Published by Daniel Mosquin on February 27, 2019
Here is a memory from 2017’s bloom in the Californian desert within Joshua Tree National Park. I’ve heard this year is also turning out to be an exceptional one.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on January 16, 2019
Calocedrus decurrens, or incense-cedar, has broad habitat requirements. Within its range from Oregon to Baja California, it is most often found in hot and dry sites with poor soils. However, the tallest individuals typically occur in “sunny, well-watered sites such as riparian areas in canyons or near subalpine lakeshores“.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 6, 2018
Although first collected in 1894, Adiantum shastense wasn’t described as a distinct species until 2015. It is native to the “mesic forests of the Eastern Klamath Range, close to Shasta Lake, on limestone and metasedimentary substrates”, where a number of locally-endemic species have been recognized in the past few decades.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 8, 2018
Frankenia is the sole genus within the Frankeniaceae, or the sea heath family. This flowering plant family has a distribution that covers warm, dry areas of most continents, though the majority of species are Australian. Typically, plants in this family are associated with soils that are either saline, calcareous, or gypsum-rich.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 6, 2018
Over eighty percent of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park burned in October of last year. Perhaps the opportunity to see post-fire wildflowers in the stark landscape is what enticed today’s photographer, Sandy Steinman, to visit the area in early April.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 19, 2018
Slinkpod. California fetid adder’s tongue. Brownies. All are common names for this early spring bloomer of coastal California. This photograph by Sandy Steinman was taken in early February of this year; by now, this plant has likely set its seed and perhaps even gone dormant until next winter.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on January 30, 2018
Polemonium eximium, or showy sky pilot, is endemic to California; in the wild, this species only occurs at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
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