Tag: smmnjc

willow galls

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galls

Galls, also known as cecidia, are abnormal swellings that form on the outer tissues of plants, resembling benign tumors or warts in animals. These growths can be triggered by a wide range of parasites, including viruses, fungi, bacteria, other plants, insects, and mites. The scientific study of these structures is called cecidology.

Galls come in many different sizes, shapes and colours; I’m always looking out for them. Our native arroyo willows display at least two different insect-triggered galls. The sawfly/midge lays its eggs under the surface of the leaf/stem. Cecidologists are still trying to figure out how the plant’s genetic instructions cause the responding structures, which provide shelter and food for the insect’s larvae when they hatch.

Salix lasiolepis

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Salix lasiolepis

It was so good to meet with SMMNJC again this past weekend. Due to vacation, holidays, and wildfires it had been four months since I’d got to hang out with the gang. We welcomed four newcomers, and all enjoyed our time in the sun. I got curious about the arroyo willow flowers and identified male/female. Did not identify the odd stem growth, but mysteries are OK by me.

Oenothera elata

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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.

Asclepias eriocarpa

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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

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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.