Goldback fern – Baltimore Canyon

Date: February 8th, 2018

 

Location: Baltimore Canyon Open Space Preserve, 37.9369° N, 122.5609° W

Site description: At Baltimore Canyon, the higher regions were more exposed to the sun, therefore drier and hotter. From here, you could see a lot of open space, seeing only a few houses with the canyon below. There were also areas that were deeper in the canyon that held on to more moisture, and much cooler.

 

Species description: The Goldback fern, part of the pteridaceae family, is notable for its overall triangular shape, as well as its yellowish underside of the leaves. The leaves are also pinnately lobed and are glabrous.

 

Narrative: The weather was very warm and sunny, good enough for the many dogs that we saw on the hike. Our class left school around 1:00PM to drive to Baltimore Canyon Open Space Preserve north of the Golden Gate Bridge, which took about 30-40 minutes to drive. While it remained warm in the sunny areas of the canyon, the shady areas were quite cool in comparison. There was also a lot more moisture deeper in the canyon, where we saw a small waterfall. My classmates enjoyed stopping to look at the waterfall, while I enjoyed stopping to catch my breath after such a tiring hike.

 

 

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