California

tive

Plant

Society

KERN CHAPTER

JUNE 201 7

CONTENTS

Salt Creek Trip - 1
Accolades - 2
President's Message - 3
Field Trips /Events - 4
Meeting Topics - 4
Photo Galleries - 5 & 6
Garden Notebook - 6
Conservation Corner - 7

EVENTS

JUNE

14 - Piute Mountain,
Saddle Springs Road Field Trip

15 - Chapter Meeting, 6 pm
Program, 7 pm

JULY

20 - NO MEETING

AUGUST
17 - NO MEETING

SEPTEMBER
21 - Chapter Meeting, 6 pm
Program, 7 pm

Wildflowers and Waterfalls:

Highlights of the Salt Creek Field Trip

by Nancy Nies

NOW-CAPPED PEAKS, A LUSH GREEN CANYON, SHIMMERING
waterfalls, and vibrant blooms awaited the eight Kern CNPS members
who traveled north to three Rivers on April 29, to join eight members of
the Alta Peak chapter for a field trip in the Salt Creek area, led by BLM
botanist Denis Kearns.

It was a beautiful morning for a drive up the valley. Turning east toward

Sequoia and winding our way up
into the foothills, we were treated
to clear views of the snowy Sierra.
Just beyond Three Rivers, we
headed up a side road to meet the
rest of our group. The Salt Creek
area being under BLM jurisdiction,
we were fortunate to have a con¬
nection allowing us access by car
beyond the gate. We were thus able
to drive a distance before continu¬
ing on foot. As we strolled up the
road, we were awed by the view
to the south — the deep, wide Salt
Creek Canyon, with its verdant
Douglas oak woodland and its
tiered waterfalls shining in the sun.
And, along the road cut, we were
excited to find an abundance of
wildflowers in bloom.

Among the day's highlights:

• Spotting a healthy Dndleya sp., its stems absolutely perpendicular to
the shaded rock crevice where it was growing, its orange blooms and
fleshy green foliage standing out against the brown granite;

• Coming upon a large, shady cove filled with the tangled vines and
lovely blue flowers of Pholistoma anritnm (fiesta flower);

• Seeing lots of Amsinckia intermedia (fiddleneck) at the peak of its orange
bloom — memorably intermixed, in one spot, with the reddish-purple
blooms of Castilleja exserta (owl's clover);

• Noticing Diplacns anrantiacns (bush monkeyflower), with its masses

Dudleya sp. (live-forever)

The California Native Plant Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of California native plants and
their natural habitats, and to increasing the understanding, appreciation, and horticultural use of native plants.

All photos— Nancy Nies (Salt Creek, 29 April 2017)

2

Mimulus Memo — June 2017

Pholistoma auritum (fiesta flower)

• Later, near
Salt Creek
itself, discov¬
ering many
cream-col-

Trifolium willdenovii (tomcat clover) ored blooms

of Tritelein

fxioides (pretty face), alongside the trail;

• And finding Papnver heterophyllum (wind
poppy) and Calochortns aiiioenits (purple fairy-
lantern), blooming bright red and deep rose,
respectively, on a cliff high above.

Many thanks go to Patty Gradek for organizing
the Salt Creek field trip, and to Denis Kearns for

'Oil

Rich Spj uj and pauj jvji f

their knowledge h "tor sharing
bryophyte fieldtnp. Y°phytes on the

••• Denis Kearns for leading

pnd eni°y^ble outing to | ^ 'nstru«'Ve

p*«y Gradek for organizing u ' ^

Ann Huber and Rnh t-r

... to Mitchell rni , e ”asin-

^•Plexpohjca^a, ^?dthVrofeJonfSUSHaboUt
^ry grass matter in propagation reS,dua^

Plam Stud'«Sand E ^e-

for their ^reaf.ob311 ^ M°nica T“dor
flower displays and n^T^8, the WlJd-
Garden Fes t £ P ' Sa,e at the BC

of soft-yellow flowers, at several places along the
road;

Enjoying the sight of a hillside covered by a ma¬
roon carpet of Trifoliuni willdenovii (tomcat clover);

Appreciating the beauty of a stand of Eschscholzin
caespitosn (foothill poppy), its yellow petals back-lit
by the morning sun;

Recognizing the blue and bluish-purple blooms
of three species of lupine, Litpimis albifrons (silver
bush lupine), Litpimis benthamii (spider lupine),
and Litpimis nanus (sky lupine);

• Sighting Ment-
zelia laevicnulis
(giant blazing
star), with its
spectacular,
bright-yellow
flowers;

• Identifying
Gilia capitnta
ssp. abrotanifolia
(ball gilia), its
tall, slender
stems each
topped by a
round, white
inflorescence;

leading it. Get-well wishes go to Martha Widmann of
the Alta Peak chapter, who injured her hand in a fall
at the end of the day, in the hope that she'll remem¬
ber the beauty of the rest of the trip. A day featuring
a rainbow of spring wildflowers — not to mention
commanding views of snow-covered mountains and
a striking canyon, as well as the pleasing sight and
sound of
failing
water —
is a day
never to be
forgotten.

O

Mentzelia laevicaulis (giant blazing star)

Photo —Richard Spjut

Mimulus Memo

June 2017

3

President's Message

Recent & Future 2017 Field Trips

by Rich Spjut

BRYOPHYTE FIELD TRIP ~

UR FIRST CHAPTER FIELD TRIP THIS YEAR
was led by Paul S. Wilson and myself in order

to share knowledge
of the field identifi¬
cation of common
bryophyte species
in the Kern River
Canyon. Professor
Wilson had previ¬
ously presented an
introduction to bryo-
phytes (mosses, liv¬
erworts, hornworts)
at our chapter's No¬
vember 2016 meet¬
ing. On two occasions, we scouted for suitable places
where field participants might observe bryophytes
without having to climb steep banks and crawl over
rocks (as bryologists often do). We also photographed
and collected specimens. At our March 4 rendezvous
in Bakersfield, Dr. Wilson presented participants with a
photo brochure showing close-up images of 16 species
of mosses and three species of liverworts that we might
expect to see — and did indeed see — on the trip,
although names for many were only to genus.

Close-up of moss, Hedwigia
detonsa.

MOJAVE DESERT FIELD TRIP ~

In our last newsletter, I mentioned it might be a good
year for wildflowers in Kern County judging from the
winter rains; however, it seems that in many places
east of Bakersfield it was mostly lush growth of non¬
native grasses that may have prevented any native
wildflowers to get started this year. This, along with
recent concerns about Red Rock Canyon State Park's
opening up to off-highway vehicles, led me to modify
the plans for the April 12 Mojave Desert trip.

Rare California plants in the state park, currently
protected, could become federally-listed if the park
were to be opened to the off-roaders. We saw two in
a sandy wash just south of the park entrance; one,
Deinandm arida (red rock tar plant), is endemic to Kern
County (list IB. 2) and the other, Erythranthe rhodopetra
(red rock monkey flower, Mimulus palmeri in lepson
2nd ed.), is essentially endemic to the park (list 1B.1).
Prior to our visit, Suzanne Weller had reported see¬
ing many wildflowers in a wash the week before, par¬
ticularly in the sandy wash we visited where she had
photographed the red rock monkey flower. It was also

Monkey flower bouquet in sandy wash, Red Rock Canyon State Park.
Erythranthe rhodopetra (Red rock monkey flower), a rare species sur¬
rounded by Erythranthe guttata var. montana (common yellow monkey
flower, formerly known as Mimulus guttatus).

recently reported on Cal flora by Lara Hartley (May 2,

2017) — "wash near picnic area behind Red Rooster at
Red Rock Canyon State Park."

At the end of the day, I summarized what we saw and
sent the list to the participants. Clyde Golden then
refined the list to variety or subspecies for many of
the species I had listed, though our lists differ slightly
in family classification. I have linked Clyde's list to
the trip title on the chapter website. Our field trip
participants included one person — Eric Diesel —
who drove from Yucca Valley to meet us at the town
of Mojave where we began the trip.

PIUTE MOUNTAIN FIELD TRIP,

SADDLE SPRINGS ROAD
JUNE 1 4 ~

This will be similar to the trip led by "Nature Ali"
(Alison Sheehey) on June 1, 2013. Her description of
the route can be found on the chapter website under
past field trips. Quoting from her 2013 trip descrip¬
tion: "Rare plants along the route include the Strep-
tauthus cordatus var. piuteusis (Piute jewel flower);
Eriogonum breedlovei var. breedlovei (Piute buckwheat);
Delphinium inopinum (unexpected larkspur); Hesperocy-
parsis nevadensis (Piute cy¬
press); Calochortus palmeri
(Palmer's mariposa lily)
and Perideridia pringlei
(adobe yampah)."

We discovered another
rare plant that trip —
Sidalcea hickmannii ssp.
parishii - Parish's check-
erbloom (list IB. 2) — not
yet officially recorded
from Kern County — is
a species that occurs in

Siclalcea hickmanii ssp. parishii
(Parish's checkerbloom)

Photo —Richard Spjut Photo — Suzanne Weller , April 5, 2017.

Photo —Richard Spjut Photo —Richard Sviut

4

Mimulus Memo — June 2017

A common manzanita, not previously reported in Kern County —
Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. glandulosa (Eastwood's manzanita). Left:
Twigs, leaves and inflorescence before flowering, all with glandular
tipped hairs. Right: Shows closer view of leaf-like bracts.

forest where expected. The juniper woodland, with
Perideridia, commonly with 6 rays to their umbels
agrees, more with 5-7-flowered umbels of P. pring¬
lei, than with those of the 6-11 -rayed P. parishii ssp.
latifolia. Q

- ^

Chapter Meetings

upcomingTOPICS

Western Transverse Ranges and San Bernardino Mts.
We will probably see it again in the Piute cypress
woodland. By then, I hope to have submitted speci¬
mens I collected in 2013 and 2016 to several herbaria.
(1 have been tied up with identifying more than 1,000
lichen specimens from Baja).

Additionally, another new record is reported here for
the county, Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. glandulosa,
a common shrub in the chaparral of the California
Floristic Province.

It may be noted that the Perideridia — observed in
2016 as abundant in the juniper woodland — may
be difficult to identify when flowering. This is be¬
cause at that stage, the character needed to identify
the species, the leaves, may have dried and blown
away. Both P. parishii ssp. latifolia and P. pringlei have
been reported from the area. A checklist of the Piute
plants, prepared by Clyde Golden, has it listed on the
chapter website, highlighting what we saw in 2013;

P. parishii was observed, as I recall, in the Jeffrey pine

Thursday, June 15, 2017 - 7 pm
Presenter: Ellen Cypher

Creating New Populations of an
Endangered Species: Recovery Efforts
for Bakersfield Cactus
JULY - NO MEETING
AUGUST - NO MEETING

Thursday, September 21, 2017 - 7 pm
Presenter: Stephen Cooley

Growing Natives front Seed

All chapter meetings are held the
3rd Thursday of each month at the
Hall Ambulance Community Room
1031 21st Street (21st & N St.),
Bakersfield, CA.

Meeting times:

6pm — Discussion groups on plant
identification and native-plant
gardening

7 pm — Program presentation

Two species with umbels of flowers: the white flowers, Perideridia,
appearing to be P. pringlei (Adobe yampah) by the relatively small
number of rays, a rare species photographed June 9, 201 6 along Saddle
Springs Road near junction to Bodfish Road, Piute Mt. Bipinnate Leaves
not evident, a key character for distinguishing the species' related
species, especially P. parishii, which has been reported from this area.
Yellow flowers are Bloomeria crocea var. montana.

FIELD TRIP

June 14, Wednesday

PIUTE MOUNTAIN /SADDLE SPRINGS ROAD

with Richard Spjut. We will stop along the vegeta¬
tion alliances we see as we ascend up the mountain:
California juniper woodland, Piute cypress wood¬
land, an extensive chaparral and finally Jeffrey pine
forest where we will stop for lunch.

Contact: Patty Gradek - pattygradek@ginail.coin
RSVP Deadline: 8pm, Friday, June 9
ALL DAY - High-clearance vehicle with good
tires and 4-wheel-drive a plus.

Meet at shopping center parking lot near Tuesday
Morning store, north side of Exit 7 off Hwy 178 at
8:30 AM £

Mimulus Memo — June 2017

5

^ APRIL 29

IPA MAPPING CONFERENCE ~ FEB

Photo credits:
Clyde Golden
Nancy Nies
Rich Spjnt
Dinah Campbell

HuncRYvalley

APRIL 2

Wind

Solves

April 23

2017 - Photo Gallery
Field Trips

-rc TRIP ~ MARCH 4
bryophytetrip

Photos — Sasha Honig

6

Mimulus Memo — June 2017

2017 — Photo Gallery (cont.)
Member Gardens in Spring

Dale and Patty
Gradek: Above &
Right: poppies,
clarkia, Chinese
houses, salvia,
apricot mallow,
etc.

Sasha and Andy Honig: Left:
wild rose; Below: side-yard
planted with muhlenbergia, 4
kinds of yarrow, Shasta sul¬
phur buckwheat, 4-5 kinds of
salvias, and a bladderpod.

Dave and Dinah Campbell:
Below: Epilobium canum,
Erythranthe cardinalis and
non-native rockrose under a
Cercis occidentalis (western
redbud).

o

I

u

S

Garden Notebook:

Early Summer

by Monica Tudor

Y CALIFORNIA GARDEN IS TRANSITION
ing from springtime mode to summer. Spring!
All the springtime flowers have bloomed. The balmy
weather in the 70s and 80s helped prolong the season.
After all these years growing my garden, the consis¬
tent bloomers did not disappoint. Baileya multiradiata,
(desert marigold) and Isomeris arborea (bladderpod)
are basically always in bloom and Salvia brandegeei *
Brandegee's sage) is an early pale-lavender bloomer
while Ceanothus 'Concha' was stunning with its deep,
intensely blue flowers. Of course, the state flower,
the California poppy, was prolific and bright orange
as is Sphaeralcia ambigua (desert mallow'). The elegant
clarkias
have have
bloomed
and seeded
already.

Current
bloomers are
the 'Allan
Chickering'
and 'Win¬
ifred Gil¬
man' sages,
the com¬
mon and
moonshine
yarrows and
the matilija
poppies.

The matilija
poppies are
amazing
and have a
scent that is
sweeter than
perfume.

I've been
warned
that they

can become invasive, but at the moment I don't care.
Some new plants from the fall plant sale have also
done well: Penstemon pseudospectablis gave me several
spikes of magenta blooms w'hile Penstemon eatonu
only gave me one, but it wras spectacular and the
hummingbirds loved it.

This year I was finally smart and didn't let the weeds
get too out of hand, even with the glorious rain w'e
got. The mulch that was put down last year helped
tremendously, so the majority of the w'eeds w'ere in

All photos — Monica Tudor

Mimulus Memo — June 2017

7

the pathways.
After only a few
hours, the weeds
were history!
Now the mainte¬
nance is simply
getting the
hula hoe, to get
the occasional
weedy stragglers
out of the paths
and beds, and
raking the paths.
I like the look of
raked paths. The
evenly spaced
grooves left by
the tines are
soothing, some¬
how. I imagine
the Japanese gardens with raked gravel and rocks and
feel in harmony . . . well, at least until I remember the
raked gravel in a Japanese garden represents waves
of water while my garden is xeriscaped. So they are
related but opposite — in a ying/yang way.

Even though we were blessed with nearly double our
usual rainfall, we need to remember that we are still
in a desert climate. Our eyes are trained to see green
lawns as beautiful and sometimes we have a hard
time adjusting our aesthetic point of view to appreci¬
ate xeriscaped areas. But a well-designed yard is a
well-designed yard, especially if it is xeriscaped and
native. (My bias is showing, I know.) We can save lots
of water for other uses (growing food!) if we limit wa¬
ter usage for non-essentials. According to the City of
Bakersfield website, 30% of residential water usage is
for yards. Take a look at Tucson, Arizona, for example.
Tucson has almost double the rain of Bakersfield.

They get 11.92 inches per year versus 6.45 inches for
Bakersfield. Even so, Tucson limits plantings in new
developments to drought-tolerant varieties and al¬
lows for “oases", or green areas, that are only between
2.5% and 5% of the total lot size. Is this something
we could do? If the drought had continued, public
sentiment may have seen the need. However, we can
each do something now, and that is to plant California
natives.

'Allen Chickering' sage and
matilija poppy

CONSERVATION CORNER

by Fred Chynoiveth

HAS TEAMED WITH OTHER
X ^ NGOs and Senator Ben
Allen to produce a bill to reform how state
parks manage off-road vehicles.

Please contact your state senator to urge pas¬
sage. An email has been sent to Kern chapter
members to assist them.

SB249 includes:

CONSERVATION:

• Adds important requirements and transparency
to conservation and wildlife protection measures
intended to minimize damage from motorized
recreation, including:

• Requires periodic wildlife inventories or updat¬
ing of habitat protection plans

• Requires closing areas if wildlife and habitat pro¬
tection measure cannot be met.

• SB 249 calls for a review and incorporation of the

latest and best scientific information.

FUNDING

• Distributes fuel tax money more equitably be¬
tween motorized and non-motorized recreational
uses.

The only way to objectively and reliably ensure that
the appropriate portion of fuel tax supports motor¬
ized recreation is to base the amount transferred to
OHMVR Trust Fund for motorized recreational uses
each year on state Fuel Tax Study findings.

GOVERNANCE

• Clarifies state parks organizational structure and

guarantees transparency.

• SB 249 makes it clear that the responsibilities of
the Division are under the general direction of the

State Parks Director.

SB249 DOES NOT threaten to eliminate OHV activ¬
ity from state parks or from California by starving the
OHMVR Program of money.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made this year's
event at the Garden Fest successful. We literally could
not do it without you! Q

For further information, you may go online to the
CNPS website under conservation, statewide initia
tives. ( http://umnu.cnps.oiv/ciipi/coiiservntioii/actioiis/
ohv reform/index. phy)

Student/ Limited Income - $25
Individual - $45
Family or Library - $75

D — 1 T

su

■a

ra

OJ 3=

NJ > 27

‘ — 1 *"t

O-

n

<z> ~L

U)

? £ 7 H 5‘

<t> r1" "7

cr ^ CJ r-

KJ 3 -t ^

•— * n w — •
^ rti CL <

r-r /-N ^

2 t/i 3 ^ "

C E o ^

- 3 jO

03 ~ 3 Q.

EJ 3 ro

O 73 § ^<

O 2- 3

O 3- 2

— •' 3 . O'
ra 3 2j ro

a —

ca

n

>

C/l

<

a>

“3

c

ro X.

3 CL
2

o

era

33

o'

Cfi

1

1

Q

s

fD

s

o'

—

(U

4<

3

3T

Cl

C7“

e/3

O

O

fD

2.

O

n

-o

c n

■o’

o

2

CJ

CD

C_

m

20
2 2
n *

to o

— o
i

>

33

CL

"<

8°

CD

D

V)

3r

n>

era

- 1

C a>
Q.cra
o o

a>

n>

i

C

-a

n

o

o

3 n

ra o

^ 3

_ o

■o' U

c/i ra

n

§ 2

ld fD
fD »”0
>=t 0>

< •“*
B

*9

< y

l 45

_ era

n o a

— r—f-

< o- ra
I

CL 33. I

- 73
3 ra

33 Q-^c
3 ra ' n

?n^o°
0 02.
Q 3 ^

n> o O

(3)

n s

~t cro

K O

CL [/5

ra g-

7T ^

_ „ o-
r 7 si
c 3 _

lo 2 X
oo- o

OQ2.

ST^ora
*2

V> <

-- o

a ra
- • ra
7 a.
-■ o
= CL

=L

@

o

$

rc>

o _

3 03
— . EJ

S E
£ 9.

n

2

57

ra

3

I

a

o

33

£

|-»

JO

EJ

fD

CO

51

fD

33

n

o

3

n*

Su

n

Cfi

S

o'

3r

e/3

03

SDIdOl V S3IV0 '3DV3d DNI133W
S3ld333VD OlOHd
d3NdCO NOIJLVAd3SNOD
SNOIIVAd3SaO did! 03313
>!33d3 13VS
ranssj Slip apisuj

OULH3|^|

snjnuiiJ^

Luoa'iieiuS^oiuauj-sninuiiuj

90€£6 VD 'PPU^Bfl
0auq }sjnip[ea 908£
joppg 'naqdiueg) qeuiQ o /a
jajdeiQ uja>i-gjND