Date: 4/19/2018
Location: Marin County, California
Coordination: 37°54′35″N 122°29′09″W
Elevation: 604′
Directions:
Site description:
Ring Mountain is located in Marine County, Ca and is in an affluent area called tiburon. This site has a variety of habitats and is dominated by serpentine soil. This site has fantastic views of Mount Tamalpais, the bay, and San Francisco and is the perfect place for a quick hike or studying the nature. There are a variety of plant species in this site and the unusual geology of the preserve supports a unique plant called the Tiburon mariposa lily, which blooms in May.
Species description:
Common name: purple vetch
Species: Vicia benghalensis
Overall plant and its habitat: a dicot, is an annual herb or vine that is not native to California
Leaves: made up of several pairs of elongated leaflets which measure up to 3 centimeters in length.
Stem: climbing and hairy
Flowers: one-side raceme of several dark reddish purple flowers. Each flower has a densely hairy calyx of sepals and a tubular corolla
Fruit: a flat, hairy legume
This plant was found in the early section of our hike.
Common name: creamcups
Species: Platystemon californicus
Overall plant and its habitat: The annual herb and grows anywhere from 3 to 30cm long
Leaves: oppositely arranged or whorled about the stem.
Flowers : six petals, 6 to 19 millimeters long and have rounded or pointed tips, white petal with a yellow tip or yellow base or both, the center of the flower is filled with several whorls of stamens with thickened ends.
Fruit: 1.6 centimeters long which is divided into many sections containing shiny black seeds
This plant was seen in the middle section of our hike.
Common name: false babystars
Species: Leptosiphon androsaceus
Leaves: oppositely arranged leaves are each divided into lobes up to 3 centimeters long and oval in shape to linear to needlelike
Flowers: flowers one to three centimeters wide, usually pink or lavender with yellow or white throats.
This flower was found in the end section of the hike.
Narrative:
We left USF around 1 pm on Thursday 4/19. The weather was sunny and warm. It took us around 25 minutes to get to Ring Mountain. This site was surrounded by gorgeous views of San Francisco and beautiful luxury houses. The hike was not too intense and was enjoyable. We did not get to see the famous Tiburon mariposa lily, however we were able to study some new plants and review some old ones that we had observed in other sites. There were also a variety of insects and lizards in this site that hid behind the rocks. Overall, the hike was interesting and the views were stunning.
Additional Species:
Common name: western larkspur
Species: Delphinium hesperium
Common name: Italian thistle
Species: Carduus pycnocephalus