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Ginger and Connie went on a docent-led hike in Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve called Explorer Hike: Birds & Blooms. Here is the description: What effects will the winter rains have on the floral display this season? Search for early bloomers of grassland and forest with docents Laura Levin, Dennis Smith, Lynn Jackson, and Kate Gudmundson in one of the best places to see wildflowers in the Bay Area. You'll delight in expansive views as you hike the Ridge, Hawk Ridge, Alder Spring, and Ancient Oaks Trails at a leisurely-to-moderate pace. Close-focus binoculars and a camera or sketch pad may add to your enjoyment. Click Here for Russian Ridge wildflower references. All photos copyright Ginger Wolnik Click Here to open a map showing where we hiked. |
False Babystars or Common Linanthus (Leptosiphon androsaceus)
"Popcorn" flowers (Plagiobothrys chorisianus var. chorisianus) that like moist ground
Purple sac clover (Trifolium depauperatum var. truncatum)
Checker-bloom mallow (Sidalcea malviflora)
Our group on the path
Fiddlenecks (Amsinckia menziesii)
Checker-bloom mallow (Sidalcea malviflora)
view of the south bay
our group on Borel Hill
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja affinis)
our group "train" goes around a bend, view of east bay foothills beyond the bay
our group descends the back side of Borel Hill
Owl's clover (Castilleja)
Shepherd's needle (Scandix pecten-veneris) not native
Spring vetch (Vicia sativa ssp. nigra) not native
Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)
Purple sanicle (Sanicula bipinnatifida)
Lupine sp.? (Lupinus)
California buttercup (Ranunculus californicus)
Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)
a wooded part of the trail
Giant trillium (Trillium chloropetalum)
Trillium and Miner's lettuce
Milkmaid (Dentaria californica)
lunch stop at boy scout camp platform
another view of the platform
Ginger getting ready for lunch
Ginger on the lunch bench
California Manroot (Marah fabeceus) a.k.a. Wild cucumber
Western Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) new red leaves
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
Docent Lynn Jackson describing Mindego Hill
cargo ship out at sea "floats" on the horizon
Docent Lynn Jackson describing Mindego Hill
English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) not native
Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)
rock used by native Americans to grind acorns
closeup of grinding depressions (filled with trapped leaves)
Wood strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
Common horsetail (Equisetum arvense) with spore stalk
Scouringrush horsetails (Equisetum hyemale)
Scouringrush horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) with spore stalk
Hound's tongue (Cynoglossum grande)
Poison oak leaves and Hound's tongue (Cynoglossum grande)
Fat Solomon (False Solomon's Seal, Western Solomon's Seal)
Smilacina racemosa
Wood Fern
California lotus (Acmispon wrangelianus)
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
Blue and white lupine (Lupinus bicolor)
Popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys nothofulvus)
Purplespot Gilia (Gilia clivorum)
Redmaids (Calandrinia ciliata)
Redmaids (Calandrinia ciliata)
green hills
Owl's clover (Castilleja) and Redmaid (Calandrinia ciliata)
a little bridge
Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) (not native)
Connie on a bench
Johnny-jump-ups (Viola pedunculata)
Scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) orange variety
Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)
The End!