Diario de arcooper

So I went out on a run last thursday after class, meaning to upload my observations then to get the homework in on time, but haven't gotten to it until now! Here are my common plant species:

1. Nasturtium. Growing outside my home
2. French broom. An invasive specie that is growing all over the fire trails!
3. California poppy. Growing sporadically around the fire trails.
4. Milk thistle. Growing along the fire trails.
5. Blackberry.

As I mentioned in class, I didn't take 50 pictures of species, but over spring break I did some galavanting around the bay area, including my regalar runs up the Strawberry Canyon Firetrails, along with a long hike/jog over in Mount Diablo State Park. I did indeed observe the nature around me! I also did a day of biking around SF and stopped to check out some organisms surviving in a little cove in the bay were I found some mollusks and saw what looked like some very polluted, sad kelp.

Spring time over in Mount Diablo was beautiful, and we caught it right after some rain so the air was fresh and all the flowers were bright and vibrant! We took the less traveled, northern loop and After doing some research, I saw how short the flowering season for most wildflower species growing in the Mount Diablo region is, with just a few months of March, April, and May being the window period where colors dot the trail so I felt lucky to have seen some of the beauty.

In doing some research on Mt. Diablo I learned that it is a biodiversity hotspot due to its unique soils and geographic location; near the edge of the Contra Costa range and close to the delta. I would presume that this would add to its niche like habitat, which could be why it is home to so many different species.

My favorite flower I saw was what kueda helped me identify as Purple Owl's Clover. I saw its similarities to red clover (a more common specie of that family that my mom and I make tea out of!) as well as Indian Paintbrush, which I also spotted on my hike. I also learned that Castilleja exsertas are the host to an endemic butterfly of the Bay Area, the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. What a flower!

1. Regular flowers: the small purple dicot
2. Irregular Flowers: Indian Paintbrush
3. Monocot: Fremont's Deathcamas
4. Dicot: Californian Poppy
5. Fabaceae: Silver Lupine
6. Gymnosperm: conifer
7. Terrestrial Plant: leafy looking plant!
8. Pinnate leaves: light green plant.
9. Opposite leaves: Juneberry
10. Sunflower Family: I think the white one is in the sunflower family...

I've been enjoying all the blossoming trees during my runs up the fire trails in Strawberry Canyon. I have noticed that the lack of rain has resulted in less slugs on the trails, which might be a good thing! Its just been recently that I've noticed an increase in flowering plants besides tree blossoms, so now the ground is covered in color as well! I always compare spring in the Bay to Mt. Shasta and there is such a drastic difference! Up in the mountains we don't get flowering plants until late April or May so to have flowering life all year around is really a treat.