chadschuler23's Journal

I Was in Redding, Ca this past week visiting my brother and he had a couple really big trees in his yard so I decided to identify them. From the Key to groups I determined that the tree was not a palm or conifer and had pinnately compound leaves attached alternately. This led me to group 6. The leaves had more than 5 leaflets and were only once divided(pinnately compound)(1',3'). The leaflets were arranged with an odd pinnate, were subtly toothed, and wider than 3/4"(11', 18.,19', 20', 22'). After finding some fruits they matched the description for Juglans spp. with round fruits that don't split open. Walnuts are not described in detail in the book so I used iNat to figure out that the tree was a Norther California Black Walnut. Super cool tree! I tried to find some walnuts inside the shells but they were all rotten. Also Black walnut is a really nice and expensive hardwood for furniture that has dark and bold wood grains.

I went to Redding, California last week to visit my brother for a couple days. One day we went on a trail called the FB trail. The Trail walked along some big river or lake in the area but we were pretty far above the shoreline so the plant were more shrub-land and woodland plants. However, most of the trail had major fire damage from a wildfire about two years ago. The manzanita bushes were still black and grey with ashes. There were also lots of burnt tree stumps. But it was cool to see the new growth coming in after a couple years and some heavy rains in the weeks before. Smaller shrubs and plants were sprouting up everywhere and working to reestablish the landscape. It is amazing how resilient nature is and how it responds to crisis. I am curious if there is some process of which plants colonize the disturbed area first and how it fully recovers.

This week I walked down the street and found some fun trees that I hadn't seen in the area before.
The First tree was a Strawberry tree. The bright flowers and fruit caught my eye as I walked past. Also the bark was red and smooth. For the Keying part it was not a very difficult tree to key. The key to groups took me all the way to group 10; ( Evergreen trees with alternate, simple, pinnately veined and/or pinnately lobed leave). First couplet, no acorns, not an oak(1'). Second couplet asked about translucent dots. It almost looked like there was dots but I think it was just very small veins.(2') Leaves were >1/2", evenly sawtoothed, and hairless (4', 5', 8'). Couplet ten narrows it down to two species of arbutus or the strawberry tree. From the description it seemed like Arbutus Unedo. But it could have also been the hybrid plant Arbutus 'Marina' which is a commonly cultivated tree in california.

The second tree was a palm that was on the edge of this palm tree farm down the road. Most of the palms were in crates but this one was in the ground. I uses the palm tree key on pg. 121. and figured out that it was a canary island palm (phoenix canariensis)

For this field trip I went to the Nipomo Native Garden in Nipomo, CA, which is the southernmost town in SLO county. There are two parts to the Native Garden. On one side of the street there is a more established user friendly path through coastal scrub and oak woodlands. There are educational signage, play areas, and plant Identification cards. I am not positive if all the plants there are naturally growing there or if some were planted.
I explored the other side of the street which is more of a sandy trail system leading through the oaks and scrub. There was a gradual incline and the woodland got denser the farther I walked along the trail. Some parts were completely shaded. I noticed that the plants growing under the shade were usually smaller and sometimes more unique. I found a small patch of goldback fern growing on the edge of a giant clump of poison oak.
Another cool plant I saw was the coastal bush lupine. I remember observing the same species a few weeks ago but the flowers were a blueish purple. This time they were a light yellow. I'm kinda confused how the same species can appear in different colors.
Although most of the trees were oaks, I did observe a blue elder bush/tree. It was cool to see the buds right before the flowers opened up. My family makes an immune boosting syrup from elderberries every year, so it was cool to find another tree to look out for once the fruit is ripe.

Overall, I was surprised at how many plants can thrive in such sandy soil. It was hard to walk the sand was so loose.

The first tree I keyed I used iNat first to get a general idea of what tree it was and to see if it was in the book. I figured out that it was some type of birch tree. From the key to groups it was pretty straight forward I just had to go through the entire key until group 11. It wasn't a palm or conifer(1',2',3'). The leaves were simple, alternate, pointed tip, leaf margin toothed, and pinnately veined (5',8',9', 13',14') Then I knew it was deciduous because it was a birch. In Group 11 I knew it was not an Oak(1'). The second couplet was harder because the leaf base looked ever so slightly asymmetrical. But after going down that rabbit hole I figured it must be symmetrical(2'). I didn't remember what dioecious or monoecious but I knew the tree wasn't a willow(6'). From there I followed the key to Betula spp. by observing the fruits and seeds which were woody brown, cone like, and the seeds broke apart at maturity(7', 12', 13', 14', 15., 16'). I looked at pg 33 at the white birch and compared that with the iNat suggestions. Still not sure if it is paper birch (Betula Papyrifera) or white birch (Betula Pendula).

The second tree was in my neighbors yard. I knew it was a maple because it had the cool helicopter seeds. From the Key to Groups I narrowed it down to group 7. Not a monocot, not a palm or conifer, simple, opposite leaves (1', 2', 3', 5', 8.). In group 7 the first couplet weeds out Melaleuca spp. which did not match the characteristics of my tree(1'). Leaves were opposite, less than 6" wide, palmately veined (2', 5', 7.) and that led me to the Acer spp. ---Maples. On page 24-25 I looked at the "key to California's commonly cultivated maples." It was very hard to figure out which species of maple was growing in my neighbors yard. I asked my lab instructor and she suggested sycamore maple, but that didn't seem to fit. Then she asked Dr. Ritter and he said it was Norway Maple, Acer Platanoides.

I took Highway 58 out from Santa Margarita to try and see some of the wild flowers. There was still some wildflowers but it definitely was not as crazy super bloom as last spring.
The plants I observed were found on a short path off of Shell creek road. We parked just past this huge blue oak on the and the walked west through the meadow to the beginnings of some woodlands. there were oaks and pines and other shrubs. All my observations were in a small valley/ glade partially covered by shade. There was a small dried up creek on one side of the clearing. Small hills rose up on either side.

1. Key to Groups: 1', 2',3', 5',8',9',13', 14.---group 9
   Group: 1', 3', 7', 8.
   Species and Page Number: Plantus Racemosa (California Sycamore or Western Sycamore), page 94

2. Key to Groups: 1', 3., 4. ---group 2
   Group: 1', 4', 6., 7.
   Species and page number: Calocedrus Decurrens (California Incense-Cedar), page 5

I went to Montana de Oro state park in Los Osos.
I hiked hazards peak and saw a lot of wild flowers in bloom! I would see one all by itself and get super excited and figure out what it was. Then I would walk another 20 feet and see 10 more of the same flowers.
I noticed that there were many more flowering plants in the valley slopes than the hillside directly facing the ocean. Maybe too windy and exposed on those hillsides.
It was cool to learn the names of plants that I see all the time hiking or biking around the area.
Also tons of poison oak!!

1. If you had to pick one tree to use the leaves as toilet paper, which would you pick?
   Magnolia, but with the newer softer leaves. not the old leaves.

2. Do you think street trees make your neighborhood more pleasant?
   Yes I think street trees are great!! they make neighborhoods feel better and smell better. they also make cars drive slower making it safer to be walking around the neighborhood.

3. What is one pro and one con to planting non native trees in our cities?
   pro: Some non-native trees do really well in harsh environments where they don't have great soil or nutrients.
   con: In an apocalyptic scenario where a city is completely deserted the non-native trees would take over the city faster than native trees.