sekihiker's Journal

A little after noon on April 21, 2013, I noticed a lizard belly up at the bottom of my swimming pool. I figured he was dead. When I returned with the skimmer net to get him out, he was standing upright at the bottom of the pool. I fished him out and fetched my wife to take a look. He moved from the center to the edge of the net while I was gone. I took him off the net and moved him near the fence where I have seen lizards like him hanging out. His movements made me think he might survive. I went in the house for five or ten minutes and he was gone when I returned. I took photos of the lizard and wondered if there might be some place on the internet to share my story and photos. A Google search took me to iNaturalist. I joined, posted my data, and soon had a confirmation of my identification.

I was impressed with iNaturalist and wondered if they might like a photo of a snake trying to eat a lizard. Soon after posting the observation, I knew the identification of the snake and a possible identification for the lizard. After that, I posted observations of a couple of animals and some of the more exotic plants I had seen. After having looked at the iNaturalist site for a day or so, it occurred to me that in addition to confirmations of my identifications, I could expect help with identifications and corrections of my mistaken IDs. I spent the rest of April and into May posting mostly flower observations.

A turning point occurred in late April, 2013, when I posted observations for a trip I took to Chain Lakes in July 2008. I got the usual helpful support from iNaturalists belinda and invertboy. However, no matter which reference I consulted, one of the specimens refused to be found. Invertboy managed to identify the plant as Lewisia leeana, a fairly rare plant usually found on the California/Oregon border but with a small disjunct population in eastern Fresno County. On trips into the Woodchuck Creek watershed, I saw hundreds more of these rare plants. I decided it might be fun to map its distribution in the area.

On May 6, 2013, I took my first field trip specifically designed to collect data for iNaturalist. It was very rewarding and I continued to establish relationships with other iNaturalists. I continued to post observations from the past decade and took another field trip on May 20 which turned out to be as fruitful as the earlier trip.

Something else interesting happened at about the same time within the first months of joining. A fellow iNaturalist, microm, suggested that I use the “What Grows Here?” feature of the Calflora database. It was a wonderful resource to help me narrow down some difficult plant identifications. Toward the end of summer 2013, I was astonished to find that I was the only person to have made observations in the Woodchuck Creek watershed, an area of about fifteen square miles. I checked other nearby watersheds and found that many of them were also seldom visited.

Through iNaturalist, I have become motivated to carry out two projects; map the areal extent of the disjunct population of Lewisia leeana in Fresno County and find as many species as possible in the little studied watersheds east of Wishon and Courtright Reservoirs.

Bill Finch
July 2014

A search of the Jepson Online Interchange California Floristics¹ using the scientific name Lewisia leeana eventually yields a plethora of data about this interesting flowering plant. Specimen records from the Consortium of California Herbaria (CCH) yields a list of 116 records² , most of which are from counties on or near the California/Oregon border. Only 20 of the 116 records retrieved are from the disjunct population in eastern Fresno County³.

The twenty records from Fresno County fall into two categories. A few are old and geographically vague. Most are geographically specific enough to be confirmable. In this analysis, I have reviewed all 20 observations and commented on their validity and potential usefulness. I have also pointed out the observations that I have personally confirmed.

Specimen ID's for the 20 observations from CCH database for Fresno County³ are addressed below in the order they are listed in the database.

JEPS17200 This observation by Hall and Chandler in 1900 is geographically vague - "region of Dinkey Creek (Bald Mt.); Sierra Nevada Mountains, Bald Mt.". Search of old maps may yield the location of "Bald Mt." in the region of "Dinkey Creek". It appears to be a duplicate of UC64167 found later in the list. There is a Bald Mountain between Dinkey Creek and Shaver Lake, but it does not appear to have enough elevation to support L. leeana. I will check it out in 2014 and in spring 2015 if necessary.

JEPS17289 This observation by Perkins in 1920 is geographically vague - "between Mdw. and Shaver Lake". It appears to be a duplicate of RSA464465 and UC397362 found later in the list.

JEPS24578 This observation by Bacigalupi and Quibell in 1958 - "n South Lake; Sierra National Forest" is specific and I confirmed it in 2002. It is the northernmost occurrence of L. leeana in Fresno County. It appears to be a duplicate of UC1141004 and SEINET3071998 found later in the list.

JEPS5841 This observation by Elizabeth Ferguson in 1920 "ridge above Scepter Pass; High Sierras" is specific and I confirmed it in July 2014.

JEPS96202 Dana York and Jim Shevock observed L. leeana in 1995 "on slopes of Spanish Mt., John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nat'l Forest" is specific and by two of the most respected botanists who have ever worked the area. I'm looking forward to confirming it. It is the southernmost known occurrence in Fresno County. It appears to be a duplicate of observation CAS1121264 found later in the list.

SBBG47692 E. R. Blakley found L leeana on "Crown Pass, above N Fork Kings River" where I have observed it also. It appears to be a duplicate of observation UC1541198 found later in the list.

UC1141004 See JEPS24578 above.

UC1541198 See SBBG47692 above.

UC64167 See JEPS17200 above.

CAS1121264 See JEPS96202 above.

RSA131959 Appears to have been made near the same time as JEPS24578.

RSA464465 Appears to be the same as JEPS17289 above.

RSA68020 Dated August 1, 1951, The first of four observations in the Dinkey Lakes area by Charles Quibell in the early 1950's. I have confirmed the Dinkey Lakes observations.

RSA69199 Dated July 30, 1951, this is the second of Quibell's listed observations in Dinkey Lakes in the early 1950's.

RSA75608 Attributed to Vollmerbeane and Beane, this observation appears to have been misfiled in the Fresno County list since is puts the location on the "Road to Elk Valley, Del Norte County".

RSA88961 Dated July 13, 1952, this is the third of Quibell's listed observations in Dinkey Lakes in the early 1950's.

RSA89247 Dated July 17, 1952, this is the fourth of Quibell's listed observations in Dinkey Lakes in the early 1950's.

SEINET3071998 Appears to be the same as JEPS24578 above.

UC397362 Appears to be the same as JEPS17289 above.

UC82849 Dr. G. Eisen found L leeana in the "Woodchuck Peak Mountains of Fresno Co." on "Woodchuck Peak". No date is listed for the observation and "Woodchuck Peak" is not listed on any maps of the area. Neither are the "Woodchuck Peak Mountains". I have observed thousands of specimens of L leeana in the Woodchuck Creek Drainage. It's sad that Dr. Eisen couldn't have given a little better description of his location.

In summary, of the 20 observations in CCH for Fresno County, only 13 appear to be unique. Quibell or Bacigalupi and Quibell account for 10 of the 13 and they are all within a mile of each other in the Dinkey Lakes area. About 14 miles southeast of Dinkey Lakes is where two of the three others are found. They are Ferguson's and Blakly's observations on Scepter Pass and Crown Pass which are 1.3 miles apart. About 9.4 miles south of Blakly's and Ferguson's observations is York and Shevock's observation on Spanish Mountain. So, the CCH database has observations in only three small areas. On the iNaturalist website, I have posted more observations⁴ (with dozens more GPS locations with photos that are not posted). Almost all of my observations are in the Woodchuck Creek, Little Rancheria Creek, and Scepter Creek watersheds.

Future Exploration
A few peaks north of Dinkey Lakes, including Red Mountain, Black Peak, Mount Ian Campbell, and peaks northwest of the Red Rock Basin have a high enough elevation (>9,000 feet) to support L. leeana. The southern and northern localities in CCH are separated by a little less than twenty miles. Several areas in between with high enough elevation to support L. leeana include Nelson Mountain and Eagle Peak south of Dinkey Lakes, the mountains north and east of the Woodchuck Creek Drainage (which may be Dr. Eisen's Woodchuck Peak Mountains), the ridge extending southeast from Scepter Pass, Crown Ridge, and the area around Spanish Mountain. Conceivably, it could be found to the east on Blackcap Mountain and on Kettle Ridge.

Bill Finch
July 2014

1 http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange/
2 http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_consort.pl?taxon_name=Lewisia%20leeana
3 http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_consort.pl?taxon_name=Lewisia+leeana&county=06019
4 http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/sekihiker?taxon_id=77728

After analyzing the CCH database for Lewisia leeana, I concluded that the records showed that its disjunct population was confined to three small areas in eastern Fresno County. Then it occurred to me that I had not reviewed the data associated with photos of L. leeana in the Calphoto Database¹. A total of 39 photos of Lewisia leeana were in the Calphoto collection as of 6 August 2014. Most of the observations were either geographically vague or from northern California. Two of the observations confirmed my suspicions about its distribution which I had expressed in the study of the CCH database. Two of the photos were taken on Eagle Peak by Chris Winchell on July 30, 2006. Eagle Peak was one of the locations I predicted in my study of the CCH database that might host L. leeana. The other photo was taken by Vernon Smith between Pearl and Division Lakes in the Blackcap Basin. In my earlier analysis I thought L. leeana might be found as far east as Blackcap Mountain, but here is evidence that its range extends well into the Blackcap Basin and up to an elevation of almost 11,000 feet.

I have my work cut out for me. I have spent some time hiking in the Blackcap Basin, but have never focused on the botany. I have already planned a trip to explore the area as soon as possible in 2015. I would go this year but I want to make sure I get lots of photos of blossoms and there aren't any blossoms remaining on L. leeana this late in the season.

Bill Finch
6 August 2014

1 http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Lewisia+leeana&title_tag=Lewisia+leeana

Plants posted from iNaturalist into Calflora

1. Aquilegia formosa
2. Arctostaphylos nevadensis
3. Caltha leptosepala
4. Calyptridium monospermum
5. Collinsia torreyi
6. Dodecatheon jeffreyi
7. Erysimum capitatum
8. Kalmia polifolia
9. Pedicularis semibarbata
10. Penstemon newberryi
11. Phyllodoce breweri
12. Pinus monticola
13. Populus tremuloides
14. Thalictrum fendleri
15. Triteleia ixioides
16. Veratrum californicum
17. Viola purpurea

Species confirmed in iNaturalist not yet posted in Calflora

1. Achillea millefolium
2. Apocynum androsaemifolium
3. Aquilegia pubescens
4. Bistorta bistortoides
5. Calochortus leichtlinii
6. Castilleja applegatei
7. Castilleja lemmonii
8. Castilleja nana
9. Chamerion angustifolium
10. Chrysolepis sempervirens
11. Cryptogramma acrostichoides
12. Eriogonum nudum
13. Eriogonum umbellatum
14. Eriophyllum lanatum var. integrifolium
15. Eucephalus breweri
16. Fragaria virginiana
17. Fritillaria pinetorum
18. Hieracium horridum
19. Lilium kelleyanum
20. Lonicera involucrata
21. Minuartia nuttallii
22. Monardella odoratissima
23. Pedicularis attollens
24. Pinus jeffreyi
25. Platanthera dilatata var. leucostachys
26. Platanthera sparsiflora
27. Polemonium californicum
28. Pyrola picta
29. Raillardella argentea
30. Raillardella scaposa
31. Sarcodes sanguinea
32. Sedum obtusatum
33. Senecio triangularis
34. Sphenosciadium capitellatum
35. Spiraea splendens
36. Streptanthus tortuosus

Species posted to iNaturalist not yet confirmed

1. Antennaria rosea
2. Cymopterus terebinthinus
3. Delphinium depauperatum
4. Delphinium polycladon
5. Equisetum arvense
6. Eriogonum incanum
7. Gayophytum diffusum
8. Hackelia nervosa
9. Hesperochiron pumilus
10. Hieracium albiflorum
11. Holodiscus discolor var. microphyllus
12. Ivesia santolinoides
13. Juniperus grandis
14. Lewisia leeana
15. Lewisia triphylla
16. Maianthemum racemosum
17. Mertensia ciliata
18. Mimulus tilingii
19. Orthilia secunda
20. Pectiantia breweri
21. Phacelia hastata
22. Phacelia hydrophylloides
23. Phlox diffusa
24. Pinus contorta
25. Pterospora andromedea
26. Ranunculus alismifolius
27. Rhododendron columbianum
28. Ribes viscosissium
29. Senecio integerrimus

Bill Finch
8 August 2014
rev. 10 August 2014

I hiked to the summit of Bald Mountain east of Shaver Lake and west of Dinkey Creek, Fresno County, CA. Hall and Chandler observed Lewisia leeana in 1900 in "region of Dinkey Creek (Bald Mt.); Sierra Nevada Mountains, Bald Mt."¹ It appears that it wasn't this Bald Mountain. I carefully observed the summit area and flanks of Bald Mountain where L. leeana would likely be found and saw none. The summit of Bald Mountain (7,826) is almost 1,000 feet lower than than the lowest known elevation for L. leeana anywhere else in Fresno County (8,713'GPS, 8,720'map)². I did see a few other plants during the trip as well as quite a few jeeps and ATVs. For a list of the plants seen on the trip go to http://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/sekihiker/2014/8/9.

1 http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_consort.pl?taxon_name=Lewisia+leeana&county=06019
2 http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/819752