CA, Southern California, 20070824
Strawberry Peak, flowers and lichens. 

 Location 1 
 Location 1b 
 Location 2 
 Location 3 
 Location 4 
 Location 5 
 Location 6 
 Location 7 
 Location 8 
 Black Widow 
Backbone of Strawberry Peak. Backbone of Strawberry Peak. View southwest from top of backbone of Strawberry Peak. View down Colby Canyon from where trail leaves canyon. 

San Gabriel Mts  Colby Canyon to Josephine Saddle to Strawberry Meadows, then up talus slopes to base of 3rd class route to peak, then back via Backbone and Colby Canyon again.  Josephine to the meadows is just as beautiful as I remember that morning Courtney and I did it ages ago.  Everything on the south slope and ridge was brutally hot, and I couldn't mitigate it at all by choosing auspicious timing.  A few late-season flowers near the peak and in the canyon bottom, but that's about it.  I ignored the macrolichens except for a Dermatocarpon, Peltigera, and Psora; but I did get a few nice specimens of rock crusts. 

The route from the meadow to the ridge is straightforward but steep.  There is abundant sign of huge fresh boulders calving from the cliff, and the talus is correspondingly unstable.  Follow deer trails at the top to skirt the base of the steep gullies to get to the trail on the ridge.  No trashing involved, but much slipping.


Location 1 

Location 13. 

Just E of Josephine Saddle; crusts on granitic rock; N slope; exposed.  Fantastic view!

Tons of norstictic acid crystals, in K, at 1000x. Norstictic acid crystals, in K, at 1000x. (blurry)Apo section, in K, at 100x.  (after a few minutes)Apo section, in K, at 100x.  (after a few seconds)Apo section, in water, at 100x, polarized. Apo section, in water, at 100x. Thallus, at 30x. Thallus, at 10x.  (K+o/r spot test visible)Very nice specimen on shady rock. Two beautiful rosettes sharing a rock. Thriving patchwork on shady rock. Nice rosette, in shade. 

Aspicilia cuprea [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL med tan to grayosh tan, areolate, K+ yellowish turning orange-red and forming star-shaped clusters of needle-like crystals (norstictic acid)
 MED white
 ALG green
 APO ~1 per areole, sunken, disk black, often d tan pruinose (soredia?), algae on sides and below, epi brown, hymen clear & 100um, hypo clear, asci 100um w thickened tip & IKI-, para narr & anastomosing & bit greenish & strongly moniliform
 SPORE 8 per ascus, ellip, smooth, stuff inside including 1 big bubble usually, 20-25x12-14um, clear, 1 cell
Clear ID based on norstictic acid, spore size, moniliform paraphyses, brown epihymenium.

Apo section, in K, at 100x. Apo section, in water, at 100x, polarized. Apo section, in water, at 100x. Thallus, at 30x. Thallus, at 10x. Two beautiful rosettes sharing a rock. 

Aspicilia confusa [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL dark grey, areolate
 MED white
 ALG green
 APO ~1 per areole, sunken, disk black, algae only on sides not below, epi greenish brown, hymen clear & 100um, hypo clear, asci 100um w thickened tip & IKI-, para narr & anastomosing & bit greenish & min beaded near ends
 SPORE 8 per ascus, ellip, smooth, stuff inside including 1 big bubble usually, 20-25x12-14um, clear, 1 cell
Clearly keys to A. confusa or A. fumosa (not common): former has concolorous to white-lined rims and spores 19-27x11-16um; latter has olive to brown contrasting rims and spores 18-22x101-4um.  Otherwise they are essentially the same.  Mine is clearly the former.

Nice rosette, in shade. 

Lecanora mellea 

See 20070715 for ID. 

Large thriving colony on a shady rock. 

Lecanora muralis muralis 

See 20070715 for ID. 

Ascus and spores, at 1000x.  Note amyloid hymenium nearly obscures otherwise nonamyloid ascus tip. Apothecial section, at 400x.  Note bluish hymenium. Apothecial section, at 100x.  Note bluish hymenium. Close-up of apothecia, at 30x. 

Lecidea laboriosa [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL endolithic
 MED white, K-, C-, I-
 ALG green
 APO black, lecideine, 1-2mm wide, clustered along cracks esp, epi greenish black, hymen lt bluish-greenish & 75um & strongly I+b, hypo brownish, ascus tip v thick & trunc & I-
 SPORE 8 per ascus, ellip, clear, 1 cell, smooth, 2 bubbles, 9-10x3-4um
Ugh.  But once located, no question it's right  the pale bluish tinge to the hymenium seems to be unusual and therefore diagnostic.  Need to do the medulla tests to get key to work (all negative). It seems clear that the thollus is I-, while the hymenium is strongly I+b. Obviously it could be L. hassei as well, but I will pretend such subtle chemical races were never discovered.  (It's supposedly very rare, anyway.)

Close-up of thallus, at 30x. Close-up of thallus, at 10x. Shaded specimen on rock. Nicely fertile specimen, sharing a rock in the shade. 

Lecidea mannii [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL areolate almost appearing squamulose, convex, deep rich brown, shiny
 MED white, I-, K-, C+r (in places)
 APO lecideine, black, black raised conspic rim, between areoles, hymen clear, hypo clear, epi greenish dk brown, paraphyses not separating readily in water but apparently free, ascus non-amyloid, rim C+r in places
 SPORE 8 per ascus, oblong-ellip, 12-15x5-6um, clear, 1 cell, smooth but textured inside
Brodo keys it clearly to Lecidea atrobrunnea, but there are many taxa in that group, so must switch to Nash.

Nice growth on a rock with some moss. Artsy shot with a log and some bromes. 

Xanthoria fulva? [] 

Just eye-balled it with hand lens. 


Location 1b 

On Jeff pine somewhere between Location 1 and Location 2.

Old nicer one at base of pine, side view. Old nicer one at base of pine. Old ratty one on pine. Old ratty one on pine. 

Cryptoporus volvatus [] 

Close-up of fruits. 

Yucca whipplei [] 


Location 2 

Location 2. 

Maybe half to 2/3 to meadows; Peltigera on mossy, exposed N slope. 

Dry old one in moss. Very dry one in moss. 

Peltigera membranacea [] [voucher] 

 GEN among moss on soil
 THAL shiny grey to brown, thinly tom at margs, no phyllidia (or margins shallowly crenate with short crisped lobules 2mm or so wide), lobes up to 15mm wide to 40mm wide depending how I measure them, white bel with well raised veins, veins white marginally to dk brown in the center, rhiz scattered & v discrete & mostly simple fuzzy to short-squarrose to forked paint-brush-like in a few cases
 MED white
 ALG blue-green
 APO black, 4mm wide, flat
I have a hard time distinguishing crisped margins from phyllidia, and cannot decide how to measure lobe width.  Looking at the picture of P. praetextata in Brodo suggests that mine is phyllidiate.  According to Nash it is somewhere between P. ponojensis and P. praetextata (rhizines are definitely not "conspicuously and richly branched"... if they were  ie if they had "densely squarrose but short ramifications"  then it would definitely be P. membranacea).  According to Brodo it is probably P. membranacea, although if I'm generous I can get P. praetextata (interpreting crenulations as lobules) and P. ponojensis (interpreting upper surface as dull or tomentose).  For the hell of it, I consulted Trevor's provisional key slated for Ways: it suggests P. membranacea as well, and throws P. rufescens into the mix based on whether the lobe tips are upturned or downturned (I suggest they are the latter, and any doubt is caused by the extreme state of dessication).  But importantly, Ways claims P. praetextata and to a lesser extent P. ponojecnsis specifically do not have felty veins. Brodo and Nash claim P. rufescens has non-discrete rhizines (Ways calls it "discrete to mat-forming" suggesting some variation).  Further Nash shows the lobes of P. rufescens as being too narrow  no matter how I measure them.  Phew.  Got all that?


Location 3 

Location 3. 

Just after first view of cliff; NE slope; shady; mossy rock.

Close-up of a few squamules and budding apothecia, at 30x. Close-up of thallus and budding apothecia, at 10x. Among moss on rock. 

Psora nipponica [] [voucher] 

 GEN squamulose lichen, on mossy rock
 THAL 5-15mm wide rounded lobes, erect, dk olive & smooth to wrinkled ab, white & pruinose bel and on edge, thick, C-
 MED thick, white, C+r
 ALG green
 APO laminal, no marg, v convex, black, to 2mm wide
Should really look at spore to verify genus, but it seems clear.


Location 4 

Cliff on north side of Strawberry Peak. Cliff on north side of Strawberry Peak. 

Talus; crusts on granitic rock; N slope.

Two dark rosettes in shade. 

Caloplaca trachyphylla [] 

See other one for ID. 

Beautiful patch in shade. 

Pleopsidium flavum [] 

See other one for ID. 

Nice specimen with interesting lighting. 

Candelaria rosulans [] 

See other one for ID. 

Diffuse specimen, among rock tripe. 

Lecidea fuscoatra? [] 

Oops! Yellowish color implies diff species, maybe. 

Large diffuse specimen, among lecanora. 

Lecidea mannii [] 

See other one for ID. 

Rhizoplaca melanophthalma [] [voucher] 

 GEN umbilicate lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL convex mass of wrinkles and apothecia, lt yell-green to sl brownish, shiny, smooth, some blackish areas bel near margs
 MED white, P+y
 ALG green
 APO blue-black, d white to greenish pruinose


Location 5 

Base of cliff; crusts on granitic rock; N slope.

Gorgeous rosette on shaded granite. 

Pleopsidium flavum [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granite
 THAL lobed, rosetted, areolate, lobes to 3x1mm but mostly smaller, convex, rough, bright yolk yellow, K-
 MED white
 ALG green
 APO flush, gen 1 per areole but occ more, hymen clear, epi yellow, ascus w amyloid wall around tip
 SPORE few um, ellip, clear, many per ascus (way more than 32)
Used Nash to get genus: too many spores for Candelaria, amyloid tip rules out Acarospora.  Nash vol III not out yet.  Brodo describes diff between two species of Pleopsidium as:

P. flavum rough, brownish apo with persist margins
P. chlorophana smooth, convex apo with disappearing margins

Mine is clearly the former.  Huh.  Coulda sworn this was Candelina, but turns out there are none in S CA.  Learn something everyday.

Dermatocarpon americanum [] 

 THAL lt grey & pruinose ab, dk brown and rough bel
 MED white, dense, thick, turns a bit pinkish with mild Lugol's but clears immediately when add C
Still must be D. americanum simply by location (and some basic morphology), but I can't get the Melzer's red reaction to save my soul.


Location 6 

Boulders on 3rd class ridge; crusts on granitic rock; exposed; W slope? 

Close-up of network of cracks filled with it on sunny granite. Filling network of crack on sunny granite boulder, with yucca at base. Several on sunny rock. Growing artistically in cracks.  This seems to be typical behavior. 

Acarospora contigua [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL yolk yellow, peltate areoles, smooth, overlapping, K-
 MED white
 ALG green
 APO deeply immersed, lecanorine (algae layer continuous around and below them), disk brown, 1 to sev per areole, hymen clear, epi yell, para br'd only occ at end, ascus long & non-amyloid
 SPORE 4x1.5um, oblong, clear, smooth, many (100's) per ascus
Damn, Nash doesn't have this genus yet.  I swear it looks different from the other yellow Acarospora.

Stained asci, at 1000x.  Remarkably good shot for me: shows ascus structure, mature spores neatly stacked inside, and paraphyses tips.  The dark blue spot at the tip of the one ascus is an impurity, not actual structure. Spore, at 1000x. Stained ascus tip, at 1000x.  Would you look at that, it actually shows thollus structure! 

Candelaria rosulans [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL yell-orange, min verruculose, lumpy, K+ rose, not lobate or areolate, somewhat diffuse
 APO min (0.2mm?), brownish, lecanorine, convex, hymen clear, para free, thick amyloid tip with channel and thin non-amyloid dome
 SPORE oblong, 17x5um, 1um even smooth walls, 8 per ascus, 1 cell, clear

Caloplaca trachyphylla [] [voucher] 

 GEN crust lichen, on granitic rock
 THAL red-orange, lobate, lobes 2x1mm, rough, v convex, K+r
 APO red, lecanorine
Nash doesn't have this genus yet, sigh.


Location 7 

Flowers just over the ridge (N side) at the top of peak.

Flower and buds.  Good lighting. 

Lessingia filaginifolia filaginifolia [] 

See other one for id. 

Cones on young tree. 

Pinus coulteri [] 

Close-up of young infl. Plant starting to bloom. 

Chrysothamnus nauseosus hololeucus [] 

 GEN subshrub
 ST coated w white sl fuzzy coating
 LF lin, dense, ascend-spread, glab but somewhat resinous coating
 INFL d term pan
 INVOL sev series, imbr, keeled, yellish, glab but finely cil esp near tip, shiny, invol 6x2mm but maybe gets bigger, acute
 RECEPT naked
 RAY none
 DISC 5
 OV glab, min
 PAP cap bristles, subbarbellate, straw?, 2mm but may get bigger
Def C. n.... but what ssp?  There's the question.  According to Tom Chester's excellent study, the ssp he found in the general area (he apparently never did any botanizing on Strawberry Peak) are ssp. bernardinus, ssp. hololeucus, and ssp. mohavensis.  The latter is almost leafless and not white-stemmed, so it's right out.  The other two are told apart only by involucre size, ssp. bernardinus over 10mm, ssp. hololeucus less than 10mm.  As my specimen is immature, I cannot be 100% certain, but it looks like the involucre is nearly fully-developed.  I lean toward the smaller of the two, which also looks the most likely on Tom's map.

Close-up of flower, side view. Close-up of flower, front view. Plant in flower.  Bad lighting. Close-up of flower.  Bad lighting. 

Silene parishii [] 

Under coulter pine. 
 GEN peren, covered all over w dense soft fuzzy sticky hair
 LF broadly ellip to ov, overlapping, hairy, ascend to appress, sess
 INFL 1, term, short pedicel
 SEP 5 lobes, fused, not inflated, hairy, 25mm long, lobes 7mm, 10 veins, lt yellish green
 PET 5, free, blade deeply 4-lobed w some lobes forking, yellish whitish, no apps, claws about same length as calyx
 STAM 10, excl
 STYLE 3, free whole length
Apparently this is at the lowest limit of its range (6800' according to Michael Charters, 6000' according to Jepson).  As there are few places that exceed 6000' in the vicinity  San Gabriel Peak to the south, and Pacifico and Gleason to the north, all of which are at a considerable distance and very small islands themselves  I find this rather remarkable.


Location 8 

Flowers in canyon bottom, very close to TH; before trail first reaches canyon bottom; NW side of canyon.

Flowers and gummy involucres. 

Lessingia filaginifolia filaginifolia [] 

 GEN peren herb
 LF oblance-lin, d white tom, reduce grad ab, min crisped marg, sess, ascend to appress, alt
 INFL sev to many near end, almost raceme-like, peduncles short
 PHYL invol 8x3-5mm & cyl to obconic, many rows, tips strongly recurved and curled back, d and conspic yell glandular all over
 RECEPT min scale-like
 RAY 10-18, lt purp, spread, ellip, ~5x0.5mm, ster
 DISC sev, yell, fert
 OV ~1.5mm, d strig
 PAP many cap bristles, straw, subplumose, ~5mm

Several fls.  Better focus. Several fls.  Not sharp focus. 

Senecio flaccidus douglasii [] 

On rocky slope above trail. 
 GEN peren to subshrubby (but few-br'd), tall
 LF alt, v narr lin w up to sev pin side-lobes, 60x1.5mm, lobes to 20x1mm, hairy
 INFL term pan, floccose
 PHYL invol 8x6mm, phyls sl less than 1mm wide, joined in one main series but with a few spreading ones bel, long acute
 RECEPT naked
 RAY ~12, yell, spread to reflex a bit, ~10x2mm
 DISC yell, many
 OV sl angular, min strig, 3mm long, narr
 PAP white cap bristles, ~10mm long

Stephanomeria cichoriacea [] 

 GEN tall peren
 LF oblance, alt, floccose, dist toothed, 100x20+0mm
 INFL nearly raceme-like (clusters almost sess on main axis)
 PHYL sev rows, appress, appear glaucous due to dense covering of minute white beads, glandular beads scattered, min gland-ciliate, invol 12x5mm & cyl to sl urn-like
 RECEPT pitted, perhaps v minute scales but probably considered naked
 RAY quite a few, lt purple, maybe 8x1.5mm
 DISC none
 OV ribbed, at most 1mm long, glab, dk
 PAP many off-white plumose bristles, ~8mm long


Black Widow 

Better bottom view.  Color of hourglass is too yellow. Bottom view.  Color of hourglass is too yellow. Side view.  Color of hourglass is right. 

Latrodectus hesperus [] 

Along sidewalk beside geo's townhouse.  ID'd to species using wikipedia: Black widow spider: just going by location it supposedly must be L. hesperus, which lives throughout the west.  The other two species are L. mactans in the southeast and east, and L. variolus, in the north and east.

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Last changed on October 10, 2008