Monday, April 30, 2012

chewing the scenery


I may have mentioned this, but LORDY I love coastal sage scrub.
And I just returned from visiting it, mostly at Tijuana Estuary in San Diego.

(on a freaky aside, in the Wiki entry/CSS-link above,
the CSS photo was taken where I did my thesis research!)

This is a CSS glamor shot I took at Cabrillo NM, San Diego.

Here are some of the lovelies I saw.
LOTS of stuff blooming right now.

A very sexy grouping of some CSS species
put together at the Tijuana Estuary visitor center (VC).


So many of my little friends. =)
  • The thing in the middle is Shaw's agave (Agave shawii; per Calflora it's on the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list  2.1 = rare, threatened, or endangered in CA; common elsewhere)
  • center bottom is barrel cactus (Ferocactus viridescens; per Calflora, it's also 2.1, rare, threatened, or endangered in CA; common elsewhere)
  • lower left is white sage (Salvia apiana; only found slightly beyond CA borders)
  • lower right is "fingertips" per Calflora, I know it as lady finger dudleya, but the name that 1st comes to mind we both agree upon, Dudleya edulis. Only found slightly beyond CA borders
  • the yellow and orange flowers on the right edge are deer weed (woah, apparently now called Acmispon glaber, I knew it as Lotus scoparius), this plant is an ally when you're trying to rehab CSS 'cause it fixes nitrogen, so feeds the soil
  • the big wacky hairdo at the top is Yucca whipplei, a.k.a. our Lord's candle, or chaparral yucca

I love Shaw's agave.
This is a huge one near the VC.
Gorgeous, rare plant.




Drool.

This is bush mallow (Malacothamnus fasciculatus)--SO glamorous!


A shrub that can tower over you. STUNNING.




Blooming coastal cholla (Opuntia prolifera).
In my brain it's still "jumping cholla,"
aptly describing how it hops onto your socks,
pants, shoes, etc. =)

A very important, basic component of CSS:
California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum):


The below moth requires buckwheat to survive.
It's Hemileuca electra (electra buckmoth).
Again, STUNNING!!
Gave me a HEART attack when I saw it fluttering
at the edge of a huge canyon at Joshua Tree NP.


That red will singe your brain.

Back at the TJ estuary, looking south toward Mexico (buildings/hills).
In the white flat space between,
there's a serious seabird rave out there, esp. terns.
Wingless bipeds need not apply.



It's so San Diego.

Amazing natural resources,
w/ GIGANTIC military helicopters buzzing overhead,
amid a HUGE urban jungle,
and if you trip and fall, you might land in Mexico.

=)

It's never dull.

xobb

5 comments:

  1. Nice. Miss it out there, back in the Era of False Prosperity, we got to travel out to SD and Baja Norte a few times to surf, fish, and do the tourist thing.

    Have to be honest, though, as a coastal wetland guy I do prefer Los Penasquitos Creek up the road at Torrey Pines!

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    Replies
    1. Well, you are WAY more qualified to judge than I. =) I'm just a sucker for succulents. I'll admit driving up I-5 I saw SO many wetlands I did NOT visit that I wanted to. =)

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  2. So gorgeous!

    And *I* love Shaw's agave, too, though I've been able to appreciate it only in the National Botanic Garden! (It's still lovely, but its surroundings lack something.)

    Love the seabird rave, too; that so well describes those raucous groups of wild waterfowl!

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    Replies
    1. FYI, the 1st shot in this post shows Shaw's agave blooming, a LOT of them, sending up their giant stalks to give the bats a thrill. =)

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  3. good lordy i'm lovin' all that spiny stuffs!

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