Photos / Sounds
What
Purple-stemmed Monkeyflower (Erythranthe floribunda)Observer
ahowald395Description
Lower Lee Vining Cyn, shaded Jeffrey and lodgepole pine forest, flooded earlier this year by overflowing Lee Vining Creek. Common on the upper edges of ponds left by flooding. BTW the stems are not often purple in Mono Co plants.
Photos / Sounds
What
Wyman Creek Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum rupinum)Observer
ahowald395Description
Steep north-facing slope just above Red Rock Cyn. Counted about 20 individuals in 0.2 mile area using binoculars. Checked several other areas in Benton Range with similar dark brown metamorphic substrate. Didn’t find more plants.
Photos / Sounds
What
Parish's Broomrape (Aphyllon parishii)Observer
ahowald395Description
Whitmore Hot Springs area. Light gray alkaline soil. Pop of 100+ individuals, mostly dried. Area not grazed this year. Nearby plants include Ericameria nauseosa, Distichlis spicata, Juncus balticus. A few Aphyllon individuals growing up through old cow pats. An unidentified taxon related to A. parishii acc to Alison Colwell.
Photos / Sounds
What
Skunky Monkeyflower (Diplacus mephiticus)Observer
ahowald395Description
Granite sand, all individuals observed with yellow corollas. Skunk odor. Very near location of Bacigalupi 8000 (JEPS), who described the population as 95% yellow 5% pink corollas in 1961.
Photos / Sounds
What
Desert Monkeyflower (Diplacus bigelovii var. cuspidatus)Observer
ahowald395Description
Steep south-facing gravelly slope in upper part of Red Rock Cyn. Plants 2+ dm tall, stems semi-woody, plants very glandular with skunk odor, leaf hairs 1mm+.
Photos / Sounds
What
Great Basin Navarretia (Navarretia intertexta ssp. propinqua)Observer
ahowald395Description
Junction Creek watershed, growing in the middle of the trail/road. Corolla lobes ovate, rounded at tip, light blue. Styles 2. Pollen yellow.
Photos / Sounds
What
Nevada Biscuitroot (Lomatium nevadense)Observer
ahowald395Description
On what could be considered the very westernmost edge of the Bodie Hills, across Hwy 395 from Steve Matson’s original post of globose Lomatium fruits. In this area I found 3 individuals with subglobose fruits, along with typical Lomatium nevadense and a few Lomatium austiniae.
What
Nevada Biscuitroot (Lomatium nevadense)Observer
ahowald395Description
Top of the toe of a moraine above the Bridgeport Valley. Plant is about 1 dm tall. Another nevadense-like individual with subglobose fruits.
Photos / Sounds
What
Biscuitroots (Genus Lomatium)Observer
ahowald395Description
Sage Flat, same general area as previous post of a Lomatium with globose fruits. These are still young but seem to be headed in that direction.
Photos / Sounds
What
Cushion Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium)Observer
ahowald395Description
Growing on reddish volcanic substrate. Flower heads resemble var. purpureum, but small leaf size and brown leaf margins don't fit the published descriptions of purpureum. However, according to some, var. purpureum is the most variable of the ovalifolium varieties. Plants similar to these are found at other locations in the Bodie Hills, in the Wassuk Range, and in the Pine Grove Hills.
Photos / Sounds
What
Goosefoot Violet (Viola purpurea)Observer
ahowald395Description
Long Valley, decayed travertine. Population includes individuals with bright yellow flowers and others with light yellow flowers. Stem deeply buried.
Photos / Sounds
What
Meadow Stars (Hesperochiron nanus)Observer
ahowald395Description
Along a seasonal stream with very large flow this year.
Photos / Sounds
What
Ceanothus Silk Moth (Hyalophora euryalus)Observer
ahowald395Description
I found this on my deck, beneath coast live oak trees. First thought it might a gall, then a paper wasp nest, then used iNat to come up with this idea. It’s dry, very light weight, and rattles when you shake it. I learned that the Pomo Native Americans from here used these cocoons as rattles.
Photos / Sounds
What
Rough Stink Bugs (Genus Brochymena)Observer
ahowald395Description
Or is this brown marmorated stinkbug?
Photos / Sounds
What
Fringed False Hellebore (Veratrum fimbriatum)Observer
ahowald395Description
Usually flowering Nov to Jan along this section of coast. Fairly common in shallow drainage ways through Calamagrostis meadows on the lowermost coastal terrace. Leaves not present during flowering season. They appear again in Apr-May.
Photos / Sounds
What
Grand Fir (Abies grandis)Observer
ahowald395Description
Unusual to see entire cones on the ground since they fall apart on the trees. This branch either broken off by the wind or chewed off by a Douglas squirrel.
Photos / Sounds
What
Fremont's Death Camas (Toxicoscordion fremontii)Observer
ahowald395Description
Dense colonies on the second coastal terrace in meadows; silty-sandy, poorly drained soils somewhat similar to those supporting pygmy forest further north. Forest on edges of Bishop pine, Douglas fir, and scattered small grand fir. Affinities to Toxicoscordion fremontii var minor, currently not recognized in TJM.
Photos / Sounds
What
Foxtail Prickle Grass (Sporobolus alopecuroides)Observer
ahowald395Description
Most of us call this Crypsis alopecuroides. On the exposed shoreline of Bridgeport Reservoir, where it is exceedingly abundant. Only one collection from Mono Co, from the shoreline of Topaz Lake. Photos in sun and shade. Neither very good.
Photos / Sounds
What
Nodding Beggarticks (Bidens cernua)Observer
ahowald395Description
Scattered over the middle “terrace” of the receding shoreline. Many other shoreline specialists are here, still flowering.
Photos / Sounds
What
California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum)Observer
ahowald395Description
In a crevice of a limestone outcrop below and separate from Mammoth Rock. Steep northeast-facing slope. Pinus flexilis above.
Photos / Sounds
What
California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum)Observer
ahowald395Description
Sonora Pass Rd (Hwy 108), several large plants at the base of a granite slope.
Photos / Sounds
What
Marsh Grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia palustris)Observer
ahowald395Description
Southeast end of Lake Mary. Staminode lobes 12-16.
Photos / Sounds
What
Monument Plant (Frasera speciosa)Observer
ahowald395Description
Semi-alkaline sagebrush and meadow below Mammoth Rock. In fruit. Population of several 100 individuals one of the largest in Mono Co.
Photos / Sounds
What
One-spike Oat Grass (Danthonia unispicata)Observer
ahowald395Description
On a gravelly granite slope on Sonora Pass at about 8000 ft. Locally abundant in this area but no records from here.
Photos / Sounds
What
Tall Beardtongue (Penstemon rydbergii var. oreocharis)Observer
ahowald395Description
Gravelly granite flat on Sonora Pass Rd at about 8000’. Easy place to see this in Mono Co if you don’t feel like hiking to the Dana Plateau.
Photos / Sounds
What
Bigbract Verbena (Verbena bracteata)Observer
ahowald395Description
Gravel roadside in a residential area of Hilton Ck. I imagine the few Mono Co records are hitchhikers from So Cal, where this is quite common. Sorry I couldn’t get the tiny flowers perfectly in focus. Lessons needed.
Photos / Sounds
What
Purple Cushion Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium var. purpureum)Observer
ahowald395Description
Coyote Springs Road in the Bodie Hills. This plant much more like var purpureum as it is described because leaf margins are mostly not brown.
Photos / Sounds
What
Skunky Monkeyflower (Diplacus mephiticus)Observer
ahowald395Description
Bodie Hills, Coyote Springs Road. Plants glandular, with skunk odor. Population of many 100s, most yellow-flowered.
Photos / Sounds
What
Dwarf Phlox (Phlox condensata)Observer
ahowald395Description
Long Valley, on a low mound of light gray silt, probably old lakebed sediments. Keys to Phlox condensata but may be what Dr. Carolyn Ferguson is calling the Charleston Mtns-Bodie Hills phlox until the details are worked out. Habitat for this different from the high elevation open gravelly sites more typical of Phlox condensata. Unfortunately the Long Valley population may not be around for long since drought and livestock grazing seem to be taking a toll.
Photos / Sounds
Observer
ahowald395Description
On old volcanics off of Monitor Pass Rd about a mile below the Alpine-Mono Co line.