Stevens Creek County Park Observations!
For this project, I was able to drive about 20 minutes from my home to the Stevens Creek Reservoir and County Park to make some observations. The reservoir and park are located in Cupertino, California, and are easily accessible. I reached the reservoir first and walked about 10 minutes on the trail around until I reached a Valley Oak and took some pictures. I noticed large, dark hanging circular nuts/fruits and deeply lobed leaves. On my walk back to the parking lot, I noticed small yellow flowers on the side of the trail. I followed with the iNaturalist recommendation and did indeed confirm the flowers were Golden Yarrow. There were tons along the walk back and I felt prouder knowing the names. For the other three observations, I headed down towards the County Park and towards the entrance of the trails. There was a large low hanging tree with huge jagged, lobed leaves. The trunk of the tree was covered in some type of green moss, but I was able to later identify the tree as a Boxelder. Near the parking lot was a taller tree with large opposite leaves. There were smaller green fruits forming between the leaves, which are walnuts. I might revisit the Persian Walnut tree later once the walnuts have reached maturity. Along the ground, there were greens leaves and smaller purple flowers. I had never seen such purple flowers before so I took pictures and uploaded them. It turns out the plant is a Greater Periwinkle.
Overall this was a fun experience and I am glad I took some observations of flowers along the way. The trails themselves were pretty easy to trek, but the weather is definitely getting warmer. There were surprisingly a lot of people out and about. I got some strange looks while standing under the trees and taking pictures, but I have learned a new found appreciation for the world around me. It gives a sense of pride to know the plants that surround the space I call home.
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