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 25, 2019
Halophytes, or salt-tolerant plants, are found in a number of environments: seashores, mangrove swamps, salt marshes & swamps, and, as in today’s photographs, saline semi-deserts. Two halophytic grasses, saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and alkali-grass (Puccinellia nuttalliana), make an appearance in the images. The top image primarily features saltgrass with perhaps some alkali-grass in the upper right […]
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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 December 19, 2018
The common name–worm moss–is an appropriate name for Bryoandersonia illecebra, as the resemblance is uncanny. Bryoandersonia illecebra is endemic to eastern North America. Although it has a wide distribution across this part of the USA (especially in the southeast), it is quite rare in Canada and “expected” in northeastern Mexico (from link above). Worm moss, […]
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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 August 31, 2018
Ragged-leaf liverwort is a widely-distributed liverwort of forests and bogs. The Encyclopedia of Life entry for Schistochilopsis incisa (now a synonymous name) displays a map with collections across the Northern Hemisphere from Arctic regions to near the equator in South America. It also uses the common name jagged notchwort.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on August 1, 2018
The low-growing Thompson’s beardtongue is native to Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California, associated with pinyon-juniper and subalpine habitats. It grows in a relatively narrow elevational band (1500m to 1900m (5000 ft. to 6700 ft.)) and is associated with calcareous soils.
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