Wildflower walk 21, June 6, 2016
9:03 a.m., arrived at the west end of the park. Downtown temperature
76. It is to be near 100 degrees, today, so I am here early, with inadequate
sleep.
I’ve come to the west end to check the basal leaves of the
unidentified Eriogonum with a ring of cauline leaves. I will check other white
flowered Eriogonum for the ring of cauline leaves to be sure it’s unique.
The buds on Holodiscus discolor, ocean spray on the west end
of the park are turning white. Few of the inflorescences have blossoms but
there are some. The inflorescences have been quite brown. There are enough flowers
open to attract numerous flying insects.
I sat in the part shade of the H. discolor to take
photographs. The sky is absolutely clear. There is a very light, warm draft.
Enough to blow my subjects around.
Holodiscus discolor,
Ocean Spray
There are several Philadelphus lewisii, mock orange, in
bloom on the rim of hole in the ground, one is huge. It’s right beside the
trail descending into the hole. I don’t go down there. I have been down there
in the past. There doesn’t seem to be much to see. It’s dark, dominated by
Pinus ponderosa. There is a heap of garden refuse, obviously thrown over the
fence from the house next door that provides, damn, another word escapes me,
the botanical cliché … I’ll have to be ‘creative’ … aliens? There’s lots of Lunaria
annua, annual honesty, and there will be Tanacetum vulgare, tansy, later.
Philadelphus lewisii,
mock orange
I picked a leaf of H. discolor to photograph and forgot to
do it.
I see small patches of Allium acuminatum, taper tip onion
here and there.
Many of the Eriogonum blossoms are looking dark red. I
suppose, even so, they are E. heracleoides. I’ve checked several and I find
none with the circle of cauline leaves.
There are a sprinkling of Tragopogon dubius, salsify open.
They are usually closed by the time I get out here.
There are Convolvulus arvense, morning glory or bind weed,
everywhere.
I finally found the Antennaria luzuloides, woodrush pussy-toes.
They are very short. They are almost in the trail of the north most of the
north trails, maybe 50 feet west of the apple tree on the north side of the
trail. I was looking for them where I photographed them, not where I found
them. Now I remember that I took a specimen and walked on.
These are past bloom, sad to say. Robert Carr has a terrific
collection of A. luzuloides photos at EUW. Some are in full bloom. They don’t
look that different. The brown threads are white.
I noticed the first white blossom Vicia villosa, one blossom
only.
I’m sitting beside the unidentified Eriogonum. There are
about twenty flower stalks in a patch, all have the circle of cauline leaves.
They don’t seem to have basal leaves, as such. They seem rather to have been new flower
stalks developing. I need to look again.
I changed the aperture of the camera from f.4 to f.8. It has
returned to f. 4 for some reason. It seems like the monitor isn’t quite so dark
today. I can see a little better. Not much.
Eriogonum Species,
unidentified
Antennaria
Luzuloides, woodrush pussy-toes
Vicia villosa, white flower
Off to the east end of the park to see if I can find the
foliage of the red stemmed yellow flower.
9:58 back at the car on the west end. I have more
photographing to do. I took a landscape photo of the round patch of Eriogonum
umbellatum, sulfur buckwheat, to see if I could capture its look of a lemon
yellow bonfire. Not really.
I took a sprig from an Eriogonum niveum, snow buckwheat to
see if the camera could see buds that I can’t see by eye. I found nothing.
There was a Descurainia sophia, flixweed in flower with lots
of fruit at the entrance of the park. A very interesting plant. I’ll try to
watch for others, earlier in their development.
Eriogonum umbellatum,
sulfur buckwheat
Descurainia sophis, flixweed
Eriogonum niveum,
snow buckwheat
10:11 on my way to the east end of the park
10:23 I looked for shade for the car at the east end of the
park. None. So I returned to the north entrance. There is a patch of Centaurea
stoebe, spotted knapweed in bud right at the entrance.
Centaurea stoebe,
spotted knapweed
I noticed an immature grasshopper.
I’m on the west side of north pond. I see Erigeron
compositus, cutleaf daisy foliage looking bright green, fresh. Later I noticed
some Phlox caespitosa, tufted phlox with bright foliage. Seems strange in the
intense heat.
I walked past lots of diverse grass seed-heads to be
photographed, but not today. They are on the northwest ‘corner’ of north pond. Gotta
read-up on the grasses. Not this year.
Damn. I was running the audio recorder backward again. It
was on in my pocket and off when I thought I was recording. I saw a patch of
Besseya rubra at the foot of the first basalt outcrop northwest of north pond.
I hope to remember that patch next year. The early patch I usually find was in
foliage so thick and deep this year that I didn’t find it till it was past
bloom. Later in the walk I found another patch of Besseya rubra in deep grass near
the choke cherry, southwest of north pond.
Besseya rubra, coral
drops
I checked two basalt outcrops close to north pond for the
foliage of the red stemmed yellow flower and found nothing at all. However, I
took a specimen of Castellija tenuis, thin paintbrush in bloom by the north
most of the two low outcrops. I saw only one there.
I found a moss cushion on the southern most of the two, the
outcrop nearest to the large willow of south pond and sat to do the
photography. There were lots of C. tenuis in front of me, and many Navarretia
intertexta, pincushion plant in bloom.
Castellija tenuis,
thin paintbrush
Navarretia
intertexta, pincushion plant
I’ve had about all of the fun I can stand. I’ll check the
Asclepius speciosa, showy milkweed for blossoming and head back for the car …
and the bed.
The H. discolor, ocean spray by the choke cherry … Prunus
virginiana, southwest of north pond seems to be behind the one on the west end
of the park. The foliage around it was so deep I didn’t want to wade through to
check for partial blooming.
I looked again for Perideridia gairdneri, yampah foliage by
P. virginiana but saw no sign of it. I did see another Besseya rubra patch on
their mound to try to remember for next year.
I see a single inflorescence on The Asclepius speciosa,
showy milkweed in full bloom. There is one more unfolding. These leaves and
flowers are right alongside of the main trail. Later there will be an extensive
patch, all the way to the edge of north pond but there is no sign of it yet. Monarch butterflies are said to need Asclepius but I've never seen one in the park.
Asclepius speciosa,
showy milkweed
I see a second white Vicia villosa inflorescence. That’s
only two, today. There are mountains of
the purple inflorescence piling up everywhere.
I’m almost to the junction of the main-trail with the north
access trail. I’ve been too busy feeling sorry for myself to look down for the
two Madia that I find here, beside the trail, or the plantain … Plantago major.
I don’t see many plantain in the park.
Having noticed that I wasn’t paying attention I paid
attention and saw no sign of either.
In the middle of the main junction with the north access
trail … there are two connections … there is a thick patch of tiny plants,
right in the middle were they are regularly trampled. I thought they might be
the Oregon …
damn … fuzzies. Psilocarphus oregonus, Oregon
wooly-heads, but no. They are Trifolium microcephalum, woolly clover trying to
bloom. I need to watch these for a better image in future.
There is another patch northeast of the bare ground of the
junction.
Trifolium microcephalum,
woolly clover
There is a second grasshopper. Mature. The gray wing
coverings. I expect its flying wings to be red but I didn’t see that. Some with
gray coverings have yellow flying wings. Now that I think of it, those with red
flying wings have darker wing coverings, near black. And I think I remember
that they make a snapping noise when they fly.
Motivation can still push old bodikins around [Yeah, that’s
a misuse of the term bodikins but let it stand.] I feel like I don’t want to
take more steps than I have to and I still take a couple of steps off the main
trail now and then to check for a new discovery.
11:21 back at the car. 11:35 parked at home. Airport
temperature 89 degrees.
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