laurablatt's Journal

Arrived around 10:30 am with my friend Ruth. We parked at the white barn and walked Meadow trail and parts of Hillside to collect samples. Many more wildflowers in bloom since March, including species of Lupinus and Ranunculus. Also spotted Lithophragma and Iris. I will return to rekey a Ceanothus found off trail, as it appears to be a rare species.

4/10/2017
I arrived at Sugarloaf at 10 am on a cloudy day (temp in 60s) and decided to take the Lower Bald trail. The Ceanothus are in bloom! Several bushes of C. jepsonii (leaves opposite, 7-8 teeth, purple flowers) grow on serpentine soil, one near Pseudotsuga menziesii and Quercus agrifolia. Also found C. cuneatus or White Buckbrush (white flowers) as well as C. sonomensis. From what I have read, although C. sonomensis is rare in California overall, it is more common in Sonoma county. I identified it because of its 5-toothed leaves and small whitish-purple flowers. I will return, as there may be other species of Ceanothus that I missed.

I spotted Sanicula bipinnatifida (Purple Sanicle), Sisyrinchium bellum (Blue-eyed Grass) and Calystegia (morning glory). Lupinus now covers the meadows, and Ranunculus appears in semi-shady places as well as sunny grasslands.

4/23/2017

Partly cloudy morning at Sugarloaf.

As a result of our lab on graminoids, I noticed the predominance of Bromus and Avena in grasslands. On Hillside trail, more Sisyrinchium bellum was in bloom near Nemophila menziesii. In sunnier areas, Quercus garryana becomes the dominant tree in Oak Woodland rather than Quercus agricola. (This was not that apparent before since Q. garryana had not yet leafed out.)

Parts of Creekside and Hillside trails remain closed. The park is building some workarounds for visitors, but I was not able to eat lunch at a bench under my favorite spreading Q. kelloggii tree.