Showy tarweed (Madia elegans ssp. densifolia) blooming along the Mokelumne River. The seeds of tarweed were an ingredient of pinole — a food staple of several California native cultures made from ground seeds. The plant’s common name refers to the sticky nature of the its foliage.
From a run on Saturday morning.
It’s growth exhausted, this dessicated stalk of hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) is a relic of Southern California’s 2005-2006 rain season. A robust member of the mint family, the flowering stalks typically grow to a height of 1-3 ft., but in this case the full stalk reached about 4 ft. The 2006-2007 rain season was too dry to produce flowering stalks in this area.
From a run at Sage Ranch Park on August 22, 2007.
Related post: Dealing with Drought
A bee forages on Bigelow’s sneezeweed (Helenium bigelovii) at Little Jimmy Spring. From Sunday’s Islip – Baden-Powell loop.
Mariposa lilies (Calochortus invenustus) blooming through the palmate leaves of a lupine at about 8500 ft., near Sawmill Mountain, west of Mt. Pinos.
According to data from the Consortium of California Herbaria, this species was documented in the Mt. Pinos area as early as 1897.
The wasp-like insect is a hover fly, probably Chrysotoxum festivum.
From Sunday’s Mt. Pinos-Mt. Abel Out & Back run.
Related posts: Plummer’s Mariposa Lily, Bee Fly On Western Wallflower
In a Spring in which there has been little rain and a reduced number of wildflowers, the vibrant yellow of gumplant has been a welcome sight along Ahmanson’s main trail in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve near the Victory trailhead.
This appears to be Grindelia hirsutula var. hirsutula, a species considered rare in Ventura County. It is reported that a species of gumplant was used medicinally by the Chumash, and other native peoples within its range, for treatment of pulmonary problems.
Pine drops (Pterospora andromedea) and snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) are related nonphotosynthetic plants that are found under pine and related trees, primarily in the mountains of the western U.S.
At one time it was believed that these plants were saprophytes, and obtained needed nutrients directly from decaying organic matter in soil. However, research has revealed a more complex parasitic relationship in which the plant obtains carbohydrate from a pine tree, by way of a shared mycorrhizal fungus.
The photograph was taken on the run described in Heat Wave, on July 16, 2006.
Related post: Snow Plant