Cream Cups - Ideal for Fairies

Platystemon californicus - Cream Cups

Poppy heritage
Local fairies dwell herein
Cream cups shine in spring
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Fairy Housing http://www.hikingedgewood.blogspot.com/2012/11/fairy-houses.html

Fairy House, Tood's Stool or Spoor's End http://www.hikingedgewood.blogspot.com/2013/11/fairy-house-toad-stool-or-simply-spoors.html

Edgewood http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Co-Published with Postcard from California and The Simple Romantic

Native Power! Poppies and Red Maids (Hiking Edgewood)

Enjoy the lovely details by clicking on the illustration above

Poppies, shout it.

 Red Maids love serpentine soil! 

We're the one percent!

We're so lucky to be able to enjoy an historic wildflower bloom at Edgewood, where rate serpentine soil  does it's best to keep invasive non-native plants at bay. Only one percent of California plays host to the rock type that produces this special dirt. 

Let's hear it for the natives!

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Edgewood Rocks: Geology and Soils

http://postcardfromcalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/03/edgewood-rocks-geology.html

Edgewood Nature Preserve http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

A Checkered Past - Edgewood Checker/Chocolate Lily

Fritillaria affinis

Checker or Chocolate

Lily is my beloved

Fritillaria.

Are you more checkered or chocolate? Once the Lamishin people dug your roots and bulbs for supper. But they ate a lot of things I'm glad I don't have to.

I prefer just enjoying your exotic checkery blooms, that I see only occasionally along Edgewood Nature Preserve's oak woodland trails in the early spring. I'm awfully glad I don't find the need to turn you into fritillary stew.

~ ~ ~
If English isn't your first language. "A checkered past" refers  to people who have done improper things in the past - either unacceptable social behavior or illegal things - but now are somewhat reformed.
~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritillaria_affinis

Edgewood Nature Preserve http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Yerba Santa: Just What the Doctor Ordered? (Hiking Edgewood)

Yerba Santa, the Holy Herb, is once more in bloom,

 at the Edgewood Preserve. 

On the last two docent hikes I led, a lot of folks have been asking my questions about how Yerba Santa was used historically. The following is extracted from a report that I wrote for a CA native plant class. 

Yerba Santa has long been used in traditional medicines by people in California. This information, however, is for interest only. I have no idea if any medical research supports using Yerba Santa in any of this ways, or if the plant is safe to chew, swallow, or apply to your skin.

What do you call it? Well for starters, It's a Hydropyllaceae, a.k.a. That's the Waterleaf family to those in the know.

The plant itself may be called... Eriodictyon californicum Yerba Santa, Mountain balm, Palo Santo, Holy Plant , or Holy Herb . “Yerba Santa” translates from Spanish into English as “Holy Herb’. 

Yerba Santa has been used locally as a medicine, both by pre-contact (native) peoples, and the Spaniards who came after 1769.

It’s scientific name Eriodic'tyon comes from the Greek erion, "wool," and diktuon, "net", because the undersides of some of the leaves have a fuzzy look. The species name simply means it’s found in California.

Physical Description
This plant is an evergreen shrub that grows to about waist height at Edgewood, though it can grow to be 3 meters tall. When Edgewood Yerba Santa begins blooming, preserve visitors on my docent walks take quite an interest in it. They ask me, "Why is it all black like that?". The black part they're asking about is leaves have a faint odor and  are typically infected with a black fungus, Heterosporium. The virus is not thought to hurt the plant, but it makes the leaves look ugly. 

Preferred Habitat
Yerba Santa is a typical chaparral plant. It grows profusely in this preserve on serpentine soil, in colonies that grow from shoots of shared underground roots.

Animal Uses including Human
Butterflies find the nectar of Yerba Santa very attractive.

“Yerba Santa was highly valued by many California tribes including the Salinan, Ohlone, Miwok, Pomo, and Yokuts who continue to use it for various medicinal purposes. The Spanish who came to early California were so impressed with the plant that they gave it the name Yerba Santa, meaning holy plant. Yerba Santa was introduced to the Spanish Padres 
at Mission San Antonio de Padua by the Salinan tribe and it became one of three major medicinal herbs used at the mission. The plants can be harvested at any stage, but are best in the fall when the leaves are sticky and aromatic. 

The Kashaya Pomo recommend gathering the leaves just before the plant begins to produce flowers. The leaves, stems and flowers are used . They are either eaten or made into a tea, decoction, or poultice. The flowers and the bitter, aromatic leaves may be used fresh or dried. The leaves and flowers were made into a “bitter or sweetish-soapy” tasting tea that was drunk to relieve headaches and other symptoms of tuberculosis. 

Infusions of Yerba Santa  leaves and flowers were used to treat fevers, coughs, colds, stomachaches asthma, rheumatism pleurisy, and to purify the blood. The Kawaiisu drank Yerba Santa tea instead of water for a month to treat gonorrhea. The Salinan used an infusion of the leaves as a balm for the eyes. Later, those at the San Antonio mission made eye balm by placing the leaves in corked glass bottles and allowing them to sweat in the sun.

Leaves were smoked or chewed to relieve asthma, coughs, colds, headaches, and stomachaches. Heated leaves were placed on the forehead to relieve headaches and other aches and sores. The sticky leaves conveniently stay in place upon the skin. Mashed leaves were applied externally to sores, cuts, wounds, and aching muscles. Mashed leaves were also used to reduce the swelling and relieve pain caused by bone  fractures . Yerba Santa, used alone or combined with other herbs, was applied to infected 
sores on humans and animals. The branches and leaves were burned in steam baths to treat rheumatism. 

Other Uses
The Ohlone wove the leaves into skirts and aprons. I wonder if they included those pretty purple flowers into the designs :-)

Wildlife: Bees visit the flowers of Yerba Santa, which make a deliciously spicy amber honey. Seedlings and young plants are relatively nutritious and palatable but the bitter compounds in mature Yerba Santa shrubs discourage most large herbivores. However it is an important forage crop for black- tailed deer in the winter when other food sources are unavailable. Birds and small mammals eat the seed capsules.

Livestock: Goats will sometimes eat the leaves and stems. Cattle will avoid Yerba Santa in favor of more palatable plants, which can be a problem in highly grazed areas where it can become the dominant plant. Because of it's nature preserve status there are no longer livestock here, but the Spanish certainly grazed cattle in local meadows.

Yerba Santa can be used for rehabilitating and stabilizing disturbed areas. The seeds germinate readily in disturbed soils. The shallow, spreading root system can help to stabilize areas subject to erosion caused by runoff. 

Hiking Edgewood:Western Bluebird Succeeds

 Before the 1940's, Western Bluebirds were a common sight in places like Edgewood .

After WWII, large-scale building development seriously impacted the ability of these avians to reproduce. Back in the 1960's and 1970's, it was rare to spot a bluebird around here.

 In the 1970's people across the western United States, began efforts to bring bluebirds back. Edgewood is one of a number of places where nesting boxes help this effort. There are currently twenty three nesting boxes for Western Bluebirds in the area of Edgewood Preserve. Bluebirds nests are monitored by Friends of Edgewood volunteers in conjunction with the Sequoia Audobon Society. In 2013, 77 baby bluebirds were born in nests their parents built in park bluebird boxes. 

~ ~ ~

 Wikipedia: Western Bluebird - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Bluebird 

       

      

Edgewood Rocks! (Geology)

Geology is key to the diversity of habitats and the success of Edgewood as a nature preserve. Because of the specialized geologic makeup of this 467 acre site, rarely seen native California wildflowers and other plants have maintained a toehold.

Because of Edgewood geology, animals dependent on plants that grow in this specialized area find a home.

Because of Edgewood geology's contributions to rare and endangered plant and animal communities, local citizens preserved this area as a natural space for future use by plants and all animals (including humans)


Key Components of Edgewood Geology

1. Tectonic Plate* Boundary
   
   • The North American Plate
   Edgewood lies along the western edge of this formidable slab of rock, that floats over the Earth's mantle in much of North America.
   • The Pacific Plate
   This plate is the largest of the tectonic plates. Though it's not beneath Edgewood, it does provide a foundation for the Santa Cruz Mountains, which can be viewed from the western side of the park.
   • The San Andreas Fault
   This fault marks the border between the North American and Pacific plates. Evidence of this junction can be seen in the valley covered by the Crystal Springs Reservoir, beyond the 280 freeway on the western side of Edgewood preserve. Many earthquakes in the area are due to movement of these two great plates along this boundary.
2. Rock Types
All the rocks at Edgewood started out on the ocean-floor. They arrived in the preserve via subduction**, the movement of one tectonic plate beneath another, and were later recycled as continental crust. Much of the rock within the park is part of the Franciscan Complex.
1. Serpentinite/Serpentine
A particularly significant rock in the Franciscan Complex when it comes to the success of Edgewood meadow and chaparral plants, and the survival of the Bay Area Checkerspot Butterfly. Serpentine rock, and the soils and plants it contributes to, are found on the Clarkia and Serpentine Loop Trails. Only 1% of CA rock is serpentine. It breaks down into soils that produce masses of flowers, and other plants adapted to it's unique composition.

2. Other Rocks in the Franciscan Complex
These rocks include greywacke, melange, and greenstone. They contribute to soils, and therefore plant and animal life, in the central ridge (Ridgeview Trails) area and upper oak woodlands of the popular Sylvan Trail.

3. Whiskey Hill Formation
This sandstone occurs in the woodland area of Old Stage picnic grounds. It extends into areas beyond the preserve, notably in Pulgas Ridge Open Space (Dogs not allowed at Edgewood are permitted at Pulgas Ridge!). Handley Rock , a popular local rock-climbing site and an intriguing view from Edgewood, is composed of Whiskey Hill 

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

*What is a tectonic plate?
**Subduction
Geologic Timeline of Western North America
The North American (Tectonic) Plate The Pacific (Tectonic) Plate
Friends Of Edgewood: This site is an excellent source for everything from docent hike schedules to Edgewood wildflower search (Use the Photos tab in the upper right hand corner, to figure out what kind of flower you saw).
Edgewood Quick Facts

Feels Lichen You Are Givin' Me the GOLD Eye (Hiking Edgewood)

Edgewood Gold Eye Lichen
( Teloschistes chrysophthalmus) 

Freddie Fungus and Alice Algae took a lichen to each other.

It was an old-style relationship.

Freddie provided the house.

Alice made all the food.

Hunh?

* * *

Fungus can't photosynthesize, but they can make structures.

Algae are great at photosynthesizing, converting  solar energy and carbon dioxide into food. They need a place to hang out.

Lichen, like the Edgewood Gold Eye above, are a combination of fungus and algae. The fungus provides a place for the algae to live, and the algae makes nourishment for both of them. 

It's symbiosis at it's best.

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Really good Explanation of Lichens and discussion of the impact of pollution and toxins on them  

http://www.durangonaturestudies.org/articles/111005.htm

Hiking Edgewood: A Mule Deer Strolls Past

Click on the illustration above to enjoy more details

Though a common sight,

My heart stands still, when mule deer

Stroll across my path.

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Edgewood: http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Black Tail, Mule Deer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-tailed_deer 

Crow Talk (haiku)

Crows are regular, though temporary ,neighbors in my hood

Birds chatting on high,

Discuss other times and places.

Corvus - Stinking smart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow

Hiking Edgewood: Cottontail Brush Rabbit - If I sit really still....

Sylvilagus bachmani is the scientific name for the
Western Brush Rabbit , a species of cottontail 

If I sit really

Still, then she won't know I'm here.

You smart cottontail!

~ ~ ~

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_rabbit

http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Hiking Edgewood:Pirate's Cave Mystery - Handley Rock

Trailside, do I see

Pirate's cave across the way?

Handley Rock beckons!

You can't get there from here. 

Handley Rock is a secret treasure discovered for the first time by many, only because they hiked at Edgewood Nature Preserve. Reminiscent of Never Never Land,skull shaped Handley Rock, beckons to local rock-climbers,mystics, romantics, and pirate-loving locals.

When hiking Edgewood's Sylvan Exercise Loop, I begin to look for Handley Rock shortly after I pass the first half mile posting shortly past the Waterfall. As soon as I see gaps in the vegetation  that screens the valley that lies roughly southeast(East is towards the San Francisco Bay. South is San Jose) I begin scanning for this mysterious piratical dome that formed from Whiskey Hill sandstone. 

~ ~ ~

Resources

Friends of Edgwood  http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

Handley Rock in 365 days of things to do in Redwood City  (includes map link)  http://redwoodcity365.com/?p=23

The Pineapple Express: Aloha!

Comes from Hawaii-

Rain rivers crash on our coast.

Mahalo means thanks!

I created this illustration as a tribute to my buddy Kim on the big island of Hawaii, who sent (hopefully) drought-breaking rain my way. She grows the best white pineapples too!

~ ~ ~

Resources

What is this Pineapple Express and how does it relate to the drought in California? http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25088877/california-drought-desperately-needed-rain-courtesy-pineapple-express

Learning to say more than thank you in Hawaiiin

http://hawaiian-words.com/home/hawaiian-dictionary/

Hiking Edgewood: Poison Oak (haiku)

Click on the illustration above to get up close and personal with...
Toxicodendron diversilobum a.k.a. Poison Oak!

Subtle little sticks.
Shiny leaves brings itchy rash.
Urushiol, help!

~ ~ ~

Resources

http://www.smmtc.org/plantofthemonth/plant_of_the_month_200612_Poison_Oak.htm
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=todi

Field Trip: Santa Cruz Monarch Butterflies (haiku)

This Danaus plexippus is vacationing in a valley of
Eucalyptus trees at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz

Monarch Butterfly

Just a flew months, then you fly

Off to make babies

Monarch butterflies generally leave the Rocky Mountains to visit us in the fall and stay on until February, at which time they return home to their stomping grounds in the Rockies.  You can see them at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz, as well as Pacific Grove, Carmel, and a few scattered locations that people might tell you about, if you're lucky enough to be let in on the secret.

Another reason to always be nice and friendly!

~ ~ ~

Resources

Natural Bridges State Beach: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541

Monarch Butterfly Migration: http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/monarch-migration.html

Take Five (Hiking Edgewood)

Aphelocoma californica - CA Scrub Jay

Did you get my good side?

This Edgewood local knows the girls are checking him out!

~ ~ ~
Resources
Aphelocoma californica - Western Scrub Jay (CA Western Scrub Jay)

Hiking Edgewood: Clean Skies! (haiku)

Clean view of the bay.

Sure do appreciate it!

Little rain goes far.

~ ~ ~
If you're hiking Edgewood - http://www.friendsofedgewood.org

California Tree Spirits (haiku)

Click on the illustration above
to fully enjoy the details of our CA dusk

Tree spirits thrive 'round here.

They chat 'neath westering sun.

California!

Fairy House, Toad's Stool, or Simply Spoors End? (Haiku)

Fairy houses or merely seats for a toad
Fungi dwell on the path I often walk, along the railroad tracks
towards San Francisquito Creek.

Thread-like hyphae spread,

Find food decomposing here.

Your spoors drop and fly.

Fall in California (Cornbread Recipe)

It takes until this time of the year to feel like fall here in our part of California. It was finally cool enough to wear a fleecy vest before dark and want to eat a hot supper - baked acorn squash, chicken sausage, tomato basil soup, cornbread (see recipe below) - you know a real fall meal. 

How long has it been feeling like fall where you live? In the Northern Hemisphere that is - OK, I know for you folks way down undAH we're talking springtime gamboling lambs...

* Cornbread from Scratch

Bake at 350 degrees

Dry Stuff
1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 T baking powder (yes really - Tablespoons)
1/4 cup sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

Wet Stuff
2 eggs
2 T butter melted
1 cup milk

* Mix the dry stuff together.
* Mix the wet stuff together
* Make a hole in the hollow of the dry stuff and mix the wet stuff in gently. Don't beat it - just till combined.

Bake in a greased square pan till done. Usually 20 - 30 minutes. Also makes good muffins.

A Pickup Walk (Hiking Edgewood)

(co-published in http://EdgewoodSecrets.blogspot.com)

Invasive European grasses and Star Thistles
are one foe the Edgewood Warriors fight
tooth and nail

I know it's called a pickup game, when you run into other basketball players on the courts and have a competitive round. So I guess I had a pickup walk today.

I was hiking Clarkia and Lower Ridge trail, just appreciating the fact that my knees are back in service, when I found myself picking up a lone hiker, Diane. She hadn't found her hiking group, was pretty unfamiliar with the trails (she'd come in via Sunset Gate) and wanted company.

I ended up docenting  along Clarkia, up to Inspiration Heights, down along Lower Ridge trail to the fence that overlooks the Bluebird meadow and back to Sunset Gate, at which point we ran into her group

Discussed and seen along the way...

- Serpentine rock and soil discussion and challenge of nitrogen dump/non-native plant invasion. Also successes of Weed Warriors due to just plain hard work plus cunning and analysis 

- Why the erosion scars aren't a trail/the challenges of their trail-like appearance - And yes we ran into two erosion scar explorers that I had a chat with on Inspiration Heights. Hopefully they didn't go back that way, as I encouraged them to go on the trail. Much discussion with my new hiking pal, over how to discourage this behavior without being patronizing and actually getting desired behavior. 

- We met Steve and  Denora  out rangering and Diane had her birthday photo taken with them. Steve indicated perhaps more signs indicating erosion scar versus trail may be forthcoming?

- We enjoyed the beautiful summer colors of deerweed, tarweed and poison oak. We both think the seedheads we saw in with the tarweed is yarrow. I keep meaning to look up that pink dry headed looking flower that's in and around Ridge trail. I think it's a seed head not a bloom. It reminds me of the sea thrift I saw in Cornwall, just a little bit.

- Told her how she could find the plant database/photos lookup  on Friends of Edgewood web pages, as both of us were wondering about that pinky flower/seed head.

- Told her to come look for the brilliant green Hair Streak Butterflies during bloom time for the deerweed. Discussed the importance of the Bay Area Checkerspot and how it saved the preserve. Diane was glad we weren't hiking through the golf course this area was, at one point, destined to be.

- Diane wanted to know about animals we see in the area. Pointed out Western Fence Lizards, mentioned my few views of rattlers by me and others and where noted ...Much pointing to the area on Serpentine Loop Trail  from Ridge Trail looking down to discuss the scurry zone and habits of the cottontails. Also discussion of the jackrabbits when they go mad with testostorone in the springtime and their hare 'ness ( Here's a nice web link on their being hares and not rabbits http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jackrabbit/). 

- Pointed out the frog pond, looking down on it from Ridge Trail (would be easy to have a talk about water in the preserve at this point, wouldn't it?)

- We should have asked Denora about the bobcats when we met up with her and Steve later on, as I know she once said there is one living in the vicinity of the ranger's house. Durn

- Of course we chatted about cougars. Doesn't everybody like to know about cougars?

- We talked about the different types of oaks, and after some quick mental review. I remembered  (and I think properly id'd ) coast live oak (thanks to a hint Alf once gave me), contrasted them with a description of Valley Oaks, and mentioned the scrub oak. I think that's what grows on Upper Clarkia, not Leather Oak? Remembered to tell her about the naturally hybrid ones.

- We talked about the Western Blue Birds

Dianne was very pleased with her one-on-one docent walk! We found her group back at Sunset Gate and she introduced me all around and bragged about getting the goods on the preserve. I was lightly quizzed by a couple of folks in regards to seeing freshly blooming Farewell to Spring, and I agreed I had seen one too. Was able to respond "Clarkia, like this trail" when asked what is the real name. So I guess I passed the test. Good thing that was one I know.

Despite it not being a high bloom time, there's a lot to talk about out in the chaparral zone