California Natural History Guides Blog

Trudy Returns

We are terribly disappointed that we missed the aromatic return of Trudy, at the University of California Botanical Garden. Trudy is, of course, the infamouse "Corpse Flowers" or Amorphophallus titanum. This stinky plant is known for its rotting-flesh smell and its conspicuous display, which is still on view at the Gardens.

Serpentine Knoll

While hiking on the North side of Mount Tamalpais, just off the Fairfax-Bolinas Road, we climbed to a spot called Serpentine Knoll. The plants on this section of the trail were dramatically different from all that had come on the trail leading up to it, so it sent me scurrying to Introduction to California Soils and Plants: Serpentine, Vernal Pools, and other Geobotanical Wonders by Arthur R. Kruckeberg to learn more.

Kruckeberg writes: "It is the look of a serpentine landscape that so strikingly catches the eye, especially so where serpentine vegetation abuts a normal nonserpentine plant cover.... in coast redwood country, a serpentine outcrop may support a thinly stocked stand of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) or knobcone pine (P. attenuata) with an understory of scrub oaks, often huckleberry oak (Quercus vaccinifolia) or the shrub form of tanbark-oak (Lithocarpus densiflorus var. echinoides)." Although I didn't have the book with me at the time, my guess is that I was surrounded by huckleberry oak (Quercus vaccinifolia). Additionally, I discovered spots of late wildflowers--perhaps Brewer's clarkia (Clarkia breweri)? In any case, I'm looking forward to reading more about what Kruckeberg calls "the kooky soils-flora story."

Although Serpentine Knoll was not the most beautiful part of the hike (Cataract to Helen Markt to Kent to Serpentine Knoll), it was certainly unusual and intriguing.

Photo by Arthur R. Kruckeberg of huckleberry oak (Quercus vaccinifolia). From Introduction to California Soils and Plants.

You'd Think Water Would be a Basic Right

"On July 6, 2009, Asmus wrote an opinion-based article for the Sacramento Bee, entitled 'You'd Think Water Would be a Basic Right.' In the article, he talks about how people in some of the poorest regions of the world, whether it is Nairobi, Kenya or Central California or elsewhere, lack the fundamental right to clean and safe water. Whether these people have a voice or not, it is ultimately up to the politicians to decide their fate."

Read more about Peter Asmus and his work at: You'd Think Water Would be a Basic Right

(This is a cross-post from the UC Press weblog.)

Fat Innkeeper Worms and Flying Fish

While planning a trip to the Lost Coast, I've been depending heavily on the California Coastal Commission guides to the coast (more on that in a future post). Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times posted a very amusing and informative review of the Southern California guide. It's worth a read, especially for locals. My favorite quote: "Even if you hear reports of a fat innkeeper worm taking advantage of his coastal location, there's no point in calling the Better Business Bureau."

Ocean Energy

Peter Asmus, author of Introduction to Energy in California responds to Obama's "proposal to trim R&D funding for the emerging sector of 'marine renewables'...The ocean is a huge global resource that will ultimately have to be tapped to meet the energy needs of the world’s growing populations – without contributing to global climate change. If the U.S. wants to be part of the solution, and help economic development in regions decimated by the collapse of native fishing stocks, then strategic investments need to be made today."

Read the entire post.

(This is a cross-post from the UC Press weblog)

Event: Introduction to Energy in California

Don't miss Peter Asmus at the Point Reyes National Seashore Bookstore talking about his book: Introduction to Energy in California. He'll be speaking at 12:30 p.m.

Peter Asmus, President of Pathfinder Communications, is a journalist, consultant, and author of Reaping the Wind: How Mechanical Wizards and Profiteers Helped Shape Our Energy Future, among other books.

For a preview, read the excerpt.

Farallones Web Cam

It's a beautiful morning at the Farallones, where scientists are watching 300,000 nesting seabirds. We recommend the web cam at the California Acadamy of Scientists. We hope that future iterations of the cam will include a sharper image and a live chat so scientists can tell us more about what they are studying.

Plant Identification and Information Resources for Summer Hikers

Planning a hike this weekend? The following resources can help you identify and learn more about the flora you might see on the trail.

 For Beginning and Intermediate Naturalists

If you want to do some reading before your hike, we recommend  Introduction to California Plant Life by Robert Ornduff, Phyllis M. Faber, and Todd Keeler-Wolf and  and California Plant Families by Glenn Keator. These are also great guides to take out into the field.

One stop shopping for all the trees and shrubs of California is available in Trees and Shrubs of California by John D. Stuart and John O' Sawyer.

Regional guides make it easier to narrow your search, may offer information on other species, and give more background on why certain plants grow in one region over another. Try Introduction to the Plant Life of Southern California: Coast to Foothills by Philip W. Rundel and Robert Gustafson, Introduction to Trees of the San Francisco Bay Region by Glenn Keator, Natural History of the Point Reyes Peninsula by Jules G. Evens, Sierra Nevada Natural History by Tracy I. Storer, Robert L. Usinger, and David Lukas

Wildflower season is coming to a close, but four books by Phillip A. Munz (originally published in the 1950s!) still provide excellent, at-a-glance identification and information about wildflowers.  Introduction to California Mountain Wildflowers, Introduction to Shore Wildflowers of California, Oregon, and Washington, Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast, and Introduction to California Desert Wildflowers by Philip A. Munz.

For Advanced Amateurs and Professional Naturalists

The Jepson Manual - Available Online or in Print
The most comprehensive resource and identification guide to nearly eight thousand varieties of native and naturalized California plants. At over 1,400 pages, it's a load to carry out into the field--but the only comprehensive resource of its kind. (The California Native Plant Society used to sell a special carrier for it, but I was unable to find it in their store. If you have any information about carriers for the Jepson Manual, please feel free to add a comment to this blog entry.) If you are planning a visit to the desert, The Jepson Desert Manual lightens your load while also providing all the information available in the larger book.

Jepson Flora Project - Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics
After identifying the plant using your Jepson manual, learn more about it using the Interchange, which links together a variety of University of California sources for distribution maps, specimen data,  horticultural information, photos (Cal Photos) and more.

A Manual of California Vegetation (California Native Plant Society)
Put together by the California Native Plant Society, this guide is now completely available online. It aggregates information and photos of species, including information also available via the Jepson Flora Project mentioned above.

We welcome your thoughts and tips as well. Please post reviews of your favorite identification guides and online resources in our comments section.

Illustration: Rosebay rhododendron. The rosebay rhododendron grows along the edge of moist coastal forests in the extreme North Bay, for example, in the Kruse Rhododendron Reserve on the northern Sonoma coast. Photo by Glenn Keator appears in Introduction to Trees of the San Francisco Bay Region.

Energy and the Environment

The Commonwealth Club will be hosting a provocative discussion between the CEO of Chevron and the Executive Direct of The Sierra Club tonight. In Chevron + Sierra Club Drilling for Common Ground, Alan Murray, Deputy Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal will moderate a conversation between Dave O'Reilly of Chevron and Carl Pope of The Sierra Club.Their discussion will focus on how we might make a transition to renewable fuels—and who should bear the costs. 

The lecture takes place at 6:30 p.m. at Hotel Nikko. Tickets are $15 for members and $30 non-members. The program is also being videotaped and recorded. 

This event coincides with the release of Peter Asmus's Introduction to Energy in California, a useful guide to the energy challenges that California faces. Those interested in the subject have good reason to keep an eye on energy in California. Asmus writes, "In each major renewable energy category—solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass—California quickly jumped into the category of global pioneer. It was not always pretty, as anyone who drives to the wind farms near Palm Springs on Hwy. 10 can attest to. However, it was remarkable that a single state—albeit a giant one with a plethora of renewable energy in the northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of the state—could spawn an entire industry in less than a decade."

Illustration from Introduction to Energy in California shows the 240 MW Coso geothermal complex, located near the China Lake Weapons Reserve, just south of Owens Valley on Highway 395.

Exploring the Treetops with Nalini Nadkarni

"They are the common thread between chewing gum, turpentine, allspice, maple syrup, vitamin packets, charcoal, toothpaste, and Chanel No. 5, and they are present throughout our lives, from birth and childhood (cradles, building blocks, tree houses) to death and beyond (memorial trees, coffins, gallows), and everything in between."

Read more about forest canopy biologist Nalini Nadkarni.

(This is a cross-post from the UC Press weblog)