2017 - Robert's botanical adventures in Northern California

[Robert]

A lone specimen of Lady Fern, Athyrium filix-fmina var. cyclosorum, shared the bank with the Bulrush. The next snowfall would be arriving in the next day or two and the last of its green foliage was ready to be frosted down.



From the campsite, it was a short walk down to the Outback. From the turn off to the SMUD power station to Gerle Creek, the snow is not cleared from Wentworth Springs Road. Very soon if I wish to visit I will have to hike over the snow. I have done this many times in the past and it is a pleasant hike. Maybe I will hike in this winter or in the early spring. The forest is very different and quiet during the winter months.

Well, this was an interesting outing. Much time was wasted as I moved from the logging site down to Gerle Creek. This late in the season, many plants were dormant, however there was still plenty to see (at least for me). Despite the disappointment at the Rubicon River canyon rim, this outing was still a success. Hopefully, I will be able to explore the southern ridge over the Rubicon River next spring after the snow melts. But now it is time to plan next weeks outing.

Until next time………

[ArnoldT]

Hi Robert:

Great images and words.

Has the Oroville Reservoir situation been remedied?

[Robert]

Hi Robert:

Great images and words.

Has the Oroville Reservoir situation been remedied?

Hi Arnold,

Thank you for the words of encouragement. Very 

I am hard at work on a much more extensive article for the SRGC. First I have to finish it, before I find the correct venue to submit it. Finding an engaging way to tell my personal story (an adventure), with my data collection is challenging.... but fun too. And then there is the book... this is progressing but at a slower pace. I have gather a huge amount of personal data, but then this helps makes it very unique in its own way.

The state of California had no choice but deal with Oroville Dam (the spillway). I have not heard much lately, but then when I am at home (Sacramento) I am not directly connected to the news. To my knowledge, the repairs are completed or will be soon (i.e. before the rainy season). What an irony - I do volunteer work for one of our local TV stations in Sacramento, but I am too busy to watch TV. I actually like (a lot) the volunteer work and I like being busy with my fascinating personal projects. It is endless - how could one become bored with life with a infinite number of things to learn about and discover?

Thank you again for your comments.

I hope your project with walnuts has gone well!

[Leucogenes]

Hello, Robert.

As usual, your pictures and texts are very impressive. I think, it is a pleasure for all senses. Also smells, noises and particularly the silence, in this seclusion, influence and impress with lasting effect.

Today especially fantastically I find Pellaea brigesii, Lecanora mellea and Umbilicaria hyperborea. If the wind reached up to me, I would be happily about some spores of it. 😉

[Robert]

Hello, Robert.

As usual, your pictures and texts are very impressive. I think, it is a pleasure for all senses. Also smells, noises and particularly the silence, in this seclusion, influence and impress with lasting effect.

Today especially fantastically I find Pellaea brigesii, Lecanora mellea and Umbilicaria hyperborea. If the wind reached up to me, I would be happily about some spores of it. 😉

Leucogenes,

The geosmin mixed with the scent of the Incense Cedar, Calocedrus decurrens, other conifers and flora is seductive. Each sites along the Crystal Range is subtly different. If only I could bring that into our Sacramento garden! Breath deep! Each breath would be heavenly.

Thank you for the kind comments. Pellaea bridgesii is such a beauty. Hopefully I can get some going via spores. Other California native species within the genus are fairly easy to cultivate. Good drainage is essential. Of coarse, lichens cannot be cultivated. They are very tough, but also very demanding of their environment. Subtle changes to environmental conditions can be fatal. They have an important story to tells us about the health and changes to our environment.

[Robert]

The forest was fairly quiet on my outing the other day. Many birds have already migrated to lower elevations.

I did see the following birds:

Steller's Jay - They were fussing over the bluebird. Bird territorialism!
Western Bluebird - Surprised they were not Mountain Bluebirds.
American Robin
Red-shafted Flicker
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch

There were also a few midges flying around. Cold weather in the autumn and they are generally gone!

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, the Aspidotis densa looks similar to Cryptogramma crispa, parsley fern. I wonder if they have a common ancestor, or maybe they are variations of the same species. I have noticed this closeness in plants from different parts of the world before. Perhaps climate in different areas is the only difference. A strange thing, this evolution. An interesting report as always.

[Robert]

Ian,

Very interesting question. Both Aspidotis and Cryptogramma are in the Brake Family, Pteridaceae. I do not know exactly how closely they may be related to each other, but the question could be worth looking into. Nature certainly has its own rules and patterns. I see surprising things in the plant world all of the time that seem to contradict the prevailing human knowledge. My policy is to try to keep an open mind to different possibilities. It does not always take me where I would expect, but I almost always learn something valuable.

I have read some fairly recent genetic studys / phylogentic schemes of the genus Cryptogramma. The studies seemed to be extremely well conducted and reasonable. Our two California native Cryptogramma species, C arcostichoides and C. cascadensis, appear to be somewhat related to C. crispa, however research suggested that there is most likely a common ancestor that separates C. crispa from C. cascadensis. In addition, I have seen C. arcostichoides and C. cascadensis growing close enough in the wild that it is possible that they could cross with each other. To date, I have seen no evidence that the two species form hybrids. The information I have seen seems to suggest that Aspidotis and Cryptogramma, although somewhat related to one another, are not closely related to each other, and certainly more distantly related than Cryptogramma species are from each other. But then surprises do occur!

None of this answers your question, because I just do not know how close the relationship is between Aspidotis and Cryptogramma. I am sure someone has a much better answer than I do, but I do find it an intriguing idea to look into.

[Robert]

Despite some rain yesterday, I had a great outing to the Salmon Falls area of El Dorado County. I logged over 75 plants species, over 20 lichens, and many birds including a Bald Eagle. Not bad for a rainy November day.    A full report will be coming up soon.

[Hoy]

Still lots of interest, Robert, even in fall.
Your fall is dry - ours is wet, very wet. And the temperatures you experience is like high summer here!

The fern Sceptridum multifidum looks great. Looks more similar to Botrychium ferns that we have here than "ordinary" ferns although Sceptridium is much bigger.
here most trees have lost their foliage, mostly due to strong rainstorms and gales - typically for late fall.

It is nice to follow your steps in the dry landscape!

 

[Robert]

Still lots of interest, Robert, even in fall.
Your fall is dry - ours is wet, very wet. And the temperatures you experience is like high summer here!

The fern Sceptridum multifidum looks great. Looks more similar to Botrychium ferns that we have here than "ordinary" ferns although Sceptridium is much bigger.
here most trees have lost their foliage, mostly due to strong rainstorms and gales - typically for late fall.

It is nice to follow your steps in the dry landscape!

Hi Trond,

I am curious, the temperatures at Gerle Creek are similar to your summer temperatures in the mountains or along the coast, or maybe both?

So far this year, the autumn precipitation has been below average. We are at least getting a storm every 2-3 days. The high temperatures have been about 16 C or a little above at the farm and down in the valley. This is about average for this time of year. No frost yet! even at the farm. This is unusual, or maybe it is becoming the new usual? 30 years ago the first frost was usually around 31 October (i.e. "frost on the pumpkin") at the farm. Not any more!

My work schedule has been hectic the last week, so I am still working on my write-up for my last outing. I have had some exciting sightings! A few days ago there was a Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, at our Sacramento home. I did not have a camera in hand at the time, but I got an excellent look at it as it rested on the cement.

I must drive my wife crazy. The storms knocked a large tree limb off one of the trees in our Sacramento neighborhood. It was full of lichens from the upper tree canopy, a place I can not easily visit. Of coarse, I had to drag it home to see who was living up there. It now joins all the rocks I bring home, but at least they can be worked into the rock garden. My wife thinks that I am like those folks described in the book "Westly the Owl", you know the person that studies toad eyes in the Amazon jungle, that know one has seen in years. 

[Hoy]

Robert, the warmest monthhere, both at the coast and in the mountains is July. The monthly average is 15 - 16C at the sea level and a bit less in the mountais but it fluctuates much more in the mountains between day and night.

We have not had frost here at home either but maybe tonight as the sky has cleared nd it is a northerly wind. In the mountains it has snowed several times already.

I use roots in my garden and also tre limbs and boles. I once inocculated an oak bole with Fistulina just for fun. It worked and I had nice fruiting bodies for several years.

[Robert]

Trond,

Here are some weather statistics from our El Dorado County farm that you might find interesting.

The average annual temperature is 59.34 F, 15.2 C (high and low temperatures combined)
The average annual high temperature is 73.09 F, 22.8 C.
The average temperature for July is 76.3 F, 24.6 C.
The average high temperature for July 93.5 F, 34.2 C.
The average temperature for November is 50.0 F, 10 C.
The average high temperature for November is 61.2 F, 16.2 C
The average annual precipitation is 34.87 inches, 886 mm.

[Robert]

SKUNK HOLLOW

Thursday, 9 November 2017

Sacramento Weather
Weather: Broken Clouds
Temperature, High: 65 F, 18.3 C
                       Low: 56 F, 13.3 C
Precipitation: 24 hr. total: .28” (7mm) To date: 0.62” (15.7 mm)

Placerville Weather
Weather: Rain Showers
Temperature, High: 62 F, 16.6 C
                       Low: 52 F, 11.1 C
Precipitation: 24 hr. total: .58” (14.7mm) To date: 1.15” (29.2 mm), Average to date: 3.12” (79 mm)




This outing ends the fourth year of my botanical diary and is the beginning of my fifth season. It feels like it has taken me four years to get myself back up-to-speed and current. Skunk Hollow and the Salmon Falls area are an appropriate setting for this outing. I first started coming to this area in the early 1970’s. Later in the 1970’s some of our college botany field trips were conducted in this area. In some ways much has changed since then. The old Cottonwood tree, Populus fremontii, that we used as a tree swing died many years ago and now is a rotting log at the high water mark of the reservoir. In other ways things seem the same. The ancient Redbud tree, Cercis occidentalis, that guards the entrance to one of the trails looks, or at least seems, unchanged. One thing has not changed. This area is still a very fascinating area to explore. After almost 50 years, I still find new and interesting species in the area.

My goal on this day was to explore the dark chaparral covered ridge seen in the photograph. It seems like this is always my goal when I head off in this direction, however I rarely make it. No matter the season, there is always so much of interest to see and this slows my progress to the ridge!



It was a mild morning when I arrived at the Skunk Hollow staging area. At 8:30 a.m. it was 60 F, 15.5 C, and the rain had just ended shortly before I arrived. Low, dark broken clouds sped through the sky as I started down the trail to the west. The wonderful scent of Salvia sonomensis (pictured) filled the air; it was a great day to be out.



The beginning of the rainy season in this part of California marks the start of the new season, a bit like spring elsewhere. Many plants are breaking out of their dormancy and starting into growth. A month ago, many of the Bryophytes, such as this moss (pictured), looks dead and very dormant. Now they were lush and in full growth.



The annual grasses germinate within days after the temperatures cool and there is the first good soaking rain.



The Goldback Fern, Pentagramma triangularis, had burst into growth. Sometimes a few fronds can remain over the hot, dry summer, however mostly they disappear only to reappear when the temperatures cool and the rains start.

[Robert]

I like to identify various species during any season. The dried remains of Dichelostemma volubile (pictured) can be easy to identify, as it is the only Themidaceae species in this region with long twinning stems. The dried remains of other species can be much more difficult to decipher. This time of year there are still plenty of dried plant parts to challenge my abilities. Soon the winter storms will scatter, break apart, and mat the dried remains. At this time identifying species by their cotyledons leaves and new growth becomes the fun challenge.



This area is rich in lichen species. Many such as the mostly rock dwelling Xanthoparmelia cumberlandia, Cumberland Rock Shield, are quite common.



There are many Xanthoparmelia species in this region and identification to the species level can be challenging at times. Xanthoparmelia cumberlandia does have distinctive characteristics that help distinguish it from other species. The thallus lobes are often noticeably black around the edges and many pycnidia dot the thallus surface. The apothecia are can be in rolled with toothed margins. This species grew abundantly on most of the exposed rocks in the area.



Whiteleaf Manzanita, Arctostaphylos viscida ssp. viscida is one of the dominant chaparral species along this route. The nascent inflorescences can start the season standing erect at the end of the stems. Later they will nod and become more or less pendant before the flowers start to open. It is a beautiful species throughout the seasons with striking deep chestnut bark, glaucous gray-green foliage, and clusters of red fruit in the autumn.



In some locations lichens can cover almost everything. One species or another can be found growing on twigs, trees bark, rocks, or on soil. The small branches of the Chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum, can be covered with the common fruticose Antler Lichen, Evernia prunastri, and the equally common foliose Speckled Greenshield Lichen, Flavopunctelia flaventior. In other exposures, other lichen species such as Candelaria and/or Xanthomedosa can dominate the twigs of the same plant species.