Wildflower Walk August 12, 2012 - lichen, grasses

Wildflower Walk August 12, 2012 – lichen, grasses

An hour forty minutes in the park. 135 photos. 51 keepers.

Arrived 6:10 A. M. The light was very yellow. Summer pollution, no doubt.

I couldn’t believe how weak bright sunlight could be. Lots of blurry photos. Lots of bleached photos. Yes. I could have paid better attention to the camera’s limitations. But I didn’t.

I have been reading botany. I thought I would try to illustrate some of the things I have been reading about. My reading was not sufficiently integrated.

I wanted to fill out a ‘biography’ of Erodium cicutarium, stork’s bill. And I wanted to get better photographs of the Geranium carolinianum, wild geranium so I could compare the two geraniums. That was a failure. I couldn’t find a single plant in the wild geranium patch in the west mudflat of north pond.

The long beak of stork’s bill is said to pop open at the bottom, curling to fling the seeds away. There were several nice photographs and drawings on the internet showing the curled husks. But I didn’t find any on the plants in the park.

Walking across the park on the north access trail I saw the very nice snowy husks in the photographs. It’s probably Gnaphalium palustre, marsh cudweed, but it seems too tall.

I picked a branch of Polygonum fowleri and photographed it. It might have a blossom on it.

It was also my intention to ‘study’ Grindelia hirsutula, curly-cup gum-weed. [I’ve been calling it G. squarrosa, but that’s wrong. The park plant-list has G. nana. G. nana doesn’t show in Burke. Turner has G. nana. USDA and Burke have G. nana as a ‘synonym’ for G. hirsutula. Oh, well.] 

Curly-cup gum-weed has been blossoming for a very long time but it seems to be fading now.

I saw a nice blossom beside the path … curly-cup gum-weed lines every trail I suppose that indicates that they are very ‘opportunistic’ even though they are native.

A curious bug was on the blossom.

I walked down to the mudflat north of south pond to see Lythrum salicaria, purple loosestrife. It’s still going. There was no action with the Xanthium strumarium, cocklebur on the mudflat of south pond yet.

I had attempted crude dissection of a curly-cup gum-weed. I attempted another with Bidens vulgata, tall beggar-tick hoping to illustrate issues from my reading. Nothing good came of either attempt.

Tall beggar-tick is Asteraceae but it has only tubular disk flowers, no apparent ray flowers. If there are ray-flowers they are not noticeable. It is not a flower most people would think pretty. But Centaurea cyanus, bachelor button or corn flower is quite pretty, very photogenic in my opinion, and it has only disk flowers. A very different configuration, of course.

I noticed a lichen that seemed to be well formed as I started away from south pond. When I got it into the computer I saw that it is the most well formed lichen I have ever photographed. I need to know more about lichens.

The Portulaca oleraceae, little hog weed seem to be stunted by the hot weather. I’m sure I have seen them in bloom elsewhere in the city.

I tried again to get an effective photo of the blossom on Madia glomerata, clustered tarweed. It’s improved but it’s still not what it needs to be.

I’ve changed the common name of Madia glomerata from ‘stinking tarweed’ to ‘clustered tarweed’, the common name in Burke. I don’t find its odor offensive, at least at this stage. And its buds have a clustered appearance.

I decided to spend a little time with the grasses and without thinking much about it, picked a few stalks with seed heads.

I want to do more of that.

I took some mnemonic snapshots of plants still in bloom. Most of the photographs are useless but a couple are fun.

You don’t expect many untended plants to be blossoming in this sustained heat but there are several.

Asclepias speciosus, showy milkweed is no longer blossoming but it just finished.

Bidens vulgata, tall beggar-tick

Centaurea cyanus, bachelor button

Centaurea diffusa, white knapweed

Centaurea stoebe, spotted knapweed

Chondrilla juncea, rush skeleton weed

Convolvulus arvensis, morning glory

Epilobium brachycarpum, autumn willow herb

Erodium cicutarium, stork’s bill

Grindelia hirsutula, curly-cup gum-weed

Lactuca serriola, prickly lettuce

Lotus unifoliolatus, American bird’s foot trefoil

Lythrum salicaria, purple loosestrife

Madia glomerata, clustered tarweed

Perideridia gairdneri, yampah

Polygonum douglasii, knotweed

Polygonum fowleri, [maybe blossoming, I can’t be sure]

Tragopogon dubius, salsify or yellow goat’s beard

Melilotus officinalis, yellow sweet clover

Vicia villosa, hairy vetch

*

There are probably more. That’s all I noticed this walk

Polygonum fowleri
That may be a blossom

Erodium cicutarium, stork's bill
None of the 'bills' are curled yet, the seeds have not been distributed

Probably Gna;phalium palustre, marsh cudweed husk
but it seems too tall

Handsome devil!

Bidens vulgata, tall beggartick

Failed attempt at dissection

Perhaps this lichen is new?
It seems more well formed than usual

Portulaca oleraceae, little hogweed foliage
It seems sunburned and dehydrated

Tragopogon dubius, salsify or yellow goat's beard

Centaurea cyanus, bachelor button or cornflower

The 'florets' are not petals or ray-flowers
they are tubular disk flowers

Madia glomerata, cluster tarweed
Burke says 1 to 3 ray flowers
I never see more than one
Disclaimer: They are really hard to see

A variety of grasses from one location
along the north access trail near the east-west line of boulders

A little grahics play