“Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac.
I can tell by the way you smile he’s rolling back.
Come wash the nighttime clean,
Come grow this scorched ground green,…”
Hello again from the steppes of the grand Northwest. While the Pacific Northwest (in the strict West of the Cascades sense) is notorious for it’s rain, these typically dry rainshadow leeward slopes of the Cascades have been soaking in precipitation on and off for the last three weeks. So much so that the roads to BLM land were in such a poor state I had to take nearly a week off (where I largely fretted about lost scouting time, but rejoiced about the speculative effects on the flora). However, this week the clouds finally cleared. The rain has been a blessing, the drought conditions were pretty bad-and a lot of sites were looking like scorched earth and not much else when I arrived. However following the rain, the steppe (while some parts) has turned into a verdant lush paradise. Many taxa which have had their whole cohorts go to seed, now have a new cohort of seedlings to feast the eyes upon (and voucher specimens for my opportunistic collections! *evil chuckle*). While a few of the taxa which set seed quickly were unable to benefit from the moisture (and thus have a paltry amount of seed this season)- eg. Lithnospermum ruderale, which I have developed a keen fondness for- it appears to be a help with many other species.
When I showed up here I was initially a little flustered. By my April 20th start date many flowers had already faded, so I had to learn the local flora, and already be scouting candidate populations. Over the last few weeks I have caught up and have learned the “usual suspects of the flora” (ya know the plants that make up virtually all of the diversity in an area-except those uncommon treats). A working knowledge of about 150 species is needed to feel comfortable here. These are more species than I have had to learn for a field position before. I enjoy it very much so and am now working on dialing in my field ID’ing of the Astragalus/Lomatium/Erigonum genera.
I was constantly berated in college by a certain professor for studying too many things, and too broadly. I have tried to take the advice to heed, accordingly now each season I try to become very familiar with a few groups. Last year I focused on Carex, Asteraceae, Poaceae, and other wetland graminoids (Sparganium, and Eleocharis bring back joyful memories). This year I have focused on Lomatium, and Astragalus, largely due to the West being the Lomatium center of diversity, and both of their prevalence amongst communities, and interesting secondary chemistry. It is always interesting learning the morphology of a very similar looking taxa, how distinct subtle differences can be!
I finished scouting the week of the 25th and during the week of the 1st, I finally started collecting seeds (I’m SOS). I have finished five collections so far (all Asteraceae and Lomatium) and I’m looking forward to getting more. While I was initially slightly intimidated by collecting, I now find it to be immensely pleasurable. Today I had to be particularly on my toes distinguishing different Lomatiums that intergrade (and hardly look different even in flowering) by dry and crispy senescent leaves.
Over the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of going to monitor with the UW’s ‘rare care’ team again. I participated in monitoring a couple large dune areas for Cryptantha leucophea– one site exceeded all hopes; at the other site not a single individual was found. Speculation regarding the factors causing this is interesting- I (and some others) most strongly suspect edaphic factors due to plants (dune stabilization) is the primary factor. This past week I had the fortune of seeing some Cryptantha interrupta (rare-but not quite as rare) in the Wenatchee Mountains.
Aside from my working hours I haven’t been able to get out botanizing as much as usual, due to moving houses, and various errands. Fortunately, my new residency is much closer to the Wenatchee Mountains and I can get out hiking in a fraction of the time I could before. Once back from Chicago, I cannot wait to get out there again habitually. Although, I have seen some real beauties in my few trips recently. A new book which I have been very excited about is “Plant evolutionary Biology” by Niklas- I always felt slightly odd about how glossed over our kingdom was treated in undergraduate biology curriculum in lieu of a focus on Animalia. This is a wonderful lens to use to refresh and deepen my humble (partial and fragmentary) understanding of evolutionary processes. It’s exceptional in tandem with the environment here.
I’m in Chicago now and just had the fortune of visiting the CBG library, whereupon I had the pleasure of finally reviewing a fascimile copy of Vol 2 of Linnaeuss’ ‘Species Plantarum’. I was able to partially translate the latin descriptors of several species, but had to borrow a Stearns text to complete them. After finishing a few, I was on the verge of tears of joy, and then the librarian let me see a second edition (1830 copy) of “Species Plantarum’ whereupon I started balling tears of joy, smiling wickedly, and laughing madly for the next several hours. Definitely my favourite part of this trip to Chicago! I was also able to snag an 8th edition of Gray’s “Manual of botany”- and the $5 it cost me will go towards the library acquiring more old rare texts. Finally, reading the texts of our forebearers is darn cool. I was also able to read excerpts of a text on seed biochemistry and physiology that emphasized some traits that are seldom mentioned in newer texts.
Uhm ok, so we all know why we really come to the blog. PLANT PICTURES!! So one final anecdote: my truck and I went through a struggle, and both came out unscathed (or “a stragal’ “- ok still not funny? I thought I’d try again). So I decided the bonding experience warranted a name for it, thus I have dubbed my gold dodge “Cassady” an homage to the notorious road dog of the western states. Without further ado PLANTS!
“fare ye the well, Let your life proceed by it’s own design, Let the words be yours I’m done with mine, fare ye the well, let the words be yours I’m done with mine”
Frasera albicaulis
Lomatium cuspidatum
Asclepias speciosa
Physaria alpestris