2019 - Robert's botanical adventures in Northern California

[Robert]

LYONS CREEK BASIN
El Dorado County, California

Part II

Before proceeding up the trail, my attention was focused on the flight of butterflies. There were hundreds of California Tortoiseshells, Nymphalis californica. I am so fortunate to be out frequently and to be dedicated to manual empirical observations. The flight of certain species of butterflies can be highly variable. Often one has to be in the right place at the right time to observe certain peculiarities of specific species.



Sharing space with the California Tortoiseshells were a few Mourning Cloaks.



I see Mourning Cloaks, Nymphalis antiopa, frequently but never in great numbers. When I was very young, maybe 8 to 10 years old, I saw Mourning Cloaks all of the time in the Central Valley of California. Housing development, construction of all sorts, and agricultural development has destroyed much of their habitat in the Central Valley of California. Fortunately Mourning Cloaks have a large range and appear to be thriving in some parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Here too the ecology has been highly altered by human activities. Conditions are continuing to change. Butterflies appear to be the “Canary in the Coal Mine”. I document butterfly behavior and populations closely and as accurately as possible.



I also spotted a few Greenish Blues, Plebejus saepiolus. I see this species frequently in this area every season. In this area, their population numbers seem stable.



Observing butterflies is time consuming and requires a great deal of patience and persistence. These are all good qualities for me to cultivate. In addition, butterflies have their story to tell which provides important information regarding the overall health of an ecosystem.

After being satisfied with my encounter with the butterflies, I proceeded up the trail to see what I might see in the way of plant species. Viola bakeri had emerged from the ground where the snow had melted and in a few locations there were plants in bloom.

[Robert]

I keep careful notes on plant species at all phases of their life cycle and seasonal cycles.  Here Aconogonon phytolaccifolium has emerged from the ground and is growing rapidly. Aconogonon phytolaccifolium is also easy to identify from their dead stems. This is a useful observation at certain times.



Ligusticum grayi was also making rapid growth. Here it can be seen with small plants of Viola bakeri.



Yampah, Perideridia parishii ssp. latifolia had also emerged from the ground.  Some species can appear identical to other similar species during various stages of their seasonal cycle. At some sites I know exactly where certain species and specific specimens grow. In this way I can make a positive identification of a species and learn subtle nuances of specific species.



Lewisia nevadensis has a strong preference for specific sites and has very specific habitat requirements. Exposure to sunlight, soil preferences, and moisture availability during specific phases of seasonal growth are all requirements that need to be met. These and other preferences tell me a great deal about a specific site.



Lyons Creek, as well as its smaller feeder streams, was flowing high, cold and swiftly. The creek can be crossed during these periods, but it can be challenging and time consuming to find the best location to cross over. On this day there was more than enough for me to do without having to ford the creek.

[Robert]

Near a feeder stream I am very familiar with most of the plants that grow at this site. I have studied this location for decades and there is always something new for me to learn from the plants growing there and how the system shifts and changes with time.

Aconitum columbianum is a regular resident at this site. I always find this species in the same general area, however they have shifted around a bit over time.



Aquilegia formosa is also a long term resident of this site. Here it can be seen growing with Senecio triangularis and seedlings at various stages of development of Aconitum columbianum. As Ian Young points out in his Bulb Log, self-sown seedlings at various stages of development are a very natural part of a landscape and provide an ambiance of naturalness and beauty to a garden. The propagation of a species in the wild can also provide a great deal of information regarding the health and direction of change within an ecosystem.



Thalictrum fendleri var. fendleri can look identical to Aquilegia formosa at various stages of its seasonal growth. If one is familiar with both species, the differences in their juvenile stages of growth are very apparent.



At this same site where the grade is slightly higher and drier, Castilleja miniata ssp. miniata can be found (Yes, it is there among the blades of grass). Both color phases of this species can be found in this general area, the yellow and red phases.



Agastache urticifolia is also a long term resident of this site. It prefers the sunniest and driest locations at this location.

[Robert]

In this photograph Heracleum maximum can be seen growing with Veratrum californicum var. californicum. Heracleum maximum is a large, bold species with big leaves and sizeable umbels of white flowers when in bloom. It is quite at home in this moist streamside setting.



I knew in advance that Viola glabella grew at this site. I found many plants in leaf and was fortunate to find one specimen in bloom.



From the stream habitat I moved on to a much drier habitat. Even shortly after snowmelt some locations dry very quickly.



The snowmelt water infiltrates and then percolates very quickly through the soil at some sites. I spend a great deal of time studying the meadow ecosystems in this area. There are both moist and dry meadow ecosystems and gradations in between. Each meadow ecosystem has its unique signature of characteristics and flora.



Eriogonum incanum has a strong preference for the drier meadow habitats in this area. Where moisture is limited during the bulk of the growing season the vegetation is frequently sparse and well spaced. These are ideal growing conditions for Eriogonum incanum and many other interesting species.

[Robert]

Senecio integerrimus var. major is another species that enjoys drier terrain. This species is much more tolerant of shade than many of the Eriogonum species found in this area and is often found near trees at the edges of dry meadows.

It is easy to keep myself occupied and focused on my outings. At some point, by observing the shadows, I become aware that it is time to stop for the day and return home.

This was an excellent follow up trip to this location and I accomplished a great deal. This coming week, I will be deploying more instruments and make more follow up observations at other locations. Access to the higher terrain is still difficult due to snow. The snow is melting quickly and I hope to start visiting the highest terrain soon.

[Robert]

It has been a very busy week, however I had a very good outing earlier in the week.

Conditions are drying and the snow is melting quickly at the higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There are many wildflowers to see. I will be reporting on the latest outing later in the coming week.

 

[Robert]

PEAVINE RIDGE
El Dorado County, California

Wednesday, 19 June 2019

Part I

Weather for selected location:

Peavine Ridge, 5,146 feet, 1,569 meters
Weather: High Clouds
Temperature, High: 85 F, 29.4 C
                       Low: 50 F, 10.0 C
Relative Humidity: 41%
Dew Point: 56 F, 13.3 C
Wind: SSW   6G9
Precipitation: 0.00 inches (0.0 mm)
Precipitation to date: 56.80 inches (1,442.72 mm)



I spent much of my time last week deploying data loggers at new high elevation sites. There are a number of objectives I wished to accomplish by deploying additional data loggers. Much of the high elevation alpine region is still poorly understood and there are a number of challenges recovering accurate data from these regions, especially during the winter months. Data for a surface energy budget can be extremely revealing and provides valuable information as it relates to the vegetation and other aspects of a specific site. At the highest elevations in our area, wintertime rime accumulations on remotely placed meteorological instruments are a continuing challenge. When analyzing local radiosonde and GOES satellite soundings for our region it is clear that wintertime LCLs, wind velocities and in this in this case 700 mb temperatures are within “the sweet zone” for excessive rime accumulations. I will be experimenting with various design and placement variables to hopefully ameliorate wintertime rime accumulations on sensors and hopefully obtain useful and revealing data from the alpine life zone.



Our native annual, Diplacus (Mimulus) torreyi, has a wide altitudinal range in our area. It can be found from ~ 3,500 feet (1,067 meters) to > 7,000 feet (2,134 meters). It is one of a number of species that I evaluate in detail.



Knowing the name and being able to identify a species at various stages of its life cycle is only a starting point for understanding any species and how it reacts with its environment.



Although I was quite busy, there was time to hike through the site and make a quick survey of the plants. I have thoroughly surveyed this site repeatedly over the years, yet I still find additional species that I missed on previous outings. On this outing I spotted a large colony of Woolly Marbles, Psilocarphus tenellus. It is not a rare species, however this was my first sighting of this species at this site.

In another location there were large drifts of Allium campanulatum (pictured) at the peak of their blooming cycle.



Frangula rubra ssp. rubra is one of the few broad-leaf evergreen species found at the higher elevations in this region. The species is surprisingly cold hardy and is found in a variety of woodland habitats at various elevations, yet the species is rarely seen in large numbers at any given site.

[Robert]

PEAVINE RIDGE
El Dorado County, California

Wednesday, 19 June 2019

Part II

Triteleia ixioides ssp. unifolia thrives on the Mehrten Formation andesite. Thousands can be seen now in full bloom on the Ridge. It is a very pretty sight to see.



In the opening photograph of this diary entry for this outing, sheets of pink flowers can be seen. These are predominantly Clarkia arcuata, one of two annual Clarkia species seen blooming at this time on Peavine Ridge.



The other Clarkia species seen blooming concurrently with Clarkia arcuata on the crest of Peavine Ridge is Clarkia rhomboides. The flowers of this species are smaller than those of Clarkia arcuata, but are very interesting in appearance and a delight to see.



Penstemon roezlii thrives on the Merhten Formation andesite in sunny open positions. The flowers of this Penstemon species are very showy.



This lavender flowered form of Penstemon roezlii stands out among the other flowering perennial and annual species blooming on Peavine Ridge. This specimen is long lived, as I have been observing it for many seasons now. This flower color appears to be a very recessive quality, as this is the only specimen of this species I have found with this flower color, and I have seen thousands over the years.

[Robert]

The annual Navarretia prolifera ssp. lutea has a very restricted range in California. It is found only on Peavine Ridge and a few other isolated locations in El Dorado and neighboring Amador County, California. This tiny species is very beautiful and showy when seen blooming in mass.



The annual Erythranthe (Mimulus) bicolor can also be seen blooming in mass throughout this area at this time. This year, an additional boost of late season precipitation helped this species along. During the initial dry and unseasonably hot weather in late April and early May I observed many stands of this species wilted and going dry. Once the rain resumed later in May they recovered quickly and are very numerous and beautiful to see in full bloom at this time.



Eriophyllum lanatum var. grandiflorum is a very common species throughout the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in our region. After a fire, this species can be prolific. At times, thousands can be seen blooming on burned over slopes turning the whole mountainside yellow with their showy flowers. At higher elevations, variety grandiflorum is replaced by other varieties of this species in our region.



Castilleja applegatei ssp. pinetorum is not abundant on Peavine Ridge, however the plants are extremely showy when in bloom and easily attract ones attention.



Calochortus leichtlinii is one of three Calochortus species that I have found on Peavine Ridge. The diminutive Calochortus minimus is the first species to come into bloom, followed by Calochortus leichtlinii with its large upward facing flowers. Calochortus clavatus var. avius is also found on Peavine Ridge and has an extremely limited distribution in California. In theory both Calochortus coeruleus and C. monophyllus may also be found on Peavine Ridge. Peavine Ridge is certainly within their range, however I have yet to find these species on the Ridge to date.

[fermi de Sousa]

Another great report, Robert!
I love seeing all those wildflowers and it makes me wonder "Would they grow here?"
Have you been able to take cuttings or get seed of that lavender Penstemon roezlii?
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

Yes, I have started a few cuttings of the lavender Penstemon roezlii. It will be very interesting to see how it preforms in cultivation. To date, many of the seedlings that I have grown of the standard “blue” forms of Penstemon roezlii have done well in our Sacramento garden. In my gardening world this is just the starting point. I already see where improvements can be made with this species, but currently there are huge gaps in my knowledge of this species. Progress is slow at this point.

From my perspective I am just getting acquainted with Penstemon roezlii. There is so much that I wish to understand about this species. I have been logging phenotypic traits of specific species native in our area. Unfortunately, Penstemon roezlii is not high on the priority list at this time. My guess is that the lavender flower color will not be passed on in the first generation of seedlings. I still have some uncertainties about the exact nature of its breeding system. Depending on how things are set up genetically for this species there is the possibility that the lavender color could be recovered after several generations. In addition, I have been noting how this species is responding to year-to-year seasonal environmental changes. Unfortunately, there is just not enough data at this time to come to any helpful conclusions. As you can see there is still a great deal for me to understand in regards to this species.

“Would they grow here?”

This is actually a great question. Here in California there are so many fine native species that are not cultivated. This statement is only partly true. Partly what seems to happen is that many of our native species do not survive long in cultivation. The best that I can determine is that accurate knowledge on how to grow challenging species appears to be lacking. Our Sacramento garden is full of native species that I have been repeatedly told are impossible to grow. In addition, there appear to be few efforts to improve many of our native species. There is the usual breeding of Pacific Coast Iris and Lilies and a few other species, but much beyond this little has change in horticultural in our region over the last 45 years. This leaves a great deal on the table. I am doing my small part to make some improvements. The methodology that I find most pleasurable requires a great deal of time and effort. It would be great to see additional California native species and varieties brought into cultivation. I have been given the impression that anything can be found on the internet, so maybe these new wonderful plants are already out there. This is a part of horticulture that does not interest me, so I really do not know what the truth is in this regard.

[Robert]

PEAVINE RIDGE
El Dorado County, California

Wednesday, 19 June 2019

Part III

Eriogonum prattenianum var. prattenianum is found in reasonable abundance on Peavine Ridge. My timing was good, and I found many plants in bloom. The silvery foliage and dense growth habitat of this species is very attractive.



It would have been nice to linger on Peavine Ridge, however there was much for me to accomplish. I moved on to a new site at 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) in the central portion of the study area. This site was especially selected both for its diversity of plant species as well as it physical location. After deploying a number of instruments I took a quick survey of the plants growing in this area. Many species were in bloom. I found a few specimens of Calyptridium monospermum (pictured) in bloom, however it was the diversity of annual species that caught my attention. Hemizonella minima, Collinsia torreyi var. torreyi, Diplacus torreyi, and Leptosiphon ciliatus can be seen blooming in this photograph. The photograph of the “star of the day” did not turn out well. The blue flowering form of the annual species, Phacelia quickii, grew abundantly and was in peak bloom.



The butterfly population at this site was also extremely interesting. I was delighted to log Tailed Coppers, Lycaena arota, at this site.



It would have been nice to linger at the new site, but there was still a great deal for me to accomplish. Near the end of the day I made a quick visit to the Montane Basin to download data and make a quick pass around a portion of this site to see what was going on. Castilleja pruinosa was found blooming on a rocky, sunny, exposed site. This is certainly the preferred habitat for this species.



I found a dense stand of Poa secunda ssp. secunda in bloom. This species is very widespread and common throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

[Robert]

I closely monitor conditions at the seasonal ponds and the creek that flows through the Basin. Now that the snow has melted, water levels are both dropping and warming rapidly both in the creek and ponds.



I wish that I had more time at this site. Many of the native Viola species were in full bloom. Viola tomentosa has a very strong preference for dry, sunny, and rocky sites above the basin floor.



In the moist flats, the annual Five Spot, Nemophila maculata was blooming.



In the same location Delphinium nuttallianum was seen in bloom. Most plants have flowers that are in the dark purplish blue color range. The Montane Basin is peculiar in that about 2% of the Delphinium nuttallianum have lavender colored flowers. I have also found pure white flowering forms of Delphinium nuttallianum in this region, but I have not found them in the Montane Basin to date.

Well there was a great deal for me to accomplish on this outing and for the most part I was very successful. It would have been nice to have more time to observe the wildflowers, as the show was excellent. This was not the case on this outing, but I was still very please with my results for this day.

Now that the snow is beginning to melt from the highest terrain I hope to start visiting the high alpine portions of the Crystal Range. There are a number of high altitude species that I wish to locate. In addition, the deployment of high altitude instruments is also high on my list of priorities.

Until the next time…

[Leucogenes]

Hello Robert

As always, I am overwhelmed by the biodiversity in the area of your research. I would especially like to highlight the two color variants of Penstemon roezlii and Eriogonum prattenianum var. prattenianum. What incredibly interesting plants.

I am already looking forward to the next reports and pictures of your work...always a pleasure and very informative.

Greetings
Thomas

[Robert]

Hi Thomas,

I may not be out again until after the 4th of July holiday here in the U.S.A. 

Eriogonum prattenianum var. prattenianum has beautiful silvery and woolly foliage. I have one specimen that I grew from seed in our Sacramento garden (they can also be propagated asexually). It thrives in our garden and looks great. It can be a bit sparse during the winter, but then I enjoy this wintertime look too. I would like to grow more seedlings. I have a great deal of data from this site, if by chance you are interested in the environment in which these plants grow.