Date: April 8th, 2023

Location: Pacifica, CA – San Pedro Valley Park in San Mateo County

Coordinates: 37.5738267 (North), -122.4705309 (West)

Description: The park at San Pedro has five trails that are hidden in redwood and eucalyptus trees nicely settled on the Santa Cruz mountain range. Located in this area are vast chaparral hillsides with beautiful views of valleys and the Pacific Ocean. Habitat composition was complex and consisted of chaparral, coastal shrub, mixed forests, and grasslands. Animals that made up the wildlife population consisted of red-tailed hawks, scrub jays, garter snakes, and mountain lions not seen on the trip.

Plant Descriptions and Images: 

Family: Solanaceae, Genus & Species: Solanum umbelliferum (Blue witch)

This species is a deciduous perennial herb characterized by woody branches, a wider plant width than height, and dense hairs covering the plant.  Housed on these branches are simple, pinnate leaves that have an elliptic to obviate shape and simple margins. The leaves are greenish in color and grow in an alternate pattern. Inflorescences of the plant form an umbel-like shape with some of the stems appearing forked. Each flower has five lavender to blue-purple petals that are fused together into a saucer shape. A pattern of green nectar glands on a white background can be seen inside the base of the flower. To complement this pattern is a cone formed by yellow stamens.

Family: Boraginaceae, Genus & Species: Cynoglossum grande (Houndstongue)

This species is a perennial evergreen herb characterized by large taproots and erect, glabrous stems with abaxially hairy leaves. During its first growing year, the plant produces simple pinnate leaves that grow basally around the stems in an alternate pattern. Each leaf is a dark green color that has entire margins and an ovate to elliptic shape that becomes truncated at the base. The inflorescence formation of this plant appears as panicle-like cymes that develop above the leaves and grow terminal flowers. Similar to other species in the forget-me-not family, the petals on the flower are a unique violet color with blue lobes. The flowers have five petals that are deeply lobed and are silverform in shape.

Family: Melanthiaceae, Genus & Species: Trillium albidum (Giant white wakerobin)

This species is a deciduous perennial herb characterized by a low growing stature, rhizome roots, and petal coloring that resembles the abdomen of a bee. Leaves on this plant are sessile, large with a 12-15 centimeter width, and have a round-obtuse shape at the tip. The color of the leaves can range from brown- to green-spotted and look like a triangle from an aerial view of the plant. Similar to the leaves, the flowers are sessile and have spreading sepals that are lanceolate in shape. Petals on the flower are erecting to ascending with an oblanceolate to obovate shape and are white in color. When you smell the flower, it gives off an odor that is generally sweet or spicy.

iNaturalist Submissions:

1. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165106656
2. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165106315
3. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165106847

Narrative:

The field trip today was my first makeup field trip. My dad drove me down to San Pedro Valley park on a beautiful sunny day. We were able to find the entrance to the park just fine, but we did not know which trail to take when we got situated. It was a gamble, but we picked a random trail on the right side of the park. Since it was much later in the year, I was having a harder time finding the plants on the list. Some of the plants were either not on the trail we picked or were just not blooming anymore when we went. We spent hours trying to find at least five different plants, but we were able to find a variety of families that gave me something interesting. Slowly, I was able to memorize and learn the different plants based on their morphological characteristics. Even though the trip was not as exciting as when I was with the class, I was still able to get some good practice in. At the end of the trip, my dad took me to the fancy Taco Bell located on the beach, which was a great way to celebrate our findings.