Earth Day at Leiss Ranch
On this MALT-sponsored field trip for Earth Day, April 22, 2017 a large group led by several botanists, including Doreen Smith and Phyllis Faber from Marin CNPS and Michelle Cooper from MALT, enjoyed a fine Spring day at this working ranch at the North-East corner of Marin. Before exploring the ranch, Michelle explained about the conservation efforts that MALT has funded to benefit the native plants on the ranch. We were then treated to a wonderful display including Sidalcea malviflora ssp. laciniata (checker-bloom), Platystemon californicus (creamcups), Trifolium willdenovii (tomcat clover), Castilleja densiflora var. densiflora (pink owl’s-clover), Phacelia distans (distant phacelia), Allium falcifolium (pink sickle-leaved onion), Delphinium variegatum (royal larkspur), Mimulus sp. (yellow annual monkeyflower), Lupinus nanus (sky lupine), Lupinus bicolor (miniature lupine), Triphysaria versicolor ssp. faucibarbata (yellow-beak owl’s-clover), Triphysaria eriantha ssp. eriantha (purple-beak owl’s-clover), Layia chrysanthemoides (smooth tidytips), and Minuartia douglasii (serpentine sandwort). This turned out to be a banner year for Spring native plants at Leiss Ranch.
Photos by Vernon and Doreen Smith
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