Natural History Wanderings

Submitted by
Charlie Russell
California Wildflower Hikes 

We visited the South Yuba River State Park on April 30th. The Buttermilk Bend trail has a wonderful selection of wildflowers. I identified over 50 species, and it is a very easy hike. Lots of Fairy Lantern (Calochortus albus). The docents have many of the flowers marked so that you can easily identify them. VERY nice hike. We also went to the Independence Trail. That isn’t as showy, but it is a much cooler hike (and perfectly level). I was surprised by the abundance of Yellow Star Tulip (Calochortus monophyllus)