Tom Schweich  

2014

Thursday, March 6th

Slides in PDF format are available here: Flora of the Mono Lake basin.

Friday, March 7th

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Green Mountain, Jefferson County, Colorado. Rooney Valley Trail, west side of Green Mountain. 39.6917°N, 105.176°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1912 m. Small patch beside swale.

Woody perennial to 50 cm., forming dense colonies in moist open swales, [spreading by long sparsely-branched rhizomes,] Twigs without lenticels, minutely hairy when young; Leaves opposite, ovate, to 7 cm. × 5 cm. wide, reduced above, thick, approaching leathery, pinnately veined, upper surface glabrous, lower few short white hairs, margin slightly wavy, slightly rolled under, sparsely curved hairy; Petioles to 7 mm.; Inflorescence axillary (and terminal?); Floral bracts triangular, 3 mm.; Flowers in dense axillary clusters, bisexual, ±radial, possibly slightly bilateral, 2 or more whorls; Corolla fused at base, tube 2 mm., throat with recurved hairs, lobes 5, 2-3 mm, slightly longer than tube, white with magenta mottling; Stamens 5, alternate, exserted; Anthers versatile; Ovary inferior; Pistil 1; Style exserted; Stigma entire; Fruit a berry, green when young, mature color and size unknown (Described from specimen seen on Green Mountain, 2 August 2014).

Sunday, August 10th

Flower of Heterotheca villosa

Tucker Gulch (lower), Jefferson County, Colorado. Common within the city limits of Golden, along the creek of Tucker Gulch and the Tucker Gulch Trail, about 250 m. north of the First Street Bridge, and 350 m. south southwest of Ford Street. 39.7687°N, 105.2283°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1777 m. Common, low-growing subshrub with yellow flowers.

Perennial herb, to 50 cm.; Stem, moderately strigose, proximally eglandular, distally hairy and glandular, but generally hairs exceed glands, Leaves, cauline alternate, well-distributed along stem, 16 mm. × 7 mm. wide, elliptic to obovate, entire, some margins contorted after drying, 1-veined, distal perpendicular to stems, not densely canescent, generally hairs > glands; Inflorescence heads 1-8 per stem, terminating leafy stems, not subtended by leafy bracts; Heads solitary, with both ray and disk flowers; Phyllaries in 2+ series, unequal, to 7 mm.; Rays, 9 mm.; Pappus double, outer narrow scales ≤ 1 mm. (easier to see on mature fruit), inner bristles, 6.5 mm., white; Fruit, disk 3 mm., hairy.

Coll. No. 1056, Berteroa incana

Tucker Gulch (lower), Jefferson County, Colorado. 39.7687°N, 105.2283°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1777 m. Common, white-flowered plant in mowed and unmowed sunny areas all along the trail.

Annual terrestrial herb, to 50 cm.; Leaves, cauline, elliptical, 20 mm. × 5 mm.; Flowers, not bracteate; Petals, 4, white, deeply bilobed; Style, 1.4 mm. in young fruit; Fruit, elliptical, 7 mm. × 4 mm. wide × 2 mm. thick, flattened parallel to papery internal partition.

Monday, August 11th

Wednesday, August 13th

Friday, August 15th

Sunday, August 17th

Southwest face of North Table Mountain

Field Trip Stop 15 — North Table Mountain Rockfall Area — of Noe, et al. (1999) forms in the parking lot of the Hillside Community Church at 103 N. Ford Street.

The rockfall and landslide hazard area around North Table Mountain was mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey during the 1970s (Simpson, 1973a; 1973b). Jefferson County has adopted the mapped hazard area as part of its geologic-hazards overlay, and has considered it to be a “no-build” area. This was challenged in the 1980s by a developer, who staged an actual rock-rolling demonstration on the northwest flank of the mountain in order to prove the fallacy of the outer (distal) hazard-area boundaries. The demonstration was curtailed (and the subdivision application was subsequently denied) after several boulders rolled beyond the outer boundary, but not before one boulder had bounced at least 10 feet (3 m) into the air and knocked a cross-bar off a high-tension power-line tower at the base of the mountain.

The rockfall hazard area, as mapped by the USGS, exists in both unincorporated Jefferson County and the incorporated city of Golden. Unfortunately, protection of the public from the rockfall hazard does appear to stop at the jurisdictional boundary in this case. The houses we see on the hillside above are located within the city of Golden, which has not adopted Simpson’s map. This subdivision was approved and has expanded due the absence of any requirements for home-rule cities to follow the state-mandated, geologic-hazard review process for subdivisions.

Stabilized landslide near CO Hwys 58 and 93.	Magpie Gulch.

Looking to the north and south, we can see the distinctive hogback of the Dakota Sandstone at both ends of the valley. But why is this hogback missing at the valley center? The answer is that the Golden Fault, a large, Laramide thrust fault, weaves along the valley just to the east of the mountain front. Here, the fault has displaced nearly 8,000 feet of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, sedimentary section (Van Horn, 1976). The trace of the fault can be seen as it cuts up the side of the first large alluvial terrace to the south of Clear Creek. There is a distinct break in the vegetation between the Fountain Formation to the west (covered with mountain mahogany shrubs) and the Pierre Shale to the east (covered with grasses).

Looking directly west, we see a road cut for State Highway 93. This portion of the highway was first constructed in 1991. A small landslide formed in the west (opposite) face of the cut shortly thereafter, and the resulting toe bulge closed the southbound lanes of the new highway. Within a year, the landslide had developed a rim of head scarps with up to 12 feet of vertical slippage, and had captured the surface flow of a small stream in Magpie Gulch. Early efforts to drain the landslide were unsuccessful. A full geologic investigation subsequently revealed that the landslide sits directly atop the Golden Fault, with low-permeability Pierre Shale on the eastern side and a wedge of fractured, permeable Fountain Formation on the western side. In 1994, three lines of rock anchors (about 40 anchors in total) were installed across the landslide. The Magpie Gulch stream was piped across the head scarps, longer horizontal drains were installed, and a remote data-logging unit was set up. To date, this mitigative effort appears to have been successful. The combined maintenance and mitigation operations for this incident are reported to have cost about 3 million dollars.

The houses to the north of the landslide were built shortly after the landslide was mitigated and all signs of its existence had been “erased” from view. One can only imagine the concern of these residents had the landslide been active a few years later. This is a good illustration of the often short-term public memory of geologic hazards.

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Waste places, alley between Arapahoe Street and Cheyenne St, north of 5th Street. 36.7611°N, 105.2291°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1759 m. Small colony between fence and pavement.

Coll. No. 1057, 18 Aug 2014: Terrestrial green perennial herb, to 60 cm.; Stem ascending, little branched; Sap milky; Leaves, cauline, alternate, ovate, 7 cm. × 4 cm.; Petioles 10 mm.; Inflorescence, flowers 1-2 in axils; Pedicels to 12 mm.; Perianth in 2+ whorls; Corolla, radial, bell-shaped, regular; Petals united; Ovary inferior; Seeds (unknown).

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Arapahoe Street, between 4th and 5th. 39.7612°N, 105.2285°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1758 m. Occasional weed of landscaped areas.

Coll. No. 1058, 18 Aug 2014: Annual/perennial unknown, probably perennial in 1st year; Culm, lacking short rhizome; Sheath, conspicuous tufts of hairs at proximal end, Ackerfield (2015) says &lqquo;... tufts of hair at the tips ...&rdquo, sparsely hairy at summit (distal end); Leaf, elongate, erect, blade rolled in bud; Panicle, large, 17 cm., open, lower nodes few branches, not appearing whorled, branches spreading at maturity, branches 2-7 cm.; Pedicels 2.0-4.5 mm.; Spikelets, not crowded, 2.8 mm., Glumes 1.5 & 2.5 mm.

Discarded. Pretty much destroyed while looking at arrangement of panicle branches at base of inflorescence.

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. South side of Magpie Gulch east of CO Highway 93. 39.7639°N, 105.2347°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1768 m.

Coll. No. 1059, 28 Aug 2014: Perennial herb, of eastern slope, to 50 cm.; Leaves alternate, to 12 cm. × 2 cm. wide; margin shallowly toothed; Bracts, 15 mm., pinnately toothed, some basal and some clearly arising from the capsule; Petals, 10+, 40 mm. × 7 mm. wide; Stamens many; Filaments broad, narrowing at distal end; Anthers basifixed; Capsule, 30 mm. × 10 mm. diameter, erect, not curved at base, thick cylindric; Calyx (in fruit), lobes 9-12 mm.; Seeds, horizontal in capsule and winged, 3.8 mm. × 2.5 mm. wide, wing width 0.5-0.8 mm.

Typically, M. nuda is described as having “1 or 2 bracts usually at base” of capsule (Harrington, 1954), or “bracts not fused to ovary wall” (Weber & Wittmann, 2012), or “bracts free from capsule” (Ackerfield, 2015). However, this collection clearly has 15 mm. pinnatifid bracts arising from the capsule. Such character would lead to M. decapetala. Regardless, the small size of those bracts, and small size of other characters support placing this in M. nuda rather than M. decapetala.

Andropogon gerardii Vitman. Big Bluestem.

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Transition between high plains and Front Range, 1.8 km northwest of the GNIS location of Golden, on the Nightbird Gulch trail, 290 m. from the trailhead on Canyon Point Circle. 39.7638°N, 105.2392°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1849 m

Coll. No. 1060, 28 Aug 2014, characters observed: Perennial, to 85 cm., clumped, rhizomes unknown; Leaves, blade and sheath differentiated; Sheath, 11 cm., open; Ligule, membraneous (though surrounded by hairs), 3 mm., auricles 0; Blade, soft, flat, 27 cm., hairy near ligule; Inflorescence, 80 mm., > leaves, 1-2 per stem, in 5-6 digitate branches, spikelets many; Rachis, soft bristles on margins and at nodes; Disarticulation at nodes of rachis; Spikelets in pairs, Sterile spikelet, 7 mm., pedicel 4.5 mm.; Fertile spikelet, Florets #1, Glumes, awns 0, ±equal, lower keeled, upper flattened and grooved; Lemma, 6 mm., membraneous, rolled, glabrous, tip 2-forked, awn, #1, 13 mm., bent, twisted, attached on back; Stamens, 3; Anthers, yellow; Ovary, glabrous; Stigma, feathery.

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Illinois Street at alley between 4th and 5th Streets. 39.7602°N, 105.2308°W. WGS 1984 Elev. 1763 m.

Collection No. 1063, 17 September 2014, characters observed: Perennial shrub, woody at base, to 1 m., sprawling to erect; Stem covered with felt-like tomentum (long hairs infiltrated with resin, must scrape with knife to expose); Leaves, alternate, lance-linear, 70 mm. × 3 mm., not twisted in the manner of some related species, upper surface tomentose, margin entire; Heads discoid (with only disk flowers), cymose at ends of branches, narrowly tubular; Involucre 8 mm., not spiny; Phyllaries in 3 vertical ranks, outer << inner, keeled, some with few short hairs; Receptacles not chaffy, but have some short (<0.5 mm.) appendages between flowers; Flowers #5; Corolla tube (i.e., petals united at base) 7.5 mm. + lobes #5, 1 mm., glabrous throughout; Ovary inferior; Pappus of bristles, 6-7 mm., white; Stamens 5; Anthers connate (united), 2 mm., acute at base; Style 11 mm., branches half-round in cross-section, stigmatic 1 mm. + appendage 2 mm., glabrous inside, uniformly short hairy on outside, tips rounded; cypselae, all similar in shape, 5 mm., short hairy;

Not known from California. In Ackerfield (2012), Asteraceae, Key 2, 15a-b, a question of how tomentose the stems and leaves are made keying tricky.

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Waste place at 4th and Illinois Streets, against the school yard fence. 39.7607°N, 105.2312°W. WGS 1984. Elev. 1773 m.

Collection No. 1063, 17 September 2014, characters observed: Perennial shrub, woody at base, to 1 m., sprawling to erect; Stem covered with felt-like tomentum (long hairs infiltrated with resin, must scrape with knife to expose); Leaves, alternate, lance-linear, 70 mm. × 3 mm., not twisted in the manner of some related species, upper surface tomentose, margin entire; Heads discoid (with only disk flowers), cymose at ends of branches, narrowly tubular; Involucre 8 mm., not spiny; Phyllaries in 3 vertical ranks, outer << inner, keeled, some with few short hairs; Receptacles not chaffy, but have some short (<0.5 mm.) appendages between flowers; Flowers #5; Corolla tube (i.e., petals united at base) 7.5 mm. + lobes #5, 1 mm., glabrous throughout; Ovary inferior; Pappus of bristles, 6-7 mm., white; Stamens 5; Anthers connate (united), 2 mm., acute at base; Style 11 mm., branches half-round in cross-section, stigmatic 1 mm. + appendage 2 mm., glabrous inside, uniformly short hairy on outside, tips rounded; cypselae, all similar in shape, 5 mm., short hairy;

Not known from California. In Ackerfield (2012), Asteraceae, Key 2, 15a-b, a question of how tomentose the stems and leaves are made keying tricky.

Sunday, 21 September

View north from the headquarters.	View south into South Park.	Turning aspens near Kenosha Pass.

Tuesday, 23 September

Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado	Sprague Lake	Bear Lake	Moraine Park

Wednesday, 24 September

Alluvial fan at mouth of Roaring River	Horseshoe Park seen from Many Parks Curve overlook	Phlox pulvinata at Forest Canyon Overlook	Something Rosaceous at Forest Canyon Overlook	Landscape at 12,000 ft in the Rocky Mountains
Terra Tomah Mountain across Forest Canyon	Forest Canyon Pass from Gore Range Overlook	Bowen-Baker Trailhead	View north from Berthoud Pass

Blepharoneuron tricholepis (Torr.) Nash. Pine Dropseed.

Unknown, Douglas County, Colorado. Lower montane ponderosa pine, gravely soil derived from Pikes Peak granite.

Coll. No. 1065, 18 Sep 2014, characters observed: Perennial bunchgrass to 35 cm.; Sheath open; Ligule membraneous; Inflorescence 1-2, loose panicle, 15 cm. long × 1.5 cm. wide, >leaves; Axis scabrous; Spikelets, many, similar, >2 per node, 1-flowered, 2 mm.; Florets, 1 per spikelet, bisexual; Glumes, lower 2.0 mm., upper 2.5 mm., awns 0; Lemma, 2.5 mm., keeled, veins 3, densely hairy, awns 0; Palea, <lemma, keel hairy, margin glabrous.

Friday, 3 October

Mouth of Golden Gate Canyon, source of Tucker Gulch.	City of Golden, North Table Mountain Trailhead

Monday, October 6th

Coll. No. 1066, Colutea arborescens	Location of Coll. No. 1066, Colutea arborescens, mature plants alongside trail.	Coll. No. 1066, Colutea arborescens, mature plants alongside trail.	Cressmans Gulch Trail, northbound.	Coll. No. 1066, Colutea arborescens

Cressmans Gulch (lower), Jefferson County, Colorado. Many plants in and around the surge basin north of Wyoming Street at Ridge Road. 39.7753°N, 105.2303°W. Elev. 1810 m. Upright shrub with yellow flowers and large reddish seed pods.

Collection No. 1066, 6 October 2014, characters observed: Perennial shrub, to 2 m., woody below; Stem erect, unarmed; Leaves compound, odd-pinnate (with terminal leaflet); Leaflets, 11, 16 mm. × 12 mm. wide, notched at tip, glabrous above, sparsely appressed hairy below; Inflorescence a raceme, axillary, 9± flowers; Calyx, 5-merous, 5 mm. × 6 mm. dia., appressed hairy; Flowers, 19 mm., yellow, with dark markings; Banner, 10 mm.; Wings, 10 mm. × 4 mm., reduced in comparison to Lupinus; Keel, fully enclosing stamens and pistil, glabrous; Stamens, 10; Filaments, 9 fused, 1 free; Style, recurved; Fruit, inflated, bladder-like, 50 mm. × 22 mm., walls papery, color reddish fading to brown, base stalk-like; Seeds, reniform, flattened, 6 mm. × 4 mm. × 2 mm., brown, surface smooth; native to southern Europe.

Weber & Wittmann (2012) note “… introduced about 1913 around houses in Sunshine Canyon northwest of Boulder, now spreading and becoming estabished in the foothill canyons …”

Wednesday, 8 October

Trailhead Art, Golden Cliffs Trail	Bench on the Golden Cliffs Trail	Along the Golden Cliffs Trail	Northern Flicker along Golden Cliffs Trail	Break in rim.
Golden from south rim of North Table Mountain	North Golden seen from North Table Mountain	Radio facility on North Table Mountain	Lichen Peak on North Table Mountain	Sea Cliffs climbing area in old quary on North Table Mountain
Junction of Golden Cliffs Trail with North Table Loop Trail	Intersection of Iowa Drive with Colorado Highway 93	Intersection of Washington Avenue with Colorado Highway 93	View down the southwest face of North Table Mountain	US Bureau of Reclamation bench mark
Paronychia jamesii as seen on top of North Table Mountain	Project BudBurst Monitoring Plot	Mountain Bluebird family on North Table Mountain	Climber on Golden Cliffs.	Switchback to rim of North Table Mountain

Coll. No. 1067, Artemisia frigida	Coll. No. 1067, Artemisia frigida

North Table Mountain, Jefferson County, Colorado. Near the south rim. 39.7753°N, 105.2303°W. Elev. 1950 m. Rocky slope with little soil development near rim of mesa, growing with Brickellia californica(?).

Coll. No. 1067, 8 Oct 2014, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb, to 30 cm., woody at base; Stems many; Leaves alternate, 9 mm., pinnately dissected into 7 parts, silvery hairy; Inflorescence raceme-like, indeterminate, heads 1-3 in axils; Heads have only disk flowers, all alike; Involucre of hairy phyllaries; Phyllaries in 2 series, hairy, not gummy or with tips recurved; Receptacle hairy, not chaffy or bristly; Flowers fertile; Pappus absent; growing with Brickellia californica(?).

North Table Mountain, Jefferson County, Colorado. Near the south rim. 39.7687°N, 105.2156°W. Elev. 1950 m. Rocky slope with little soil development near rim of mesa.

Coll. No. 1068, 8 Oct 2014, characters observed while keying: Perennial herb, to 40 cm., woody at base; Leaves opposite below, alternate above, 50 mm. × 22 mm., ovate, pinnately divided; Inflorescence indeterminate, appearing raceme-like, 2 kinds of flowers, pistillate heads many, distal, carpellate heads few, clustered in distal leafy axils; Phyllaries fused into a cup; Receptacle not chaffy; Pappus absent.

Wednesday, October 15th

Castle Rock from Lubahn Trail trailhead	Memorial Plaque for Jack D. Lubahn	Fluvial deposits of the Denver Formation.	19th Street from rim of South Table Mountain	Golden Cliffs Trail on south face of North Table Mountain
Central Golden as seen from Castle Rock	Mouth of Clear Creek Canyon	Magpie Gulch	Nightbird Gulch	Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) on South Table Mountain.
Lookout Mountain	Hikers on Castle Rock

Pistillate flower of Ambrosia psilostachya

South Table Mountain, Jefferson County, Colorado. West side of South Table Mountain, along south loop of Lubahn Trail. 39.7523°N, 105.2081°W. Elev. 1835 m. Good example of carpellate flowers.

Friday October 24th.

Heritage Dells Park on Kinny Run

Saturday, 25 October

Location of interpretive plaque for White Ash Mine.

Thursday, October 30th

North Golden from lower Chimney Gulch Trail	Outcrop of sedimentary rock in Chimney Gulch	Chimney Gulch Trail	Lookout Mountain Road crosses Chimney Gulch	Chimney Gulch Trail just above Lookout Mountain Road.
Climbing in Chimney Gulch	Juniperus scopulorum Sarg. (Rocky Mountain Juniper) in Chimney Gulch	Lower bridge in Chimney Gulch	Climbing in Chimney Gulch	Near the top of Chimney Gulch
Advice for motorists: Look Again For Bikes	Clear Creek Canyon as seen from Windy Saddle	The entire top of South Table Mountain as seen from Windy Saddle	Two Colorado noxious weeds growing together at Windy Saddle

Saturday, November 1st

National Landmark marker for Morrison-Golden fossil beds	Log imprints and dinosaur tracks in the Laramie Formation	Interpretive panel at Stop #2	Lubahn Trail as seen from Mines.

Sunday, November 9th

Mountains northwest of Panorama Point	Rock column along Gap Road	Sundance Caf e.	Mountains near Nederland

Saturday, November 22nd

Wednesday, November 26th

North Table Mountain from the Magpie Gulch Trail	Cheyenne St. at 3rd St.	Cheyenne St. at 4th St.

Saturday, November 29th

Cabin in the near-ghost town of Apex.	Cabin in the near-ghost town of Apex.	Meadow along Gap Road.

Monday, December 7th

Path between Arapahoe Street and N. Rubey Drive.	South entrance to White Ash Mine Park	CO Hwy 93 from Canyon Tank.	The hogbacks return in northernmost Golden.

Thursday, December 11th

Golden as seen from the rim of South Table Mountain	Lookout View trail climbing from 4-way junction.	Looking across Golden to Mount Zion	Looking east toward the rim of South Table Mountain	Looking north to the rim of South Table Mountain
The “G” as seen from the trailhead on Lookout View Court.

Monday, December 15th

Saturday, December 20th

Golden Christmas parade	Welcome Arch decorated for Christmas

Sunday, December 21st

Deer in Nightbird Gulch off 4th Street.	Salix alba in Tucker Gulch	Salix alba in Tucker Gulch	Trace of tramway above Deer Springs Lane	Colutea arborescens in winter
Trace of tramway above Deer Springs Lane	Wyoming Street from North Table Mountain