The Blooming Foothills!

Bird's-eye Gilia and Goldfields 

Gilia tricolor - Lasthenia californica

This week we had three gloriously beautiful sunny days, so we decided to explore the foothills! On Wednesday we went to North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve with our friends Rod and Rochelle, and it was covered in wildflowers! It wasn't peak bloom yet, but there were billions of Goldfields, lots of Bitterroots, tons of Meadowfoam, Volcanic Onions, Blue Dicks, Plantains, Bird's-eye Gilia, Poppies, Violets, Popcorn Flowers, Pink Woodland Stars, and some Lupines!  

Bird's-eye Gilia and Goldfields in the WIND! 

Gilia tricolor - Lasthenia californica

The sky was filled with solid gray clouds and a strong wind was constantly gusting from the south, which made photographing the flowers a bit difficult!

Bitterroot and Goldfields 

Lewisia rediviva - Lasthenia californica

North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve is a butte that is a prairie-like expanse of flowering grassland, interspersed with tiny creeks, valleys, and waterfalls! The top of it is capped by an ancient lava flow. It is one of the few places in California that has never been impacted by agricultural crops. Some cattle are allowed to graze there in the wet months, but apparently cause little impact on the native wildflowers. It became an ecological preserve in 1993, when Francis Carmichael, a local rancher, sold 3,315 acres of it to the State of California, to be managed by the California Department of Fish and Game. 

Bitterroot is the largest, showiest wildflower on Table Mountain, and one of my absolute favorites!  This year there were lots of them scattered across the rocky, volcanic mounds throughout the preserve.  The flowers are up to two inches across, with numerous stamens, and a white style with 7-8 branches!  They grow right on the ground, with numerous, thin, succulent leaves 

Prairie Woodland Star 

Lithophragma parviflorum var. trifoliatum

To our delight we came across one clump of beautiful, pink Prairie Woodland Stars!  At 14" tall, they towered above the other wildflowers!  The more commonly seen Woodland Star has tiny white flowers. These flowers were medium sized, about half an inch wide.  We were so lucky to see these uncommon flowers!

Small Creek, Volcanic Mounds, Goldfields and Rusty Popcorn Flowers 

Lasthenia californica -   Plagiobothrys nothofulvus

Right now there are numerous small creeks flowing on the preserve.  The water was brackish and warm to the touch, but no newts were present.  In years past I have seen California Newts, and their eggs in the streams.  The Rusty Popcorn flowers pictured above have yellow centers when they first open, then fade to white as they age.

California Newt and eggs with larvae - 2017 - Taricha torosa

California Newts congregate in the water to mate and lay their eggs.  You can see lots of eggs with tiny white larvae in them in the photo above.  The larvae hatch into gilled aquatic larvae, about an inch long, which transform into little terrestrial newts that crawl onto land when the streams dry up!

Red Maids - Calandrinia ciliata

These lovely magenta Red Maids are another one of my favorites! They are low-growing plants, like a lot of the wildflowers on this butte!

Fields of California Goldfields - Lasthenia californica

California Goldfields were by far the most numerous, blooming wildflowers this week.  In the next few weeks successions of blooms will happen, carpeting Table Mountain in a variety of colors, including orange, blue, purple, white, and magenta.  We plan to come back again soon!

On Monday, my husband and I went down to the South Yuba River State Park to see what was happening. Unfortunately, due to a winter washout/landslide, the main trail along the South Yuba River is closed for this year!  RATS! So instead we hiked up the hill away from the parking lot, and found several kinds of wildflowers in bloom, oak trees leafing out, and Redbud flowering! It was gorgeous!

Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus philenor hirsuta

We also saw several Pipevine Swallowtails flitting through the forests and feeding on flower nectar. These butterflies lay their eggs on Dutchman's Pipe plants. The larvae can ingest the leaves of the Dutchman's Pipe, without being affected by the toxic aristolochic compounds they contain.  In fact the toxins are absorbed into their bodies, and make them unpalatable to predators! The scientific name of the Dutchman's Pipe is Aristolochia californica. It is one of the earliest blooming plants in the oak woodlands.

Springtime trees - Redbud and Oak

Cercis occidentalis - Quercus sp.

Such beauty!

 

Ithuriel's Spear - Lupine sp. - Dutchman's Pipes

Triteleia laxa - Lupinus sp - Aristolochia californica

Some of the wildflowers we saw were Blue Dicks, Popcorn Flowers, Fiddlenecks, Poppies, Buttercups, Iris, Vetch, Ithuriel's Spear, Lupine, and a few Dutchman's Pipes.  

Spring is just starting at the South Yuba River State Park. The grassy green fields will soon be filled with a wide variety of wildflowers.  We'll be back again soon, to enjoy the changing blooms!

What's happening at the Dipper nest?

What new birds have arrived?

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

Your questions and comments are always welcome.  Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!