San Pedro Valley Park (03.02.2023)

Location + Site Description

San Pedro Valley Park geographic coordinates are 37.5779°N, 122.4757°W. The elevation gain of the mountain was 2,408 feet which is surrounded by many eucalyptus trees and beautiful manzanitas that are very distinct in color. The trail we hiked on was called the Brooks Falls Loop which was about 2.2 miles uphill and downhill towards the parking lot (roundtrip). The first half consisted of a 50 minute uphill hike towards the top of a mountain and about a 30 minute hike down. There was actually a handful of plants that we seen that are not as common from previous semesters in this class which was exciting! Some plants were even sprouting at the time of our walk. This location offers great views of Pacifica, California and includes many different trails that promoted different flowering plants and trees!

Species descriptions + digital collections:

1. Giant wakerobin (Trillium chloropetalum)

The trillium chloropetalum is commonly known as the giant wakerobin from the family Melanthiaceae. It is visible that this trillium has three giant leaves that come out in a whorl and some of the leaves have dark green spotting. These spots on the leaves are called leaf mottling that is a disease caused by deficiency in zinc. The flower contains 3 petals and 3 sepals which are quite smaller than the petals. The flower also has a distinct slight purple color to the petals where it differs from the giant white wakerobin.

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2. Graceful bedstraw (Galium porrigens)

Galium porrigens is a flowering plant commonly known as the graceful bedstraw from the Rubiaceae family. It is typically called the bedstraw because it was used as cushion for people who used it in their beds or even pillows! This plant is native to coastal shrubs often climbing on the sides of mountains. The leaves are small, dentate, and arranged in whorls on a thin stem. When looked at closely, the flowers have four tiny petals that are yellow to white, leaves are pubescent, and the stems are almost woody-like.

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3. Coyote mint (Monardella villosa)

Monardella villosa is commonly known as the coyote mint from the Laminaceae family, the mint family. This plant have leaves that are very aromatic which smelled like fresh mint but much more sweeter! Leaves are pinnate with opposite nodes where stems are woody shrubs. When touched, the leaves are fluffy which suggests that they are pubescent. However, the flowers on this coyote mint are net yet bloomed, hence the grey dried up clusters. The flowers are clustered with small petals ranging from a purple to pink color.

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Narrative:

We left the USF campus past 1pm and got back at exactly 4:40pm PST. The weather was pretty nice considering the fact that it was sunny, but it was quite chilly. The drive there from campus was about a 45 minute drive down to Pacifica. We started the walk on a trail which led to bridges which had a stream of water from below it. As we progressed further, we saw the beautiful giant trees from the different families. In the background, we saw a huge mountain where we questioned whether we were climbing that. Matter of fact, we did climb that mountain on the Brooks Fall Loop trail! The hike up was pretty tough due to the incline and elevation gain, but the views made up for it. Many of the plants made up for the beautiful area and trail. Would love to come back here again for the hike and views! The drive there was absolutely beautiful passing by the ocean too!

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