many very good choices. 

[Robert]

I had a very enjoyable and productive outing on Thursday. Originally my plan was to visit the Red Hills in Tuolumne County. Our weather had turned warm (hot, 34 C) and very dry. When I arrived at the Red Hills on Thursday morning there were still many wildflowers in bloom, however the peak was over and things were clearly starting to dry out. Fortunately I had a backup plan. I traveled up the mountain to the North Fork of the Tuolumne River.



The canyon of the North Fork of the Tuolumne River is extremely rugged territory. From my vantage point I had to decide if I wanted to hike down into the Poopenaut Valley.



I could see that the Tuolumne River and the feeder creeks and streams were swollen with snow runoff. This might add to my difficulties hiking in the Poopenaut Valley.



On the other hand it might be interesting to explore the granite canyon slopes.



Fortunately from my vantage point on O'Shaughnessy Dam the decision was very easy! The rapture of exploring Hetch Hetchy Valley could not be resisted! I will have a report on this outing as soon as possible. 

Until then.....