Natural History Wanderings

San Pedro Valley County Park (San Mateo county) Submitted by Tom Hilton on February 12,2011

“Hiked the Hazelnut Trail in San Pedro Valley County Park this morning. Still well before prime, but the early season flowers are well represented: tons of manzanita (of course); trillium; hounds tongue; milk maids; red currant; less blackberry in bloom than I expected, but there was some. Huckleberry not quite there yet.

The real prize was the Fetid Adder’s Tongue (my primary goal in doing this trail)–lots of it in the upper portion of the eastern switchbacks. Best way to spot it is the leaves, which are much larger than the flower; look for basal leaves in a sort of inverted cone configuration.”  Tom’s photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhilton/archives/date-taken/2011/02/12/