2021 Botany Season has Begun!
Our paintbrushes hunker down for the winter, not quite going totally dormant. Now the new shoots have begun to grow, bringing forth the promise of those gorgeous red flowers in a few months. This plant growing on the cliffs along Hills Creek Reservoir might be frosted paintbrush (Castilleja pruinosa), but the paintbrushes in this area are quite variable.
One of the small creeks at Many Creeks Meadow was running well.
Just a short post today about my first trip of the season. Sad to say, I’m already way behind on posting as the trip was a week ago, on March 3rd. As always, I started the season with a look at many of my favorite spots along Road 21, in the Rigdon area south of Oakridge. Things were just starting, with only a handful of species in bloom, but it was a gorgeous sunny 60° day, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. In bloom were gold stars (Crocidium multicaule), meadow nemophila (Nemophila pedunculata), snow queen (now with a new name: Veronica regina-nivalis), white alder (Alnus rhombifolia), slender toothwort (Cardamine nuttallii), Hall’s lomatium (Lomatium hallii), and the very first Sierra gooseberry (Ribes roezlii) flower.
I started the day with a quick stop along the north side of the reservoir just east of the dam. Tiny silvery lupine (Lupinus albifrons) seedlings were just sprouting their first true leaves. Even at this size, someone small had spotted this one and taken a few bites out of one of the thick cotyledon leaves.
I made a quick stop at the Oakridge dump, which is right near the Hills Creek Dam, to do some recycling. I was surprised to get this great view of Heckletooth Mountain, where both the west- and south-facing meadows can be seen at the same time.
The goldstars (Crocidium multicaule) that I seeded in my restoration area on my property had begun to bloom, so I was sure they would be flowering along the reservoir, but they still have a while to go before their peak bloom.
“Ladybug Rock” (just west of Camper’s Flat along Road 21) didn’t let me down. One of the sights I’d hoped to see was the first gathering of the overwintering butterflies as happy as I was for such a warm spring-like day. There were as many as a couple of dozen California tortoiseshells and a single green comma (wings open in the upper left) flitting about the south-facing rock face.
The male catkins of white alder (Alnus rhombifolia) were in bloom above the Middle Fork of the Willamette River at Camper’s Flat Campground.
Always appreciate your botany newsletters. You mentioned Heckletooth Mountain’s east and south meadows. Are the meadows from clear cuts or landslides or too rocky for trees to grow?
Thank you, Tanya – for a great opener to Spring.
I’m glad you mentioned Hall’s Lomatium. I have a romantic interest and immense appreciation for the genus.
Your information is as appreciated as your lovely photography.
Blessings,
Blanche