Visitors 92
Modified 21-Dec-23
Created 23-Feb-23
37 photos
Stored energy, biomass, DNA: life force has sheltered deep within the dry soil all the arid summer. Now the ground is moist: wildflowers emerge to seek light and air, ready for growth and reproduction. Giant Trillium, Hound’s Tongue, and Warrior’s Plume appear again. Some plants and trees have harbored their energy, dropping their useless leaves, waiting patiently with bare branches for the return of water: Dirca occidentalis, California Buckeye, willows, and Valley and Blue Oaks. Perennials like the California Bay take this opportunity to flower.
Helen and I wander to Mapache Gate and back, along the banks of Corte Madera Creek, now calmly seeping over the wet mud washed down in the recent deluge. Insects, birds, and mammals take advantage of the springtime bounty.
Almost a century ago, in 1924, Stanford’s Zoology and Botany Departments merged to carry out integrated studies in a new cross-disciplinary field: Biology. Today we notice:
Botany:
Up from the ground: Giant Trillium, Hound’s Tongue, Warrior’s Plume, California Man-root (Wild Cucumber), Osoberry, and California Goosefoot.
Springing from bare branches: Dirca occidentalis (Western Leatherwood), California Buckeye, and willow. Valley Oaks are about to leaf out.
Flowering from perennials: Ceanothus cuneatus (Buckbrush), California Bay, and a shrub unknown to me – please leave a comment on the photo.
Dry from last year: Pitcher Sage and many dry sticks.
Possibly also studied in the Botany Department: lichen!
Zoology: Western Honeybee, Winter Ant, Band-tailed Pigeon chased off by an Acorn Woodpecker, and a motionless Brush Rabbit.
Enjoy this wild spring as we careen toward a new world.
