California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) in the serpentine grasslands of Jasper Ridge. Spring and early summer are a favorite time for guided tours of the preserve because of the many wildflowers found in the serpentine grassland. Serpentine refers to a rock created by the collision of ocean and continental tectonic plates that decomposes into nutrient-poor soils that still support many native plants -- plants that are rarely found elsewhere in California grasslands, due to competition from grasses introduced from Europe.


Jasper Ridge serpentine grasslands, Road F, July 2, 2008 at 10:25 am. I took this photo at Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve on a beautiful March morning. Such a peaceful time, with a field of wildflowers, the poppies starting to open up for the day, the breeze picking up. The unfocused background shows the average color in each direction: blue sky above, yellow, green, and golden poppy-strewn grasslands below.