3 hours in the park
2916 steps from portal to portal.
Wildflower Walk 25, July 19, 2016
82 degrees, 16:52 hours passing Riverfront Park
Thin, high overcast, some breaks, lots of small clouds I’ll
call cumulus though I’m not sure that’s the term for them. Lots of small piles
of clouds underneath the high overcast.
*
I didn’t record my arrival time at the park. Probably
somewhat over ten minutes with the traffic.
I’m at the east end of the park.
I left my audio recorder, both my canes, my backing sheet
and the denim jacket I use for its pockets in the car. So walking this first
session was a bit of a problem. Remembering was also a problem.
No sign of any activity of any kind with the Toxicondendron
radicans, poison ivy. I thought I saw a new little yellow flower but it was
just a scraggly Grindelia hirsutula, curly cup gumweed.
I left the main trail and walked over to south pond. I did snapshots
of what I thought was Arctium minus, burdock for apparent buds. It’s not A.
minus. The buds look like out of focus flowers in the computer.
Unidentified species,
broad leaf
I saw Lactuca serriola, prickly lettuce in bud and did snap
shots. Later I took a specimen showing some yellow. I don’t remember if this is
a species that closes its flowers in the afternoon. The specimen has been in
bloom and is developing fruit.
I didn’t see open flowers anywhere.
Lactuca serriola,
prickly lettuce
Just a snapshot to remind me to check for flowers in future.
Unidentified foliage,
west of south pond
I took a photograph of the dry floor of sound pond. In the
past it has been full of what I believed to be A. minus. Now is is half full of
tall grass. I suppose it’s the intrusive grass that chokes north pond. I don’t
know that.
South Pond
I photographed
evidence of the activities of wildlife on the floor of the pond.
Evidence of South
Pond Wildlife
I looked for Chenopodium album, lamb’s quarters in bloom but
didn’t see anything likely.
Perideridia gairdneri, yampah is still in bloom, perhaps a
little less but I saw them everywhere I walked.
I took a specimen to photograph. I don’t know whether it is
fruit developing or a stunted flower head. I’ll find out in the computer.
[Fruit is developing.]
Perideridia
gairdneri, yampah
It looks like the nature lovers have tried to destroy all of
the Madia glomerata. There were lots of them alongside the trail. They’re gone.
I did find a badly mauled specimen in the trail. Perhaps stepped on. But it’s
not good enough to improve my M. glomerata images.
Madia glomerata, tar
weed
Why they would destroy M. glomerata and not Grindelia
squarrosa, curly cup gumweed is … weird. Oops. I probably have to change that
identification. This is probably Grindelia hirsutula. Burke says G. hirsutula
is native and G. squarrosa is not. Sylvia Eberspecher suggested I had it wrong
and I’m sure she is correct.
I know why they don’t take Vicia villosa, winter vetch …
it’s too hard. V. villosa is the main color in the park at present with G.
hirsutula a distant second. Ragged Centaurea cyanus, bachelor button or corn
flower an even more distant third.
Sitting on the curb, in the shade, my body making additional
shade, I’m still getting readings like 1/250th of a second and 1/150th
of a second.
3228 on the steps indicator from the first walk. [total, not
net]
I’ve driven down to the ‘pull out’ near the dead end on Euclid , to try once again
to find the strange and interesting unidentified plant.
I found a rather dead looking Epilobium brachycarpum, autumn
willow herb with a couple of flowers. Lots of fruit on the plant.
Epilobium
brachycarpum, autumn willow herb
Still lots of Polygonum douglasii, douglasii knotweed. They
are in fruit. The flowers are so small I don’t even attempt to find them.
It’s kind of nice to have got old and to have lost my need
to photograph everything … and get stuck with hundreds of photographs to
process.
One of my plans for this year, late in the year, was to
photograph fruits, seeds and husks. the energy for it isn’t there.
I did take a specimen that I suppose is Antennaria. The
flowers are, dry. They are a rich
orange/brown, glowing in the sun.
Antennaria Species,
dry
I printed out some ‘location photos’ for the unidentified
species. The location was still difficult to find because my disabled memory
was at odds with the photos. I had the ‘rock pool’ considerably farther away
from the main trail to the north and the pine grove to the west than it is.
There were some plants, very few, so I didn’t want to take a
specimen … so … I had to sit my bony ass on broken basalt to get photos. Not
pleasant.
I lost my backing sheet again. I walked back to the place
were I photographed E brachycarpum to get it, later.
I saw what seems to be four plants in the rock pool. They
could be one plant. They are fairly close together. There are two more on the
south rim of the rook pool. My defective memory says there were many more when
I found them last time.
I’m not totally convinced of the identification. There were
several Scutellaria angustifolia, skull cap in this rock pool last outing … I’m
quite sure it was this pool.
Locating this rock pool. There is a break in long rock ridge
for the main trail. There is a short stub on the south side of the trail. The
stub is in a pine grove.
There are three somewhat stunted pines quite close to the
rock pool. The little pool of broken rock is just east of the three pines.
Unidentified
interesting species
I decided to walk on, even though I had found what I came
for. The E. brachycarpum by slatsz’ stump had the most vigorous foliage I have
seen. It might be in flower … if it isn’t burned up already.
Current footsteps: 3560
Another cloud photo.
Memory is muddles again. I think I found another rock ‘pool’
with the foliage of the unidentified plant on the way to slatsz’ stump, then
approaching the stump there was a long, narrow batch of the broken basalt with
several of the plants in it, perhaps ten feet north and a little east of the
stump. They had dry flowers. I took a specimen this time. I’m sitting on
slatsz’ stump.
The E. brachycarpum beside the stump is still the most
luxurious foliage I have seen but there are still no flowers.
I took a specimen of E brachycarpum on the way to the stump
that had developed its filmy flying fruit and the specimen apparently blew
away, off my lap. I lost it. It was the only one I saw in fruit today. But I
have the image of the filmy fruit else where. And it will be available later.
The next photo is of the unidentified species of interest,
with dry flowers. The leaves have a deep fold, They are folded together on this
dry plant.
I took some snapshots
of the environment, with a couple of brothers of the interesting species.
The unidentified species
of interest, with dry flowers
Lichen – slatsz’
stump
Step indicator says 3837 at slatsz’ stump. 1831, still lots
of light. I noticed the other day that the sun is still up at 2000 hours,
daylight time.
Near the north end of long rock ridge there are Eriogonum
niveum, snow buckwheat, growing out of the rock. The plants seems to be trying
to spread. Lots of tiny patches near bushy plant. The busy plant seems to be in
bud. Can’t tell by eye, if they are flower buds or leaf buds.
I didn’t have E. niveum on my list of things to do. I’ll
drive down to the west end and see if the patch down there is more advanced.
Eriogonum niveum,
snow buckwheat
4034 steps at the north end of long ridge rock.
I forgot to mention that the Cornus sericea, dogwood, north
of south pond still had occasional flowers.
The Apocynum androsaemifoliumm dogbane still has flowers.
Another old friend
who’s name I can’t remember – there will be more on the west end of the park.
[Chondrilla juncea, rush skeleton weed]
4285 back at the car. I walked long rock ridge, clear across
the width of the park, about 250 steps. 1858 hours back at the car.
*
There is a dried up plant of Centaurea diffusa, white
knapweed with some flowers right by the west access to the park.
Centaurea diffusa,
white knapweed
Another old friend who’s name I can’t remember. It will have
bloomed much earlier but this is the only one I have observed this year.
Another nameless old
friend [Linaria dalmatica, Dalmatian toadflax]
I picked up a red dried Eriogonum to photograph later.
Eriogonum umbellatum
I walked across the width of the park again, to the huge
patch of E. niveum. Most were still in bud but I did see one in bloom.
I sat on a granite boulder at the west end of the park to
catch up the photographs.
There was some kind of white flowered Brassicaceae right behind the boulder.
Dry Eriogonum species
Eriogonum niveum,
snow buckwheat
white flowered Brassicaceae
4617 steps, still have to walk across the street.
There has been a nice
variety of clouds all day long. The sky is mostly clear at the moment.
Collected, selected
landscapes with clouds
4630 steps, 1935 hours, back at the car.
4658 steps, 1949 hours in my parking place.
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