Diario del proyecto 2020 California Urospermum Challenge

Hi Urospermum mappers,

This looks like it will be another bumper year for Urospermum. Last year we documented many plants in +- residential/urban settings in both the Santa Barbara/Ventura hotspot as well as the Bay Area hotspot. This year plants have been up for a few months now in similar locations (in SB County), but it's also been observed spreading up into the Santa Ynez Mountains along roads and trails. Keep an eye out in your back country locations!

Hello partners in Urospermum documentation,

Happy, albeit strange, 2020 to you all! With 2019 safely in the books, it is long overdue to crown Adam Searcy (@serpophaga) as the 2019 Urospermum Challenge Champion! Adam drove all over the southern 1/2 of the state to spot Urospermum, topping out at a whopping 62 observations! Adam's observations were key in establishing the dense local spread of Urospermum in Santa Barbara and especially Ventura counties. He also drove to verify some southern California range edges that had been previously documented with single herbarium vouchers, etc. Adam's custom tee shirt is in the mail, and I'll post a picture of him wearing it near a Urospermum soon.

As an honorable mention, Cat Chang (@catchang) was the Bay Area regional leader in Urospermum spotting, with 44 observations total. Her observations helped document the regional spread of the species in this second wNA hotspot. Thanks a million Cat! Perhaps in 2020 you'll catch Adam!

Thanks everyone! I really enjoyed watching the observations roll in. I've been seeing Urospermum plants for the last ~1 month here in Santa Barbara County. What's happening in your area? What about Arizona (@emaking)?

Best wishes,
Matt

Urospermum appears to still be in flower in the Bay Area. For those of you in this region, consider continued documentation to see how far into fall/winter this species will bloom!

There have been a few observations of Urospermum picroides STILL IN FLOWER in the SF Bay Region in September. Keep gathering those observations! A summary poster is being presented at Cal-IPC next month....will the phenology of this species be updated to include flowering in October? Only @catchang, @mrchasse, and @silversea_starsong know for sure!

All new observations of Urospermum - especially in flower - are important for adjusting the published flowering time for Urospermum picroides. Please document or even re-document the species when you see it, and be sure to get a good photo that shows phenology. If possible, try to get a clear picture of a head with visible florets. Go go go!

Friends in Urospermum documentation, have a look at this great series of photos by @serpophaga showing the different phenological stages of Urospermum: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/29404238. Since we are at the end of the season according to the Jepson eFlora, all documentation of Urospermum, especially in flower, is critically important. Therefore, if you can capture images of 1) heads in flower (with yellow flowers showing), 2) closed heads past flower but still green, and 3) open heads with clearly visible fruits, we can use our project's data to modify the Jepson Manual. Go forth!

Earlier observations of Urospermum were great for documenting the current distribution of this range-expanding introduced plant. Late season observations, even in previously documented populations, are critical for documenting Urospermum phenology. Keep at it! The evidence we gather can be used to refine the Jepson Manual eFlora description for the species.

Recent activity has revealed many new Urospermum localities in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. I suspect that more will be observed as the month wears on.

That being said, we are approaching the end of the flowering season as described in the Jepson eFlora (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=5477), which lists flowering as April - July. Since I still see many plants in Santa Barbara going strong, I bet it's possible that we'll document the species flowering in August this year. Updating the species' known distribution and our understanding of phenology are just two of the many good reasons for this project! Keep at it!

James Bailey (@silversea_starsong) used iNat to document an occurrence of Urospermum in San Luis Obispo County about a week ago (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27303194). The species is definitely on the move! Keep an eye through the summer...plants are definitely still green and going strong in my part of the world (SB Co).

Urospermum picroides has now been observed in the city of Ensenada, in Baja CA Mexico. The plants were in a disturbed setting along a major road in a busy part of town. Like elsewhere I've seen it, plants were mixed in with Lactuca, Sonchus, etc., therefore, tough to spot, easy to overlook. Keep an eye out, San Diego (@jrebman)!