Platanus racemosa
Tag: smmnjc
Oenothera elata
Oenothera elata (Tall/Hooker’s/Hairy/Western/Marsh Evening Primrose) is a tall biennial native to much of western and central North America, with one or more upright stems bearing a profusion of large bright yellow flowers, 3 in (7 cm) across. I was intrigued to see a bee burrowing deep into the flower’s throat, rather than gathering pollen from the prominent stamens and pistil.
@ Charmlee
Our nature journal club met at Charmlee Wilderness Park last Sunday; a good time was had by all. The rattlesnake in the bathroom was a highlight!
Asclepias eriocarpa
Asclepias eriocarpa is native to California and adjacent parts of Nevada and Baja California. It grows in many habitat types such as rocky hillsides, woods, deserts, and especially dry areas. Along with other milkweeds, woollypod is vital to the survival of the monarch butterfly, as well as being a great nectar source for a range of beneficial insects.
Milkweeds contain cardiac glycosides, naturally occurring drugs that increase the force of heart contraction and have been used to treat heart conditions. The cardiac glycosides are potentially poisonous to humans, and are definitely toxic to dogs, cats, and grazing animals. So maybe don’t plant it in your horse paddock.
Leo Carrillo
What a joy it was, to have a full weekend of camping and nature journaling with 22 other curious nature lovers at Leo Carrillo State Park.
I got to wondering — who was Leo Carrillo (1915–1957)? Turns out he was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, philanthropist, and conservationist. He gained lasting fame when he played the role of Pancho on early television’s “The Cisco Kid.”
Carrillo served on the California Beach and Parks commission for 18 years and played a key role in the state’s acquisition of Hearst Castle at San Simeon, Los Angeles Arboretum, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. He was also an ardent historic preservationist and helped to save a number of historic buildings in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
His legacy is not entirely golden, however. During World War II, Carrillo advocated for the removal of all Japanese Americans from the west coast. In a 1944 telegram to Congressman Leland Ford that received extensive coverage, Carrillo wrote: “…it seems that every [Japanese] farmhouse is located on some strategic elevated point. Let‘s get them off the coast and into the interior.”
As for pronunciation of his last name, we now say “Car-reeyo“ with the “y“ for double “l“ as in Mexican Spanish. However, his autobiography* phonetically spelled what his family considered the correct Castilian pronunciation: “Cay-reel-yo” with a liquid Castilian double “l”. *Carrillo, Leo (1961). The California I Love.
Urtica
While gingerly investigating the nettle, I managed to get stung under my chin. The perils of nature journaling!
Charmlee
Our sixth nature journal club meetup was our biggest and (arguably) best yet! Certainly our best lunch spread—we are totally rocking the picnic buffet. Seventeen of us enjoyed perfect winter weather (70° and sunny) at charming Charmlee Wilderness Park in western Malibu. Such a joy.
smmnjc meetup
Lovely meetup of the Santa Monica Mountains Nature Journal Club today at Temescal. The cherry on top was seeing my first Townsend’s warbler. I realise that it looks like the bird is the answer to the “Big chomps by whom?” question, but the two are unrelated.
little den
nature journaling at the tide pools
We had our third SMMNJC meetup today, and I’m still a-glow, hours later. Fourteen of us met at low tide at Malibu Lagoon State Beach to share a picnic, then marvel at sea hares, anemones, limpets, shrimp, crabs, octopuses, patterns in the sand, seabirds, and so much more. Near the end of our time together, I quoted the immortal words of Kurt Vonnegut, “Well if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” My heart is full.
hashiworks 