Spring flowers sing to the flower full moon happening tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:43 pm Pacific time in the Northern Hemisphere. Here’s a fast Bucket with a few flowers from me to entice you to share your flowers in the comments.
This spring even cities had amazing floral shows in vacant lots.
The swale in the background of the photo above is a river of pink Clarkias.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns spinning around us.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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This plant might not seem too sexy but she’s a rare one who knows how to please herself: Butte County meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. californica). She is listed as Endangered by the state and the feds and only grows in Butte County (as her name implies). This photo was taken in the vacant lot shown in the upper photos, which has no protection except a No Trespassing sign (which I ignored due to Botanists’ Free Pass).
A short distance away from the vacant lot, Chico’s Doe Mill Meadowfoam Preserve sprawls across a few acres that represent the plant’s typical habitat of vernal pools and Swales embedded in valley grassland. First collected in 1914 near Shippee (between Oroville and Chico) that habitat is now converted to agriculture. Now, 21 population areas are known, from Table Mountain south of Chico, to a few miles north of Chico.
The reason I say this meadowfoam pleases herself is she has floral adaptations that allow both cross-pollination by insects and self-pollination if insect pollination is unsuccessful. Some of the flowers don’t open enough to permit insects to enter. Plus, a few plants in each population area are male sterile — no pollen is produced and these (obviously) rely on insects to bring in the boy stuff.
Below are a different meadowfoam, the snow white meadowfoam that grow on Table Mountain but no where else in Butte County. Most populations are in the coastal ranges.
And just because we need one more spot of pink, here is Cascade onion (Allium cratericola), on Table Mountain this year. This short onion hugs the ground and has a garlic scent. Kangaroo rats on Table Mountain love this onion and dig up the bulbs to take home. Endemic to California, it is rare in Butte County. Table Mountain is special!
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I’m off for more spring flower adventures but will return later to enjoy those you bring to the Bucket.