Elderberry

Elderberry...reminds me of a couple movies; there's the scene in Arsenic and Old Lace where the two crazy aunts are trying to get the old man to drink the elderberry wine - "elderberry wine? Why, I haven't had elderberry wine since I was a boy!" And of course, there are the insult-hurling french guards from The Holy Grail ("...and your father smelt of elderberries!") But seriously, elderberries have a place in cultural heritage for their use in cordials, preserves, medicine, and wine.

Anyway, red elderberry - Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa (formerly S. Callicarpus) is the elderberry species native to our region. Last I heard, Elderberry were in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae), but rumor has it genetic information has put it into the Axodaceae family.

Here's a fairly large, sprawling elderberry bush in Rockport.

That guy cruising down Highway 1 was doing some serious trekking - with all his belongings in one of those fancy baby-strollers. He seemed intent on making it to Westport that evening - and it was already 4:30 in the evening. "La Naturaleza, " he commented, as he passed me taking a photo, and then proceeded to inquire if there was a restaurant in Westport and if there was any thing sooner...10 miles on foot to the next meal. That's earning one's dinner.

PS: The Trillium petals are just beginning to turn pink.

Snow Queen

This was a new one for me. Snow queen (Synthyris reniformis var. cordata), a member of the snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae), is much too small and inconspicuous for such a dramatic name as snow queen. The flowers were about as high as my longest finger, and I was flat on my belly for this shot.

This species can have more reniform (kidney shaped - wider than long) leaves than the one shown here, but leaf shape is variable. Jepson says that plants with leaves longer than they are wide were known as S. reniformis var. cordata, so I take it this may be outdated.

There's also variation in flower color in this species - they're more commonly found with blue to purple flowers.

Photos taken on March 14 in the Noyo watershed east of Fort Bragg, Ca. The flowers were growing on the roadbed of a little-traveled redwood forest road.

[This just in: the snapdragon or figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, according to the wikipedia article has been hacked to pieces and many genera kicked out and sent to other families, including Synthyris, which apparently belongs now to Plantaginaceae (plantain family). This is exactly why I wouldn't necessarily want to be a real botanist.]

Trillium

Trillium flowers, or wake-robins, are well-known harbingers of spring. It's a joy each year to see them start to pop up and bloom.

This is western trillium - Trillium ovatum - one of two common species in this area. The other is Trillium chloropetalum - giant wake robin. You can recognize T. ovatum easily by the section of its stem between the base of the flower and the attachment of the leaves (actually leaf-like bracts?). T. chloropetalum on the other hand is sessile - the flower is directly subtended by the leaves.

The white petals will change to pink over time.

One of the many things I have just learned reading up on Trillium, is that you should not pick them! Picking the flowers inhibits the the underground parts' (the rhizomes') ability to bloom again the next year, since without the leaves they're unable to photosynthesize and stock up for the next season. So, enjoy them in situ, not in vase!

Now here's a fun fact: Trillium seeds are dispersed by ants! It's totally common for animals to spread seeds of plants whose fruit they eat, but I think of birds and rodents and such. This is the first I've heard of ants playing that role - pollination, sure, but seed dispersal? Well silly me; apparently it's really common. The seed is attached to a fleshy structure called an elaiosome which is rich in lipids and proteins, and attracts ants. The ants lug the whole mess to their nests, eat the goodies, discard the seed, and voila!

Trillium are currently in the lily family (Liliaceae). But it's been re-classified a few times. In my beloved copy of Mary Elizabeth Parson's The Wildflowers of California published 1921, they're in the lily family. In the Pocket Flora of the Redwood Forest (Becking, 1982), they're in their own family, Trilliaceae, along with the fetid adder's tongue (Scoliopus bigelovii). Now they're both back in Liliaceae. Are you a lumper or a splitter? I'm neither, I just try to keep up.

I brought out the tripod for this lovely growing in the shade near my house - to get a sharper image. I will do that more often when I get a shorter tripod. Now that I'm shooting flowers, I'll need one. As you'll see, flash photography is not my cup of tea, at least for this project. I want my photos to show the light the flowers see.

These photos taken on March 14 in Little River, Ca

More on Milk Maids

While taking pictures of a Trillium at the edge of the woods at my house,I noticed the multitude of Cardamine californica popping up all over the place. They looked like the normal variety, so I thought I ought to take some pics to demonstrate the difference between these and the ones from my other post. Also, an especially purple Cardamine basal leaf caught my eye and wanted its picture taken (above). The heart shaped basal leaf of the milkmaid plant looks totally different from the cauline leaves, which are usually palmately dissected. They are often various shades of green or purple, or both. Below is the whole plant.

So the question is, dear readers, do the individuals in the photos from my other post belong to a subspecies or variety of Cardamine californica? If I had dear readers, I would ask for their input.

The photos above were taken on March 14 in Little River, Ca.