Mount Tamalpais – Ridgecrest – Botany Field Journal

Date: March 8, 2022

Location: Mount Tamalpais

The latitude is 37.9235 N and the longitude is -122.5965 W. The approximate elevation was around 2,000 feet.

Site description: The topography includes Mount Tamalpais with hillside hiking spots and many scenic outlooks of the Pacific Ocean. The Hang Glider site overlooked Stinson Beach, Bolinas bay, and the San Andreas Fault between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The drivable roads on Mount Tamalpais provide a clear path to many sites. The general habitat is open woodlands. The dominant species on Mount Tamalpais are the coast live oak, gold cup live oak, Douglas fir, Mt. tamalpais manzanita, buck brush, California poppy, and sky lupine. There was serpentine rock in many areas that had its own specific species living in its limited resourced environment.

Species descriptions and digital collections:

Claytonia perfoliata (Miner’s lettuce): Miner’s lettuce is a native, annual herb that is in the family Montiaceae. It is a herbaceous flowering plant that stands at about 0.3 meters. This plant has many different shaped leaves that are edible, fleshy, bright green, platform-like, and spade shaped. Also, there is a rosette of leaves at the base of the plant with long green and reddish petioles. Miner’s lettuce has pink tinted and white flower inflorescence that are born into the top of the leaves. The tiny flowers have five rounded petals, 2 sepals, five stamens, and three stigma. The flowers are bisexual and radially symmetrical. Its microhabitat is a shady and moist spot often under healthy oak trees.

Chlorogalum pomeridianum (Amole/Soap plant): Amole is a native, perennial herb that is in the family Agavaceae. It is a monocot and deciduous with leaves sprawling across the ground. The leaves are in the form of a basal rosette and have wavy margins with parallel venation that resemble a star fish. This plant has small white flowers (not pictured here) with three petals and three sepals that are born on thin stems. The soap plant is bisexual and the reproductive structures include six yellow stamens and a single pistil. The soap plant is found in serpentine rock habitats and are able to tolerate the harsh and dry environmental conditions.

Primula herndersonii (Mosquito bill): The mosquito bill is a native, perennial herb that is in the family Primulaceae and is often called a shooting star. The stem of the mosquito bill is a reddish brown color and is about one foot tall with several flowers at the top. This species has a basal rosette of leaves that are fleshy, ovate shaped, and deciduous. The leaves have a very distinct primary vein with an entire margin and are glabrous. The flowers are bright purple and point downwards with four or five petals that are reflexed and sepals that are bent backwards. At the base of the petals there is a white ring with a yellow ring below. The reproductive structures are exposed at the bottom with dark colored anthers and a pistil emerging between the anthers. Its microhabitat is near a shady and wet area, usually at the bottom of a hill where there is water runoff in grasslands or open woodlands.

iNaturalist observations:

Miner’s lettuce link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108349978

Soap plant link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108350000

Mosquito bill link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108350035

Narrative: We left at 12:55 pm and arrived at 1:40 pm to the first site. We observed many species at the Trojan Point site and looked at one lupin species at the Hang Glider site. There was not a lot of hiking this trip, so we were able to stop at three sites with many new species to observe and amazing views to check out. Also, we took our lovely class picture at the Hang Glider site in front of Stinson Beach! The class pictures turned out wonderful and even the self timer picture turned out great! The weather was very nice and sunny with a temperature around 60 degrees. I observed many purple and yellow inflorescences and really enjoyed the appearance of the checker lily and the orchid. I reflected on how Mount Tamalpais has many plants with a basal rosette of leaves and that this structure may help plants with water conservation. Also, I reflected on the red color of flowers being the main attraction to birds for pollination. The last thing I reflected on was my genus ambassador explanation of the coast sanicle. I will definitely be taking my graduation pictures on Mount Tam!

Extra Credit:

Family: Polemoniaceae

Genus/species: Navarretia hamata (Hooked pincushionplant)