A couple days these last few weeks I was able to survey in a creek and a little bit in a spring-fed meadow. Because of this I have gotten to see some really cool plants that I don’t often see in the rest of the forest, which is much drier. An orchid sighting always brightens my day so I have included some photos of these cool water loving species.
Since my last post I have surveyed areas where there are fuels reduction projects and have also been revisiting legacy polygons of rare plants. Legacy polygons are locations of rare plants that were inferred before the era of GPS. These polygons have little to no information associated with them, so the goal of the revisits is to see if the plants are they, see if the population is accurately mapped, and then take notes about the area and what plant species are associated with the population.
My colleague and I are planning on doing a final print of the invasive plant guide for the Southern California mountains by late August or early September so we are working on final edits, touching up the design, and getting comments from fellow botanists.
This is the stream orchid Epipactis gigantea that is found throughout California. It was all along the creek that we surveyed as well.
Epipactis gigantea
The orchid Platanthera dilata var. leuchostachys that is found in wet places.
The adorable Mimulus primuloides. The leaves are covered in dew.
It is probably Botrychium minganense, but it has yet to be keyed out.
I was so excited when I found this Botrychium!
This federally threatened Castilleja cinerea was so crimson up in the higher elevation area I surveyed yesterday (about 9000 feet).
The Forest Service sensitive plant Boechera parishii.
HUGE (possibly) puffball mushroom!
The federally endangered Eremogone ursina that is endemic to the San Bernardino mountains.
The Forest Service sensitive Sidalcea malviflora ssp. dolosa that is found in wet meadows and streams.