April 5

Botany Field Journal #6

Date: 30 March, 2017

Location: San Bruno Mountain State and County Park

-First Trail: Ridge Trail (37.6969425, -122.4338293), elevation: 369 meters

-Second Trail: Saddle Loop Trail (37.7012794, -122.4342788), elevation: 225 meters

This picture shows the direction of our trip from the University of San Francisco to the San Bruno Mountain State and County Park.

Site description:

-The place we visited is a state park located in Northern San Mateo county. There are many native and small species that grow in this coastal scrub. The species are smaller in size due to the high winds in this region. There were various dominant species such as coastal buckwheat and California poppy on our first trail. Associated species included some irises, coastal heron’s bill, and lupines. The second trail was located close to the parking lot and included many species in the poaceae family.

Species descriptions and digital collections (3): These pictures illustrate the three species of plants that I have chosen to describe in my blog.

1) Genus and Species: Salvia spathacea

Common name: Hummingbird sage

Family: Lamiaceae

Species Description:

This perennial native species is found at low elevations. As the name suggests, this species is hummingbird pollinated. It is also fuzzy and has square stems in addition to a reddish inflorescence. The flower stems rise to 2-3 ft. above leaves that carry many large clusters of magenta flowers. This species also has bilateral symmetric flowers with long anthers. The leaves are sticky and they have a very nice scent as we can tell from the name of the family (mint family). The leaves are also blade oblong-hastate and have teeth rounded margins (dentations).

2) Genus and Species: Viola adunca

Common name: Blue violet

Family: Violaceae

Species Description:

This native species was the first violaceae family that we observed on our field trip. It has bilaterally symmetrical flowers in addition to entire, heart shaped (chordate) leaves. This species has open flowers and is a tiny herb. The stem is prostrate to erect and often woody at the base. The leaf is simple and can be glabrous to hairy. The sepals are lanceolate with petals light to deep violet in color.

3) Genus and Species: Castilleja wightii

Common Name: Wight’s paintbrush

Family: Orobanchaceae

Species Description: similar to the Franciscan paintbrush, this native species comes from the orobanchaceae family and is a perennial herb usually found in coastal scrubs. It has stems with an abundance of short axillary shoots. The leaves are crowded and can be lanceolate to ovate. The leaves are fleshy and generally unlobed. The flowers are hairy with margins red to yellow and the lower lip dark green.

Narrative:

We started walking to the cars on a nice sunny day, when we noticed that one of the vans was missing. We spent a while looking for it and we were all anxious as the search cut into our in-n-out time. We ended up taking another van, which turned out to be low on gas. Therefore, we had to stop by a gas station. Finally, after an hour, we got to the trails and started our hike at the top (Ridge trail). We moved through many species quickly but me and two other people had to use the restroom, which made it hard to hike up. Professor Paul saved us by taking us to a public restroom near our next trail (Saddle Loop trail) . A little while later, we ran into a species commonly called “dwarf bladder,” which was coincidental. We saw the interesting “butter-n-cup” species as the last species on the trip then headed to in-n-out. This field trip was extremely fun and memorable. All of us were full and satisfied by the end of our trip.

-Professor Paul teaching us about dwarf bladder clover (smallest species I have seen so far)