Reservoir Hill 3/3/20205
Stacey Pogorzelski led the first of her Reservoir Hill field trip series, exploring a local neighborhood favorite spot for wildflowers and other native trees and plants. Among the early blooming plants were milkmaids and madrone trees.
Field trips on Ring Mountain and in Lower Steep Ravine were rained out.
Southern Slopes of Mt. Tamalpais 3/19/2025
Paul Barnett
CNPS hikers crossed mixed woodlands, chaparral, and serpentine terrains on the southern slopes of Mt. Tamalpais on Wednesday, March 19. Kurt Rademacher and Ann Elliott were our able and engaging leaders. Our hike left Bootjack Picnic area headed east on the Matt Davis Trail, where we were able to compare Eastwood, hoary, Mt. Tamalpais, and glossy-leaved manzanitas. Blue-flowered delights ranged from a stand of 50 western fairy slippers (Calypso bulbosa occidentalis) to four types of ceanothus: Jepson’s musk brush, buck brush, Jimbrush, and wavy-leaved ceanothus. A lesson in the identification of early Apiaceae was possible because of simultaneous blooming of laceleaf sanicle, Kellog’s umbrellawort, and hairy hog fennel (Lomatium dasycarpum). We delighted in paintbrush and death camas peeking through the chaparral. After lunch in the picnic area in front of the West Point Inn, we returned via the Old Stage Fire Road, past serpentine endemics: Sergeant’s Cypress, leather oak, and musk brush. An illustrated list of many of the species that were seen can be found on iNaturalist at: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2025-03-19&subview=grid&user_id=paulgbarnett
Calypso bulbosa occidentalis
Calypso bulbosa occidentalis Photo by Ann Elliott
Fritillaria affinis
Fritillaria affinis – checker lily Photo by Ann Elliott
Ceanothus jepsonii
Ceanothus jepsonii – musk brush Photo by Ann Elliott
Lomatium dasycarpum
Lomatium dasycarpum – hairy hog fennel Photo by Ann Elliott
Sanicula laciniata
Sanicula laciniata – ladeleaf sanicle Photo by Ann Elliott
Ceanothus cuneatus
Ceanothus cuneatus – buck brush Photo by Ann Elliott
Castilleja foliosa
Castilleja foliosa – wooly paintbrush Photo by Ann Elliott
Ceanothus foliosus
Ceanothus foliosus – wavy leaf ceanothus Photo by Ann Elliott
Arctostaphylos sensitiva
Arctostaphylos sensitiva – glossyleaf manzanita
Chrysolepis chrysophylla
Chrysolepis chrysophylla – golden chinquapin Photo by Ann Elliott
View from Nora Trail
View from Nora Trail Photo by Ann Elliott
Hesperocyparis sargentii
Hesperocyparis sargentii – Sargent’s Cypress Photo by Ann Elliott
Mount Burdell Serpentine, Oaks, and Grasslands Saturday, 3/22/25
Caroline Christman
As we walked through the gate, our group of enthusiastic plant explorers were surrounded by yellowbeak owl’s clover, or butter and eggs (Triphysaria versicolor ssp. faucibarbata), making a mat of brilliant yellow in the thin soils along the trail. Someone asked if all plants, such as owl’s clover, in the Orobanchaceae family are parasitic (turns out, yes, they are!) and we discussed the difference between plants which are hemiparasitic (semi-parasitic, able to photosynthesize) and those holoparasitic plants that rely completely on a host. After giving a stern look to a large patch of the invasive Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae), and a promise we’d return to weed, we made our way to the serpentine rock outcrops. Along the way we admired buttercups (Ranunculus californicus), blue Richards (Dipterostemon capitatus), and sun cups (Taraxia ovata) in all their spring-time glory. Serpentinite, our state rock, is high in heavy metals and low in Calcium, creating a challenging environment for many plant species. Around the serpentine outcrops the non-native annual grasses thin out, and the well-adapted California native plants are prominent. Many of these plants are very small, and botanizing may mean squatting down to examine a forest of 2-inch-tall dwarf plantain (Plantago erecta), denseflower owl’s clover (Castilleja densiflora), and pale sack clover (Trifolium depauperatum var. amplectens), and then standing up, stretching your legs, and admiring the view out over the town of Novato. Behind us Mt. Burdell’s green grasslands stretched up with clusters of valley oaks (Quercus lobata) and buckeye (Aesculus californica) in new bud. It was a beautiful walk, and a reminder of how lucky we are in Marin to have natural areas right on our doorsteps.
Sisyrinchium bellum blue-eyed grass Stacey Pogorzelski
Tiny Plants of the Serpentine Grassland_Mt. Burdell Caroline Christman
Trifolium_depauperatum var. amplectens_Mt. Burdell Caroline Christman
Mt. Burdell early spring flowers Stacey Pogorzelski
Indian Tree OSP 3/26/2025
Ann Elliott
The rain held off for a lovely tour on the Big Trees, Deer Park, and Meadow Trails. We enjoyed fading shooting stars, warrior plums, darling California newts. The poison oak was gorgeous and reaching out to get us, just like the deer ticks. I still have a lump from a tick Annette removed from my belly as soon as we got back to the cars.
Indian tree map
brown-headed rush
Iris douglasiana yellow
