Field Trip, Outings, & Events Reports – July, 2025

Bull Point July 6, 2025
Ann Elliott

Delynne Cullen led her inaugural field trip for CNPS Marin. A wonderful photographer and active poster to the Marin Native Plants Facebook group, she knows her plants and where to find them.

We explored the damp meadows flowing into Creamery Bay of Drakes Estero in Point Reyes National Seashore. This is the first summer with no cattle grazing in the area, so we found ourselves bushwhacking through tall grasses and sedges in search of blooms. The candy flower (Claytonia sibirica) and rare marsh or swamp harebells (Eastwoodiella californica) thrived, climbing and draping over the other tall plants. Yellow-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium californicum) flowering had peaked earlier; we saw a few remaining blossoms and many seed heads. Searching near stands of CA wax myrtle (Morella californica) we found white bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata) and one coast lily (Lilium maritimum).  Point Reyes checker bloom (Sidalcea calycosa ssp. rhizomata) – the perennial subspecies, rare and known only from a few swampy areas of the coastline were attractive pink splotches here and there. The coastal large-leafed plantain (Plantago subnuda) amazed everyone with its showy seed heads. Fringed willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum ssp. watsonii) was a common spot of color throughout the wetland.

Continuing down the trail toward the point we found patches of large-flowered linanthus (Leptosiphon grandoflora) struggling in the tall un-grazed grass. Here we found the entirely yellow-rayed version of tidy tips (Layia platyglossa). We loved watching the yellow-face bumble bees feeding on the brownie thistles (Cirsium quercetorum). One last foray off the trail yielded swaths of long-rayed brodiaea or marsh triteleia (Triteleia peduncularis).

Chicken Ranch Beach Wetland July 13, 2025

Ann Elliott

Tom Gaman, president of Tomales Bay Foundation, described the Chicken Ranch Beach Wetland Restoration Project. The project will restore natural processes so that water flowing through Chicken Ranch Beach, a Marin County Park in Inverness, to Tomales Bay will be cleaner. Invasive acacia trees and other non-native plants will be removed from about one acre and the land will be contoured in an s shape to slow water flow. The berm behind the beach will be raised to help protect the newly restored freshwater wetland from the effects of sea level rise. After years of planning and permitting, work starts in mid-August following bird-nesting season.

We also explored the adjacent saltmarsh at Chicken Ranch Beach. The delicate flowers of sea lavender (Limonium californicum) popped above the mat of pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica), pink-flowering alkali heath (Frankenia salina), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), and yellow-flowering Jaumea carnosa. Bright yellow showy gumplant (Grindelia stricta) flowers fringed the edges and hundreds of rare Pt. Reyes bird’s beak plants (Chloropyron maritimum) were just beginning to bloom amongst the other plants.

Taking advantage of a minus tide, the group proceeded north on the rocky intertidal toward Shell Beach in Tomales Bay State Park. The cliffs host a wonderful collection of West Marin trees and shrubs, including: CA bay trees (Umbellaria californica), blooming ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor), red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), and Bishop pine (Pinus muricata).

We were treated to blooming succulents Dudley farinosa, Sedum spathulifolium, and purple sand spurry (Spergularia rubra). On the rocks and bay lands we identified rockweed (Fucus distichus) and the fascinating orange crumb-of-bread sponge.

After our two-hour exploration, we quickly returned to Chicken Ranch Beach by car shuttle or back along the intertidal. Many attendees expressed pleasure on the introduction to this lovely stretch of Tomales Bay.

Stacey Pogorzelski

We attacked those thistles, pennyroyal, and Himalayan blackberry. Such a feeling of accomplishment! More workdays are planned, so keep your eyes on our events page.

Redwood Forest Summer Stroll in Samuel P. Taylor State Park – redirect to Roy’s Redwoods July 25, 2025

Kurt Rademacher
I was pleased to be able to jump in at the last minute and substitute for Stacey.
As it turned out, the Pioneer Trail is currently closed for renovation and building of a boardwalk. As the other trails at S.P. Taylor are either paralleling the creek and noisy highway, or largely on asphalt, or climb quite high up through sunny grasslands on Barnabe Mtn. and Devils Gulch, I suggested we shift over to Roy’s Redwoods for a hike of similar length and elevation gain. While at SP Taylor we talked redwood a bit, Taylor’s old paper mill history, to give any late comers a chance to join us. The rangers waived fees and agreed to direct any late-late comers to meet us at Roy’s Redwoods.

At Roy’s Redwoods we followed a loop on the wonderfully renovated trails up circling the Roy’s Creek main drainage, and crisscrossing to include the giant fairy ring trees. People enjoyed both the plant identifications and the redwood ecology topics.