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IN THE FIELD: Corte Madera Mountain

By Tom Oberbauer

Back in January of 1978, I hiked up onto Corte Madera Mountain with a friend, Tom Scott (now with UC Berkeley and UC Riverside), who had been studying Golden Eagles in San Diego County. Bald Eagles were wintering at Corte Madera Lake. After postponing the hike due to rain, that was a good rain season, we drove out to Corte Madera Lake, which was accessible because Tom Scott had a key, and we hiked up the north side of Corte Madera Mountain on a little used trail. The trail climbed through a woodland of mostly coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), but also Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), as well as Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi). It was foggy going up and the view was obscured.

IN THE FIELD: Corte Madera Mountain
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In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail

By Jürgen Schrenk

Recently, the new Santa Fe Valley Trail, connecting the San Dieguito River Park’s Del Dios Gorge Trail with the Lusardi Creek Preserve, was opened to the public. The beginning of the trail took us through fields of Menzies’ Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii var. menziesii).

In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail
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The Desert a Month after Monsoonal Rains

By Jürgen Schrenk

After yet another week of waiting for the temps to go down watching our Monarch production and limiting our walks to local parks, I was worried that I might completely miss the monsoonal “spring” in the desert. So, I went on a quick drive along S-2

The Desert a Month after Monsoonal Rains
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CNPS-SD Helps With Rare Plant Surveys

By Justin Daniel, Vice President, Rare Plants Co-chair

With vaccinations allowing more contact outdoors and a workload a year behind, it's been a busy time a few of us to help some of our fantastic environmental conservancy organizations around San Diego County by assisting them in their rare plant surveys. The following are glimpses into some of the recent surveys. Come along for the ride and reach out to support our partners, too!

CNPS-SD Helps With Rare Plant Surveys
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The Mount Laguna Surprise

By Tom Oberbauer

…The next week, I drove up and hiked to the location I visited in December and sure enough, the display of Platystemon californica (above) was pretty amazing. Sheets of color extended across the slopes leading into the center of the meadow. I spent some time attempting to photograph and create video of the breeze gently shaking the small flowers. From this location, the view of the meadow ranges across its full length, extending more than three miles in the distance to the south. Laguna Lake also contained a good level of water reflecting the blue sky, apparently left over from the previous two good rainfall seasons. I attempted to capture the view of the flowers with the lake and end of the meadow in the distance. The breeze and the movement of the flowers in this manner always reminds me of when I was a child and my family visited Estes Park in Colorado and we observed alpine wildflowers…

The Mount Laguna Surprise

Restoration Update

Last week we continued to remove mustard at Lusardi Creek.

Below is a photograph of one of our most invasive and persistent pests at Lusardi Creek, perennial Carnation spurge (Euphorbia terracina).  It was taken last month.  As can be seen, some of these plants were already flowering.  We haven't been able to take care of it this year as the road has been too muddy to drive on.  We should get to it soon.

Euphorbia terracina. Photo by Robert Byrnes

We won't perform any restoration this week due to untimely commitments and to what is forecast to be a strong midweek storm.  Look for more time next week.

--Robert Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

CNPS-San Diego

Restoration Update

Last week:  We coninued removal of Black mustard (Brassica nigra) and Tamarisk species at Lusardi Creek.

Below is a photo of flowering Calfornia adolphia (Adophia californica) at Lusardi Creek.  California adolphia is a CNPS rare species and is seriously threatened.  There are a number scattered throughout the creek area. 

Adophia californica Photo credit: Arne Johanson.

Next week Arne and I have every day, Monday through Saturday with the exception of Wednesday, available to work with Committee members.  Email me if you want to come.

--Robert Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

CNPS-San Diego

Restoration Update

Asterella palmeri. Photo by Arne Johanson

Last week, we did not work because of bad weather.  Instead, we surveyed a couple of our work areas.  At the Del Dios property owned by the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy, we found considerably fewer invasive Fountain grass (Pennesetum setaceum) than when we first visited the site two years ago.  At right is a closeup photo of a tiny native Liverwort, Palmer's asterella (Asterella palmeri) that we observed there.

We looked for invasive plants at Lusardi Creek to the west of Camino del Sur.  While we were there, we found native Cholla, an unidentified member of the Cylindropuntia genus (attached photo).  It was planted some time ago by volunteers working under Mike Kelly with the Friends of Los Penasquitos Canyon Reserve  in hope of luring protected Cactus wren to nest.  The wrens haven't appeared as yet, though some are nesting at Lake Hodges not terribly far away. 

Cylindropuntia. Photo by Arne Johanson

This week Arne and I have every day Monday through Saturday to work with Committee members.  Arne can lead afterrnoons as well as mornings.  There is a chance of rain in forecasts for Tuesday and Wednesday, so those days are uncertain.  Email me to sign up.

Robert Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

CNPS-San Diego

Restoration Update

We continued removal of Black mustard (Brassica nigra) at Lusardi Creek.

Lupinus succulentus Photo by Bob Byrnes

At right is a photograph of an Arroyo lupine (Lupinus succulentus).  We saw a group of them at one location alongside a path for the first time, no doubt making an appearance as a result of the wet winter. 

Not far away was a honeycomb in a dormant bees nest at the base of a dead pepper tree that we pass often (below).  You can see just one solitary bee on the upper left part of the comb.  We are surprised as this nest is always accompanied by bees flying in and out, too many to allow getting this close.

Photo by Bob Byrnes

This week we'll be doing restoration Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.  Email me if you can help.

--Bob Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

Restoration Update

Photo by R. Byrnes

Last week we focused on removing invasive Black mustard (Brassica nigra) at Lusardi Creek.  We got an early start on it this year.  Mustard is widespread at Lusardi and we've been dealing with it for a couple of years, since we first became alarmed over how thickly it was growing.  Though mustard seems to be advancing into new areas, other areas are finally showing a decrease in density.  We also continue to hope that over the long term the spread of taller perennial natives will shade out the mustard, which is an annual and is short when it starts its yearly cycle of growth.

The photo above is of one young native, California sagebrush (Artemisia californica).  The heavy rain we've had this winter seems to be favoring such recruits.

This week I have Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to work with Committee members.  Email me if you can help.

Robert Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

CNPS-San Diego

Restoration update week of January 30

We continued to remove Black mustard (Brassica nigra) at Lusardi Creek.  We and other chapter members helped at the CNPS-SD booth at the Land Acknowledgement Celebration Event held at City College on Tuesday, and at the Love/Save Your Wetlands Day at the Kendall Marsh Preserve on Mission Bay on Saturday. This was a big event, with nature lovers present in great abundance.  All of us became hoarse from talking loud enough to be heard.

CNPS-SD Booth at Love Your Wetlands Day. Photo by Sherry Ashbaugh

If you visit the San Diego Audubon Society Facebook page, you will see me in the background of one of the photos posted for the Land Celebration.

This week we will work on restoration Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  We think it will be too late to sow native seed, but we will continue to collect seed of Black sage (Salvia mellifera) and California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) and possibly other species for next season.  Email me if you can help.

--Robert Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

Restoration Update Week of January 16

We continued sowing native seed at Lusardi Creek.  We began one of usual springtime activities, that is, removing Black mustard (Brassica nigra).  We had to wear rubber boots or hip waders to get through serious mud and high water.

One of the largest catch basins at Lusardi Creek contains more water than it has ever contained.  While this undoubtedly reduced downstream scouring of creek banks, it will undoubtedly cause severe dieoff of the natives that have been growing in the basin during recent dry years.  On the other hand, we expect the invasive Salt bush (Atriplex semibaccata) sharing the the basin floor may also die.  We'll survey in the summer after the water evaporates.

Bob Byrnes

Co-chair

Habitat Restoration Committee

CNPS-San Diego  

Quick Restoration Update

Last week (January 9),  at the Arjons vernal pool site, we pulled up Cistus, a non-native escapee from gardens.  Aside from these rapidly disappearing invasive plants, all workers agreed that the site is amazing.  Fairy shrimp have appeared in the pools.  Plants of the chaparral, many of which are not commonly seen in urbanized San Diego, abound in the surrounding slightly higher and drier ground. 

We also collected and sowed a goodly amount of native seed at Lusardi Creek.  The rainfall is above average for the season and has replenished soil moisture needed for germination after years of dryness.  As a consequence we expect the area we have restored will expand considerably in extent.  Also last week we saw a white tailed kite, an apex predator bird, for the first time.  This is a sign of improving ecological vigor in an area that was once heavily degraded.

—Bob Byrnes

CONSERVATION - Silphium, White Sage, and Burning

By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants Chair

Over the years, I’ve occasionally written about silphium. Here I’m not talking about the genus Silphium, which are gorgeous and rare tall prairie plants that I remember fondly from Wisconsin. Instead, I’m talking about an extinct fennel relative that grew in ancient Cyrenaica until it disappeared during the reign of Nero. For 1,500 years or more before that, it had been popular in food, as perfume, and also as an herbal contraceptive.

Viejas Mtn. Acanthomintha ilicifolia Search in May 2021

By Tom Oberbauer

Back when I was a student at San Diego State University working on my Bachelors and then Masters degrees in science, I spent a lot of time at the library. Keep in mind that the internet was not even a glimmer in anyone’s eye at that time. If the document you were searching for was not in the library, you had to search down some other library and ask for a loan or visit that library. The journals and other periodicals and books were the only sources for information that were readily available. However, keeping one’s nose to the grindstone could not be done all the time, so occasionally, I would explore books to find photographs of birds and plants.

Overlooked Plants for the Native Garden - Native Plants Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Fertilizer!

By Lee Gordon Native Garden Committee

This is part of a short series on some of our local native plants that are superb for our native gardens, but which are largely overlooked.

One of my favorite places to walk is along the ridge leading to the Ramona Overlook in southeast Poway. This is a lesser-traveled fork of the Iron Mountain Trail, and it traverses some of the most beautiful chaparral you will ever see. It is what I wish my garden could look like. The plants here are diverse, robust, floriferous, and perfectly spaced. And nobody fertilizes them. Obviously, these plants need nutrients just like any other plant, but they get what they need from the native soil. This is the underlying point when we hear that native plants don’t need fertilizer, and it is certainly true.

IN THE FIELD: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in the Caliente Wilderness Study Area

By Tom Oberbauer

The Caliente Wilderness Study Area appears as an L shape on its back, appearing like a leftover piece of land among a Tribal Reservation, a State Park, Bureau of Land Management land and other forest service lands. It is located north of Warner Springs, west of the Los Coyotes Reservation, south of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and east of the forest service lands near Indian Flats. It appears to be uninspiring when examining it on a map; however, it contains a mountainous series of ridges and valleys that range between 4,000 feet and 5,000 feet. It supports one other very important feature: a significant and isolated stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Overlooked Native Plants for the Garden - Perennial Wildflowers in Native Gardens, Part 1

By Lee Gordon Native Garden Committee

This is part of a short series on some of our local native plants that are superb for our native gardens, but which are largely overlooked.

Perennial wildflowers are great for their colorful seasonal displays. In the wild, they grow, bloom with a splash, make seeds, then disappear. Once established, and with irrigation, they bloom more reliably than annual wildflowers. Our prominent designers build their native gardens with roughly 70% foundational evergreen plants, and they tuck perennials into smaller spaces and along the border. This makes for a tidier garden, but it misses what perennials have to offer. Perennials like to show off, and I like to give them some room so they can strut their stuff!

CONSERVATION - Oaks and Humans

By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants Chair

Happy Earth Month! Originally, I was planning a thousand-word diatribe on how global civilization isn’t taking climate change seriously enough yet. That’s certainly true for everyone who wants us to travel without worrying about our emissions.

Fortunately for all of us, I got a request in parallel with efforts by the Global Consortium for the Conservation of Oaks (GCCO). This is part of an effort to protect rare oaks, yes, globally, put on by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Morton Arboretum. In 2020 they released a global Red List for Oaks that is available at https://mortonarb.org/app/uploads/2021/05/RedListOaks2020.pdf, and now they’re trying to do something about it. Thanks to a couple of CNPSers who saw the initial invite, I got hooked into this.

OAKS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY - Part 2: White Oaks, Laying the Groundwork

By Fred M. Roberts, CNPS-SD Rare Plant Botanist

In Oaks of San Diego County, part 1 (February 2022), I covered oaks in general and in more detail, the red and golden oaks. The white oaks are a bit more challenging. I thought I might add more history into the mix. If you step back in time early in the last century, say 1927, the choice of white oaks in San Diego County and books to identify them were a good deal more limited than they are today.

How We Can Reverse Habitat Loss

By Christine Hoey, Co-chair Native Garden Committee

We can mitigate habitat loss by restoring pieces of nature in our urban landscapes to create “waystations” for wildlife. According to entomologist and author Doug Tallamy, “If half of American lawns were replaced with native plants, we would create the equivalent of a 20-million-acre national park, nine times bigger than Yellowstone, or 100 times bigger than Shenandoah National Park.”

Going Wild with Natives: 30x30 – Supporting Health & Biodiversity

By Susan Lewitt

In the distant past, the earth was brimming with countless species in diverse habitats, including lush forests, sparkling grasslands, and waterways teeming with life. Later, a new species evolved, one that was a bit more inventive and adaptable than most others. This species started making changes that would help it survive, flourish beyond measure, increase beyond necessity, and put many other life forms in peril. This species, of course, was us.

Overlooked Native Plants for the Native Garden: Ribes speciosum – Fuchsia flowered gooseberry

By Lee Gordon Native Garden Committee

This is part of a short series on some of our local native plants that are superb for our native gardens, but that are largely overlooked.

About a decade ago, my youngest daughter and I were exploring the chaparral on the hill above my house, and we came upon a small clearing. There stood two majestic fuchsia flowered gooseberries, in all their glory. These gooseberries made the clearing so beautiful, we have called it the secret garden ever since.