Tom Schweich  

2010

Thursday, April 21, 2010

Friday, April 22, 2010

Saturday, April 23, 2010

Dunn, San Bernardino County, California. On the edge of a quarry, off powerline road, at the end of Arrowhead Trail, 1.7 miles by road from Afton Road exit (Exit 221) of US Interstate 15, 1.2 miles by air northeast of Dunn, California. 35.0628°N, 116.4336°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 526 m. Flowers seem small.

Very similar to M. albicaulis except for seeds, which are rounded and rounded-papillate. Characters observed: Flower bract entire, light-colored, texture puberulent with long hairs; Petals 5 (not 8), < 8 mm (measured 5-6 mm); Fruit 15 mm long by 2 mm dia.; Seeds in multiple rows above the ovary; Seed angles rounded, surface rounded-papillate.

Sunday, April 24, 2010

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

10 June 2010

Stopped in Lee Vining to claim our Post Office Box, it’s PO Box 428, as there is no mail delivery out here. Then on to the Whoa Nelli Deli (Mobil Gas Station) for an early dinner. And then … out the 23 miles from Lee Vining to Sagehen Meadow.

Thursday night, we pretty much just emptied the cars, and then collapsed. Both of feel the altitude a little, getting short of breath while carrying stuff up the stairs. The only unpacking we did was the refrigerator food, and then went to bed. I set one of the Havahart traps in the downstairs bedroom, baiting it with peanut butter. These traps don’t kill the animal. Before I went to sleep I heard the trap close. I caught a little mouse. I tried to go back to sleep, but the little mouse started making a racket in the trap, so I staggered out of bed, opened the front door, and shooed the mouse out of the trap.

Friday June 11th

The electricity went out. Here, no electricity means no water, in addition to no refrigerator, no lights, etc. Actually the downstairs bathroom gets a little water by gravity feed. So we at least had a toilet that would flush, and a little trickle of water from the bathroom faucet.

I read the electrical system manuals. Then went out to the battery house where the inverter is, but couldn’t get the electricity back up. The inverter was on but not sending AC power to the house.

We placed a couple of calls, including one to the electrician, but no one responded. For telephone access we have to drive out 2 miles to California Highway 120 at Sagehen Summit. There we can get 2 to 4 bars, and pretty good voice quality. I’m thinking the service must come from a tower near June Lake, as we can see the hills around June Lake, though not the hills around Lee Vining.

We spent last night in the house, with no electricity. We built a fire in the fireplace which kept the house a toasty 56 degrees. Then I heated some chili beans over the propane tailgate barbeque we brought, and we had Frito pie (Fritos, Chili Beans, and Cheese) for dinner. As it was cold and dark, we went to bed. Set two traps this night, one downstairs and one upstairs in the kitchen. I think I fell asleep around 900, and when I woke up at 1000, there was a mouse in the trap. It, too, was making quite a racket, so I put it out in the hallway to wait for morning. Cheryl heard the trap in the kitchen shut about 1100.

In the morning we said, “Good Morning,” to the mice, and I took then out into the sagebrush to let them go.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

A good hot shower is beginning to sound really good about this time. Also our gel ice packs in the refrigerator are beginning to soften, so before long the food will start to spoil. So we’re thinking maybe take the really perishable food in the cooler, get ice, try some phone calls, and maybe crash in a motel for a shower and some Internet.

While arriving in Mammoth Lakes we finally heard from the electrician. He told me about a secret circuit breaker *inside* the inverter panel. He said it was a white button. So we turned around and went back to the house. While taking the panel off the inverter, I noticed a white button on *top* of the inverter. So I pushed it, and then restarted the inverter and it worked! The electricity came back on! Flowing water, flushing toilets, all the conveniences of modern living.

So we are staying at the house tonight. The Internet is working. Tomorrow the electrician may still come out, as I have a few remaining questions. One thing we’ve learned is to check everything, and not assume that anything is working. For example, we’ve been getting water from the tank, and assuming that the solar panel operated pump down in the meadow is working. But maybe not, so I got up on the tank this afternoon and checked the tank to make sure it was full. It was!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The snow flurries have stopped and today is in the 70’s and sunny. The electricity has been reliable but, then again, we haven’t been running the heat pump. The electrician did not come today, which was OK because we don’t have any burning issues. I continue to read the manuals for the equipment. I found no manual for two pieces of equipment, so I downloaded them from the Internet. There are a few issues that need to be resolved. For example, the battery meter has not worked since the electricity went out, and I can’t get it restarted. The next step will be to go out to the battery house and check the fuses on the battery meter circuitry. And the pump controller down in the meadow shows a Fault condition, although it’s pumping water because the tank stays full.

Because it’s been sunny the solar collector for hot water has been working. This afternoon we took real showers in 80 degree water. 90 would have been better. Tomorrow will be sunny also, and maybe tomorrow we’ll have hot water. We’ve been a little bit inventive, by heating water in the tea kettle to make a pail of hot water for hair washing, and then mostly rinsing in the tepid water from the hot water tank.

This afternoon, we walked the perimeter of the property. Since the property is 40 acres square, it’s ¼ mile south from the house to the corner with the well and pump, ¼ mile to the east , ¼ mile north, and finally ¼ mile west back to the house. Found a little water in the swale. Saw a few things in bloom; enough to get me thinking it’s time to start collecting. I’ll only mention three. There is a little Phacelia, probably Phacelia bicolor, that is blooming in the warmer environment against the house. There is an Arabis growing in the heavy gravel of the road. It’s very distinctive because the flower stem bends way down when the fruit begins to develop. The term for that would be “reflexed.” I’m thinking it’s Arabis holboellii var. retrofracta, but I need to take my Jepson manual down there and sit in the dirt and check it again carefully. Cheryl saw me lying in the dirt, but didn’t see my camera, so thought something had happened to me. And then, there is a tiny Mimulus (Monkey flower) that is blooming on south-facing sandy slopes. It’s probably Mimulus nanus, but I need to go back and be sure. Along the roads at lower elevations the Mimulus nanus var. mephiticus (Skunky Monkey Flower) is starting to bloom, making a kind of purple carpet beside the road.

Tonight I will set the traps again. Last night we caught two mice, one in each trap. This morning I took them 100 yards out into the sagebrush and let them go. I’m hoping they’ll stay out there, and not make their way back to the house. We use peanut butter to bait the traps. Also today, I chased an animal out of the garage. It was larger than a mouse, but I didn’t get a good look at it. Following it’s path, I found a small hole that gives animals access to the garage. So I need to plug that one tomorrow.

Finally, we have a family of Mountain Bluebirds nesting under the eaves of the house. Tonight, while we were eating dinner, the proud father, and hard worker I might add, posed for us on the railing of the deck. I have attached a link to a recording of the song of the Mountain Bluebird: http://www.all-birds.com/Sound/mountainbluebird.wav

Monday, June 14th

Well, that better be all for now. It starts getting light at 4:15 AM, sun up at 5:30 am, so if you want 8 hours of sleep, you gotta get to bed when it gets dark.

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

It’s pretty amazing to be able to walk your front door and do some serious botanizing in your front yard. This afternoon I walked though the meadow, and down the swale, looking for the little monkey flower we saw Sunday. I found it easily on the south-facing slopes among the sagebrush.

It’s called Mimulus nanus var. nanus, or Dwarf Purple Monkey Flower. It’s about 1 1/2 inches tall. Most plants have only one flower, but some have two. One of the ways you identify this little plant is by the two gold stripes in the throat of the flower that are surrounded by deeper magenta.

This is one of the few collections of this variety in the Mono Lake basin. Most of the collections are of Mimulus nanus var. mephiticus or the Skunky Monkey Flower, that can seen lining the roads and coloring the sand flats magenta. Today, I also collected the Arabis holboellii var. pinetorum that I mentioned in a previous post, and a Ribes cereum var. cereum or Wax Currant. Another name for this plant might be a Gooseberry.

This morning I also buried a pipe in the ground to support one of those umbrella clotheslines, as it is getting to be time to wash clothes. Cheryl did a couple of loads of clothes, but hung them on a short line that is behind the battery house, as today’s wind was stirring up some dust around the umbrella clothesline. Since I disturbed the soil putting in the pipe, the fine dust is exposed to the wind. I imagine after a few days, the dust will be blown away, and we can use the umbrella clothesline.

Last night we only caught one mouse. I took it a different way out into the sagebrush, spinning the trap to make the mouse dizzy as suggested by Steve. Maybe it will be totally confused and go the other direction away from the house. If that doesn’t work, I’m gonna try doing the Hokey-Pokey before letting the mice out of the traps. The second trap was sprung, but it had no mouse. Perhaps, I didn’t set it right and the mouse got away. Or maybe it just closed of its own volition. They have quite a hair trigger on them.

There are still other mice in the house. Today we found mouse poop on the counter top where Cheryl had cleaned yesterday. We also pulled the refrigerator out and cleaned up the poop back there. I was thinking we might run into a nest somewhere, like behind the refrigerator, but so far we haven’t found one. We’re also following Hanta virus precautions, of not sweeping mouse poop, but wetting it with a mild Clorox solution, and then wiping it up with a paper towel. Is it really necessary to take such precautions? I don’t know.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. In the heavy gravel of the access road to the Robert Lane house, adjacent to sagebrush above the meadow. 37.8727°N, 118.8583°W. WGS 1984. Basal leaves obovate; pedicels smoothly arched in fruit, not reflexed; fruit curved, not straight.

Basal leaves obovate; pedicels smoothly arched in fruit, not reflexed; fruit curved, not straight. In the heavy gravel of the access road to the Robert Lane house, adjacent to sagebrush above Sagehen Meadow.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. 37.8708°N, 118.8548°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2535 m. Possibly puberulent, but definitely not hairy; throat floor generally with 2 gold stripes surrounded by deeper magenta. On south-facing slopes in granitic soil, among sagebrush, above the swale. Somewhat ambiguous as to var. mephiticus vs. var. nanus.

Possibly puberulent, but definitely not hairy; throat floor generally with 2 gold stripes surrounded by deeper magenta.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. Lower part of the meadow, above swale. 37.8708°N, 118.8548°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2535 m. Among sagebrush. Lower part of the meadow, above swale.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. Between the sagebrush and the swale draining the meadow in the lower, eastern part. 37.8708°N, 118.8554°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2535 m. Bract tip wide with teeth, style hairy.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I says, “Wife, I reckon I’ll mosey over there and botanize yonder bright green bush.”

I did so, and determined that it was a large version of the Gooseberry or Wax Current (Ribes cereum var. cereum) that I had previously found in smaller versions around the meadow. While there I took this photo looking back at the house.

Coming back I also got down on my belly and photographed this little guy. It’s a small version of Phacelia bicolor, and it is found in the warmer areas on the south side of the house. The largest plants are right up against the battery house. Note the bug down below the photo.

We’re making some progress in reducing the mouse population in the house. Last night we caught no mice. The trap in the kitchen was closed, but had no mouse. So I don’t know if I set it incorrectly and a mouse escaped, or if just vibration in the house caused the trap to close. Regardless the trap downstairs was not sprung. So maybe we’re making progress in reducing the mouse population in the house.

We’re almost finished in moving in and cleaning the house. Upstairs and downstairs are cleaned more. The downstairs bed is now on the frame and off the wooden blocks. So we’re almost ready for company and to show the house to prospective buyers.

I have also been working a little in the garage. I moved a bookcase slated for the Salvation Army against the garage wall and have been organizing the tools, screws, nails, etc., in the old bookcase. There is also a pile of waste wood in front of the house. About a third of that has been cleared of nails, and then sawn in fireplace-size pieces. We really don’t have hot water for bathing, though. It gets warm, maybe 80°. So we heat some water in the tea kettle, and use it to make a dish pan of hot water for most of the washing. I can rinse off in the house’s hot water, but I wouldn’t want to take complete shower in it.

We used the stove to cook pancakes, and I found myself missing KPFA. Usually I make pancakes on Sunday mornings while listening to Mary Berg’s Sleepers Awake! show on KPFA. This show always ends with the duet from Bach’s Cantata No. 78, which has become known as the “Pancake Song” in our house. For dinner tonight, Cheryl is baking a meat loaf and potatoes in the oven. We haven’t been using the heat pump to heat the house, actually haven’t needed it, so we have plenty of electricity to operate the electric stove.

Ribes cereum var. cereum, Collection No. 593	The house in Sagehen Meadow as seen from the location of my Collection No. 593.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. Northwest side of the meadow. 37.8713°N, 118.86°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2540 m. Large plant, lf hairs few, glandular, style hairs present. In mixed sagebrush and Jeffrey pine.

Large plant, lf hairs few, glandular, style hairs present. Northwest side of the Sagehen Meadow. In mixed sagebrush and Jeffrey pine. At first I thought this might be a different species than collection no. 592. However the leaf hairs are few, and style hairs are present, so it is the same species.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. Northwest side of the meadow. 37.8713°N, 118.86°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2540 m. Large plant, lf hairs few, glandular, style hairs present. In mixed sagebrush and Jeffrey pine. Growing in disturbed area, plants of many different sizes.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. North side of the meadow. 37.8725°N, 118.8587°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2542 m. Among sagebrush. North side of the meadow.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. North side of meadow. 37.8728°N, 118.8579°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2536 m. Found sparingly among sagebrush and forming a "turf" in open areas of granitic and volcanic sands.

5 October 2011: Of seven plants collected, five plants have only staminate florets. The other two plants have staminate and pistillate florets in lower spikelets of the infloresence. Upon dissection, the perigynia was not well developed, so I could not tell whether it would be beaked. In retrospect, these collections were probably made too early in the plants phenology. Here are some characters I arrived at: Plant long-rhizomed, rhizomes 1.5 mm dia., bisexual or pistillate; Leaf blade inrolled; Infloresence generally 2.5 cm, 1.3 cm wide; Spikelets > 1 per infl, lowest spikelet sheath < 4 mm (measured 2 mm), 1 per node, generally < 1.5 cm (measured 0.7-0.9 cm); Perigynia without veins, faces glabrous, not filled with pithy tissue, appressed to ascending; Style 3 mm; Stigmas 2, 4 mm, wavy.

Thursday, June 17th

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. West end of flat, on floor and adjacent slopes. 37.8667°N, 118.9052°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2385 m. Infloresence terminal, not axial.

Diplacus mephiticus (Greene) G.L. Nesom. Skunky Monkey Flower.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. Open slopes above the west end of flat. 37.8672°N, 118.906°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2401 m. Small specimens, growing among sagebrush. Somewhat ambiguous as to var. mephiticus vs. var. nanus.

Diplacus mephiticus (Greene) G.L. Nesom. Skunky Monkey Flower.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. Above the flat on the north side, bare soil in open areas with Jeffrey pine and sagebrush. 37.8769°N, 118.9021°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2415 m. Somewhat ambiguous as to var. mephiticus vs. var. nanus.

Friday, June 18, 2010

I had no idea what a Chautauqua was. Turns out a Chautauqua is an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America." Thank you, Wikipedia.

The Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua started for us with the dinner Friday night at the Lee Vining Community Center. Three entries, a beef, a stuffed chicken breast, and some special polenta for the vegetarians. We sat along common tables and chatted with our table-mates about the sessions we were attending.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Sunday, June 20, 2010

The leader was John Harris, from Mills College, who did some undergraduate work in the Mono Dunes, and knew the area and animals well. We caught mostly deer mice, a pinyon mouse or two, several kangaroo mice, and one least chipmunk. No kangaroo rats. The kangaroo mice were really interesting, they have huge heads because of the auditory bulbs on their skulls. Apparently these large bulbs enable them to hear very low frequency sounds, such as those made by the wings of owls.

Bridgeport Canyon, Mono County, California. Approximately 50 meters west of the stated geographic coordinates and Bridgeport Canyon Road, 0.75 miles north of Goat Ranch Cutoff Road, and 2.70 miles north from California Highway 167. 38.1095°N, 119.0645°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2065 m. On upper convex slopes, sandy soil, openings among pinyons. This collection was an attempt to relocate Jack L. Reveal and James L. Reveal #104, 6/9/1962 (UC1338583).

Reading Thompson's key in TJM2,

 65. Lvs and calyces hairy, hairs >= 0.7 mm, corolla tube gen puberulent externally, corolla magenta, dark red-purple, or yellow ….. var. mephiticus

Coyote Spring, Mono County, California. Slopes to southeast of Coyote Spring, 2 miles north of Goat Ranch Cutoff Road, and 4 miles north of California Highway 167. 38.12°N, 119.0851°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2174 m. Rocky slopes, south to southwest exposure.

This was a great experience, something that we’d plan to do again, and certainly recommend to others.

Monday, June 21, 2010

At the top of the hill is an Earthscope GPS station. I think this was Station P641.

Then the road descends easily to Gaspipe Spring.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

I collected a little caryophyllaceous thing where Dry Creek enters Big Sand Flat. I’ve worked through the key 3-4 times and come out at Eremogene kingii var. glabrescens (King’s Sandwort), but I’m just not convinced. Then I went over to the other side of the flat where there was an unopened Scroph a few days earlier. Today there were some flowers open, and I keyed it straight out to Penstemon humilis var. humilis, something last collected in Mono County in 1945 near Bodie.

Hmmmm.

Continued on the road a little more and a little more, until it dead-ended on a small hilltop. This hill had a fine view of Mono Lake to the northwest, and Sagehen Peak to the south. Here I collected Gayophytum diffusum var. parvifolium, Mentzelia albicaulis, Phacelia bicolor, and two Cryptantha.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. In a damp area beside Dry Creek where it enters Big Sand Flat. 37.8819°N, 118.8852°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2390 m. Also collected at Sagehen Meadow.

See also Collection # 636 in Sagehen Meadow.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. On the northwest margin of Big Sand Flat, on forest road 01S19B, about 1 km north of forest road 01S19, two plants here, one more seen near the end of forest road 01S19B, also collected at Sagehen Meadow. 37.8766°N, 118.9006°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2396 m.

This small dark blue penstemon keyed out directly to P. humilis when using the Jepson Desert Manual. That would be an interesting find and a southerly range extension since the nearest collection of P. humilis is near Bodie. However, there were a few collections of P. cinicola from Crooked Meadows. This taxon is not listed in the Jepson Desert Manual. Later, I would also collect P. cinicola at Sagehen Meadow.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8969°N, 118.8914°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2480 m. Collected both male and female plants.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8971°N, 118.8916°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2488 m.

Aliciella leptomeria (A. Gray) J.M. Porter. Sand Gilia.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8969°N, 118.8914°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2488 m.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8969°N, 118.8914°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2490 m.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8968°N, 118.8914°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2488 m.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8969°N, 118.8913°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2486 m.

Plagiobothrys kingii (S. Watson) A. Gray var. harknessii (Greene) Jepson. Harkness' Popcornflower.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. About 1.5 km north of Big Sand Flat, on the hill with a monument named "Sand." 37.8968°N, 118.8914°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2486 m.

Coll. No. 611, 22 Jun 2010, characters observed while keying: Annual, cotyledons persistent, to 7 cm., tap-rooted, branched at base; Stems, ±equally tall; Leaves, basal rosette 0, cauline alternate; Corolla, white, limb 5 mm., appendages yellow, prominent; Nutlets, #4, light tan, ovoid, 2.6 mm. × 1.5 mm. wide, adaxially keeled above scar, scar, lateral, sessile, raised, flat without thick rim, margin prickles 0, cross-ribs irregular.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. On top of the north rim of Big Sand Flat. Forest Road 01S19D, about 1/2 mile northeast of Forest Road 01S19 “M&R Tank Road.” 37.8799°N, 118.9019°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2444 m. Open areas among Jeffrey pine, sandy soil. Somewhat ambiguous as to var. mephiticus vs. var. nanus.

Wednesday June 23

Tonight, as I was washing the dishes, the moon was rising over Glass Mountain, while the early evening sun illuminated Sagehen Peak. It was beautiful just like every morning and evening here. I don’t think I would ever tire of the view.

Thursday June 24

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Also this afternoon, Karl was here. He nailed back some of the siding that has become loose in the wind, and began making preparations to install a small electric water heater. We’re happy to be having real hot water. However, it comes at a price. It’s one more thing that could drain the batteries. Probably we’ll turn it off at night, so that we don’t run the batteries down keeping the water hot all night. Then turn it back on in the morning, when the sun is shining on the solar panels. We have stopped using the dryer, opting for the clothes line, and have stopped using the heat pump, because of their heavy electricity use. The contractor’s also going to replace the back door the sheriff broke open when they were looking for the former owner of the house.

I’m continuing to learn about the house. We lost our power a week or so ago, because we were using too much, and tripped a circuit breaker in the inverter. At that time, the battery meter also stopped working. Resetting the inverter brought back the power, but not the battery meter. After several puzzling days, the electrician and contractor remembered over beers shared at the bluegrass concert at the Mobil Gas Station that the battery meter was powered by an auxiliary power circuit on the battery charge controller. So they called me, suggesting I figure out how to turn that circuit on. I read the battery charge controller manual, and highlighted the configuration menus in yellow. While attempting to apply my new knowledge in the battery house, I learned that the menus in the charge controller were similar to, but not exactly the same as, the menus as described in the manual. Regardless, I managed to turn the auxiliary circuit back on, and the meter came to life. It’s an important little meter because it tells us how much charge is in the batteries, how many amps of current we’re taking out of the batteries versus how much the solar panels are putting in, and how many amp-hours we’re drawn out of the batteries. To organize all this knowledge I’ve started a Visio drawing of the mechanical systems of the house, showing how everything starts with the solar panels, and all the different ways we use that energy. It’s pretty complicated. There are four pumps: the well, the house water pressure, the solar collector pump, and the geothermal water pump. Three information panels: the battery charge controller, the inverter, and the battery meter in the house office.

In other news, I had my first Sagehen Meadows haircut. I was explaining to Dick at the Razor’s Edge that we would spending the summer here and that I would probably have to drive to Mammoth Lakes for a haircut. Dick loaned me an old pair of clippers, and sent me to the Shaver Shop on Telegraph Avenue, to buy a set of Size 1½ cutters. That’s how I get my hair cut, a 1½ all over. Cheryl and I set up out on the deck, and she cut my hair. It looks pretty even. Of course, not as perfect as Dick, hisself, might have done, but still pretty good.

Well, that’s probably enough for tonight. I’m going to send this as a .PDF, and also e-mail it directly to two people who are having trouble reading the PDF version. If that includes you, please let me know.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Coll. No. 614, Astragalus casei

Adobe Valley, Mono County, California. 0.3 miles northwest on a 4WD road that was entered from California Highway 120 0.8 miles north of Benton Crossing Road, 37.8039°N, 118.5795°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 1990 m.

Keyed from Taylor (2010)

9' Stipules not connate into a sheath
19' Pubesence basifixed
20' Pods have a few hairs, definitely not obscuring surface
24' Pods with small stipe
25' Pods 1-chambered
32' Pods leathery and pubescent -- well, no, but neither could they be described as glabrous and inflated.
34. Stems stiffly erect -- definitely not prostrate or decumbent
………………………. Astragalus casei A. Gray

Coll. No. 615, Phacelia vallis-mortae	Coll. No. 615, Phacelia vallis-mortae

Wildrose Canyon, Mono County, California. Near Benton Crossing Road, about 5.4 miles south of California Highway 120. 37.7216°N, 118.6029°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2271 m.

Characters: Annual. Stem erect. Leaves, cauline compound, segments toothed. Calyx lobes entire, ±alike, generally short to long hairy. Corolla uniformly colored blue, 13 mm, 12 mm wide, generally deciduous. Some stamens exserted. Fruit ovoid to elliptic 4-5 mm. Pedicels 1.5 mm in fruit. Calyx lobes in fruit 8 mm, not dimorphic, ±straight, ±enclosing fruit, 3 mm > fruit. Seeds 2, one seed has ridge, but not grooved.

In Taylor (2010), this keys pretty much straight to P. vallis-mortae. In TJM2 and TJDM, it gets lost in the keys around P. distans and P. tanacetifolia.

Wildrose Canyon, Mono County, California. Near Benton Crossing Road, about 5.4 miles south of California Highway 120. 37.7216°N, 118.6029°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2271 m.

Coll. No. 616, 27 June 2010, characters observed: Annual, to 10 cm.; Leaves, alternate, pinnately-lobed, lobes 5; Calyx, membrane not spout-like; Corolla, tube 6 mm. + throat 1 mm. + lobes 4 mm. × 1.8 mm. wide, lobes lavender, lobe tips > stamens; Stamens attached well below corolla sinus, unequal, exserted < ½ length of corolla lobes; Anthers exserted.

From Wildrose Canyon we proceeded south over Wildrose Summit and into a little valley then drains through Chidago Canyon to Chidago Flat. On the left (east) side of the road, at a place called Banner Springs, was a large vegetable garden, fully fenced, maybe an acre in size. I seemed like an odd place for such a large garden. We made one botanical stop in this little valley, along a wooden pole line, where we were looking for Eriogonum esmeraldense, or the Esmeralda Buckwheat. Esmeralda is the name of a Nevada county. It was originally a huge county stretching from Goldfield in the southeast and past Aurora in the northwest. Later it was split into two counties, with the Goldfield area retaining the county seat of Esmeralda County, and the mining town of Aurora becoming the county seat of Mineral county. After Aurora declined, the county seat was moved to Hawthorne, Nevada. The first collection of the Esmeralda Buckwheat was made in 1853 in the mining town of Candelaria which was then in Esmeralda County, but now is in Mineral County.

For lunch we stopped at Watterson Summit, on the eastern edge of the Long Valley caldera and ate in the shade of the Jeffrey pines among boulders of Bishop Ash. The rim of the caldera is pretty low on the south and southeast and the topography subdued. But to the north, the wall rises to 11,000 feet at Glass Mountain, nearly 5,000 feet above the floor.

For the last botanical stop we went to Benton Crossing, where the road crosses over the Owens River. I think my niece Heidi has been fishing here. We were looking for a little plant called Goodmania luteola. It has a couple of common names, Yellow Spinecape or Golden Goodmania. It’s one of those little tiny plants that you have to lay down in the alkali dust to see or photograph. I don’t have any photos. Was planning to take some, but then a young fisherman came over and asked for help starting his car. Got distracted doing that, using my jumper cables, and then forgot that I wanted to get my camera out. However, here’s a photo that I particularly like (http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0607+1303) taken by Steve Matson. He’s a really good plant photographer, and I’ve met him on a couple of field trips and at the herbarium.

Also found at numerous locations on wet alkali flats or meadows in Long Valley. There is one other collection from Mono County at River Spring in Adobe Valley. Inyo County locations include Fish Slough and Klondike Lake. The type is a collection made by C. C. Parry in 1881 with a given location of "Mojave."

In alkali flats adjacent to Forest Road 3S47, just north of Benton Crossing Road. (37.6987,-118.7615,WGS 1984.) 6/27/2010 Benton Crossing, Mono County, California.

Benton Crossing, Mono County, California. In alkali flats adjacent to Forest Road 3S47, just north of Benton Crossing Road. 37.6987°N, 118.7615°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2083 m.

Finally, back at the house, we had a nice dinner that Cheryl prepared. We also had hot water for showers, Karl had installed a small electric water heater in the mechanical closet. Of course, that’s one more way we use electricity, so we have to be careful to use only what we need.

Monday, June 28th

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Adobe Hills Spillway, Mono County, California. At the spillway of Pleistocene Lake Mono, east side of road, most common in borrow pit, occasional elsewhere nearby. 38.0585°N, 118.774°W. WGS 1984. Stems reddish, leaves pinnately lobed, infloresence head-like, flowers white, stamens exserted. Growing in fresh water sandstone, with fossil snail shells. , stems reddish, leaves pinnately lobed, infloresence head-like, flowers white, stamens exserted, on fresh water sandstone,

Collection No. 619, Astragalus lentiginosus var. floribundus

Adobe Hills Spillway, Mono County, California. Growing in the fresh water sandstone at the spillway, 16.6 miles east of US Highway 395 on California Highway 167, then 8.0 miles southeast on Dobie Meadows Road. 38.0585°N, 118.774°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2181 m.

Coll. No. 619, 29 Jun 2013, characters observed: Perennial subshrub of Great Basin sagebrush desert (Mono Lake basin is in nSNE); Hairs basifixed, simple; Root crown, at ground surface; Leaves, 1-pinnate, odd-pinnate, main axis extending as a leaflet; Leaflets >> 7, typically 23, mid leaflets 5 mm. × 2.2 mm. wide, spaced 2 mm., tip rounded, sparsely hairy, green (not ashy-gray or silvery), both surfaces ±equal in appearance; Stipules, 3 mm., not connate, sheaths 0; Calyx conspicuous, base ±symmetric; Sepals, fused 3.5 mm. + free 2 mm.; Flowers, bilateral, 18-20 in a spike, not head-like; Corolla conspicuous; Petals ochroleucus (not pink-purple); Banner 8 mm. when dry; Wings 8 mm.; Keel 6 mm.; Stamens, 9 fused, 1 free; Style tip and stigma glabrous; Fruit, 12 mm. long, stipe 0, glabrous, 2-chambered; Seeds, several.

Collection No. 620, Chaenactis douglasii

Adobe Hills Spillway, Mono County, California. Growing in the fresh water sandstone at the spillway, 16.6 miles east of US Highway 395 on California Highway 167, then 8.0 miles southeast on Dobie Meadows Road. 38.0585°N, 118.774°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2175 m.

We found a little road that would take us down to the alkali flats. There was a spring with a three ducks. Haven’t a clue what kind of ducks. They were small, dark colored, with maybe a white stripe. Maybe someone else can recognize them.

The plants found in the zone between the sagebrush and the alkali flats were pretty interesting. We found quite a few different plants, although it was still a little early spring here are 7000 feet elevation. The little Goodmania might be here, but the plants were very small and I found only one or two open flowers.

Alkali Lake, Mineral County, Nevada. Northwest side of Alkali Lake, in alkaline soils with rabbitbrush. 38.2817°N, 118.7633°W. WGS 1984. Northwest side of Alkali Lake, in alkaline soils with rabbitbrush.

Alkali Lake, Mineral County, Nevada. Northwest margin of Alkali Lake, in silty alkali flat with rabbitbrush, 38.2817°N, 118.7632°W. WGS 1984.

Alkali Valley, Mineral County, Nevada. Northwest margin of Alkali Lake, in silty alkali flat with rabbitbrush. 38.2817°N, 118.7632°W. WGS 1984. Flowers, but no seed.

Coll. No. 623.2, 29 Jun 2010, characters observed: Annual, scaly or powdery, hairs 0; Stems, upper, not jointed or fleshy; Leaves, alternate, not clasping, petioled, blades 15 mm. × 4.5-5.0 mm. wide, flattened (not fleshy), 1-veined, not spine- or bristle-tipped; Flowers, pistillate, with calyx; Calyx, not winged or tubercled, appendages 0; Stamens 5; Seed, orientation unknown.

Alkali Valley, Mineral County, Nevada. Northwest margin of Alkali Lake, in silty alkali flat with rabbitbrush. 38.2817°N, 118.7632°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2148 m.

Coll. No. 623.3, 29 June 2010, characters observed while keying: Annual, or appearing so, herbaceous, tap- rooted, not scapose; Hairs, very few, in axils only, simple, tapered; Leaves, cauline, alternate, not lobed or clasping at base, compound, 8-12 mm.; Flowers bisexual, radial (actinomorphic); Perianth in 2 whorls; Flower parts 4(6); Sepals fused at base; Petals 4, free at base, entire, yellow; Ovary superior; Pistils 1 per flower; Style very short; Stamens 6; Filaments wingless; Fruit a silicle, ±spheric, ±3 mm., indehiscent; Seeds, ±8.

Alkali Lake, Mineral County, Nevada. On the south side of Alkali Lake, where the old road breaks out of the sagebrush. 38.2659°N, 118.7503°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2149 m. Open, drying, alkaline mud flats.

Wednesday, June 30th

Cheryl and I visited Rainbow Falls in a September years ago, and we wanted to see it with a lot of water and, hopefully, a rainbow, so it was on our priority list for an early tourist trip. You have to stop and the Mammoth Ski Lodge and then take a shuttle bus from there. The fare was $7.00 with no discount for being old and decrepit. There is also a summer time gondola ride to the top of Mammoth Mountain. The regular fare is $21.00 with a senior fare of $11.00. Maybe, they just drop seniors off about half-way, I don’t know.

Anyway, we took the shuttle to the Rainbow Falls trailhead, and walked the mile and a half to the falls. There was a good flow from the melting snow in the high country, and a good visible rainbow.

After lunch, we walked back to the trailhead at Red’s Meadow Resort, and took the bus back to the Mammoth Ski Lodge.

While driving through Mammoth Lakes, we noticed a Farmer’s Market. It’s on Wednesdays from 400 PM until 700 PM, and they were just setting up when we arrived. There were maybe five or six stands, but only two were fruits and vegetables. Another had coffee, one fresh roasted peanuts, and another was the Friends of the Inyo, an environmental group. At the vegetable stand we got some very nice organic broccoli and lettuce. Talking with the growers, we learned that their garden is at Banner Springs, mentioned above, and that they grow all that they sell. Next time we pass by that way, we’ll have to stop in and say hello. They also knew about the house in Sagehen Meadow, and its story. The fruit stand had very nice peaches, apricots, and cherries from Bishop. We just bought peaches and apricots, and some good-looking garlic.

So that’s probably it for today. Today (Thursday) and Friday, we’ll stay here at the house. I have plant collections to document and work over. And, it’s time to botanize in the meadow again, to see what’s started to bloom since I was last out there a week ago. Spring continues to evolve here, the days at a little warmer, maybe a very pleasant 75 in the daytime, and in the low 50’s at night, with different tiny flowers in bloom.

Saturday, we’re signed up for a canoe trip on Mono Lake, and Sunday we’re planning to do Independence Day in Bridgeport, with a morning parade, a noon barbecue, and an afternoon rodeo. Apparently the Bridgeport rodeo is just skills the cowboys actually use on the ranches, and not the professional stuff. We’ll see. Tom

July 2010

Friday, July 2, 2010

Diplacus mephiticus (Greene) G.L. Nesom. Skunky Monkey Flower. Pumice Valley, Mono County, California. Along Dross Road to the Mono County Transfer Station. 37.9048°N, 119.0622°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 6823 ft. Plants not hairy when first collected here on 16 June 2010, see smaller specimen, then hairy when collected 30 Jun 2010, see larger specimen.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. North edge of meadow. 37.8719°N, 118.8577°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2500 m.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. North edge of meadow. 37.8716°N, 118.8577°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2538 m. Plants erect, branches open, not matted.

Infloresence of Penstemon cinicola.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow, locally common at edge of meadow. 37.8702°N, 118.857°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 8342 ft. Spreads by rhizomes, infloresence crowded at nodes, glabrous, corolla 7 mm, blue-purple, glabrous except hairy floor, valves spreading, staminode yellow hairy.

Saturday July 3rd

The tour leaves from Navy Beach, on the south side of the lake. We left the house at 700 AM for our 800 AM tour. They want us tourists on-site a half hour before the tour, so that we can sign the liability waiver, get fitted for a life vest, and take the safety lecture. Depending upon the number of people who attend, there may or may not be a guide in each boat. Since there were only six people signed up for our tour, each canoe had a guide. The 930 AM tour had 22 people, so I’m guessing some canoes did not have guides. In our canoe, I sat in the front (I guess I should say “bow”), Cheryl sat in the middle, and our guide Sarah sat in the stern. The tour route is from Navy Beach west to South Tufa, and return. Even though it was early in the morning, the lake had swells from the north about 9 inches high.

Though Mono Lake appears blue from a distance, that must be just a reflection of the sky, for the water close up is a green from the algae growing in it. The water is clear enough though to see the bottom through 5 to 6 feet of water. I was also surprised to see so many brine shrimp. When I visited South Tufa with the Swiss botanists on Sunday, we saw a few along the shore. The same was true last summer when we Nacho took Ian out into the lake at the Picnic Grounds on the west side of the lake. However, out in the canoe you can see how many brine shrimp there are; our guide said trillions. We caught a few and saw plain brine shrimp, green brine shrimp, brine shrimp with egg cases, and mating brine shrimp. Sarah, our guide said that sometimes red brine shrimp are found and that the color is the result of the oxidation state of the iron in their hemoglobin. The eggs just sink to the bottom of the lake, and wait until next year to hatch.

Along the way, we saw several swallows nesting in holes in the tufa towers. The osprey nest we saw on the previous Sunday was vacant and we saw no osprey at all this morning. The tour also took us by a newly forming tufa tower. It was about 35 feet from shore and about 18 inches high, topping out just above the water line. It was a good size spring, with a hole about 2 inches in diameter, and water flowing about what you’d expect from a large garden hose. And the water was warm! Maybe about 85°F. When we were back on shore, though, I could not locate it out in the lake.

Back at the house, I did some things for our landlord, including measuring how far the brush had been cleared away from the house. I also discovered the wood pile outback was too close to the house, so I restacked the portion that was too close, so that none is the wood is closer than 30 feet to the house. I also blocked a little hole that allowed small animals to get into the garage.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Set up around the County Courthouse were maybe 4-5 of the “jumpy things” for kids, and a stage for various announcements and entertainment. Behind the court house, were the usual cheesy art booths with a few specialty booths. All the public land agencies were there: BLM, Forest Service, etc. The Friends of the Bodie Railway & Timber Company were there, and I learned that they paid for and built the very nice interpretive display at Mono Mills, where timber was milled before riding the railroad to Bodie.

For lunch we paid our $15 and had the barbecue lunch in the park just behind the court house. They said they were sponsored by the Bridgeport Chapter of PETA. Of course, as we learned, in Bridgeport PETA stands for “People Eating Tasty Animals,” so we had very tasty barbecued steak.

Also behind the park is the Bridgeport Museum. There they called our attention to the latest issue of their newsletter, which featured the schools and school teachers of Mono County in the early part of the 20th century. I asked them about Miss Maud Minthorn. She was the schoolmistress in Lundy in 1908. I’m aware of her because she also collected plants and sent them to the herbarium at Cal. I’ve seen 76 plant collections by Miss Minthorn at Cal which would make her the fourth most prolific collector in the Mono Lake basin. Apparently, she only lasted one year in Lundy, because her 1909 collections are from Pioche, Nevada, including one of Swertia albomarginata, the little plant I study. From Pioche, she went back to Cal, earned a Masters in mathematics, and then taught high school math in Fresno for any years. Well, anyway, after some correspondence with the director of the museum, this was new information to them. Some day, I need to go to a Fresno museum or historical society, because perhaps looking at old high school yearbooks, I can find a photo of Miss Minthorn.

We hung around the park for a while, enjoyed the karaoke, which was mixed in with Frank and his significant other, Ellie or Evie, something like that, performing separately and together. Frank did an excellent Conway Twitty. They must have been in their eighties, and were still performing in Minden and Gardnerville.

Now it was time for the rodeo, so we walked from the courthouse at the middle of town to the west end of town, two blocks, to the rodeo grounds. There was a woman standing by the rail, setting up her tripods, cameras, etc., so I struck up a conversation with her about the rodeo, where to sit, etc. She gave us a great orientation, and we sat right at the railing, directly opposite the announcer’s booth and the bucking bronco chutes.

This was a ranch rodeo, not the professional stuff we see on television. So the events featured skills that the cattle ranchers used. The most interesting was the cattle loading event. For this event they brought a pickup truck and a trailer into the arena. Four cowboys (and cowgirls) … I dunno could you say “cowpersons?” … would load their horses into the trailer and then get into the truck. At “Go,” they would jump out of the truck, get the horses out of the trailer, set up a temporary fence, go round up three cows, get them into the trailer, take down the temporary fence, close the door, and gather their horses together. I think the fastest time was 1:34 minutes. And all kinds of thing could go wrong. If your horse wandered away while the fence was being taken apart, that counted against you. Sometimes the cows would stay together, and sometimes they would scatter. I got a good video of this event, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHwxI3kdLs it’s uploading right now, but our upload speed is pretty slow, so it may not be done before I send this out. There were lots of other events at the rodeo, and it went on for about four hours. Two hours was great; three hours would have been enough; but at the four hour mark I was beginning to feel like a roast lobster, even with our hats and sunscreen. It was fun, though, and I’m glad we went.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Just above the wet part of the meadow, I found a Cinquefoil (Potentilla) that keyed out straight to Comb-Leaf Cinquefoil (P. gracilis var. elmeri). I’m always a little nervous when something keys out easily, as in “could I have gone wrong in the key somewhere?” But finding this plant here, and having keyed it out, I’m now wondering about a Potentilla we saw at the Benton Hot Springs Ranch. It was on their list as Potentilla gracilis var. gracilis. In an exchange with Barbara I learned var. gracilis was a coastal variety, and that the likely variety out here was var. elmeri. That’s what I found here at Sagehen Meadow. So should I call this to the attention of the Eastern Sierra Land Trust? Suggest they re-examine their Potentilla in the field? Let it be? I don’t know.

Potentilla gracilis var. elmeri in Sagehen Meadow.	Potentilla gracilis var. elmeri in Sagehen Meadow.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow. 37.8697°N, 118.8565°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2502 m. With sagebrush.

Coll. No. 631, Agoseris glauca var. glauca, collected at Sagehen Meadow.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow. 37.8698°N, 118.8564°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2529.

Iris missouriensis in Sagehen Meadow.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow, in drier areas mixed with Artemisia cana and Carex douglasii. 37.8703°N, 118.8556°W. WGS 1984.

Linanthus pungens at Sagehen Meadow.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow. 37.8701°N, 118.8552°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2536 m.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow. 37.8704°N, 118.8552°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2532 m.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. South side of meadow. 37.8704°N, 118.8552°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2532 m.

12 June 2011:

• Rhizamatous
• Upper culms compressed (sort of), a few twists evident
• Infl appears lateral, lowest bract like an extension of the stem
• Perianth bristles absent
• Fls many per cluster
• Floral bracts 2-ranked
• Perigynia absent
• Anthers 2 mm., filament < 0.5 mm, therefore anthers > filaments
• Stigma 2+
• Many ovules

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. In the swale draining the meadow, southeast corner. 37.8707°N, 118.8552°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2532 m.

Habitat of Erythranthe primuloides in Sagehen Meadow.

Erythranthe primuloides (Benth.) G.L. Nesom & N.S. Fraga. Primrose Monkey Flower.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. In the swale draining the meadow, at a log dam intended to reduce erosion. 37.8707°N, 118.8552°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2533 m.

Sagehen Meadow, Mono County, California. In the swale draining the meadow, southeast side. 37.8707°N, 118.8552°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2533 m.

Sagehen Meadow Campground, Mono County, California. about 1 mile south of Sagehen Meadow Campground on Forest Road 01S160, 37.854°N, 118.8585°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 2630 m. parasitizing Linanthus pungens among bitterbrush and Jeffrey pines.

Taylor (2010) uses C. chromosa Nelson, but C. angustifolia (Nutt.) G. Don is the earliest epithet in the widespread C. chromosa Nelson complex. More study needed.

8 June 2011:

• Perennial
• Hairy (not glabrous or wooly), hairs not branched, not glandular below spike
• Leaves 3-divided
• Calyx cleft equally dorsally and ventrally
• Infl reddish
• Stigma unclear whether 2-lobed or not when dry, but not diagnostic anyway

8 June 2011:

• Infl not exceeding leaves
• Monoecious
• Unilocular
• Perigynia not nerved (or maybe weakly nerved)
• Style 1
• Stigma 2 (Sect. Phacocystis)

… at least I think it's Carex aquatilis … there is a Helmkamp collection from Pilot Spring, while Taylor (2010) does not list it for the Mono Lake basin.

Astragalus monoensis in Big Sand Flat	Habitat of Astragalus monoensis in Big Sand Flat	Astragalus monoensis in Big Sand Flat	Astragalus monoensis in Big Sand Flat

Fairly easy to recognize due to, "Crown below soil surface, lower stipules especially underground stipules fused around stem into sheath (Baldwin, et al., 2002)."

Thursday, July 8, 2010.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Monday, July 12, 2010

Leaves, upper glabrous; Infloresence, axis and pedicels glabrous; Calyx 7-9 mm; Corolla, color blue, 30 mm, throat 11 mm wide; Anthers glabrous (definitely not wooly), sacs not dehiscing full length, spreading not quite 90°.

Tall shrub, forms thickets (maybe clone-forming); Leaves entire, linear, 5-7 (8) mm wide, not glandular at base of blade on petiole, pubescent below, pubesence appressed and parallel to axis.

Perennial; Stem with pith; Leaf blade flat, flat side oriented toward stem, sheaths open and not appendaged; Flowers in head-like clusters, 5-6 per cluster; Perianth 5 mm; Anthers basifixed; Ovary not unilocular, ovules and seeds obviously many more than locules; Stigmas 3.

In Taylor (2010) this would key out as J. covilleii because of the few flowers per cluster. In TJM2, size of perianth and fruit would distinguish them.

Perennial, infl clusters not on one side of axis (they appear to alternate to me); calyx lobes long-ish (?) but acuminate, not hairy; corolla 23-26 mm, color red; pollen yellow.

I was a Pilot Spring about a week before. While there, I noticed some Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) that were about to bloom. Today, they were in bloom. I made a check up and down the stream bed until I found enough that I thought it OK to collect, about a dozen plants, and then made a small collection. The odd thing about Pilot Spring is that quite a few plants have been collected there once, but not more that that. G. K. Helmkamp collected only Sierra Sanicle (Sanicula graveolens) ever found in Mono County at Pilot Springs in 1997, but I’ve not found it there since. I collected Large-Leaf Avens (Geum macrophyllum) there in 2008 and haven’t seen it at the spring since. And, now, even though this is the fourth year I’ve checked Pilot Spring, I’ve found Western Columbine for the first time. Don’t know if this means anything. Barbara suggested maybe the species are brought there in the wool of sheep, or perhaps on or in other sheep parts.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Detail of Collection No. 659	Flower of Collection No. 659	Overview of Collection No. 658

17 May 2011: Looked at this again. If I could see the spur being 1-3 mm, then it could be L. a. var. heteranthus, a much more common variety, though mostly in the western portion of the Mono Lake Basin. However, a length of 1 mm is really stretching it. So I don't think it's var. heteranthus. Another alternative is var. palmeri, which Mary DeDecker collected nearby, but I don't see the stem hairs spreading, and the leaves have some green instead of gray to silver. So, I'm staying with var. argenteus.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

As this was our third time stopping along the road, we’re beginning to understand that Jose Irigoyen was a prolific arborglyphist. . I thought the glyph in the photo at right showed a lot of creativity with the stylized carving of the letters. Hopefully, Jose was just as creative in his sheep herding. I’m not sure how much time he spent guarding the sheep. And perhaps a few were carried off by the coyotes, as he may have documented that as well. One of the arborglyphs is the epithet “Estuos putas coyotes.” Many of these glyphs carry dates of 1967 and 1970. We’ve been seeing a few signs that sheep are still grazed in the area. Tuesday, we noticed a loading chute between Mono Mills and Big Sand Flat. And, later, while climbing Panum Crater with Katherine, we noticed a double-decker stock truck and trailer. Friday, we saw a water truck going up Sagehen Meadow Road.

Supposedly, the sheep herders will come and ask if they can graze the private property in the meadow. We’re pledged to ask them not to do so. We really want to keep the meadow nice and attractive because it’s for sale. (And, actually, truth be told, I’d be really sad if the Forest Service lets the sheep graze the meadows. As dry and sandy as they are, they would look horrible if grazed and torn up by the sheep.) I just hope they don’t come while we’re gone. Or, if they do come while we’re gone, they’ll assume that not having permission means they shouldn’t graze the meadow.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

7 June 2011:

• Annual
• Internodes hollow
• Sheath open
• Ligule membrane reduced, auricles not seen on upper leaves, no lower leaves available.
• Infloresence type panicle, although appearing spike-like
• Compression: eh?
• Disarticulation at nodes
• Spikelets consistent in construction
• Spikelets per node, appears to be 2, one on a very short stalk, but not really sessile, perhaps distorted by pressing and drying
• Glumes awn-like 55 mm
• Lemma veins 5, awns attached at end
• Florets per spikelet 2+, reduced above

Friday, July 16, 2010

July 17 to July 19th

Thursday, July 22, 2010

As the summer has past, though, the slopes have taken on a silvery green aspect. On Friday of last week, I made an expedition to one of these slopes.

On close inspection, it turns out these slopes are very loose and soft cinders. There is almost a monoculture of lupine on them, the same species I identified near the house in Sagehen Meadow: Lupinus argenteus var. argenteus. I’m the only guy around here who thinks the variety argenteus can be found here. Michael Honer who did the Glass Mountain flora lists variety palmeri, but then again, none of his collections indicate that he ever collected specifically on these “barren” sand slopes. So maybe it’s another small issue that will have to be resolved back in the herbarium. Around the edges of the sand slopes are buckwheats and penstemons, but besides the lupines, the only other plant growing in the sand slopes is an odd little thing called Shield Plant (Streptanthus tortuosus). This is another high Sierra plant that I am finding out here in the high, dry meadows. I guess the lesson is that staying in one smallish area, and looking again and again, you’ll find something no one else has found.

Coll. No. 671, 5 Nov 2011, Characters observed while keying: Lemma hairy; Palea << lemma; Awn all segments hairy, lowest hairs < hairs on upper lemma.

30 Oct 2011: Characters observed while keying: Shrubs large; Leaves glandless; Leaflet tip rounded (as opposed to truncate); Prickles generally terete, slender, straight or slightly curved; Sepals glandless, tips entire, persistent in fruit (Note to self: remember the ovary is inferior, so the sepals are on top of the fruit.); Petals 10-25 mm (measured 10-19 mm); Pistils >10 (observed 26±).

27 Oct 2011: Characters observed while keying: Annual, Leaves dull green to grayish; Lower Blades, one-veined from base, < 3.5 mm wide (measured 2 mm wide); Seed horizontal.

Characters observed while keying: Perennial > 1 dm, stem hairs appressed, leaves cauline, petioles 4-4.5mm, calyx spurred <= 1 mm, banner back hairy, keel upper margin ciliate distal half.

27 Oct 2011: Characters observed while keying: Subshrub ± erect (not cushion-like or matted); Stems upright, not jointed; Leaves not in fascicles, 10-20 mm, slightly rolled under; Bracts scale-like (as opposed to leaf-like); Infloresence branches short, evenly branched; Involucres solitary, terminal; Perianth base not jointed with a pedicel, glabrous, yellow.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Coll. No. 679, 5 Nov 2011, Characters observed while keying: Perennial, herb, >= 3 dm tall (obs: 4.5-5 dm); Leaves cauline, spread along stem; Leaflets 22-38 mm, upper surface appressed hairy, not wooly; Infloresence open; Pedicels slender, 4-5 mm; Calyx spur mere bulge; Bracts persistent; Flower white, 10-11 mm; Banner base lightly hairy, back glabrous; Keel upper margin ciliate claw to tip not uniform, cilia density increases claw to tip.

Keys to Lupinus holmgrenanus in TJM1, L. gracilentus in TJM2, L. argenteus var. meionanthus in TJDM, and L. pratensis var. eriostachyus in Taylor (2010). The larger flower size of 10-11 mm is usually what gets one off track while keying. Also, the persistence of the bracts can be a problem.

Perennial > 10 dm; Stem with pith; Leaf mostly basal, blade flat, flexible, flat side oriented toward stem, sheaths open and not appendaged; Flowers in head-like clusters, 5-6 per cluster; Perianth 4-5 mm; parts <= 1.5 mm wide; Anthers basifixed; Ovary not unilocular, ovules and seeds obviously many more than locules; Stigmas 3.

In TJM1 and Taylor (2010) the few number of flowers per cluster would lead one to J. covilleii, which has been collected once in Slate Creek Valley (J. Clausen, 1839, Sep 14 1940, UC1154006). In TJM2, size of perianth and fruit would separate them. TJDM does not include J. covilleii.

Coll. No. 681, 3 Nov 2011: Characters observed while keying: Perennial subshrub, not thistle-like; Leaves entire to 3-(5-)lobed (not compound), margins flat; Headsradiate, > 15 mm wide including ligules (obs: 17-18 mm wide); Phyllaries 5-10 or < 15 (1 obs = 8), keeled; Receptacle naked; Flowers not all ligulate, color yellow; Ray flowers present ±8 (1 obs = 7); Achenes with a small crown-like pappus of scales.

30 Oct 2011: Characters observed while keying: Perennial herb; Leaves mostly cauline, spread along stems, upper and lower surfaces hairy; Leaflets largest < 40 mm (obs: 10-12 mm); Infloresence > leaves, dense, whorls > 7 (obs: 8-10); Calyx spur 0-1 mm; Banner back glabrous, spot yellow; Keel ciliate on distal half, color white to dark red-purple.

30 Oct 2011: Characters observed while keying: Perennial herb, drying green; Flowers 3-10 (observed: 8, 10), erect; Epicalyx should be present per Taylor (2010) but unable to see; Sepals 4, green; Hypanthium shape ? (unable to observe in dried specimens), bractlets unclear (but see small appendages circled in red on detail photo); Petals present, yellow; Styles persistent, 2-9 mm (obs: 4-5 mm), tapered, hooked, bristles at base (see detail photo, conflicts with species description), not plumose.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Sunday, July 25, 2010

After collecting the little lupine, we were exploring a little dirt road, and saw some ears sticking up. There were pretty big for deer ears. Turns out they were antelope ears, and this little herd numbered 6 or 7 individuals. They would not let us get very close, nor would they stand still while I changed lenses on my camera, so this is about the best photo I could get.

The other thing we saw on this trip has me puzzled a bit. It’s an exclosure of some sort, i.e., it’s meant to keep animals out. The usual purpose is to see what effects animals, such as cows or sheep, are having on plants by excluding them from an area, and then comparing the measurements of things inside the exclosure to things outside. I’ve seen three of these this summer: this one in the Bodie Hills, one in Big Sand Flat, and another in Alkali Valley. They are of the same dimensions, roughly 3 feet on a side and 4 feet tall, roughly pyramidal, and made of welded rebar and 6 inch wire. The thing is, the area inside the exclosure is quite small, so the organism under treatment must be quite small also. It can’t be a big bush. Maybe someone is studying the effects of large grazing animals on ants, and ant hills (?). Of course, the pyramidal shape could also suggest they are navigation beacons for aliens ….. *<8^)

Collection No. 686 of Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii	Coll. No. 686, Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii	Coll. No. 686, Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii

Plant < 1 dm, matted, cauline lvs clustered near base, leaf upper surface hairy, largest lflt < 40 mm, infloresence gen > lvs, sometimes < lvs, dense, headlike, 2-8 cm, calyx spur 0, bracts persistent, banner back glabrous, upper keel margin glabrous.

Same as my collection no. 487.

Coll. No. 687, 7 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial 6 dm tall; Leaves alternate, pinnately lobed; Infloresence a panicle with 7-19 heads; Involucre 10 mm long; Phyllaries in 2 series, 4 outer << inner, 4 inner black tipped; Receptacle naked; Flowers unable to discern color or ray vs. disk; Achenes 6, pappus of bristles.

Coll. No. 688, Potentilla biennis

Coll. No. 688, 7 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb (not shrub), to 4 dm, without stolons; Stem some hairs weakly glandular; Leaflets 3; Petals yellow, 1.5 mm; Carpels numerous on a convex receptacle; Styles attached at tip of achene (carpel?), 0.6 mm long, widest at base, bumpy; Achene glabrous.

Coll. No. 690.1, Epilobium ciliatum	Coll. No. 690.1, Epilobium ciliatum

Cottonwood Canyon, Mono County, California. At small spring and miner's cabin 0.6 mi (1 km) south southwest of Sugarloaf. 38.1795°N, 119.0123°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2440 m.

Coll. No. 690.1, 8 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Annual, to 1 dm, glabrous, not tap-rooted; Leaves basal 0, cauline opposite, to 3 cm, 1 cm wide, not reduced above; Ovary inferior; Hypanthium, ±1 mm. (measured from ovary tip^? to sepal base); Sepals 4, 3 mm; Petals 4, white to rose; Stamens 2 × 4 = 8, unequal; Stigma entire.

Monday, July 26, 2010

You may know that eastern California has had a lot of thunder and lightning in the past few days. We had quite a lightning show out here, and about a quarter inch of rain. The National Interagency Fire Center listed this event as being 33 fires of varying sizes.

Well, late Monday afternoon, I looked out the back window, and saw all this smoke billowing up. It was huge. It was also clear that the smoke was being blown to the northeast, i.e., parallel to the house. But it looked pretty close. We decided to go take a look.

The exercise of putting our shoes on became an exercise is gathering whatever stuff we thought we would need for a day or two. A week of pills, a change of clothes, our computers, cameras, etc. As we were driving out the road, the main question to us was whether the fire was on our side of CA Hwy 120 or the other side. But as we got closer to the highway it became apparent the fire was some distance away, about 10 miles away, down by the Mono Crater, Panum Crater and the South Tufa area. We felt a little sheepish, but drove down nearer to the fire, where a nice CHP officer told us that Highway 120 was closed because the fire was about to jump the road.

It’s not like CA Highway 120 is the only route by which we can leave the house. We could leave to the southwest, by way of the dirt Bald Mountain Road. Or, we could go south and then east on another dirt road, past Crooked Meadow, Sentinel Meadow and Dexter Canyon. Or, even closer to home is a small 4WD road that comes out on CA Hwy 120 at Gas Pipe Spring. We actually drove that route one day just after we arrived here, just to make sure which little road to take, and where it comes out to the highway.

Anyway, after having a nice chat with the CHP officer (AAA with guns), we drove back to the house, had dinner and went about our business.

I collected three different plants, and then getting chased back to the house by a rapidly approaching thunderstorm. We have gotten quite a bit of rain the last few days, and this wave of thunderstorms came through. According to the rain gauge, we got about a quarter inch of rain, enough to dampen down the dust. That small amount of rain only soaks into the soil an inch or so, but I imagine it’s enough to benefit the plants somewhat.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Of course, to get to Tioga Pass, the best route is still west on California Highway 120 past the location of the fire. I checked the CalTrans and CHP web sites Tuesday morning and learned that the highway was still closed. One of the lines on the CHP web site was, “

9:15PM They will be keeping the roadway closed all the way out of Benton Crossing because of European tourists running out of gas.

I guess American tourists know not to run out of gas, or residents can fend for themselves or something like that. We decided to call CHP when we got out to the road and see if, as residents, we would be allowed to pass through the fire zone, not to mention we were curious about what the fire zone looked like. Well, CHP thought we could get through, but transferred us to the Mono County Sheriff. They thought we could get through also and said, “Come on down, we’ll let you through.”

At South Tufa, the highway was barricaded. We drove around the barricade since we’d been invited to “come on down.” The Deputy Sheriff we encountered hadn’t heard of our personal invitation, however, and greeted us with flashing lights and a “Whaddya doin’ out here?!?!?!?” Upon explanation, his passenger recognized our name, and suggested to the Deputy that he let us through.

And then it was just kind of interesting to drive slowly through the fire zone. Here and there would be a burning bush (no divine words, however) a smoldering tree, a CalFire, Forest Service, or BLM truck, with guys standing around. We saw a truck marked Stanislaus Hot Shot Team, so I imagine they drove over very early this morning. Basically, I think they were just standing by to see if the afternoon winds came up or not. One thing that was apparent was the fire had not jumped the highway.

Our original objective, which you may remember from the previous page, was a Wildflower Walk hosted by Cathy Rose. Our meeting place was the dam behind which Ellery Lake is found. Right off the Tioga Pass road, the elevation is about 9000 ft, so the zone was maybe low Alpine zone. Southern California Edison, who owns the dam, and the powerhouse below, has installed a catwalk across the spillway for fisherman and wildflower walk access. For the walk we followed a little road, probably left over from construction of the dam and penstock. I have driven by this location many times, but never stopped and crossed the dam, and never knew this little road, or hiking trail, was hidden there. We saw a lot of interesting plants, mountain heathers and other things in the Heath family, 5 species of conifer tree, and a little tiny Astragalus (loco weed) with spines on the tips of its leaflets. As the field trip ended at noon, we went by the post office to collect our mail, and then to the Mobil gas station for lunch. We shared the Chicken Caesar Wrap, half of which was just right for lunch. Then we toured the June Lake Loop, and came home.

It was pretty clear that CA Hwy 120 would be closed, so we came back via some of the dirt back roads. The forest south of Mono Lake has a lot of good dirt roads. Perhaps this is due in part to a large number of small fires, as the roads pass through many burned areas, and other areas where a lot of fuel reduction work has been done. The route was south on US Hwy 395 to Bald Mountain road, east on that road, and then north on Indiana Summit Road back to Highway 120 in Big Sand Flat. From our road, Sagehen Meadows Road, we could look back toward the Mono Craters, and see that the wind was whipping the fire out of control again.

Thursday, July 29th

Finally, after the exhibit opening we went to the Thursday night bluegrass at the Mobil Station. I had the Baby Back Ribs. The bluegrass music was pretty good, and we enjoyed talking with our table mates.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Coll. No. 695, Frasera puberulenta	Coll. No. 695, Frasera puberulenta

Coll. No. 695, 13 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying; Plant short-lived perennial, chlorophyll, without milky sap, dying after flowering, caulescent; Leaves, simple, opposite, linear, sessile, lower clasping, narrow white margin, puberulent, 10 mm wide; Inflorescence open, distal in small cyme; Corolla regular, rotate, lobed to near base, base of sinus between corolla lobes unappendaged; Petals 4, fused at base, 1 prominent nectary pit; Stamens 4, alternate with corolla lobes; Anthers opening longitudinally; Ovary superior, chamber 1; Style 1; Stigma 2-cleft.

Monday, August 1, 2010

Gibbs Trailhead	Upper Horse Meadow	Lower Horse Meadow with Mono Lake beyond.	Lower Horse Meadow with Mono Lake beyond.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

After the wildflower walk we went to the Post Office, got gas, and lunch at the Mobil Station. I had the barbecued baby back ribs, and Cheryl had one of today’ specials, the Black Bean Chicken Tortilla Soup. All very delicious.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Well, they put you in one of those little pods that have sides made out of 24 gauge aluminum, windows out of 1/16” Plexiglas, and no handle of any sort to hang on to. I was figuring that there would be something you could grip hard enough to keep the pod attached to the cable. Nope, the best handle was your seat bottom that was hinged loosely so that bicycles and snow boards could be stowed aboard. This experience is heightened by the realization that there are two sequential cable runs and, at the station in the middle, your little pod is automagically removed from one cable and put on another. The test of whether your little pod is securely attached onto the cable is when you are launched out of the station and into thin air. There is also the featured personal quiet time, in which the cable is stopped when you are at the highest point above solid ground, and allowed to swing in the wind (well, OK, jiggle slightly in a very light breeze), until you begin to babble quietly to yourself. As you might expect, they save the best for last, meaning it’s the last section of cable that is the longest and steepest. I’m not saying I was traumatized by this experience. I am admitting, however, that I chose to carry my lunch back down in my backpack, rather than risk littering the floor of our little pod with it.

We did enjoy our time on top of Mammoth Mountain, though. The view is fantastic, ranging from the Minarets to the west, Long Valley to the east, Mammoth Lakes Basin to the south, and if you squint a little, Mono Lake to the north.

Back at the Mammoth Ski Lodge, we enjoyed our lunch, and watched the kids on the climbing wall. Then it was off to Von’s for another delightful shopping experience, back to the Chevron station to pick up Cheryl’s car, buy some produce at the Farmers Market, and then home again.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Saturday, August 7, 2010

From Wet Meadows we saw some nice views of Dexter Canyon and Glass Mountain. Glass Mountain is probably the largest single volcanic mountain on the rim of the Long Valley caldera. It’s on the northeast wall of the caldera, pretty much opposite of Mammoth Mountain. In this photo, you can see Dexter Canyon Road, as is descends from the foothills of Glass Mountain, and drops down into Taylor Canyon.

In the bottom of Taylor Canyon, where is meets with Dexter Canyon, we came upon a ranch for sale. It has a new 2 bdrm house, 200 acres, and a private trout pond. And … it’s for sale for only $2 million. I got a kick out of the realtor’s sign: the Shoulda-Bin-A-Cowboy Land & Cattle Company. Actually, this house could be our nearest neighbor. Sagehen Meadow is just over the distant ridge on the right. Not unlike a lot of places in rural Mono County, it’s not far, but there is just no good way to get there. It’s seven miles by air, and eighteen miles by road, from this house to the house in Sagehen Meadow.

We also took a little detour over to River Spring Lakes, where I found the Alkali Ivesia (Ivesia kingii), but I didn’t collect it because there are lots of other collections and it’s outside the Mono Lake basin.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Dirt-pile Habitat of Eriogonum baileyi var. baileyi near Sagehen Meadow	Coll. No. 696, Eriogonum baileyi var. baileyi

Coll. No. 696, 13 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying; Annual; Stem glabrous; Leaves basal; Infloresence elongate; Involucres subtended by bracts, sessile, 2 mm, ribbed; Flowers glabrous, 1.5 mm, white to rose.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Coll. No. 699, 13 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying; Perennial terrestrial fern, to 15 cm; Fronds many, mono-morphic, once pinnate, underside glabrous; Pinnae flat (not recurved to cover sori), basal unlobed; Sori on margin of frond.

Coll. No. 700, 13 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying; Perennial herbaceous, erect; Leaves basal, 22-32 mm, elliptic, subglabrous above (glabrous with a few cobwebby hairs); Infloresence in cymose heads, glabrous; Tepals glabrous; Perianth base entire (not jointed).

Coll. No. 701, 13 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying; Perennial subshrub (as opposed to matted, suggesting var. wrightii), to 2 dm; Stems white tomentose; Leaf blade 8-10 mm, petiole bases not forming a ring around stem; Infloresence raceme-like; Involucres 1 per node, 2.5 mm Bracts 3; Tepals uniform in width; Flower stipe 0.

Coll. No. 702, 14 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial terrestrial; Stem round; Leaves cauline, opposite; Calyx segments free; Corolla red, upper lobes not forming a beak or hood, lower lip strongly reflexed, spur 0; Stamens fertile 4, staminode 1, attached at root of corolla tube; Filament base glabrous; Anther sacs not dehiscing full length.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Parking at the Twin Falls, we set out on foot. Twin Falls is a nice place to start, and pretty when seen from the distance, but the view from the top is limited to Twin Lakes below the falls. The lakes are beginning to fill in and become meadows.

From the Twin Falls parking lot we skirted around Lake Mamie, up the hill to Lake George, and than back down around Lake Mary. At Lake Mary, we arrived at the same time as the Fish & Game truck, with a load of trout. These were pretty big fish, maybe 10-12 inches long. But the poor things were completely confused and not sure what to do when dumped in the lake. Heretofore, I’m sure their life experience was in a nice vertical-sided concrete-lined tank, with overhead bins providing the food. Most of the fish tried to hide in the muddy water stirred up by the pipe. Others tried to hide in the rocks at the shore, and had to be chased out into deeper water, evading a gauntlet of hooks, lures, baits, and … well, I guess nets were considered bad sport at this stage of the game. Quite a spectacle! … and I’m probably exposing my bias about fishing …

Wednesday night and Thursday we had visitors. Some years ago, I made acquaintance with Jim through his “Great Basin Bird and Hike” web site. We had visited some of the same places and our web sites overlap geographically. I’m not sure who made first contact. Recently, when Jim finds the little weed I study, Swertia albomarginata, he’ll send me a photo with geographic coordinates, which I put in my data base. Jim and his wife Liz take an annual backpacking trip in Yosemite. Typically, they drive from their house in Las Vegas, and stay in the Sagehen Meadow campground for the night, and then go on to Yosemite the next morning. Writing back and forth, we invited them to stay at the house this year. So it was interesting to meet someone I’ve corresponded with over the Internet. Of course, we had quite a bit in common, given the way we met.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Saturday, August 14, 2010

It’s also a pretty nice and relatively easy hike. You start at the Sawmill Campground and walk along the relatively level old road to the garden, crossing Lee Vining Creek on the way. From the research garden at Timberline Station the trail is more of a “Use Trail” for freeform hiking rather than a formal trail. However, there are lots of ways to go, and a few people around, but the area is not heavily used because it is day-use only, and camping or overnight use is not permitted.

I think the only other trip we’ve taken recently was local. There was one collection of an unusual Penstemon (think snapdragon) made at a location described as an old World War I airfield in one of the sand flats. Asking around locally no one seemed to know where this airfield was. Searching images of the local sand flats on GoogleEarth, I saw something that looked a long linear feature in a sand flat. It’s about 8 miles from the house by back roads and, actually, quite close to US Hwy 395. A little driving around and we found something that looked like an old airfield. We also found a couple of loading ramps, etc. I can’t tell whether this airfield was built for WWI or not, but it seems more likely it was built to support the WW II war effort. How, I can’t tell. Or maybe it was just an old emergency airfield before there were airports at Mammoth Lakes and Lee Vining. We didn’t find the Penstemon, though, but that’s not surprising. We were a little late in the season, and it could have been anywhere around this two-mile long sand flat.

The past few days we have been in Atascadero and San Luis Obispo visiting our parents. We returned to the house last night, the drive being about seven hours through Fresno and Mariposa, then over Tioga Pass. We avoided the Wawona Road because of highway construction and, even though the Mariposa Road is 20 miles longer, it actually takes less time. We stopped for dinner at the Mobil Station, where I had the ribs, and Cheryl had the barbequed chicken sandwich. Today, the weather has turned quite cool and breezy, as apparently there is an upper level low over northern California. Tomorrow, we’re supposed to return to calm, warm, sunny conditions, although, “warm” here means 75°F.

It feels like our time here is winding down. Most of the flowers are finished, except at very high altitudes, or the low-altitude sagebrush-like things that bloom in the fall. Our plan, at the moment, is to return to Alameda on Sept 7th. In a way, I’m looking forward to coming home. In another way, I’m not looking forward to seeing (and cleaning up) the yard after three months of being away. Not to mention, it’s about time for the ginko fruit to start falling. I’ll miss seeing our breakfast and dinner time view of Sagehen Peak out the picture windows.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Coll. No. 705, 15 Nov 2011, characters observed while keyin: Perennial shrub; Stems woody at base, juice latex (?); Leaves entire, lanceolate, twisted > 360°, margin sparsely ciliate; Phyllaries 3 unequal series, tending to be aligned in vertical ranks, not transparent or scarious; Flowers all disc flowers, yellow; Achenes hairy, pappus of hairs/bristles "capillary bristles" (not ornamented).

Wednesday, August 18th

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Along the shore of the largest lake, we saw a gentian. Some of you may know that the little desert plant I study is in the Gentian family. So when I see a gentian in the field I always pay attention. This one is Gentiana newberryi, with a very clever common name of “Newberry’s Gentian.” It about 2 inches tall, and was surrounded by grasses and other plants. This particular spot was the only place we saw this plant.

From the lowest Gaylor Lake we started hiking up toward Upper Gaylor Lake. It was about a half mile on a fairly gentle slope. It did it by boulder hopping up the creek, looking for more gentians in the damp areas. Just when I was about to give up, we found a small patch of Gentianopsis holopetala, the Sierra Gentian. Like the Newberry’s Gentian above, we found only a few of these growing together in a small area. Later, I’ll find small patches of a similar plant, Gentianopsis simplex, at Crooked Meadows and Big Sand Flat.

At Upper Gaylor Lake, we sat on the rock and had a snack. Thinking we would only hike with Cathy for a couple of hours, we didn’t bring a full lunch. The ice field behind Cheryl is on the north side of Gaylor Peak. It’s show on maps as a glacier, but has gotten quite small. Later, though, when we hiked along the lake below the glacier, you could see that the lake had been scooped out below the glacier, and was quite deep right at the shoreline. I think this would be evidence that the ice extended down into the lake, and only recently has retreated up the slope. We hiked a little way around Upper Gaylor Lake to a pass, where we could look down on Tioga Lake and California Highway 120. As many times as I have passed by Tioga Lake, just east of Tioga Pass, on this highway, I have never seen it from this perspective.

From here, we returned to our car. It’s not a bad hike. A little uphill from the lower Gaylor Lake to the ridge, and then quite steep downhill to the trailhead.

By this time we were getting pretty hungry. So we availed ourselves of the Mono Cone back in Lee Vining for a hamburger followed by an ice cream.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Traffic on Sagehen Meadows Road always attracts our attention because there is so little of it. However, imagine our interest when the traffic was three fire trucks, with a backdrop of a plume of smoke.

Close inspection, though, made it clear that the plume of smoke was quite small and a mile or so in the distance. It was also pretty clear that the fire trucks were on the wrong road. To us it looked like the fire was somewhere between Big Sand Flat and Crooked Meadows. We have a quick check of our emergency evacuation supplies, and then re-settled back into what we were doing. After an hour or so the smoke thinned and then stopped appearing, so we assumed that the fire fighters found it and put it out.

Thursday, August 26th

Coll. No. 706, 15 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial woody below; Stems some sharp-pointed, 2nd+ year stems pubesence interrupted by linear glabrescent streaks (Sect. Tetradymia, incl. stenolepis, canescens, and glabrata); Leaves gray tomentose (not green glabrous), not spiny; Phyllaries 4, in one equal series, not scarious or transparent, tips not black; Flowers not ligulate, yellow; Achenes glabrous, with a pappus of bristles.

Coll. No. 707, 15 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb, without stolons; Leaves palmate; Sepals 5, ~= petals; Petals present, 3 mm, 2 mm wide, obovate; Stamens 10-25 (obs: 23); Styles widest in middle, not warty, jointed to fruit, attached below the middle, deciduous; Achenes glabrous.

Coll. No. 708, 16 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial from fibrous roots, generally < 4 dm tall (obs: 37-38 cm); Leaveslanceolate, > 7 x longer than wide (obs: 13 x longer), glabrous, without spinulose tip, basal present at flowering, mid-cauline leaves smaller than below; Peduncles 2-8 cm, non-glandular; Involucre 15 mm, non-glandular; Phyllaries in 3-4 series, graduated, outer < inner, not paper-like (chartaceous), lower margin scarious, elongate green tip 3x width, tip acute; Receptacle naked; Flowers both ray and disc; Rays conspicuous, blue/lavender; Style branches minutely glandular, not tufted hairy; Achenes with a pappus of bristles, whitish.

Coll. No. 709, 16 Nov 2011, Characters observed while keying: Perennial herb to 2 dm; Leaves basal and cauline, basal narrowly elliptic, petiole 2 cm, blade 5 cm, 7mm wide, cauline alternate linear; Phyllaries in 3 series, outer 1/2 x inner 2 series, scarious only on edges, purple tips; Flowers white, rays absent inconspicuous, pistillate and staminate flowers in same head, outer flowers without corollas; Achenes with a pappus of bristles.

Big Sand Flat, Mono County, California. East end, wet area where Dry Creek enters Big Sand Flat. 37.8819°N, 118.8853°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 2401 m.

Coll. No. 711, 18 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb, weak, sprawling; Stem glabrous (without prickles); Leaves 4 in a whorl, short-petioled, elliptic to obovate, thin, glabrous; Infloresence not dense (3-4 flowers); Corolla 3-lobed, yellow (?); Fruit 2 nutlets, smooth, hairiness like herbage (glabrous to few hairs).

Coll. No. 712, 18 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Annual photosynthetic herb, to 8 cm; Stems simple, to 4 cm; Internode 11 mm (compare to peduncle); Leaves cauline, opposite, sessile, simple, elliptic, 12 mm; Peduncle 19 mm (> internode); Infloresence not coiled, single-flowered; Perianth in 2 whorls (sepals and petals present); Flowers single, bisexual; Sepals 4; Corolla 2 cm, distinct tube, not bell shaped; Petals 4, connate (congenitally fused at least at base), 17 mm, blue sinuses between petals not appendaged, lobes serrate; Stamens 4, alternate, filaments fused at base, free upper half; Ovary 1, superior; Pistil 1; Stigma 2-cleft.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Coll. No. 713, 19 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Annual; Stem simple, unbranched; Leaves linear, 20-25 mm; Calyx membrane 0, lobes growing with capsule, becoming papery with age; Corolla white, 6-9 mm;

Coll. No. 714, 20 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb 25-40 cm tall; Leaves cauline, crowded at base and reduced above, appressed hairy below, hairy above; Leaflets 15-23 mm, gray green; Infloresence 4-11 cm, whorls 6-12 (obs: 6,8,9,12); Bracts persistent; Calyx spur absent; Flower 9 mm; Banner back glabrous, patch yellow, banner fading to brown while small spot remains yellow; Keel ciliate distal end.

Redetermined to var. confertus from var. ramosus because of number and density of whorls in infloresence.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Monday, August 30, 2010

Perennial (?); Habitat wet place other than vernal pool; Rooting, tubers, and rhizomes unknown; Stem ascending, glabrous, hollow; Leaves with sheathing bases, once pinnate; Leaflets toothed or serrate; Infloresence in compound umbels; Bracts and bractlets conspicuous; Flowers white; Style short; Fruit lacking bristles, prickles or tubercles.

Coll. No. 718, 20 Nov 2011, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb; Stem erect; Internodes visible; Leaves ±equal in size upward; Infloresence axillary clusters distributed along stem; Calyx 5-lobed, radially symmetrical, lobes and tips equally hairy; Flowers radial, 3 mm; Stamens exserted, fertile 4; Style exserted.

Shrub 1 m; Twigs 30 cm, 2 mm wide at base to 1 mm wide at tip; Leaves (mature primary) 28-35 mm, 5-7 mm wide, (smallest) 12-15 mm, 2 mm wide; Bracts 8-9 mm, 5 mm wide, entire to dentate (not deeply sharp-dentate).

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

We were warned to look out for the sheep herders. Especially, if they tried to graze Sagehen Meadow. Because it’s private property, the sheep herders should ask permission to graze, and the owners said we should tell the sheep herders not to graze the private portion of the meadow. We never saw the sheep herders from the house in Sagehen Meadow. However, one day in mid-July we saw a small stock ramp near Mono Mills, and then a couple of double-decker stock trucks heading up that way. On a hike from the house in late August, we saw an area of devastated sagebrush about a mile east of the house. After looking at it for a while, we decided that the sheep had been there a few days before. So we figured that the sheepherders are pretty good at keeping the sheep out of sight. Then in late August they appeared in the very easternmost portion of Big Sand Flat. The sheepherders kept the sheep in BLM land, and not on Forest land. However, the boundary between the Forest and BLM land is precisely the spot where I collected Astragalus monoensis, the endangered Mono Lake MilkVetch. You can see in the photo what the sheep do. Everything except the sagebrush is eaten, and most of that is trampled.

Overview of Coll. No. 722, Chenopodium leptophyllum

Leaves lower blades < 3.5 mm (actual 2 mm), one-veined from base; Calyx lobes 5, weakly lobed; Seed horizontal.

Rush Creek, Mono County, California. In openings of seasonal wetlands, 2.3 mi. downstream from US Highway 395, and 2.0 mi. upstream from Test Station Road. 37.9211°N, 119.0743°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1969 m.

Buffalo Berry (Shepherdia argentea) growing out of the willows along Rush Creek.	Habitat of Buffalo Berry (Shepherdia argentea) along Rush Creek.	Detail of Coll. No. 723, Shepherdia argentea

Rush Creek, Mono County, California. Among willows between the creek and the sagebrush, 3.2 mi. downstream from US Highway 395, and 1.1 mi. upstream from Test Station Road. 37.9336°N, 119.0678°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1972 m.

Rush Creek, Mono County, California. On the bank of Rush Creek, 3.2 mi. downstream from US Highway 395, and 1.1 mi. upstream from Test Station Road. 37.9333°N, 119.0667°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1975 m. Perennial from fibrous roots and rhizomes.

Coll. No. 724, 1 Sep 2010, Characters observed while keying this collection: Perennial from fibrous roots and rhizomes, not thistle-like; generally > 4 dm tall (observed 3.5-4.5 dm); Stem pubesence uniform and sparse; Leaves basal withered at flowering, altho' formerly larger than cauline leaves, without spinulose tip; Peduncle not glandular; Involucre not glandular; Receptacle naked; Phyllaries in multiple series, could be >3; Outer phyllaries not chartaceous (paper-like) but could have scarious margins to half their length, elongate green area at tip, tip acuminate; Flowers not all ligulate; Ray flowers conspicuous, color violet or purple; Disk flowers style branches not tipped with tufted yellow hairs; Achenes with pappus of hairs.

Originally guessed to be Erigeron philadelphicus, but in Taylor's (2010) key, phyllaries in multiple series leds one away from Erigeron. Then I got lost in Symphyotrichum over the question of what basal leaves "present at flowering" means relative to "withered." This led me into S. lanceolatum. With the help of John Strother, I came to see that even though the basal leaves were withered, they were clearly formerly larger than the cauline leaves. This put me on a different path leading, eventually, to S. Spathulatum.

Characters observed while keying this collection: Monocot; Perianth without petal-like parts, bristles absent; Flowers borne concealed within axils of stramineous (chaff-like or husk-like) bracts; Floral bracts 2-ranked, 5-11-veined (observed: 7), tip recurved; Perigynia absent; Ovary unilocular; Styles 3; Seed widest near top.

September 7, 2010

October 30, 2010