I walked the wildflowers July 24, three days ago. I spent
almost all of my waking time dinking with the photos for three days. I was out
about an hour and a half. I took 205 images. I’ve kept 82.
The photos were bad, again. So processing was a lot of work.
I kept some bad photos thinking there is something to learn from them.
*
Afternoon temperatures have been in the 90’s for a couple of
weeks. Humidity has been very low. It will be 23 this afternoon, wind, 5-10 mph.
The temperatures are in the very low 60’s before sunup.
The ten day forecast says four days of high 80’s and low
90’s then, in August, 6 days of down and up in the 80’s.
*
The official sunrise is 5:21, today, sunset 8:30. The sun
rises behind Baldy this time of year so the actual sunrise is somewhat later
than the official sunrise. It might be ten or fifteen minutes later.
It has continued to be hot till 7 in the evening so I
thought I would go out at dawn. I didn’t make dawn. I was out by 7 a. m.
*
I am never rested at 7 in the morning. But I went to work
without being rested when I was railroading. I know how to do that.
But I wasn’t 81 years old, then.
Whatever. I decided to make a quick trip with limited
objectives. I wanted seedpods for Asclepius speciosa, showy milkweed, blowballs
of Gaillardia aristata, blanket flower and I wanted to improve my photos of
Perideridia gairdneri, yampah. I didn’t think to look for Bidens vulgata, beggar
tick. I need it for my collection of Drumheller Springs Park Asteraceae. They were
in bloom July 11th last year. They should be in bloom, now. There’s a thick mass of them north of South
pond, under the umbrella.
*
I decided to park by the fireplug on Euclid as the shortest walk to the patch of
Asclepius speciosa.
I cruised the southeast corner of the park slowly watching
for the Erigeron caespitosus I found there this time last year … July 20. I
stopped and walked the area. No sign of them.
I remembered that I wanted blowballs
and seeds of the Erigeron pumilus, shaggy fleabane and got some. The seed
photos were worthless.
These two Erigeron, each a single
small patch are the only specimens of either in the park, as far as I know.
That makes me wonder if they, too, have been introduced. As I said, E.
caespitosus is not in evidence this year. E. pumilus, however, is luxuriant.
There were few ‘stems’ last year. There are scores, this year.
*
I waited too long for most of the A.
speciosa, showy milkweed. I thought I remembered milkweed pods down by the
river, many years ago that were reddish brown and broke open to free downy
cypsela to fly away. Nothing like that was present. I think I photographed an
A. speciosa fruit. And, when processing the photos, I saw what might be seeds.
There was a very interesting dead
bug on one plant. I did a little reading on monarch butterflies last week. If I
remember correctly they are poisonous to predators from eating poisonous milkweed.
It seems that they are able to accommodate the poisons in their system but the
poison kills other insects … if I remember correctly. I assumed that was what
got this bug.
*
As I said, above, it has been very
hot and very dry for a long time and, once again I was surprised to see Erigeron
compositus, cutleaf fleabane foliage green-up during draught conditions.
I have a photo of a blowball with
the photos of E. compositus foliage. I don’t remember taking it. The numbering
suggests that it is E. compositus but it doesn’t look right. It must have been
Gaillardia aristata, blanket flower, taken out of order. It seems to have
scales rather than bristles for a pappus.
*
I left the main trail to look for more
Perideridia gairdneri, Gairdner’s yampah, for Judith Lowry.
I found a short plant and hoped I
could get a better ‘plant photo’. I didn’t.
I attempted to dig it up but it was
embedded in rock. It took a lot of strength just to break it off.
*
I noticed plants with wiry stems
with tiny lumps on them. I remembered them from last year. I couldn’t remember
the identification but I have looked back at last year. They seem to be Polygonum
douglasii, Douglas ’ knotweed - Polygonaceae family.
*
My plant photos of Gaillardia
aristata, blanket flower were failures but I got satisfying photos of blowballs
and cypsela.
*
I was very tired by this time and it
was getting hot. I was out of patience as well as strength … and, of course, I
found two more plants I had to try to record. I did the alibi above because the
photos are not good. Next time. I can only hope there will be a next time this
year for the apparent Agoseris.
*
I think there are two Madia in the
park. I believe this one to be Madia glomerata, stinking tarweed. The name
seems a little strange. The odor was strong but it was not unpleasant.
I took one beside the main trail to
photograph later.
*
Walking across the open area between
south pond and tall pine grove on the way back to my car I saw an Asteraceae
that seemed too late in the year. I believe it to be Agoseris glauca. If not A.
glauca, then perhaps another Agoseris.
There seemed to be drops of golden goo
secretions on the plant. The ‘golden goo’ is seen to be mites in the processed
photos.
*
There’s an argument against the Agoseris
identification. Agoseris have only ray florets. This inflorescence seems to
have stunted ray florets and strange disk florets with ‘open’ corolla tubes.
But it may be that what looks like
‘an open corolla tube’ to me looks like a ray floret to a botanist.
THE PHOTOS
010
Erigeron pumilus, shaggy fleabane - Asteraceae
010-0180
0110 2012-0110 2013 When I decided
to look back at the photo of this plant last year I supposed I would see that
there are many more stems now than there were, then. Now that I have looked
back I suspect that there are not more stems, that the 9 stems in the 2012
photo are only more luxuriant. That’s a little strange as dry and hot as this
year has been, unless someone walked across the street and fed it fertilizer.
It’s flourishing is only strange
unless Erigeron just really like it hot and dry, see the green-up of Erigeron
compositus, above.
I need to remember to look at the
base of the E. pumilus plant and count the stems the next time I go out.
 |
| Erigeron pumilus, shaggy fleabane, 2012 |
 |
| The same plant, 2013 |
175 I wonder about the difference
in the cypsela at the top and at the bottom of the photo. It can’t be a matter
of failed focus.
020
Asclepias speciosa, showy milkweed - Apocynaceae
0210-0290
I looked for seed pods with downy
cypsela bursting from them. I found nothing of the kind.
0265 This must be the fruit of Asclepias speciosa.
0270 I suppose these are seeds.
030 Erigeron
compositus, cutleaf fleabane - Asteraceae
0310-0320
0310 A spot of fresh green in a dry world.
0320 This photo was taken immediately after the photo of Erigeron
compositus foliage but it must be the blowball of Gaillardia aristata, blanket
flower. It just doesn’t look right to be E. compositus and, of course, the time
is wrong for E. compositus. Note the scale like pappus. I don’t remember taking
the photo but there it is.
040 Perideridia
gairdneri, yampah - Apiaceae
0410-0486
This is just an attempt to put out a lot of stuff for Judith
Lowry to choose from.
I don’t know why I keep having trouble with images of whole
plants. I suppose they are over exposed. I suppose all I have to do is pay more
attention to the camera.
050 Polygonum
douglasii, Douglas ’ knotweed – Polygonaceae
0510-0570
I checked the Burke photos and the Carr photos of Polygonum
douglasii and they seem to have broad leaves toward the base of the plant but that
is probably not significant.
0520-0580 These are buds … unless they are seed pods. The
flowers are a pale 5 pointed star.
060 Gaillardia
aristata, blanket flower – Asteraceae
0610-0670
0660 The floral tube detached from the cypsela.
0670 The cypsela without the floral tube. Note ‘scales’
rather than bristles in the pappus. One wouldn’t suppose the cypsela with heavy
scales would fly as far.
070 Agoseris glauca –
Asteraceae
0710-0790
I have no confidence at all in this identification or the
identification of any plant that I have labeled Agoseris glauca over the last
two years or more.
0750a is ‘before and after’ processing. I ran up the
mid-tones for detail. The reds were bloody. So I reduced the reds some. I think
I did a little to reduce the highlights in the leaves but I don’t remember. As
you can see, the experiment with velour is less than success at the moment. I
hope the ‘specks’ are sizing or something of the kind. I’ve attempted to wash
them out since this photo was taken. I’ll know if I was successful next photo
session.
 |
| before after |
0755-765 Agoseris glauca should be all ray florets. These
photos have what might be disk florets … with open corolla tubes.
0773 I took lots of images of individual seeds, all out of
focus. Too much of the time I am trying to photograph what I cannot see.
0775-0778 I thought these were golden secretions from the
plant.
0790 I thought this was a caterpillar. I’m no longer
confident.
080 Madia glomerata,
stinking tarweed – Asteraceae
0810-0860
Yellows in bright light continue to be a problem. Madia
glomerata ray florets are interesting and I don’t have them in these images.
Next time, maybe.
I heard a ‘tip’ in a youtube.com video on macro photography
that I will try, a piece of printer paper to filter hard sunlight. It might
demand more dexterity that I have … or better, demand an assistant.
0850 is the best I could do for the ray florets.
Madia glomerata was abundant last year. I saw only this one
plant this year, so far.
They are native but they seem to be opportunistic and, like
Matricaria discoidea, pineapple weed, also native, they are often found along
the disturbed earth of the main trail.
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