Although I’d photographed them here before, it is still a bit startling to find Humboldt lilies on a hot, dry, dusty run in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, aka Ahmanson Ranch. The vibrant orange blossoms stand out against the mix of muted greens, grays and straw-yellows of the oak woodland and chaparral and are hard to miss.
The Humboldt lily and a few other wildflowers have been added to my Weekday Wildflowers slideshow. These are wildflowers photographed on weekday runs from the Victory Trailhead of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
Fire followers are plants that grow in a recently burned area in much larger numbers than before a fire. In some cases the species may rarely have been observed in the area prior to the fire.
A good example of a fire follower is Poodle-dog bush (Eriodictyon parryi), which became widespread in the San Gabriel Mountains following the 2009 Station Fire.
A wet rain season also increases the population of many species. Combine a fire and wet rain season and plant distributions and populations can be dramatically altered.
Large-flowered Phacelia near Tri Peaks. Click for larger image.
Yesterday, I did a long run in the Santa Monica Mountains that included several miles of the Backbone Trail between Sandstone Peak and the Danielson Multi-use area in Sycamore Canyon. This area was burned in 2018 Woolsey Fire and there were some stunning displays of fire followers and other wildflowers.
Star lily was one of the earliest fire followers to bloom in the area and remains prevalent, but the champion fire follower at the moment is large-flowered Phacelia. Before the Woolsey Fire it would be unusual to see this plant on this section of the Backbone Trail. Now its purple-blue flowers blanket large areas along the trail.
Although not as numerous as the large-flowered Phacelia, I’ve never seen so many fire poppies along the Backbone Trail. Its orange-red color is striking and stands out sharply against the brown, charcoal-infused soil. Also more abundant this year is the vibrant yellow collarless poppy.
Over the past two weeks more than 15 species were added to my Weekday Wildflowers slideshow. These are wildflowers photographed on weekday runs from the Victory Trailhead of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
Back in March, a profusion of painted lady butterflies in Southern California made headlines. The colorful insects were said to be passing through the area on their way to Oregon and other points to the north.
Two months later millions of the black, orange and white butterflies continue to be seen in the West San Fernando Valley, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch), and other areas. Recently there has been an uptick in their numbers and there have been some remarkable displays of the flyers along local trails.
Painted lady in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve with the characteristic four eyespots on the hindwing. Click for a larger image.
There are three very similar species of “lady” butterflies in the genus Vanessa — the painted lady (Vanessa cardui), the American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) and the west coast lady (Vanessa annabella). The Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility web site has a side-by-side comparison of these species and this post on BugGuide.net compares the American lady to the painted lady.
The lady butterflies I’ve looked at closely in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve have the identifying characteristics of the painted lady (Vanessa cardui). Here are an open-wing photo and a closed-wing photo of painted lady butterflies in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
Wildflowers continue to flourish following our wet rain season. Above average precipitation tends to produce more wildflowers, a wider variety of wildflowers, larger patches of a wildflower species, larger plants, and in some cases larger blossoms.
During the week I photographed several new “Weekday Wildflowers” on runs from the Victory Trailhead of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. This week’s runs included Lasky Mesa, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon, and the Sheep Corral Trail.
Chinese houses, white snapdragon, yellow monkey flower, stinging lupine, and a few other species were added to the Weekday Wildflowers slideshow.
The wind poppy is one of several new wildflowers I’ve recently added to the slideshow in the post Weekday Wildflowers.
Only about the diameter of a dime, the flower of this uncommon poppy is easy to miss. A closer view reveals its striking combination of form and color.
