Natural History Wanderings

Submitted by Doug Wirtz

Hiked Jepson today. The bloom is beginning to accelerate. Large drifts of Goldfields (Lasthenia) and Tidy tips (Layia) in pastures on east and west sides. Scattered among these drifts are grasses Deschampisa and Pleuropogon area two fo the native grasses. Also several native clovers (white-tipped, bearded, tomcat), Downigia concolor var. concolor, D. pusilla (dwarf), D. ornatissima var. ornatissima, D. bella.Tritelia hycinthina (White hyacinth), Psilocarphus tenellus (Oregon woolyheads), P. brevissimus var. brevissimus (Short wolly heads), P tenellus var. globiferus ( Slender Woollyheads). Pogogyne zizyphoroides (Sacramento mesamint), Brodeia coronaria ssp coronoaria (Harvest Brodiaea, crown brodiaea), Mimulus tricolor (Tricolored monkeyflower).

My photos are posted at www.flickr.com under screen name ozoneretired. Here’s the link as well.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/10244783@N04/

While the bloom continues in the public area the best new displays are in pastures only accessible on docent led tours. The docent tours continue through May 8th. Here’s the link to the Solano Land Trust schedule for all their reserves.  http://www.solanolandtrust.org/CalendarList.aspx?hCalendar=1