What's Blooming?

Dogwood (non-native) - Cornus sp.

Just about everything is bursting into bloom!  The Mountain Dogwood is stunning with its creamy white blossoms contrasting against the green forest.  The white "petals" are actually leaves!  (The one pictured above is a non-native ornamental.) The Dogwood is monoecious, having both male and female reproductive parts on the same tree.  The tiny central flowers are "perfect", and have both male (stamen) and female (pistil) reproductive structures in each flower.  Once these flowers are pollinated they grow into berries that contain seeds.  Many birds feast on these bright orange-red berries in the fall.

 

Black Oak - Big-leaf Maple 

Quercus kelloggii - Acer macrophyllum

The leafy, deciduous Black Oaks are also monoecious.  Right now the male catkins are hanging down and releasing pollen.  This pollen will land on a female "flower" (insert photo), which will form an acorn.

The Big-leaf Maple is poygamous, as it has both male, female, and perfect flowers in the same raceme!  Right now the pendulous racemes are bearing gorgeous sprays of pale green blossoms.  Many insects and birds feast on the nectar of the flowers.

Black Morel - Morchella esculenta

To my delight I found 15 Morel Mushrooms in "full bloom" on our property this week!  Mushrooms aren't flowers, but they are the fruiting body (spore producing organ) of a fungus.  Morels are unique mushrooms, in that they appear in the spring rather than the fall.  They are quite difficult to see as they are SO camouflaged with their surroundings.  At first I only saw two of them, but as I carefully searched the area I saw a lot more.  It was a fun "treasure hunt"!  I didn't pick any of them.  I left them there to release their spores and reproduce.  Many wild critters eat mushrooms, including deer and flying squirrels! 

Black Morel - Morchella esculenta

Scarlett Fritillary - Fritillaria recurva

Wildflowers in the Woods!

Right now in our predominantly coniferous forest, there is a lovely variety of wildflowers in different stages of bloom.  Here are the ones I saw this week right in our neighborhood.  Many other species bloomed earlier, and more species are still to come.  I'll post more photos as the season progresses!  

If you are a wildflower enthusiast www.calflora.org is a great resource, with all the latest scientific names.  They have a huge database of photos and information, but you do need to have a name or at least a guess to start searching.  I also use the 2017 edition of the Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties, California - Second Edition, by the Redbud Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.  It has most of the recent re-classifications of our local wildflowers, with great accompanying text and photos. 

Western False Solomon's Seal - Small White Nemophila

Maianthemum racemosuma - Nemophila heterophylla

Indian Rhubarb & Annaphila Moth

Darmera peltalta - Annaphila lithosina

Western Buttercup - Ranunculus occidentalis

Hartweg's Ginger - Asarum hartwegii

Hooker's Fairybell - Prosartes hookeri

Red Sierra Onion - Allium obtusum

Western Wallflower - Erysimum capitatum

Pacific Starflower - Pacific Bleeding Heart

Lysimachia latifolia - Dicentra formosa

Trashline Orbweaver and aphid  

Cyclosa conica - Aphidiae 

I noticed a few unusual spiders this past week.  The Trashline Orbweaver was really tiny, about the size of a pencil eraser.  It has an unusual tubercle (hump) on the end of its abdomen that most spiders don't have.  It makes a unique stabilimentum (vertical line across center of web) which it covers with dead insects, to camouflage itself!  

Trashline Orbweaver - Cyclosa conica

Unlike most spiders, as soon as an insect lands on its web it charges over to the insect.  Most spiders initially shake their web, before they approach a trapped insect!  Several of these fascinating little spiders had their webs between the railings on our bridge.

 Unknown Spider - Longjawed Orbweaver

genus sp. unknown - Tregnatha versicolor

These other two spiders I saw on the roadside ditch I've been observing.  The chubby unidentified one, was hanging on a plant stem right above the water.  It was pretty well camouflaged against the muck of the ditch.  It must lurk on plant stems for insects to pass by.  It had no trouble walking on the water!

The long, narrow, horizontal Longjawed Orbweaver was so camouflaged I didn't see it at first!  This type of spider has legs that are 2-3 times longer than its body, and are positioned parallel and stretched out.  In repose this spider looks like a straw of dried grass or a thin twig.  They lay in wait for flying insects, especially aquatic insects that have just hatched, including mosquitoes!  

Tadpoles and Mosquito Larvae

I also checked on the status of the frog eggs in the roadside ditch, and the frog embryos have hatched out as tadpoles!!!  There are two sizes of tadpoles.  I'm curious to see what kind of frogs they turn into.  It might take another month or more for them to mature, but this ditch is fed by a seep, so I don't think it will dry out.  The other tiny critters in the photo above are mosquito larvae!  It can take 4-14 days for a larva to metamorphose into a pupa.  It takes 2-3 days for a pupa turn into adult mosquitoes.  Most frogs don't eat mosquito larvae or pupae, so they're in a good place to develop!

Mosquito larvae - Mosquito pupae


What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Are birds starting to make nests?

Where are the Bears?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

During these days of Covid-19 and uncertainty, I hope you are all healthy and coping with this unusual stress. Get out in nature while you have the time! It can be so healing!

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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com