Basal rosettes of a puncturebract (Cienega Seca puncturebract?)

Ruby’s tail. You can see scarring (darker areas) at the very tip.

On Jan. 21^st, we visited a few areas on the forest in the vicinity of the Bighorn Wilderness, which is near the desert side of the SBNF.  The transition to Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) woodland starts a few miles east of the ranger station.  We visited populations of Acanthoscyphus parishii var. cf cienegensis, (Cienega Seca puncturebract), Eriogonum ovalifolium var. vineum (Cushenbury buckwheat, federally endangered), and Astragalus albens (Cushenbury milk vetch, federally endangered).  New finds for the day included a mystery Astragalus (possibly A. tidestromii, SBNF sensitive, or A. leucolobus, Bear Valley woollypod, SBNF watch) and also possibly a new location of Erigeron parishii (Parish’s daisy, federally threatened). We also saw a very large Tucker’s oak (Quercus john-tuckeri).  There was historically a lot of prospecting and mining in the area, and we saw several open mine shafts.  I enjoyed learning a bit about mining law.  Also in late January, we spent a day doing riparian monitoring in the vicinity of the Santa Ana River.     

We’ve largely been continuing work on the invasive plant guide, and are now doing more formatting and editing.  I hiked up to the top of Mt. San Gorgonio on the weekend of January 10-12, and among other species, saw some Eriogonum kenneydi var. alpigenum. The next weekend, I explored the Deep Creek area north of Splinter’s Cabin near Lake Arrowhead.

The office southern rubber boa (Charina umbratica), Ruby, ate two baby mice yesterday (they were already dead).  Southern rubber boas are a sensitive species on the SBNF.  Ruby usually spends her time buried in the litter under her water dish (especially in winter), and so we don’t see her too often.  Rubber boas prey on young mammals, including on deer mice, voles, and shrews.  They are often attacked by the adult prey species in the process of eating nestlings, and so older rubber boas have scarring on their tails (this is visible in the photo).  I didn’t get a picture of her snacking, but it is much more exciting.   

Mountaintop Ranger District

Big Bear Lake, CA