Natural History Wanderings

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We headed north up  highway 49 and went about 22 miles. The habitat is mostly Oak Woodlands and Farm Lands.  Found some good displays as well as a number of interesting species following Toni Fauver’s book Wildflower Walks and Roads of the Sierra Gold Country.

Clusters of Buck Brush Ceanothus and White-leaf Ceanothus at various times throughout drive. All stops were roadside and photographed from public lands.

Stops:

1 mile north of Mariposa – Blue Dicks, Popcorn, Fiddleneck and a tiny lupine.

Mileage sign 21.5 Goldfields and Johnny Tuck displays,  Also in bloom Blue Dicks, Lupine,  and Popcorn. Gilia just starting to open.

10.2 miles north of Mariposa – Fiddleneck by  patches of Johnny Tuck

Bear Valley- old buildings and  patches of Johnny Tuck.

11.2 miles north of Mariposa –  Especially good White-leaf Manzanita and Buck Brush

Foothill Lomatium/Lomatium utriculatum starts to appear

ESA (Environmental Sensitive Area) with greenish Serpentine Rock – Naked Broomrape/Orobanche uniflora, Dudleya, Goldfields, Blue Dicks, Popcorn, Caespitose Tuffed Poppies, Paintbrush (first sighting), Johnny Tuck and Ceanothus. Buckwheat were not in bloom and we didn’t find the Lewesia that grows in this area at all.

Continuing along the road there are occasional Redbuds and fields with goldfields

17.4 miles north of Mariposa at a pullover (just south of the 26.0 Mileage sign) we found a lupine that might be Lupine spectabilis.

17.9 miles north R of Mariposa at a pullover we found good paintbrush and Goldfields. Also Yellow flowered Chaenactis, and a few Chia

At next stop  mileage not recorded we saw Woodland Star, more  Caespitose Tuffed Poppies, a Streptanthus, Lewesia foliage up a hill, and a white and yellow composite.

19.6 miles good mixed displays