2017 - Robert's botanical adventures in Northern California

[Robert]

I love reading about your explorations.

Thank you!

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your comment.



Despite some rain on Wednesday I had a good outing to the Salmon Falls area. I have much business to attend to this weekend. My report on this outing may be delayed until I work through a back long to items that need my attention. I will be traveling to Bear Valley next Wednesday.

It is Erythronium season. The plants were a bit beat-up by the rain, however they still looked fairly good.

[Robert]

[Hoy]

Grean meadows, trees that leave out and flowering Erythroniums. Nice 

[Robert]

Grean meadows, trees that leave out and flowering Erythroniums. Nice 

Hi Trond,

Now that I am back in town, I can write-up a report on my last outing. In addition, we will have fiber-optic land lines in our neighborhood soon.    This will improve our internet quality and my ability to participate in the forum. The old systems worked 20% of the time (mostly at 2 a.m. our time) and one could be cut-off at any time.

The Erythroniums were kinda' beat-up from the rainy and stormy weather. I always enjoy their season. Up the mountain they will start to bloom in a month. In a way, this extends their season.

[Robert]

SALMON FALLS

SKUNK HOLLOW - WEST

Wednesday, 23 Mach 2017

Sacramento Weather

Weather:Cloudy
Temperature, High: 67 F, 19.5 C
                      Low: 43 F, 6 C



Wednesday morning was stormy with heavy rain showers. I left our Sacramento home early to explore the Salmon Falls area on the South Fork of the American River in El Dorado County. Skunk Hollow (elevation 473 feet, 144 meters) is located on the South Fork branch of Folsom Reservoir near the “new” (1950’s) Salmon Falls bridge.

As I drove into the foothills the rain was pouring in heavy sheets. I came prepared for rain; however even with good rain gear I was skeptical how productive I might be. First before botany, there was some bureaucratic government paper work I needed to deal with in El Dorado County. Hopefully this would not take long.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the bureaucrats at the DMV had more paper work than expected and they were unwilling to look at the VIN number on the Prius in the rain. Now I needed to make an appointment for a “sunny” day so they could go outside and look at the VIN. Needless to say all of this delayed my arrival to the Skunk Hollow staging area. Maybe the delays did not matter much, as it was still raining steadily when I arrived at Skunk Hollow.

My goal this day was to reach the top of the ridge pictured in the photograph. There are many interesting plant communities on this ridge. In the past I have found a number of interesting and unusual species on this ridge, so I was very eager to get up there and see what I might find.

I tucked myself securely into my rain gear and slogged off into the chaparral in the driving rain.



The chaparral was alive with new plant growth and emerging flowers. Photography was challenging. Small opening in the chaparral were filled with Dichelostemma capitatum in full bloom.



I have been exploring this area since my teenaged days in the early 1970’s. To this day I am still finding unexpected species or unusual forms. On this day I found the white form of Dichelostemma capitatum. This was a “first” for me in this area.



Castilleja foliolosa is quite common in this area and certainly brightens the chaparral this time of year. It is hard to believe that this species can look dead by late summer, yet come back to life and bloom so beautifully in the spring.

Another surprise for me was to find that some of my Castilleja species back at home in the garden have come back to life too and are in full growth.



After some distance the rain stopped and the sun came out for a short time. The annual, Phacelia cicutaria var. cicuraria enjoys growing among the rocks on hot south facing slopes.

[Robert]

Salvia sonomensis carpets the ground under the chaparral shrubbery in this area. This species generally blooms with pale lavender to medium lavender-blue flowers. I have found dark inky blue forms, as well as white and pink flowering forms. I wish the photograph of this pink form had turned-out as it was quite nice!



This is a typical scene of Salvia sonomensis blooming in its usual pale color phase.



Among the population in this area there are many plants that bloom with flowers that are a bit darker in color.



The annual, Lupinus benthamii, has large trusses of flowers and is quite striking in its chaparral home.



The sunshine brought out the butterflies. One species was white with a bright orange border on the edge of its wings. Sadly, I know the names of only a few species.

[Robert]

The Bush Monkey, Mimulus aurantiacus var. aurantiacus, is a very showy species that brightens opening in the chaparral at this time of year.



The chaparral in this region is broken with areas of woodland or grassland. After a fairly short distance I reached an area of Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii, woodland. Many of the Iris marcosiphon in this woodland had been broken down by the wind and rain, however a few still remained standing.



The color range in this woodland was fairly typical for the species – light to medium lavender blue.



The oak woodland was a perfect habitat for Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidentalis. They formed large drifts of yellow flowers throughout this woodland.



There are 4 species of Wythia native to the lower elevations of El Dorado County and one species found at the higher elevations. Wyethia helenioides is generally the first of our local Wyethia species to come into bloom. Its large woolly leaves are very attractive as well as its large bright yellow flowers.

[Robert]

As I left the oak woodland I entered a small grassland area where large sheets of Triphysaria eriantha ssp. eriantha were in full bloom. This is a very common species that is frequently seen in bloom in Northern California this time of year.



Soon I was back in an area of dense chaparral. Some of the Arctostaphylos viscida ssp. viscida grew quite large in this patch of chaparral. The bark on their large trunks was very striking, especially with the lichen and the rainwater dripping off the branches.



The sky darkened and the rain returned for a while. Ceanothus lemmonii is a beautiful blue-flowered evergreen species that is seen frequently in the chaparral in this area. Unlike many Ceanothus species, it tends to grow low and shrubby.



Slowly I was making progress toward the base of the ridge I wished to explore.



Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus var. cuneatus, is a very common species throughout Northern California.

[Robert]

The flowers of Ceanothus cuneatus have a sweet pollen-like fragrance that fills the chaparral this time of year. The fragrance is a delight!



Dichelostemma capitatum is generally the first of the Themidaceae to come into bloom in this area. Triteleia laxa is an early bloomer too, however it generally is found in the open plains of the Central Valley or the surrounding open hill country on the valley fringe. I was very surprised to find several blooming plants of Triteleia laxa on this outing.

Triteleia ixioides ssp. scabra (pictured) blooms a bit later in the season. A few plants that had started into their spring bloom cycle.



Most of the plants of Scutellaria tuberosa were bent to the ground by the rain. It is a pretty little species that has rhizomes that form little tubers. The plants form small colonies in sunny openings among the taller chaparral shrubs.



I always keep my eyes open for plants that exhibit unusual characteristics. It was easy to spot this creamy-white variegated form of Sanicula crassicaulis growing among its green leafed friends.



This time of year there are seasonal streams everywhere, especially with the torrential rainfall we have experienced. This stream was easy to cross; however some of the streams were swift and quite wide. I wear rubber-Gortex hiking boots so I can hike through the water without getting my feet wet.

[Robert]

Now as I approached an oak woodland, there was only one stream to cross at the base of a ravine before the trail traversed upward toward the top of the ridge.



There was also a thunderstorm approaching. I really did not want to be on the ridge during a thunderstorm!



I had hiked a considerable distance already so I decided to cross the last stream and cautiously move up the ridge. I found this grotto of ferns growing under a Buckeye tree, Aesculus californica. The Maidenhair Ferns, Adiantum jordanii, caught my attention, and they looked nice with the Goldback ferns, Pentagramma triangularis.



The Bush Lupines, Lupinus albifrons, are starting into bloom now. The rain too was starting to fall again as the thunderstorm approached.



At this point I decided that it would be best to turn back and avoid high ground. As I worked my way down off the ridge I found clumps of Lupinus latifolius coming into bloom. It was a bit unusual to find this species growing at this elevation, about 624 feet (190 meters).

[Robert]

I had covered more distance than I thought, so it took a considerable amount of time for me to return to the Outback. As it turned out, the thunderstorm tracked off to the northeast and center of the storm missed the area where I was hiking. Aahh!  It also turned out that I still had plenty of time to check on the “mega” Erythronium patch.



I enjoyed my visit with Erythronium multiscapideum, however with the rain and cloudy skies very few of the flowers were open or standing upright. I would have to return on another day to enjoy the open flowers.



The Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis are in full bloom now and dot the chaparral with their bright magenta flowers. I first visited this area and saw this Redbud (pictured) in 1970. At times it is hard to believe that I would spend summer nights out here, sleeping under a huge Cottonwood tree, Populus fremontii, and swim out into the reservoir in the moonlight. Back then an Erythronium was a bulb in a nursery catalog and I am sure I was sleeping on top of hundreds of dormant bulbs.

So now it was time to head back home.

Well, for me this was another enjoyable outing. My next outing will be to Bear Valley. I am looking forward to this outing and the plants I hope to find.

Until next time……..

[Robert]

Yesterday's outing to Bear Valley was amazing!

I used all the memory in my camera and could have taken even more photographs. It will take me awhile to process all the photographs (100+) and write up a report.

[Maggi Young]

Wow! That one view is enough to  excite  me to see the rest, Robert!

[Hoy]

Robert,

your spring looks like full summer to me!
Sometimes it can be very rewarding to hike in rainy weather - as long as you don't get soaked! - because the fragrances are different, the colours look differently and the sounds are different.

Any bears in bear valley?

[Robert]

Wow! That one view is enough to  excite  me to see the rest, Robert!

Hi Maggi,

I can not remember ever seeing any wildflower display like this. I even traveled into the nearby hills and the wildflowers continued on and on. Some day soon I hope to invest in a new camera. There is quite the story to tell and I missed a fair amount with my old camera (limited capabilities). One thing at a time and it will all work out! 

Robert,


Any bears in bear valley?

Trond,

Most likely bears visit Bear Valley. All the beekeepers have electric fences around their bee hives. This is a good sign that bears are a likely threat.