I’m in two book groups; these are our November picks. Have you read either? I thought the McEwan was excellent. I just started the Gray last night.
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heteromeles arbutifolia
The toyon berries are putting on a good show right now. This is the shrub for which Hollywood is named, though it’s not a type of holly at all. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is a prominent component of the coastal sage scrub plant community, and a part of drought-adapted chaparral and mixed oak woodland habitats. It is the sole species in the genus Heteromeles.
Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love the summer flowers, and the autumn berries are devoured by a large variety of birds, including cedar waxwings, quail, towhees, Western bluebirds, robins, and mockingbirds.
Selasphorus sasin
I think it was either a female or immature Allen’s hummingbird sitting still among the bougainvillea flowers. It was a fat, sturdy little thing with mostly grey colouring.
corvid comparison
vaccinium corymbosum
This variety of blueberry is meant to grow in our climate, but ours just … don’t, really.
Erythrina fusca
The coral tree (Erythrina fusca) is the official city tree of Los Angeles, and is widely planted in frost-free areas. We have large one at our place, and while it needs annual pruning, we never cut back as far as this specimen. I feel sad for street trees that get pruned to within an inch of their lives.
Toxostoma redivivum
I don’t often see a California thrasher around here, so I’m always happy when I do. One has been hanging about the bird bath and bushes close to the house the past few days. Sweet!
condolence card
Thank you, Virginia Woolf, for giving me the words when I couldn’t find the right ones myself.
lithobiidae
I asked Trisha if we could examine a centipede some time, and even though they are not insects, she kindly collected one in her yard and put it under the microscope for us to sketch.
There are about 1000 species and subspecies in the family Lithobiidae, mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere. (The house centipede I posted last week is in a different family.)
Fun fact: centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment. Millipedes have two.
Punica granatum
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