!!!!!!!BONUS POST ULTIMATE CLARKIA HUNT!!!!!!

Unfortunately did not get a picture of the Clarkia without my huge face in it
courtesy of a Keir Morse

Unfortunately, I neglected to take a picture of the Clarkia itself without me in it, so I provided a picture courtesy of Calflora. On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I ventured to the Presidio Ecology trail with a few of my classmates. Shout out to Patrick for keeping our minds sharp by quizzing us! The specimens we saw had redder stems than the one pictured on the right, but it looks similar nonetheless. The corolla is kind of bowl shaped, with the 4 petals looking fan shaped and having a lavender color, fading into a lighter color towards the center. The plant itself is very small and delicate as can be seen. The leaves are incredibly narrow and lanceolate shaped with what seems to be entire margins. We had to go off trail to find these, but it was all worth it to get some practice in before the ultimate test of our plant ID knowledge.

5/4/17 – Steep Ravine

My screen is blurry because of my tears, as this is my final blog post for our final field trip for a class in my final semester at USF. Jk. I’m not really crying, but I am saddened by the fact that I won’t have a formal education in plants anymore. This class has ignited in me, however, a desire to do my own learning on California native plants! And anywhere else I happen to visit in my lifetime. With that said, this final trip was at Steep Ravine (37.8836° N, 122.6271° W, 97 ft above sea level). I can wholeheartedly declare this trip as my favorite of all of our hikes, hands down. The hills looked eerily beautiful shrouded in the rolling mist as we drove up, and the sparkling waters were filled with promise of maybe spotting whales (which we didn’t :(). It as a whole other world when we started walking on the trail, we were surrounded by the coastal scrub species we had come to know for roughly half the hike. The last half of the hike turned into Redwood town, as the towering trees reminded me of our first hike, Baltimore Canyon Open Space. I’m glad we got to end our field trips in such a beautiful spot.

Thimbleberry enjoying some time in the shade

Pictured is Thimbleberry, or Rubus parviflorus. Thimbleberry is classified under the Rosaceae family, which can be seen in the familiar characteristics that those in the family share. The plant has the classic five petals with a white colored corolla. The petals have a elliptic to obovate shake, and look a little wrinkly. The stem can be glabrous to finely pubescent. The leaves are simple and palmately veined. The leaves are hairy, and have dentate margins. The plant gets the name “thimbleberry” from the fact that it’s fruit (which is red colored and raspberry looking) grows as a “thimble” in the center of the flower. This plant was founded under a shady under story, growing roughly 1 meter off the ground and surrounded by other kinds of species as well as other thimbleberries.

 

 

The lady and her sorii

 

Pictured on the right is the Western Lady Fern. It’s scientific name is Athyrium filix-femina. It’s family name is so unique, I questioned it’s realness when I saw it on the word bank for our Botany final. The Lady fern belongs to the Woodsiaceae family. The blades are elliptic to lanceolate. They can be 1-2 pinnate-pinnatifid. The pinnae are intricately lobed. The sorii are incredibly distinct on the underside of this fern, as seen in the picture. There are many small, white drops on each pinnae. The overall habit of the fern isn’t too large, and it as found under shady understory.

 

 

 

 

Handy plants for when I decide to find my to the Witch’s Candy Cottage

 

 

Pictured above is the very useful Adenocaulon bicolor. It’s more commonly known as trail plant, and falls under the Asteraceae family. The plant has a very open habit, as the arrow-like leaves are pointing in many different directions. The leaf shape is triangular to ovate, and slightly lobed on the margins. It’s abaxially white/light green as seen above, and adaxially glabrous. While not seen, the trail plant can have flowers that have the ray and disc flowers seen in those species in the Asteraceae family. These plants were found growing somewhat close to the ground.

This hike was beautiful, and even came with a ten foot ladder! I’m really glad to have the opportunity to be able to take this class. I’ll be honest, I put off taking my field course because I didn’t really think too much of it. In a way, I’m glad because I as able to take this Botany class with these classmates. I’m truly grateful that this class has sparked so much interest me that I’d like to continue to do this kind of identification work on my own! I truly regret not taking that much interest in plants early in my undergraduate career (though alternation of generations still befuddles me).

 

 

 

4/27/17 – Mt. Tam Serpentine Site

While last week we got to enjoy a muddy, slip n’ slide like trail, this week was the exact opposite. This time around we got to enjoy the dry, harsh environment of serpentine soils. It was enjoyable going off trail for a bit and bushwhacking. Mt. Tam (37.9235° N, 122.5965° W, 2571 ft). It was pretty amazing seeing the plants and shrubs that were able to grow out of the cracks of all of the rocky outcrops. If these plants can persevere in not-so-ideal conditions, I can do so as well.

Yellow monkey flower peepin’ out some rocks

Pictured on the left is the Yellow monkey flower, or Mimulus guttatus. The Mimulus genera fall under the Phrymaceae family. The plant is herb-like, and can be glabrous or hairy. The leaves are ovately shaped to round and have margins with slight dentation. The leaves have an opposite arrangement. The plant has a raceme inflorescence. The flower has that characteristic bilateral symmetry in Mimulus. The flower has 6 lobes, with the lower two in the center upcurving a bit towards the center of the flower. The corolla has a bright yellow color, and the flower has a “tube throat”. While not clearly evident in the picture, the flower also has these spots of a bright red color in the center. The stems and vegetation of the plant also has a deep purple color to them. We spotted a couple of these guys at the beginning of our first serpentine rock patch.

 

Unexpected Orchid

Pictured poorly on the right is Corallorhiza maculata, or Summer coralroot. This plant belongs in Orchidaceae, which surprised me at first. The strange, dark red plant doesn’t have the big, showy flowers that I usually associate with Orchids. Instead, it has tiny, showy flowers. The dark red stem shoots out alone among a bunch of dead looking vegetation. Its color gives away the parasitic nature of the flower. The flowers shoot out in whorls, clustering together more closely nearing the top of the shooting stem. The flower petals seem to be the same color as the stem itself, the lateral petals are like sepals. The lip of the flower seems to have a white/light pink color and can be spotted. This guy was found while we were walking around a mixed oak forest, shaded under the under story.

 

I cannot take pictures of plants for the life of me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last, but not least, is the Mt. Tamalpais jewel flower. Also known as Streptanthus glandulosus spp. pulchellus, it belongs to the Brassicaceae family. Pictured on the far left is a flowering jewel flower, and the one on the right will reach the potential of its beautiful brother. My pictures don’t really do the plant justice unfortunately. What you can see, however, is the basal rosette of leaves at the bottom of the flower. The leaves have dentate margins and appear to be bristly/ pubescent. The stem is thin and shoots out from the serpentine soil about 10 cm. The flower has a purple/lavender color and can be hairy. The flowers look like they’re little bulbs with filaments coming out, though I’m not sure if they’ll open up more.

It was interesting learning about the kind of plants that can endure the harsh environment that most other plants don’t. While there wasn’t a great variety of greenery in the serpentine soils, it was cool studying the characteristics of those that do manage to survive in the hostile conditions.

4/20/17 – Ring Mountain

As much as I have loved Botany and learning about plant identification, this class has also made me face the unfortunately reality that I have allergies. Never before have I been plagued by irritated eyes, a stuffy nose, and incessant sneezing while being outdoors in the spring time. I stubbornly put on my contacts the morning of our Ring Mountain (37.9099° N, 122.4858° W, 12 ft above sea level) hike and I paid the price for the rest of that day. Ring Mountain could be described as being a chaparral community, and it was largely dominated by various small plants and shrubs in large open grass areas. Despite having my senses attacked by pollen, I enjoyed being kept on my toes by the slippery mud and jagged rocks on the trail. There’s something enjoyable about almost falling on your face constantly. All jokes aside, I did enjoy this trip as I always do. It was mildly disappointing we didn’t see a lot of new species, but that’s just less to study for the field quiz as well.

Beginning to appreciate how lovely the Larkspurs are

 

This lovely specimen pictured on the left is the Western Larkspur, also known as Delphinium hesperium. While you can’t see it super clearly in my mediocre photo, these flowers have prominent nectar spurs, which helped us identify it as being in the Ranunculaceae family. The flower has a deep blue-violet color with bilaterally symmetrical flowers. The leaves are lobed, and can be adaxially glabrous or abaxially pubescent. The petals of the flowering structure seem to reflex a bit inward, and the flower itself has 5 petals. This larkspur species was found in an open grassy area among other different kinds of species.

 

 

 

10/10 would use this to clean my ears

Pictured on the right is the appropriately named Qtips. Qtips belongs to the Asteraceae family, and it’s scientific name is Micropus californicus.  The overall habit of the plant is small and delicate looking. The plant has head inflorescences, and they literally look like little puffs of cotton. Since these plants belong to the Asteraceae family, they likely have separate disk and ray flowers though it isn’t obvious on these tiny puffs of cotton. The leaves are simple and have entire edges, and they have a lanceolate shape to them. The thinly shaped leaves seem to curl and reflex a bit, and they also had a somewhat fleshy appearance to them. This plant was found in a sunny, open grass area living in harmony with other native species of Ring Mountain.

 

 

Pictured: Not an actual house

I will admit that for the longest time during our hike, I thought we were looking for actual chinese houses. I didn’t really question it until we came upon the actual plant, Collinsia heterophylla. The overall habit of the plant would have fooled me, as it reminds me a lot of Hedgenettle so I would have pinned it as being in the Lamiaceae family. This plant, however, is in the Plantaginaceae family. The leaves are lanceolate and can have dentate or lobed margins. The flowers are stacked “apartment style”, meaning there are levels of dense, whorled flowers separated by internodes. The flower seemingly has two single petals, with the top petal having a deep groove in the middle. The upper petal has a white color with a lavender tip and some purple spots, while the bottom lip is entirely fuschia/lavender colored. We found this plant off the trail slightly, cozied up next to a rock.

 

Despite being a little uncomfortable due to allergies, this trip was one to remember as well. The day was full of 4/20 jokes, lizards, and a mysterious giant rock in the middle of tons of grass. I’m sad that we’re coming to the end of our botany adventures, but I can’t wait to see all the other neat species that we have yet to see and further my plant education.

4/6/17 – Edgewood County Park

For this week in Botany Adventures, we paid a visit to Edgewood County Park (37.4737° N, 122.2786° W, 228 ft above sea level). This trail was the farthest drive so far, as the park was close to Redwood City. Regardless, the flora was still something to behold. For roughly, the first half of the trail, we were surrounded by a forest of coast live oak. We walked under the shady under story for a bit until we got to the last part of the trail that had no trees whatsoever. The area could be described as a chaparral or coastal scrub. This hike is what made me appreciate how calming and relaxing tall grass looks rippling through the wind.

So lovely!

The first species I’d like to talk about is Vinca majorVinca major  is also known simply as Vinka or Periwinkle. Vinca is classified under the Apocynaceae family, a new family for us. This was the first new species that we identified, and it was found on the ground under the shady understory the oaks provided. Vinca has a distinct pinwheel shaped flower, it can be seen quite clearly in the picture I’ve included. While it looks like it has 5 distinct petals, they are all actually fused. The corolla is a lilac/ light purple color on the outside, while fading into white near the center of the flower. While not pictured, very thin sepals can be observed right under the flower. They almost look like thin, finger-like projections. The simple, ovate leaves are oppositely arranged. Something I thought was pretty cool about the blades was that if you break/bend one, a white spot will appear on the mid vein where the break was. Overall, I found this guy pretty mesmerizing due to the flower shape and color. I was tempted to take one home as they are invasive non-natives, but I decided not to.

I wish my hair looked this nice.

Sometimes I feel like I should have named my blog “Pretty Plant Babies”, as I think literally everything we see has some kind of beauty to it, or I want to take it home with me and nurture it to grow. It would probably be a bad idea as I’ve already killed two succulent plants miraculously, but I guess the third time’s the charm. Pictured on the left is Adiantum jordanii. It is also appropriately named Maidenhair. This fern belongs to the Pteridaceae family, and the small pinna are fan shaped and have cut or lobed margins. The rachis is thin and black, it almost looks like a thin piece of black licorice; shiny and plastic looking. These ferns have false indusia, meaning that the edges of the pinna curl over the sorii. We came upon this fern in a shady area on the side of the trail, not too far from the lovely Vinca species. I think this is my favorite fern that we have seen so far.

So happy!!

I believe on this trip I have found my favorite species in the Asteraceae family. Narrow leaved mule ears, or Wyethia angustifolia has stolen my heart. 1) It looks like it’s a happy flower that knows how to have a good time. 2) This is the kind of flower you would give to someone who makes you happy. In all seriousness, I genuinely enjoy how large this aster is. We found this species in the more open area of the trail, and it was growing very close to the ground. Later on we encountered its sister species Wyethia glabra, or smooth mule ears. The only discernable difference my untrained botany eye could make was that the Smooth mule ears have giant leaves. The blades are significantly bigger than the leaves on narrow leaved mule ears. The leaves on the narrow leaved mule ears are lanceolate shaped, scabrous, and can be hairy. The flower has a head inflorescence, characteristic of those in Asteraceae. The disk flower (those in the middle) are very distinct from the ray flowers (the outer whorl). The ray flowers have a bright yellow corolla, and the flowers themselves are soft to the touch (probably how it got its name).

I know I say this in EVERY blog but I genuinely enjoy each trip we’ve had so far. Even though the weather was a little crazy at this site, I still enjoyed furthering my plant education. The high speed winds and indecisive rain just made it a little more fun.

3/30/17 – San Bruno State Park

This week in Botany Adventures, we had a little trouble getting going to our destination, San Bruno State Park (37.6969° N, 122.4338° W, 681 feet above sea level). The unfortunate mix-up with cars and car keys had us in a rush to head to our hiking site for the week. The need for In n Out also had to be satiated, so this put an even heavier time constraint on us all. Regardless of the time crunch, rad plant species were still observed and awed at. The San Bruno State Park could be described as having a coastal scrub flora. The area was definitely dominated by small to medium sized shrubs and plants.

Pictured above is Salvia spatheca, or California Hummingbird Sage. This totally rad belongs in the Lamiaceae family. The blades are oblong and sparsely hairy. The edges have teeth and are slightly rounded. The inflorescence are determinate, with clusters of dark purple/green bracts. The corollas can be red or salmon colored, with the upper lip having 2 lobes. The flowers have stamens sticking out. The flowers look like they could be pollinated by hummingbirds, probably explaining it’s name. 

Next up on what I found interesting as well: Wight’s paintbrush. This Orobanchaceae family member is also known as Castilleja wightii. The plant looks like it is densely packed with long bristles and glandular, lanceolate to ovate leaves. The flowering structures legit look like a paintbrush that was dipped in paint. The corolla can vary in color, from a bright yellow color to a red color. The long stem has short, leafy axillary shoots. This plant gave me major flashbacks to last week’s field quiz. I remember just dismissively writing it off as being in the Asteraceae family, but I now realize I should have looked at the flowering structure more closely.

 

 

Last, but not least, is the most oddly named plant that we  have encountered so far. Pink butter and eggs, or Triphysaria eriantha, is in the Orobanchaceae family. The small shrub does not look like it’s sister species in Orobanchaceae such as the various paint brushes. The stems can be a dark red or purple color. The flowers can be densely packed, and the corollas vary in color from yellow, white, or a faint pink. The flowers have three petals, and the flowering structures have the similar, densely packed bristles as the paint brush species do.

This trail was likely one of my favorite ones so far. It provided fantastic views in whatever direction you looked. Perhaps this trip has also been remembered fondly because of the milkshake, fries, and burger I later enjoyed. Jokes aside, this class has been super rewarding for me, and I look forward a lot to every field trip to exercise my plant knowledge and learn more about the diverse California flora around.

 

3/23/17 – SCA Trail

After the challenging field quiz on the SCA Trail (37.832143°, -122.482281°), we went over some species at the very site where we just ended the test of our plant knowledge so far (the fun never stops!!!). The SCA trail rose to a mere 3.75 feet above sea level, and the area could be described as a coastal scrub. While I did feel like a madwoman scrambling to identify plant after plant, the trail itself offered breathtaking views that served to relax me when I started to freak out a little. I was also a little excited at the prospect of a bobcat maybe ripping my quiz to shreds and I could just call it a day, but that seemed pretty unlikely. Regardless, I still enjoyed learning about new plant friends and seeing old ones as well.

So close, yet so far

This plant had me scratching my head furiously during the quiz, but it could not have been more obvious after knowing what this plant was. Mimulus guttatus, or the Yellow monkeyflower, is not as beautiful in my opinion as its sister Mimulus aurantiacus, but it’s still cool nevertheless. The monkey flower is in the family Phrymaceae. The herbaceous plant can be glabrous to hairy, with ovate leaves and lobed margins. The corolla has a bright yellow color, and has 5 lobes, with the lower 2 upcurving near the center of the flower. The flower was peeking out of a mixture of shrubbery on the side of the winding and inclining trail.

I was close to munching on this miner’s lettuce

Pictured on the right is Claytonia perfoliata, or Miner’s lettuce. Miner’s lettuce is in the family Montiaceae. The plant looked inconspicuous among all the other species of plants growing around it. The stems are erect as they rise from the ground, ending in a blade that is reminiscent of a lily pad (to me). The leaf shape is elliptic, with the tips ranging from an acute to rounded shape. Tiny, white flowers bloom from the inside of the single blade, and the inflorescences can stick close to the blade or shoot out. It as difficult to determine petal number or shape as the flower buds were closed. I was slightly tempted to take bite out of this like we did with the first miner’s lettuce species we encountered, but I decided against it.

The newest addition to the Fabaceae family

The plant above was spotted slightly isolated on a part of the trail that was not as covered by the wind, perhaps explaining how relatively low to the ground the overall habit was. Lupinus bicolor, or just a common Lupine, looks like a cross between the Beach Blue Lupine and the Coastal Bush Lupine. Lupines are in the Fabaceae family. The leaves are pubescent, and they are in whorls of roughly 7 leaves. The leaves are fleshy looking and curve upward. The corolla is purple colored, with flowers in determinate inflorescences. The petals are deeply lobed, and the keel is colored white, and the banner has a white spot.

While I was a little stressed out about having to take my first ever field quiz, this class in general has been pretty rewarding for me. I have a new found appreciation for plants. It’s like I’ve put on these special plant glasses that makes me see it all in a different way, and I really enjoy being able to tell some plants apart. I’m a little sad that this class is half way done, but I’m happy that I’ve been able to expand my knowledge in an area of Biology that I underappreciated before.

3/9/17 – Ridgecrest

On this trip, I got to see my first wild orchid. Calypso bulbosa, or Fairy slipper, was spotted in Ridgecrest (37.912957, -122.624790, 1950 ft above sea level), not far from our first stop in Mount Tamalpais. Mount Tam could be described as a coastal scrub or chaparral, with no tall trees to be seen and dominated by short shrubs like coyote brush. Ridgecrest, on the other hand, had mixed genera of oak trees with madrone trees scattered throughout. Ridgecrest was much more shaded and cooler than Mount Tam. In the end, we ended up at a serpentine rock outcrops for the first time. It was interesting finally being able to see the rock that we spoke of in class right before me.

Bright sun cup!!

Around half-way through our hike at Mount Tam, we saw this new, bright, sunny species. The sun cup, pictured above, was found embedded in the rocks and clay-like soil, surrounded by its sister genera. Also known as Taraxia ovata, it is found in the Onagraceae family. The plant is short and low to the ground, with fleshy feel to it. The leaves are elliptic to ovate, with entire margins and a slight wavy look to them. The leaves have a red midvein, as seen in the picture above, and the leaves are pubescent on the abaxial surface. The leaves form a rosette underneath the flower. The plant has four petals with a bright yellow color. The flower contained 8 stamens, which surround a carpel that had a spherical stigma.

Possible soap-flavored tequila????

The next species was found near the end of our expedition at Mount Tam. The amole, or soap plant, was in a grassier area of the region and was among other soap plants, lupines, irises, and coastal heronbills. The binomial name of the genus is Chlorogalum pomeridianum, and it belongs to the family that is likely the most loved by college students, Agavaceae. As seen above, the plant lies very close and flat to the ground and looks almost plastic like, standing out from the grassy background. The margins of the leaves are entire, and the leaves in general are very wavy. The leaves form a basal rosette and are arranged in a whorl. The leaves seemed to be 20 cm long and 5 cm wide with parallel venation.

Little spring beauty, indeed

 

Spring Beauty, or Claytonia exigua, was seen in Ridgecrest within the serpentine rock outcrop. The plant is found in the Montiaceae family. The change from an oak forest to a serpentine outcrop was very evident and distinct. The plants were separated from each other by a couple of feet in all directions. This arrangement made sense to me as this may be how the plants best operate in the harsh conditions of serpentine rock outcrops. The plant is small, and the leaves are fleshy looking and glaucous. The leaves looked like thin gummi worms to me, and they all seemed to radiate from the center of the plant. The leaves were a grey-green color, with some red-orange leaves dispersed in between. The flowers seem to have a determinate inflorescence, and had roughly ten small white flowers. The flowers have five tiny white petals and pink colored anthers. This plant ended up being one of my favorites, and I believe it’s correctly named little spring beauty.

This field trip was filled with several firsts, and it ended up being a nice, relaxing way to kick off Spring Break. I loved the breathtaking view overlooking Stinson Beach, and I hope to go back again some day (and also try to look for more flowering wild orchids).

3/2/17 – San Pedro Valley County Park

San Pedro Valley County Park (37.578450°, -122.475945°) was fortunate enough to have not just one, but two college classes from Jesuit universities traversing its trails (shout out to Santa Clara University). The site could be described as a coastal scrub, and it definitely had the key players belonging to that kind of plant community such as coyote brush or “Ocean spray”. A key feature of this site, however, was the dominance of Eucalyptus trees. At 193 feet above sea level we learned about “Dirty Santa”, pampas grass, and we finally were able to observe the golden color of the abaxial side in Chrysolepis leaves up close. The weather was a perfect complement to the breathtaking views the trail provided us with.

A Giant white wakerobin in all of its beauty

Pictured above is Trillium albidum, more commonly known as the Giant white wakerobin. This plant is found in the family Melanthiaceae, and we spotted this particular flower near the beginning of our hike surrounded by other local flora near a river bank, shaded under the trees. The plant itself seemed to be roughly 15 cm wide. The giant, glabrous, green leaves are sessile (lacking a petiole). The distinct coloration in the leaves seen above is known as modeling. Leaf tips are rounded to obtuse. The three petals were a creamy white, with the three light green sepals spreading around it. The sexual organs of the flower are also pictured, in a dark mauve color.

Presenting the toxicoscordion fremontii
Workin it!

The next species may be my new favorite plant (sorry Scoliopus bigelovii). Toxicoscordion fremontii belongs in the Melantheaceae family, and we spotted this first specimen among other species in the forest under story, however just a little further down the trail many more species were scattered about the sides of the trail. Besides having a super rad name, I also really liked the whip-like leaves. The smooth leaves were perhaps 20 cm long and 3 cm wide and they seemed to curve downwards. The plant has a raceme inflorescence. The white flowers were made up of six white petals with an ovate shape. The petals seem to have indentations/grooves on them. The base of the petals also some yellow coloration, and six stamen seem to protrude from the flower. Three, light green styles can be seen protruding in the middle of the ring of stamens. The overall aesthetic of Toxicoscordion fremontii is just very pleasing.

The final plant species that interested me seemed to earn the nickname of “Dirty Santa” among my botany comrades. As Spanish is my first language, all I could really see it as was “Holy Herb” or “Blessed Herb”, which was ironic, but I digress. Eriodiction californicum aka Yerba Santa aka “Dirty Santa” belongs in the Boraginaceae family. The leaf margins seemed to vary greatly, as they seemed more entire in the species we first saw, but became much more dentate in other individuals. This species seemed to earn the nickname among us because of it’s “dirty” looking leaves. The leaf shape seemed to be a thin elliptical shape, and had tertiary venation. This shrub was located more on the slopes of the trail we were on, making it slightly difficult to get a good shot of it.

Pictured: Misunderstood plant

This field trip proved to be just as enjoyable as the last few. The landscape and views around us just accentuated the plants that we were studying. I feel that with each coming week I am getting a better grasp at identifying species that we have seem previously, and just in general recognizing features that belong to certain families. I find myself instinctively trying to assign characteristics to plants that I see in my day to day life.

 

2/23/17 – Presidio and Marin Headlands Double Feature

This week in Botany, we made stop in the Presidio Coastal Trail to admire some coastal plant friends. At 37.7989° N, 122.4662° W, the weather was perfect for  admiring the coastal scrub. At 182 ft above sea level, we were introduced to the likes of the dominant coyote brush and had our first class encounter with poison oak. Later on, we made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands (37.8263° N, 122.4996° W, 769 ft above sea level) to further expand our plant knowledge by observing even more ferns, beaked hazelnut, rock plants, and more.

The first specimen that really caught my eye was introduced to us near the beginning of the hike. Lupinus chamissonis, or the Beach blue lupine, belongs to the Fabaceae family. The beautiful, silvery bush was distributed all throughout the trail among the variety of other plants. It could be distinguished from afar by it’s pale blue-green color.

Beach blue lupine shining in the sun light
Lilac flower of the Beach blue lupine

 

The silvery leaves are densely arranged and bunched up against each other. The leaves seemed to grow on the upper part of the erect stems. The thin leaftlets were soft to the touch because of the shiny, grey hairs covering them. The Beach blue lupin has light violet to a vivid purple flowers, with a whorled inflorescence. The flower has deeply lobed, entire petals. The sepals of the flower were densely hairy, reminiscent of the pubescent leaves.

Fragaria vesca fields forever

The next species that interested me was all too familiar. I’ve often enjoyed the fruits of the plant’s labor (haha), yet I was not able to recognize it while I was looking right at it. Wild strawberry, or Fragaria vesca, is in the Rosaceae family. This plant has the “classic Rosaceae” flower; an open white flower, with five petals and and some multiple of five yellow stamens. The bright, glabrous, green leaves came in three lobes and also had lobed edges. The leaf shape can range from elliptic to obovate, with hairy leaves (more so on the abaxial side). Stems lengths can range from 3 to 15 cm, however because of the coastal brush it occupies it is often exposed to the wind, perhaps explaining why the plant itself is practically hugging the ground. It was interesting knowing I could now identify the beginnings of one of my favorite fruits.

Fellow classmate Alex helping us all get that sweet shot of the Osoberry flower

 

The third species that intrigued me was also from the Rosaceae family. Oemleria cerasiformis, or Osoberry (also called Indian Plum) had these tiny, delicate, white flowers that I adored. The osoberry was like a small tree; with simple, elliptic-obovate green leaves. The leaves were also glabrous, with entire margins. Osoberry species tend to have raceme inflorescences, with the white petals curling inward ever so slightly. Though hard to see in the picture, the thick, brown stems have white lenticels scattered throughout the entire length.

This field trip turned out to be a lot more laid back than our first trip. We got to ride in an unreasonably spacious and square white van, and the day was perfect for scribbling down furious notes on blue dicks. I felt like I had a better grasp at identifying species that we had seen before, but I still have to practice a lot more, especially when it comes to angiosperms.