Don
Rideout, Jim Roberts and I botanized the Villager Peak Trail to
Rattlesnake Canyon, and then spent some serious time slowly exploring
Rattlesnake Canyon for monsoonal plants.
We mostly
hiked the VP Trail, but stopped twice to check on Echinocactus
(Homalocephala) plants. First, we took repeat photography of
one plant photographed by Fred and Carla on 6 February 2019 that was
a bit off-trail:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20167579
It looked essentially the same four years later; my pix
and Don's pix:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144188682
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144046343
We also checked on the plant right next to the
trail, a bit farther up, that had been alive when I first
photographed it in 2010, but appeared completely dead 11 years
later. It still appeared dead on this trip, although two of the
barrels we weren't entirely sure about until Don pulled on their
spines a bit.
My pix from 2010 and 2019 and Don's pix
from 16 Jan 2022:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105120734
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105133955
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105074528
My pix from this trip:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144188683
We stopped to photograph some Pectis that was still
looking good, and discovered a baby ocotillo! We thought at
first that it still had a cotyledon, but one of my pix showed that
was a young leaf on a side shoot at the base of the plant.
Don's
post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144046782
My post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144176505
The bloom was noticeably less along this part of
the VP Trail than when Jim and I had hiked it a month earlier on 4
November 2022. What was most amazing was than a diamond (pencil)
cholla, C. ramosissima, that was in striking full bloom then, had no
easily-visible remnants at all of either the blooms from then, or any
fruit. Even though we were looking for it on the way up, to see
if it had any blooms left, we didn't recognize it when we passed it
due to the complete lack of obvious evidence that it had flowered
recently.
On the way back, we looked more closely at it,
and could see the minute flower base remnants on it.
Jim
and my pix from 4 November 2022:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141168376
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144187178
My pix from this trip:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144187179
We first explored the hillsides a bit downstream
from the mouth of Rattlesnake Canyon, looking for any interesting
monsoonal plants, and then went into Rattlesnake Canyon to do the
same. We were also looking for baby plants of shrubs like
Peucephyllum schottii and Senegalia, and hoping to see plants of
Plagiobothrys jonesii (now Simpsonanthus jonesii, named for Mike
Simpson of SDSU.)
Jim and Don did some great exploration
of some of the hillsides, while I mostly surveyed the less-dangerous
bases. Don's pix of Jim up on one of the hillsides:
http://tchester.org/temp/221209/rideout/hillside_exploration_30_no_exif.jpg
We found mostly the usual hillside suspects, such
as abundant Perityle emoryi in bloom, mostly dried up Boerhavia, both
species of Bouteloua, Aristida adscensionis, some Pectis still
blooming, and lots of Chamaesyce, and occasional Hibiscus,
Horsfordia, and desert tobacco in bloom.
We did
find one glorious specimen of heartleaf suncup in full bloom.
Don's post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144048289
There was a carpet of yellowhead, Trichoptilium, in
another spot; Don's post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144051196
And one barrel cactus had one open bloom and one
bud; Don's post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144051333
We found only a single young plant of what could be
the Plagio jonesii, and one of what could be Cryptantha barbigera
fergusoniae.
As we were exploring further on our
way back down the Canyon, I nearly stepped on another baby ocotillo,
and we found a third one on the VP trail on our way back.
Looking at pix online, these were clearly first year plants, so we
found a total of three ocotillos that had germinated this summer.
Don's post of the first of the other two plants:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144053685
My post of that same plant:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144176506
My post of the third plant:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144176507
On the way back down Jim spotted a single Mammy
tet:
Jim's post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144266402
My post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144191152
Don's pix of me leaving Rattlesnake Canyon:
http://tchester.org/temp/221209/rideout/leaving_rattlesnake_canyon_25.jpg
Don's pix of Rattlesnake Canyon in the shadows
above my head:
http://tchester.org/temp/221209/rideout/leaving_rattlesnake_canyon_25.jpg
Don, Jim and I posted 45 obs of 26 species:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-12-09&place_id=95385&user_id=jimirob1,tchester,lagoondon
Don posted 29 obs of 23 species; I posted 14 obs of 8
species; and Jim posted 2 obs of 2 species, since he was busy
attending the Sentenac Cienega Symposium on the two days after this
hike
Other details:
Don and I stopped
at the Henderson Canyon Road Geraea spot, and the flowers are still
going gang-busters. Don's pix:
http://tchester.org/temp/221209/rideout/geraea_field_henderson_canyon_road_30.jpg
We noted 36 species in bloom:
#Pls in
bloom name
99 Achyronychia
cooperi
99 Aristida adscensionis
99
Chamaesyce polycarpa
99 Cryptantha
angustifolia
99 Ditaxis lanceolata
99
Pectis papposa var. papposa
99 Perityle
emoryi
99 Physalis crassifolia
99
Trichoptilium incisum
50 Allionia
incarnata var. incarnata
50 Hyptis emoryi
30 Tidestromia suffruticosa var.
oblongifolia
10 Bebbia juncea var.
aspera
10 Encelia farinosa var. farinosa
10 Pseudorontium cyathiferum
5
Abronia villosa var. villosa
5 Aristida
purpurea
5 Dalea mollis
5
Fagonia laevis
5 Hibiscus denudatus
5
Horsfordia newberryi
5 Nicotiana obtusifolia
2 Chylismia cardiophylla ssp.
cardiophylla
2 Funastrum hirtellum
2
Palafoxia arida var. arida
1
Adenophyllum porophylloides
1 Cryptantha
maritima
1 Encelia frutescens
1
Euphorbia eriantha
1 Ferocactus cylindraceus
1 Krameria bicolor
1
Larrea tridentata
1 Marina parryi
1
Pleurocoronis pluriseta
1 Psorothamnus
schottii
1 Senegalia greggii
--
tom
chester
