Santa Clara Valley Chapter
Santa Clara
Valley Chapter
REPORT ON MT. TAMALPAIS NORTHSIDE LOOP by Sara Timby
(Photographs by Ken Gardiner; digital images prepared by Ken Gardiner)
This trip was scheduled for March 24 with the hope of catching the Calypso orchids at 
their peak. We were not disappointed. With the exception of one site on the peninsula, this is the southernmost California location for Calypso bulbosa, a monotypic genus found in boreal and temperate regions of North America and Eurasia. Dotting the shaded Douglas fir acidic understory where almost nothing else grew in the sometimes deep needle and twig litter, these delicate plants have a single basal leaf and a one-flowered scape, both arising from a corm. We found numerous small patches, always eliciting delight for the unexpectedness of the sight. Elsewhere in its range it is most often found in moist, mossy areas, blooming as late as July in Alberta.
Described first as Cypripedium bulbosum by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum of 1753, it was separated out as its own genus in 1807 by Englishman Richard Salisbury, based in part on its distinction of having a corm with fleshy roots rather than a rhizome, and in part because it has a single anther, albeit with two pollen masses. The stamen is fused with the pistil, forming the structure known as the "column," which is winged for protection from rain and is inverted over the sac-like petal known as the lip. It is here that the pollinating insects land, bringing in pollen from other flowers which is rubbed off on the pistil as the insect leaves, at the same time transporting new pollen away.
The Calypso was named for Homer's sea nymph in the Odyssey, who kept Odysseus for seven years on her island Ogygia. Salisbury probably was thinking both of its singular beauty and its secluded haunts. The common name, Fairy slipper, is also very apt, emphasizing the smaller, more delicate flower from the Lady slippers (Cypripedium sp.).
The trip started at Rock Springs, heading up and over the west serpentinite ridge of Mt. Tamalpais. Just before the high point of the ridge we entered the pygmy forest of 
Sargent cypress, surrounded with the serpentine endemics Arctostaphylos montana and Ceanothus jepsonii, both just beginning to bloom. The ceanothus gives off a musky odor, and it is aptly called Muskbrush. The fruits are large and showy, giving the plant a beautiful appearance even later in the season. Another showy plant of this serpentine area is the Calamagrostis ophiditis, or Serpentine reed grass, a large bunchgrass which bordered the rocky trail.
The furthest objective of the walk was the type-locality of the newly described Tamalpais oak, Quercus parvula var. tamalpaisensis. Stephen K. Langer first wrote about it in Four Seasons (9:3, 1993), and his article was later modified for Fremontia (22:2, 1994). Mt. Tamalpais and its vicinity are the home of twelve oak taxa, some common but others more limited in range. The Tamalpais oak has a very limited range, primarily on the north side of the mountain above 1,600 feet, and limited to 1,500 to 2,000 individuals. It grows as an understory in shaded woodland, with its main associates being Douglas fir, California nutmeg, canyon live oak, madrone, California bay, and tan oak. It is better described as a shrub than a tree (up to 6 meters), prefers deep shade, and has very long (averaging around four inches) leaves, with the margins very long-toothed.
On the return to the cars just after the Benstein Trail leaves Potrero Meadows we saw an impressive mature grove of Chrysolepis chrysophylla, the giant chinquapin. Though it can grow to 100-feet high further north, these trees were probably closer to fifty feet. One can also find the shrubby form, C. chrysophylla var. minor, in the chaparral areas on Mt. Tamalpais.
Thanks to Paul Heiple who contributed geologic insights to our finds and Ken Gardiner who took the beautiful photographs illustrating this report on our web page.
A few other spring wildflowers (March-April blooming) found on Mt. Tam:
 Collinsia sparsiflora 5x; 4/12/95 |
 Mimulus douglasii 5x; 4/12/95 |
 Corallorhiza maculata 6x; 4/12/95 |
 Claytonia exigua 12x; 3/24/96 |
REPORT ON ANZA BORREGO by Don Mayall
The beginning of April is traditionally the time when California native plant enthusiasts get the urge to see cactus and mesquite in bloom. This year our most intrepid desert rats trekked to Anza Borrego State Park, a Sonoran habitat in eastern San Diego county. Our Palm Canyon campsite was filled with blooming ocotillo, chuparosa, indigo bush, and cheesebush, and at night, coyote calls and great comet-viewing.
The pattern of winter rainfall had been such that the fields of desert evening primrose and verbena, seen in some years, were not 
in evidence. This shortfall went unnoticed, for Cathy Rose, our very knowledgeable leader, kept our days filled with botanizing and hiking. Cathy, who also led our very interesting Carson Pass trip last summer, has spent a great deal of time in Anza Borrego, and appears to know not only every canyon, but the location of every unusual plant. In Palm Canyon, she guided us to many of the plants on her exhaustive list, such as Carlowrightia arizonica, missed not only by us on previous trips, but by legions of professional botanists. We also found Hedgehog cactus, Mormon tea, Fairy duster, Desert willow, and Desert mallow in bloom. Later that day she took us, at moonrise, to the top of the curiously named Alcoholic Pass in the Coyote Mountains.
Next day we were led to the top of Plum Canyon, so named for the Desert Peach, Prunus andersonii, blooming there. This sandy wash contained Whispering bells, Desert canterbury bells, Wishbone plant, Sand mat, Desert dandelion, Brown-eyed primrose, Bigelow mimulus, and many other 
desert specialties in bloom. Another moon-viewing trip that evening was up Glorietta canyon. We continued our explorations on Wednesday with a trip to the south end of the park to look for elephant trees, Bursera microphylla, a genus of tropical America found in a few isolated canyons of San Diego county. At Mountain Palm Springs we started up a dry wash in the heat of the day, but soon were rewarded with a large elephant tree which provided enough shade for our lunch. In the afternoon we ventured on a dirt road from Blair Valley to two sites which had served as winter camps of the Kumeyaay Indians. One site featured grinding rocks, the other, pictographs. Both sites were at the top of low passes, girded in juniper and providing haunting desert vistas unchanged from what earlier inhabitants saw, and doubtless also enjoyed.
The next day we met Linda Nordstrand of the Anza-Borrego Foundation, a non-profit group that raises funds to purchase additional land for the park. She described for us private land at Scissors Crossing whose acquisition is under consideration. An unexpected feature of this site is a wetland. Although invaded by tamarisk as a result of a land-clearing burn, the bottom land is covered with mats of Yerba mansa (Anemopis californica). She also said that if the Park Service acquires the land, it plans extensive exotic removal.
By Friday the group had thinned out to our hardiest pair of adventurers, who hiked the seven miles down Culp Valley, to emerge via Hellhole Canyon. Come another spring we will be back, all pledging to make this strenuous traverse, and some of us may actually do it.
Thanks to Ken Gardiner who took the beautiful photographs that illustrate .
The Anza-Borrego Foundation, P.O. Box 2001, Borrego Springs, CA 92004, is playing an invaluable role in preserving this habitat by expanding the park. They would welcome your donation to help purchase this unique and important wetland.
