Location + Site description:
Big Rock in Lucas Valley’s geographic coordinates is 38.045920ºN, -122.620570ºW. The elevation gain is about 1,118 feet surrounded by mountains and open grasslands full of beautiful California poppies! We saw many different flowers flowering during this time due to the sunny weather recently which dominant flowers were from the Orobanchaceae, Boraginaceae, and Plantigaceae families. The hike was about a 2 mile walk uphill where we stopped to see the view of the Skywalker Ranch and downhill as we walked back to the car. This location offers breathtaking views of beautiful flowers along an open field!
Species description + Digital collection:
1. Triphysaria versicolor
Triphysaria veriscolor is commonly known as the yellow-beak false owl’s clover from the Orobanchaceae family. This plant is an annual herb where it grows low on the ground to about 60 centimeters in height. It is similar to the paintbrushes and it has the green spikes of flowers due to the inflorescence. It is named ‘beak’ because the flowers have a yellow-tinged upper lip and a wider lip which is divided into three pouches.
2. Platystemon californicus
Platystemon californicus is commonly known as the cream cups from the Papaveraceae family. These beautiful flowers grow low to the ground in grassy land areas. The inflorescence is a single flower growing from the tip of the stem. The flower consists of 6 petals where it is solid white with yellow on the tips. The center of the flower is filled with several whorls of stamens. Such a beautiful flower to see!
3. Nemophila menziesii
Nemophila menziesii is commonly known as the baby blue eyes from the Boraginaceae family. It is found in the coastal bluffs or grassy slopes where it is quite noticeable in appearance. The flower is blue with a white center, usually with blue veins or dots near the center. The beautiful color of the flower is the reason for its name as well! The are different variations of this species differing in color.
Narrative:
We left the USF campus past 1:00pm and came back to campus at around 5:00pm due to traffic in the city. The walk was as bad since it was a steady uphill. This location was very different than our previous ones because we see open grasslands and mountains. It was really exciting to know that we were super close to the Skywalker Ranch! The weather was the perfect weather with little to no winds. We saw many lizards as well. The hike was approximately a 2 mile hike where the first half was uphill and then downhill as we went back down. I actually really enjoyed this location and makes me want to go hike there again!
