Spring 2007: A Season of Wildflowers

Spring 2007

A Season of Wildflowers

For many people in Southern California, late winter and early spring is their favorite time of year. It’s wildflower season and for a few months, the land is dappled with splashes of intense color.

In this issue you will find an interpretive field guide insert. It’s not simply a list of plant names, but another way of looking at flowers that will help you understand the purpose behind their design.

No two years are alike because flowers are affected by rainfall and temperature.

This year has been particularly dry and the blossoms have been later and fewer in number. So what better reason to devote this issue to wildflowers. Just like a gardener pores over seed catalogs, we can read this newsletter and hope for more flowers next year.

This issue has something for everyone.

For the techies, we describe the physical cues that stimulate bloom. For the outdoors types, we offer the insert—how flowers are designed to attract pollinators.

And for those who watch daytime TV, we offer “Ask Dr. Flora”, a tongue-in-cheek look at pollination. Above all, we hope you enjoy the photos.

Inside this issue….

1

Feature Story 2 From the Editor 2 Greetings from the MRCA 3-4 Parks in the News

Special Wildflower Insert

5 6 7 8

Fire Followers Notes from the Field Ask Dr. Flora Photo Gallery

Wild Peony Page

From the Editor…..

This is photo has a special meaning for me. Not because of the flower but because of the hand holding it steady. That hand belongs to my father.

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of the times I spent traipsing with my dad through the woods and fields of Wisconsin. In the spring, when the ground was moist and spongy and smelled of rich earth, he showed me where to find trilliums, bloodroots and tiny delicate violets peeking above the leaf litter. In the hot and muggy summer, when the air was thick with bugs, he showed me where to find Queen Anne's lace at the edge of the pasture.

Now, when I lead visitors on springtime walks through our parks, I especially enjoy seeing parents with their young children. We take our time, stopping to inspect the flowers, learning to see them as the insects see them. It’s not about traveling from point A to B in the shortest amount of time.

It’s about learning to see the beauty that surrounds us. My dad taught me that, many years ago.

But recently, my dad and my stepmother had another lesson to teach me. Last month we visited Gulfport, Mississippi, where a year and a half ago, Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home. There, amidst the wreckage, the flowers they had once tended so carefully were now in bloom. I was reminded that flowers are not just beautiful, they are also hardy survivors and symbols of hope. Flowers and people are often more resilient than they first appear.

Thanks, Dad (and Sue).

Wendy Langhans 310-858-7272 x115 Wendy.langhans@mrca.ca.gov Postscript: I want to give credit and thanks our MRCA volunteers Steve Ioerger and Dianne Erskine. Since 2003, the three of us have been on an informal quest to photograph wildflowers in our MRCA parklands. Rather than tediously identify each photographer’s work , let’s just assume the bestlooking photos are theirs. Thanks also to MRCA volunteer Dr. Thomas Maxwell, who showed me where the wild peonies bloom at Sage Ranch.

Greetings from the MRCA…..

Dear Friends, Years ago, there was a TV commercial that encouraged us to “Say it with Flowers”. And so we do. We use flowers to court each other. We use flowers to celebrate a birth or a wedding. We use flowers to comfort each other in times of sickness or death.

Willow Catkin

In our natural world, flowers also serve as messengers. They speak to insects of food, shelter and places to lay their eggs. They spoke to our Native peoples of food and medicines.

At the MRCA, flowers speak to us of places in need of protection. A showy Humboldt lily, which we see in Ramirez and Pico Canyons, grows in riparian habitats, one of the most threatened habitats in southern California.

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At our Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, the Wild Hyacinth nondescript willow catkin, packed with tiny flowers lacking petals or sepals, is indicative of a nesting place for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher.

Even the absence of flowers is in itself a message. Wild hyacinths are dormant in drought years. That reminds us to be prepared for a long fire season this year.

When you listen, flowers really do have something to say to us.

Now go outside and play!

Michael D. “Mike” Berger, Chair Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

Parks in the News‌ Successfully meeting the challege

Temescal Field Science Camp This year the MRCA is again offering a series of three day, two night field science camps for students from the Los Angeles Unified School District. Our mission at the Temescal Field Science Program is to provide a deeply meaningful outdoor experience to children who have limited access and experience in nature. This experience is created through a teacher-customized curriculum, which focuses on California standards-based lessons, leadershipbuilding activities, and outdoor education. These lessons and activities are presented with emphasis on our unique Mediterranean ecosystem, dynamic local history, and threatened watersheds.

The program runs from March through June and is geared towards 6th graders. Our t-shirts say it all: Native firebuilding technique

A first-hand look at a threatened watershed

Now Go Outside and Play!

A ropes course provides an opportunity to practice trust, teamwork and courage

Data gathering for GLOBE studies Page 3

Parks in the News…

Public Access to Lechuza Beach There is something refreshing about spending the day at the beach, especially on a hot day. We suggest that you consider visiting a little-know local venue, Lechuza Beach.

Lechuza Beach is located between East Sea Level Drive and West Sea Level Drive in the City of Malibu.

Directions: From Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, take Broad Beach Road southeast. Broad Beach Road connects with Pacific Coast Highway at Trancas Canyon and again about 1.5 miles east (down-coast) of Encinal Canyon Road.

Lechuza Beach is a good spot for a picnic.

Photo J. Tamasi

River Rangers Take Their First Field Trip

The MRCA has entered into an exciting new partnership with the Anahuak Youth program, which serves the communities adjacent to the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens. One of the goals is a monthly trip to the Santa Monica Mountains for children and their families, the first of which was held at the end of March and was a big success.

Almost 200 people enjoyed the trip to Franklin Canyon Park, where they hiked up the Hastain Trail to the overlook, and back down to the Ranch to relax and watch a wildlife presentation given by The Nature of Wildworks. The families then visited the Sooky Goldman Nature Center and ended We ask you to be a good neighbor and follow the posted the day with a walk around Franklin Canyon Lake. beach rules, including no trespassing on private property, no Other partnership activities will include campfire programs motorized watercraft, no dogs (unless specially licensed for at Marsh Street Park along the Los Angeles River and a this beach) and no overnight camping, firearms, littering, Junior Ranger program. These programs are funded thanks campfires or alcohol. The park is open from 8 AM to sunset. to an anonymous private donation. ~Nubez Jordan There are two public access points: (1) a stairway marked by a brown park sign saying "Lechuza Beach Access”. This vertical access way goes from Broad Beach Road down to Lechuza Beach and is located opposite a street called "Bunnie Lane." (2) A pedestrian access gate is located at Sea Level Drive, east of Bunnie Lane. The public has the right to use Sea Level Drive to walk down to the beach. While there is a gate and "private property" sign that blocks Sea Level Drive from vehicular access, that sign does not apply to the pedestrian access gate to the left. You can park on Broad Beach Road.

Ramirez Canyon Docents Ramirez Canyon is a place of growth and renewal. For the young there is Happy Trail Farm, a program for children with disabilities. Children and volunteers take turns rotating through various stations of crafts and animals, including “The Bunny Patch”. For the young at heart, we offer a Senior and Public Outreach program to people living in senior assisted living homes, the V.A. Hospital, women’s shelters and other groups with limited access to traditional park programs.

We’d like to thank our volunteers: Mindy Kirshbaum, Meggan Kimberley, Jackie Lee, Cindy Chigaridas, Nancy Fleming, Joyce Booke, Christina Bornstein, Ilyce Dawes, Ann Houseal, Sherrie Foster, Beth Brennan, Lynne Schmidt, Tamar Freeman and Shirley D’ Haenens.

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The Bunny Patch

What are “Fire Followers”?

“One of the most spectacular wildflower shows to be seen anywhere in the world is that which occurs in the first spring after a chaparral fire.”

(1) Some researchers define fire followers as annuals that are found in the first year after a fire and are rarely seen thereafter. Their seeds require heat, chemicals from smoke or nitrogen from the ash as cues to germinate. Once they grow to maturity and shed their seeds, those seeds lie dormant for years until the next wildfire.

But other researchers define fire followers more broadly to include “plants that typically appear following a fire”. (2) Opportunistic annuals quickly germinate in the nutrient-rich and sun-drenched soil after a fire. Also, wildflowers that grow from underground bulbs generally survive a wildfire because of the insulating properties of dry soil.

Fire Poppy

In addition, there are short-lived shrubs and semi-woody subshrubs that germinate from seeds and are dominant for 2-6 years until other species grow tall enough to re-establish their canopy cover and/or produce sufficient allopathic inhibitory chemicals in the soil.

We don’t have space to show them all, but here are a few notable examples of fire followers. For more information about fire ecology, check out the Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education website: www.aeoe.org/resources/fire/index.html#articles.

White Snapdragon

Notes: (1) Introduction to Plant Life of Southern California, W. Rundel and R. Gustafson, UCPress, pg 110-135.

(2) www.sdnhm.org/exhibits/fire/tguide_fire.pdf.

Yellow-throated Phacelia

Yellow Monkeyflower

Twining Snapdragon

Cream-colored Ear-drops

Whispering Bells

Bush Poppy Page 5

Ask Dr. Flora— advice for flowers seeking that “special” pollinator Q. Dr. Flora, I’m just a shy white flower.

How can I hope to compete with all those flashy hussies out there? ~ Lonely A. Dear Lonely, You have to accentuate your best features at the right time of day. Unlike those flashy hussies, your white flowers will gleam in the moonlight.

Unfold your petals at night and I guarantee you’ll have plenty of handsome moths to choose from.

Sacred Datura

Q. Dr. Flora, I’m tired of all those sleazy pollinators out there looking for a quick and easy relationship. How can I attract a more virile and discriminating pollinator? ~ Sick and tired A. Dear Sick and tired, Stop being so readily available; you have to play hard to get. Take a lesson from your neighboring snapdragons. They designed their petals to “snap open” only when a bee of the right size and weight lands on them. Now go and do likewise.

Rose Snapdragon

Q. Dr. Flora, I have an odor problem - my leaves stink. The only pollinators that find me attractive are those nerdy bees and beetles? What can I do? ~ Smelly and desperate A. Dear Smelly and desperate, Perhaps you should reconsider your prejudice against bees and beetles. They may not be as showy as those flamboyant butterflies, but as my grandmother used to say, “still waters run deep.”

And as for your odor problem, not every flower can smell like a rose. My grandmother had another saying, “beauty is as beauty does.”

Stinking Gourd Page 6

Notes from the Field…..

(For the last six months, we’ve been experimenting with Valleynews.com, the “Daily News” citizen journalism website.

Here is an example of a recent interpretive nature story. To see more, go to valleynews.com/SantaClaritaValley and look for stories in the category “environment”.

Colorful Freeloaders Freeloaders. Everybody knows at least one. You know the type – the friend that dresses fashionably but always splits the tab at lunch, even though her entrée costs twice as much as yours.

So even in this year of drought, when wildflowers aren’t plentiful, I wasn’t surprised to spot an Indian paintbrush blooming along the trail. You see, Indian paintbrush are expert freeloaders. They send out root-like tendrils called haustoria, which attach themselves to the roots of neighboring plants in order to steal water and nutrients.

That’s why you often find them growing near buckwheat

Woolly Indian Paintbrush and sage. But they’re partial, not complete parasites. They can grow on their own, they just won’t be as large.

And that flashy red color – well – those aren’t flower petals.

They’re bracts, modified leaves that surround the actual tiny flowers. Bracts are more durable than petals, so they last longer and take less energy to produce. Think of it as a cheap knockoff, rather than the more expensive “real deal”.

Docent Graduation Congratulations to the Winter 2007 Class of MRCA Volunteer Naturalists. Many are already active on the trail or busy planning their programs that they will soon offer to the public.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication!

Russell Smith and Angi Orton

Luis Anay Shadrack Anderson Karen Barnouw Fran Bibian Jennifer Bost Sheila Cohen Anna Fink Zahava Fisk Matthew Hicks Cecilia Mendoza Patricia Mendoza Alex Michealson Lindsay Morris Margie Neufeld

Micheal Ostman Lucy Olmos-Speed Lance Perez Victor Rachootin Derek Ren Harvey Simon Richard Smilo Russell Smith Rex Watson Danielle Watson Allie Weinstein Matthew Wilkin Adam Wolf

Story by A. Orton

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Chocolate Lily Photo by J. Nowatzki

Late winter and early spring is when you can find the most spectacular wildflowers in our parklands and open spaces.

Each year the numbers and timing varies, depending on the rainfall and temperature.

But no matter how many or how few, their beauty can still take your breath away.

Humboldt Lily

Some wildflowers found in MRCA parkland are considered “Species of Special Concern”: Humboldt Lily Plummer’s Mariposa Lily Others are uncommon: Scarlet Larkspur

Chocolate Lily Scarlet Larkspur

Plummer’s Mariposa Lily

In Spanish, Mariposa means butterfly.

Can you see a resemblance between these Mariposa lilies and butterfly wings?

Butterfly Mariposa Lily

Yellow Mariposa Lily

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Color var. of Butterfly Mariposa