Date: 2/22

Location: Novato, CA

Coordination:  38.1394° N, 122.5931° W, Elevation: 1,558 feet

 

Site description:

Burdell Mountain rises 1,558 feet from the Novato Valley floor on the northeast corner of Marin County. The main habitat of this site includes serpentine slopes, which  are covered with rolling grasslands and groves of live oak, bay laurel and buckeye. There are two main parks around this area: Two major parks reside on Burdell Mountain: Olompali State Historic Park occupies 700 acres on the northeast face, while Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve occupies 1,600 acres on the southwest slope. There are a variety of species in Mount Burdell, however this area is dominated by California poppy and California buttercup.

Species Description: 

 

Overall plant and its habitat: Native to California and seen in a variety of habitats mainly Chaparral and woodlands. Its distribution extends across many habitats of California, north into Oregon and south into Baja California. Grows up to 70 centimeters.

Leaves: Highly dissected

Flowers:  The bright yellow and roughly 1–2 centimeters

Stem: long petiole, long and green

This plant was found in the early section of our hike and they were also seen later on in other parts of mount Burdell.

 

Overall plant and its habitat:  Native to California, annual herb, also found in Western North America. Grows to uptown 4 inches

Leaves: ovate and whorled

Flowers:  Micky Moused shaped sepals, pink color with a darker section

Stem: erect and long

This plant was seen near the soils at a variety of places.

 

 

 

Overall plant and its habitat:  found on grassy or woody slopes, or rocky outcrops, in many lower-lying regions of California, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja, California. Its diameter is between 20–35 mm.

Leaves: long and grow at the base of the plant

Flowers:  Bisexual, White sepals with a yellow center

Stem: erect

This flower was found in the middle section of Mount Burdell.

 

Narrative:

We left USF around 1pm on Thursday (2/22). The weather was cold and rainy but it got sunny toward the end of the trip. The drive to Mount Burdell was beautiful and we were able to enjoy the scenery of Golden Gate bridge. Mount Burdell had a variety of plants. The majority of these plants were small in size, however there were also many oak trees present. There were also many cows at this site and on our way back, one of them got out of control and started jumping up and down. Overall, this experience was enjoyable and we got the chance to earn an extra credit point by locating Mouse-eared Mimulus.