Oak shrub, or possibly a still short tree species, a few meters tall, growing on a large berm where Puddingstone Avenue bends N, just S of Raging Waters Drive, in San Dimas, CA, in the San Jose Hills range. This plant possibly a planted individual, as there is some semi-wild landscaping close-by, but it is also in a weird location for a planted tree/shrub, and has nothing planted alongside it on the otherwise open berm. Leaves markedly shiny, bright green, and glabrous above/adaxially, and pubescent and light green below/abaxially. Leaves consistently obovate and convex, somewhat similar to the leaves of coast live oak, but not oval, lacking the turtleshell-scute-like divisions seen in the leaves of that species, and lacking any margin spines whatsoever. With many wooly, white to beige to orange galls on the midveins of the abaxial/lower leaf surfaces; see photo # 6, and separate hall observation posted separately, linked below. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Separate observation for the galls: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/138855961
Shrub, a few meters tall, along Villa Grove Pebble Plains Trail, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino Mountains. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Along the Pomello trail
Only flowering individual on the slope
More like Erroriogonum!
increíble espectáculo de la llegada masiva de la "mariposa blanca" a El Ejido El Águila, Cacahoatán, en la zona de influencia de la Reserva de la Biosfera Volcán Tacana
With C. connata (paler) in comparison photos.
A series of rocks painted with eyes, in the Egyptian artistic style, positioned individually or situated in cairns, placed throughout a network of trails and chambers cleared in vegetation in a small valley in the South Hills range, Glendora, CA.
On a geometric flag structure, the name "Anubee" is found. This valley, now to be known as "Anubee's Valley" was previously occupied by a floriculture operation, which was retired years ago, leaving the valley bottom to regrow wild vegetation. There are signs of maintenance and possible ongoing habitation here, but the ornate stones point to an important ceremonial use of this location. Perhaps this site is a temple dedicated to a deity by the name of Anubee. Alternatively, Anubee may be the artist who painted this artwork, and arranged this stonework.
In addition to the Egyptian-influenced artwork, one stone (see photo # 4) is marked with Norse runes (ᛚᛟᚲᛁ), which translates to "Loki", the name of the Norse god of Mischief. This blending of Egyptian and Norse mythological elements is intriguing, especially given the great distance between the geographies of those cultures and this location.
Further research is needed, but will be undertaken only with careful consideration and cultural respect.
Small but dense population of these wee, annual, Aussie succulents, on sandy, rocky, alluvial soil, on a mild slope immediately above San Antonio Creek, near Barrett Stoddard Road, San Antonio Canyon, San Gabriel Mountains. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Observed with Rachel Wing, who showed me this locality, after some dialogue arising from this earlier observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/207493329.
Under microscope counted 5 sepals. Keys out to C. Colligsta subspecies lamprosperma.
Carrizo Plain
Observed at Echo Lake Lodge, Chicago Creek Road, Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, CO, USA
Edited to add: the silly story that I posted on the forum, which was inspired by this photo set.
***************
This is not something that I do all of the time, but every once in a while, a photo – or a series thereof – suggests a snippet of dialog, a movie scene, or something of the sort to me. For instance, this photo set reminded me of all of the various “how to survive a horror movie” lists out there. The script goes as follows:
Bird on right: “Did you hear that?”
Bird on left: “I didn’t hear anything.”
BoR: “Come on, you have to have heard that noise!”
BoL: “I didn’t hear anything, and if you’re smart, neither did you.”
BoR: “I’m going to go check it out.”
BoL: (looking up as her companion flies away) “Fine. If you run into a Loggerhead Shrike with a rusty fishhook, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
My brain can be a very strange place, somtimes. :laughing:
Near Johnson's Pasture in Claremont Hills Wilderness Park
Herb, no more than about 1/3 meter tall, growing in a weedy spot in a suburban backyard, Claremont, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Exact location shifted slightly for privacy purposes; you don't need an exact address, you creep..
Shrub, around 2 meters tall, beside a firebreak along the top of Sunset Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains. Photo # 2 taken through a monocular from a distance of maybe 40 paces. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Leaves like sage brush, but much denser and lower than the other typically leggy sages nearby.
A population of at least 10 plants, some up to about 2/3 meters tall, most shorter, bushy, growing in the mostly bare soil of the Metro light rail right-of-way, just E of N Dalton Avenue, Azusa, CA. Flowers a relatively vibrant salmon orange color, and herbage markedly light green, with stellate hairs. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
I was on the lookout for this species in the general area aince last, after noticing a population of these guys in the middle of the 210 freeway (posted as an observation by a different user here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/107382434). I had actively planned for how I would make a collection from that population, but hadn't gotten to it. Today, while riding the Metro A-Line eastbound, I noticed some of these in the rail right-of-way in Arcadia, just E of 2nd Avenue, and then saw several more patches along the way to my eventual stop in Azusa. In Azusa I was able to get up close to the patch there, and got photos for this observation, as well as making a collection to be pressed.
This species appears to be distributed in patches along a long stretch of the Metro A-Line route, ~15 km (~9 miles) long (see map of locations mentioned above, photo # 10 here) . There are some collection records of this genus in the general area, but they are few in number, and decades old. The genus does not seem to occur naturally in the greater Los Angeles Basin, or at least it hadn't until more recently.
I wonder if the species may have escaped from the LA County Arboretum (which does appear to have some Sphaeralcea in their gardens), reaching the right of way of the A-Line in the middle of the 210 freeway at that location, and later spreading along the right of way to the east. Then again, it seems people are growing Sphaeralcea species in their yards around here, as well, so it may even be multiple escapes to the wild going on. However, it seems possible it may have been introduced via the relatively recent construction of the eastern end of the A-Line route, perhaps by equipment that picked up seed by accident if it had been used in areas where the species typically occurs. Not sure, but my interest is piqued.
Swollen fruits with spongey mesocarp
A milkweed, no more than about 2/3 meters tall, with very wooly herbage, growing amidst thatch of dead cool season grasses, along Sycamore Flats Motorway, S slopes of Johnstone Peak, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Shrub, at least one meter tall, on a S-exposed slope along Sycamore Flats Motorway, S slopes of Johnstone Peak, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Weedy vine with ridiculously ornate flowers as if they were from a psychedelic hallucination, growing in the windrow/greenstrip along Sun Rose Street, Puddingstone Village neighborhood, La Verne, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Update (21 July 2023): Passed by this plant and found it in fruit. Fruits large, orange, mostly empty space inside, with red seeds. Fruit of very mild flavor, with the seeds more flavorful, and mildly sweet.
An oak seedling coming up as a weed/volunteer in the soil of a potted (Christmas gift) poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), the poinsettia well dead, Glendora, CA. The source of the poinsettia is listed on the side of the pot as "ASP, Vista, CA", and when I Google that it returns results for one "Altman Plants" in Vista, CA (website here: https://altmanplants.com), although the location at Vista, CA, appears to be the corporate headquarters. Other than the headquarters there are lots of individual locations under the name Altman Plants that appear to be actual nursery facilities (see map in photo # 5, and closer inset in photo # 6 of the main cluster of locations around San Diego County.
Of the multiple Altman locations, it would appear the most likely location to be the origin of this potted poinsettia would be the one in Fallbrook, CA (2575 Olive Hill Rd, Fallbrook, CA 92028), which is shown in this Facebook video to be a home to large numbers of poinsettias kept outdoors at least temporarily (https://www.facebook.com/AltmanPlants/videos/681967436850643/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v). Screen shot of the Facebook post also posted as photo # 7 here. Large areas of apparent poinsettias also visible from Google Maps satellite imagery at this Fallbrook location (see photo # 8). It would appear that at some point along the line from initial growing of the poinsettia, to transportation and sale, to eventually being placed on a table, that an acorn made its way into this pot, and came to successfully germinate and grow. The owner of this plant has been watering it even after the poinsettia had died, allowing the oak seedling to grow to about 30 cm tall or so at this point.
I inspected the soil and found an unfurled acorn shell (photos # 2-3), which suggests the seedling indeed originated from a stray acorn landing in the pot. However it is unclear when and where the acorn would have first been dropped into the pot. The leaves look a lot like that of Quercus agrifolia, which is native to the contiguous area between Fallbrook and Glendora, and surrounding areas likely to have been stops on this potted plant's journey before being purchased and gifted to its eventual home, but the leaves are also not exactly what I expect from that species, so it might be showing juvenile morphology, or rather may just be a different (ornamentally planted?) oak species.
I think I will be planting this and seeing what future signs I get of a proper determination. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Exact location shifted slightly for privacy purposes; you don't need an exact address, you creep..
Large individual, around 2 meters tall or so, growing on compacted soil of the large embankment at the parking/staging lot of Marshall Canyon, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Shrub around 1 meter tall, along Gould Mesa Trail (access road), on the slopes above Arroyo Seco, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Large shrub growing along the community trail between Cabrillo College and the Forest of Nisene Marks. The shrub looked superficially similar to Coyote Brush, but the flowers, not so much.
Prickly herb, about 1 meter tall, growing in cracks of a concrete slab on a long derelict and weedy agricultural plot, Ontario, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
A conspicuously out-of-place, but clearly wild-growing, trunked yucca, growing in the thick chaparral, just S of the water tank off of Mountain Springs Ranch Road, S slopes of Sunset Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. I would've gotten a few close-up photos, as well, but it would've been a heck of a scrubbing..
Small group of Bison at Blackjack Campground, Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California. Photo is a photo of print photo (originally taken on a disposable camera). Interesting optical aberrations around the margin are part of the original photo, and are perhaps an instance of island magic. Year is certain, but date and time are approximate; I know I was on the island in late summer, and I got into Blackjack in the late afternoon that day.
Herby shrub, around 1 meter tall, growing on the Metro Goldline rail right-of-way, on the S side of the ULV Arts and Communications building, La Verne, CA. A mural of a historic photo of La Verne is visible in the background, and should remind of us of the continual nature of change in the San Gabriel Valley. I am only safe to explore the rail line now because the trains are halted during the conversion to Goldline light rail from the historic BNSF rail line that proceeded it, along which these cities were built up, and by which this very species may have first colonized the valley..
Large spiny herb, growing on compacted and mostly bare soil near the confluence of Live Oak and Marshall flood washes, E end of Bonelli Park, San Jose Hills range. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Lily growing amidst a sea of Avena in the hills at the western end of the S side of Sunset Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Inner surfaces of tepals white with some purplish color distally, and deep blood red proximally, with overall light pink-purple colored outer surfaces. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Intensely sticky, viscid, glandular, ooey-gooey herb, growing amidst annual grasses, at the side of Miller Lateral Road, Marshall Canyon, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Scattered blue dicks¹ in coastal sage scrub of a S-facing slope along the main route of Colby Trail, S slopes of Glendora Ridge, front range of the San Gabriel Mountains. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
¹Given the recent move of this species from Dichelostemma to Dipterostemon, the current, somewhat unfortunate common name really ought to be changed to "blue² dips".
²Since blue dips are one of many examples of botanical common names of "blue" things that are really more purple, owing to the infrequent use of the word "purple" when English speakers were coming up with common names, maybe it would be better to correct this error if we are revising the common name anyhow. I hereby dub these "purple dips".
An immense population of these tiny, wee, annual, introduced, Aussie succulents, growing in sandy soil, covered with larger stones, besides a suburban house, on Independence Drive, Claremont, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Wee succulents, growing on mostly bare, compacted soil, along the northbound shoulder of San Dimas Canyon Road, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Growing with what looks to be clear Crassula connata (http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106977120).
Small, but dense, population of this wee, annual, introduced, Aussie Crassula, particularly far into relatively undisturbed wildlands, along Colby Trail, which cuts through the chaparral-covered S-facing slopes of Glendora Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains. Plants all over trail margins on a small flat spot along the trail, where a sandy soil layer has accumulated. Individual plants in heavier shade (under the sides of subshrubs about) are noticeably greener, larger, and more multiply branched than individuals in the most exposed portions of this locality/occurrence. I did not see any other occurrences of this species while heading up the trail (most direct route to this location), nor did I see any others while heading back down. I did not continue farther upslope beyond this location, so I do not know whether the species is more abundant, or present at all, higher up along the trail. However, the fire road along the top of Glendora Ridge should be explored for this species soon. Occurrences documented in the upper mount of Azusa Canyon, and this one, suggest some likelihood for more occurrences along the top of the ridge, where soil conditions are right. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Lovely purplish mushrooms under a Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius) along Stephens Ranch Road, near the SE corner of Camp Joseph Paige prison, Marshall Canyon, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Photo # 1 is a composite of two photos, to get full-mushroom focus.
Phoradendron leucarpum ssp. macrophyllum inder the Jepson Manual treatment.
Lots of growth of mistletoe, nice and low on a planted plane(Platanus) tree, on the SE corner of W Fifth Street and N Monte Vista Avenue, San Dimas, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Damn you, you fascist sons of dogs which what's trying to separate me from my beloved laurel sumac. Be damned! I can see, if not closely interact with my laurel, from behind this damn fence. Just as the Norman conquerors besieged the sceptered isle of Britain and beset upon the people therein odd and unwelcome rules and governance, so this fence and property ownership besets upon me a chasm which what separates me from me laurel sumac.
Shrub, around 3 meters tall, on the semi-landscaped, mostly wild and overlooked, slope on the W side of the 57 freeway, beside the Target shopping center, San Dimas, CA.
Slightly-greenish-golden-orange-colored lichen, on a rough concrete surface, on an island at the park and ride just S of Bonita Avenue, San Dimas, CA. Observed after some rainy weather, although it had been greener in color just two days prior (see photo # 7, taken on 2 Feb 2023). Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Lichen with white-rimmed apothecia, with bluish to greenish to pinkish apothecia innards, growing on the NW-facing side of the trunk of a large California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera), planted along a road verge on Bonita Avenue, just E of the intersection with San Dimas Avenue, San Dimas, CA. Photos taken with added light from a white-colored LED lamp. Photographed after a few days of decent rainfall.
Locality with many many individuals of this wee annual succulent, growing on sandy, gravelly, low-organic soil, at the SE corner of the intersection of San Dimas Canyon Road and Palomares Avenue, San Dimas, CA. Individual plants with as few as one stem, up to a few, ascending to more or less erect. Photos taken in darkness of night with artificial light from a white-colored LED lamp. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Note (17 Feb 2023): Photos # 5-6 added.
Note (18 Feb 2023): Photos # 7-9 added, this time with actual daylight.
A very white lichen with very red-centered apothecia, on the W-exposed bark of a planted/ornamental palm tree, near the entrance to EPCOT, Orlando area, Florida. Closeup photos taken with added light from a white-colored LED lamp. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Gray-green bromeliad epiphytes, with bright magenta inflorescences, on the branches of a tree along the main loop road of Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Orlando area, Florida. Coin used for scale (photos # 2 and 4) is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
I thought I was looking at the same species as these plants on a nearby tree (http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148655965), but I'm not too sure now.. These inflorescences are decumbent, while the others at the linked observation were relatively erect.
A patch of what I think to be a lichen, on a stick found in a planter bed at the exit to Haunted Mansion, Disney's Magic Kingdom, Orlando area, Florida. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Tracks found in sandy mud along Upper Colby Trail, on the S slopes of Glendora Ridge, front ranges of the San Gabriel Mountains. Tracks running perpendicular to the direction of the trail. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Robust but low herb, no more than about 1/4 meter tall, and very hairy, growing along Poopout Trail, Dalton Ridge, front range of the San Gabriel Mountains. Candy recipe followed:
With a Pathogen?
Wee annual succulents in sandy, low-organic soil of a roadside verge on the NW corner of S Farber Avenue and W Payson Street, Glendora, CA. Photos taken with added light from a white-colored LED lamp. Photos # 1-2 taken in near total darkness after sunset with only artificial light, for a more dramatic image than the first one I took (photo # 3). Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
This, and its twin observation (here: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147089787), is a follow-up observation to these ones from the same locality in the previous year:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109574845
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106206587
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108460450
Wee annual succulents in sandy, low-organic soil of a roadside verge on the NW corner of S Farber Avenue and W Payson Street, Glendora, CA. Photos taken with added light from a white-colored LED lamp. Photos # 1-2 taken in near total darkness after sunset with only artificial light, for a more dramatic image than the first one I took (photo # 3). Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
This, and its twin observation (here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147090117), is a follow-up observation to these ones from the same locality in the previous year:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109574845
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106206587
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108460450
I haven't the foggiest idea what this is. UV-fluorescent organism, or non-organism, or leavings of an organism...?... found on the W-facing side of a cinder block wall, noticed due to high fluorescence, while I was using a UV flashlight to hunt lichens. Thing is attached to the mortar between bricks. I would remove the thing to dissect and investigate further, but I'm not sure this isn't some kind of extraterrestrial life that will kill me if I handle it too much (99% joking there). What the hell is this thing? Texture rather hard, and crispy, not fleshy. Observed following a decent amount of precipitation on the same day.
Photos # 1-3 taken under UV light in near total darkness otherwise, and photos # 4-5 taken under illumination with a white LED lamp. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Update (29 Dec 2022): Inspected the putative life-form further, and removed the donut-shaped structure from the large mass, and the larger mass from the wall. The donut-shaped structure was relatively easy to separate, as was the larger mass from the wall. Face, and backside fluorescent under UV, as well as the inside of the larger mass (not pictured under UV here). The donut-shaped structure was hardened, and fragile, and shattered into pieces when I accidentally dropped it on a tile floor.
Nearly perfectly white lichen, with tan apothecia, growing on a flat, and completely exposed surface of an old, very rough concrete structure, high up on Colby Trail, S slopes of Glendora Ridge, front ranges of the San Gabriel Mountains. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Other lichens on this same concrete structure:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144586580
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144585215
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144585135
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144584853
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144584688
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144584217
A follow-up observation of a good, clear, putatively single-species patch of a lichen community that I documented on a previous observation (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/102954364).
Green lichen, with a perfusion of very small apothecia, on a well shaded N-facing concrete driveway of a suburban house in the Puddingstone Village neighborhood, La Verne, CA. Lighting augmented with a neutral-white-colored LED headlamp, and adjusted for brightness and contrast afterward, without messing with colors substantially. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece). Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart. Exact location shifted slightly for privacy purposes; you don't need an exact address, you creep..
Photos taken in three sets, on two different dates:
Photos # 1-4, on 11 December 2022, when fungi around were fairly lively, following some rains and cool weather.
Photos # 5-8, early morning hours of 26 December 2022, under artificial UV light, after a period of no real rains, a few days of relatively warm weather. Fluorescence is distinctly golden.
Photos # 9-10, midday on 26 December 2022, to show daylight colors to compare with the UV photos in photos # 5-8.
Pennisetum setaceum
Bunchgrass, along Sycamore Flats Motorway, on the S slopes of Johnstone Peak, front ranges of the San Gabriel Mountains. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Interestingly stereotypically mushroomy mushroom, found in a nice and shady, N side of a house, in section of lawn with lots of unpicked-up dog doodoos (not growing out/on dog doodoo, but might be mycologically relevant), in Glendora, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Primary photo taken with flash photography. Exact location shifted slightly for privacy purposes; you don't need an exact address, you creep..
A lovely, low, but mounded and clearly not prostrate, euphorb, with fuzzy, grayish herbage, growing on compacted soil of Colby Trail, S slopes of Glendora Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Growing down a slope in the Johnson's Pasture area of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. I couldn't get close enough to take detailed photos of the leaves and flowers, but I am pretty sure this is Acacia baileyana.
Here is a mystery tree that has puzzled me for quite a while. It's a deciduous tree growing right out of a big clump of Malosma laurina near the entrance to Johnson's Pasture in the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. Because it's in the middle of the Laurel Sumac on a steep slope, it's very hard to access, but I finally made an attempt and took the first two photos from as close as I could get. The third photo (taken in September 2020 shows an overall view). I have never seen it bloom.
The iNat computer vision suggests it's most similar to Acacia melanoxylon or Acacia longifolia, and I think that's certainly possible. There are other Acacia species in Johnson's Pasture.
Perennial wild peony that has emerged in the same spot for the past 25 years.
Large shrub, several meters tall, growing on a N-facing slope, just below Glendora Ava Access Road, in the South Hills range, Glendora, CA. Sorry, no close-up; didn't feel like slipping and sliding down a steep slope...
The vast majority of the leaves on this oak, growing on Gayle Mountain,were spineless, smooth bordered lanceolate leaves. At the termini of some of the branches, however, lobed leaves with spines typical of Q.berberidifolia were present. Underside of leaf and acorn is also shown.
A wonderfully beautiful moth, chilling all the live-long day, on a wall beside an outdoor lamp, in the Puddingstone Village neighborhood, La Verne, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart. Exact location shifted slightly for privacy purposes; you don't need an exact address, you creep..
Update (28 September 2022): Added photos # 3-6. This guy was still hanging around the next morning. I took some more photos and moved it away. Move along, bud!
Funastrum cynanchoides var. hartwegii under the Jepson Manual treatment.
A slender vine, growing over dead, non-native weeds, on a S-facing slope above Via Verde Drive, towards the eastern end of Bonelli Park, in the San Jose Hills range. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Many oleander aphids (Aphis nerii, Aphididae) found on these plants (see photo # 7), and separate observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136118791.
NOTE: Images not my property, but instead are modified images belonging to another party, being used here for educational purposes.
California buckwheat plants spotted in a scene, filmed on-location, of the Seinfeld episode "The Trip (part 2)", at the 17:20 time mark. Humans (Homo sapiens) in the photos were painted out of the photo, as they are not the focus of the observation.
Location found by comparing image with Google Street View, noting the easy-to-identify house on a hill toward the upper right-hand side of the frame, in photo # 2. The date used here for the date of the observation is approximate. Online sources report the episode as having been filmed on the week of 20-24 July, 1992, so I am placing this at the beginning of that range (https://seinfeldism.com/s04e01-the-trip-part-1.php).
NOTE: Images not my property, but instead are modified images belonging to another party. Being used here for educational purposes.
Laurel sumac spotted at right side of this frame from an on-location shot from Seinfeld episode "The Trip (part 2)", at the 17:20 time mark. Second photo shows a second, rather out-of-focus closer image of the same species. Humans (Homo sapiens) in the photos were painted out of the photo, as they are not the focus of the observation.
Location found by comparing image with Google Street View, noting the easy-to-identify house on a hill toward the upper right-hand side of the frame. The date used here for the date of the observation is approximate. Online sources report the episode as having been filmed on the week of 20-24 July, 1992, so I am placing this at the beginning of that range (https://seinfeldism.com/s04e01-the-trip-part-1.php).
Large shrub, about 3 meters tall and about 4 meters wide. Growing in chaparral on middle slopes of Marshall Canyon, above Camp Joseph Paige county prison, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Bark smooth and red. Possibly multiple individuals, one very large per the dimensions above, and a few smaller individuals, or one very large individual with multiple large branches, partially buried under soil so as to look like multiple plants. They were quite closely clustered, though, so I favor the latter interpretation. Appears there is no basal burl. Stems and foliage glabrous, but pedicels with glandular hairs. In flower, with some older-season nascent inflorescences still around. Leaves isofacial (same on both surfaces), and markedly glaucous-white. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Huzzah! What a fine and beautiful gall! Orange with yellow spots, and a beak, attached to the host plant along the stems. Host plant (http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/122438028) is a Quercus dutata var. gabrielensis, growing in chaparral in the Marshall Canyon area, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
A truly massive big berry manzanita found in the Figueroa Mountain area. The human pictured for scale is 1.6 meters tall. Estimated height is approximately 8 meters tall. Growing in relatively open chaparral, intermixed with grassland. This individual and another immediately next to it are of this massive stature. It appears that these individuals are the result of some unusual set of circumstances, that allowed the plants to survive multiple fires. Individuals of the same species in the surrounding area are of a non-remarkable stature, so likely germinated after the most recent fire in the area. Unfortunately, I did not grab a closeup photo of leaf morphology, but the leaves were large, roundish, glabrous, and markedly glaucous-white. Plant was clearly an Arctostaphylos glauca, just huge.
This individual named "Hyperbolon".
Update (2 September 2022): Found some preserved material of this guy, and added some new photos (photos # 2-5). Also, adding note that the plant was in fruit, with typical A. glauca fruits, glandular/viscid, large, spherical, lacking any mesocarp, with a woody, marble-like "stone". Nascent inflorescences also typical of A. glauca, if maybe somewhat unusually fuzzy. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart. Photo # 2 photographed on a black background and manually cleaned up to have a solid black background.
Low herb with fuzzy green-white foliage, growing on mostly bare soil on the generally E-facing, lower slopes of the far eastern end of Double Butte, in the area of Winchester, CA. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Large annual herb, with one primary vertical stem, with several branches with inflorescences along. Growing at the edge of San Dimas Avenue, in San Dimas, CA, and in the San Jose Hills range. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Short, only about 1 to 1.25 meters tall, and about 1.5 meters wide. Lacking any clear, developed basal burl, but with that burlescent bark at the base of the (visible/aboveground) trunk, and many of the uprooted and dead plants at this site had super clear, globe-shaped, craggily-surfaced basal burls. Leaves isofacial (same on both sides), and quite glaucous-white. Stems with "medium length" glandular hairs. Nascent inflorescence bracts leaf-like. Fruits depressed (wider than tall), with glabrous and red surface, with some sweet mesocarp, and partially separable nutlets. Growing at the edge of a mechanically cleared firebreak on Sunset Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Note that the last photo in this series was taken of the same plant shown in the other photos, but was just taken later in the day around sunset, since everything looked extra beautiful at that moment. See the old man Baldy (Mount San Antonio) in the background of some shots here. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter.
Chaparral yuccas, up to about 1.25 meters in diameter, growing on a well exposed, N-S-running ridge line on the upper slopes of Marshall Canyon, San Gabriel Mountains foothills.
Subshrub, no more than about 3/4 meters tall, with tiny reduced, scale-like leaves. Growing on a ridge line, well exposed to the S, on the upper slopes of Marshall Canyon, above Camp Joseph Paige prison, in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
In 2020, @mlshanahan posted this observation of a red monkeyflower that was identified as Diplacus puniceus growing next to the loop trail in the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. @grmorrison, @naomibot, and I speculated as to whether it was actually just a red D. longiflorus but were unable to tell from the photo.
I tried to check on it last year but was too late, and the plants were all finished blooming, so I couldn't tell which one it was.
This year, however, I got out there in time, and found it – a lone monkeyflower plant with red flowers growing amidst a whole bunch of other monkeyflowers with the more typical yellow flowers. I did get close-ups of the leaves.
The relevant Jepson couplet that would separate these species is:
Leaves abaxially puberulent to densely hairy, generally paler than adaxial surface --> D. longiflorus
3' Leaves abaxially glabrous, not paler than adaxial surface --> D. puniceus
The undersides of the leaves are definitely hairy and paler than the upper sides, so I think it's pretty clear that this is D. longiflorus. I do note that the Jepson description of this species says, "corolla orange to pale yellow-orange to red".
What do you think @grmorrison, @naomibot, @keirmose?
Tiny reddish succulents, growing on compressed, bare soil, of a trail on the middle slopes of Marshall Canyon, above Camp Joseph Paige county prison, San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Coin used for scale is a US quarter dollar (¢25 piece), 24.26 mm, 0.955 inch in diameter. Each line on the edge of the coin is approximately 0.64 mm apart.
Red listed