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| Natives of the San Joaquin Valley Field Trip Memories by Don & Yvonne Turkal (from the Mimulus Memo May 2011) | ||
| April 2 2011: Stephen Laymon, PhD is Project Manager at the BLM Atwell Island and Pam Williams, PhD is Biologist at the Kern and Pixley National Wildlife Refuges. Both Stephen and Pam lead us to some spectacular natives of the San Joaquin Valley even though it began with the roads being closed – they knew their way AROUND the closed road. We were able to explore Pixley’s newly acquired eastern half that has not been botanized. What a treat!!! Atwell Island was our next stop, where American Land Conservancy is partnering with the Bureau of Land Management to acquire unprotected parcels and restore the sites to native habitat that can support threatened and endangered species. We ate lunch at Ceci's Mexican Restaurant where we could compare notes and just relax since we were so overwhelmed by what we saw this morning. On our way to the Semitropic Ridge Preserve we stopped at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge’s restoration site. This project is under the direction of Stephen Laymon and is a HUGE success. We were excited to see the utilization of native vegetation. The access road was lined with beautiful Lasthenia and there was atriplex as far as the eye could see. A big THANK YOU to Stephen and Pam for letting us take a peek into nature at its best! Here are some of Don’s pictures: | ||
 Phacelia ciliata Great Valley Phacelia |
 Dichelostemma capitatum Blue Dicks |
 Layia pentachaeta ssp. albida White Sierra Tidy Tips |
 Hemizonia pungens Common Spikeweed |
 Castilleja brevistyla Owl's Clover |
 Gilia tricolor Bird's Eye Gilia |
 Microseris douglasii Douglas' Silverpuffs |
 Camissonia campestris Mojave Sun Cup |
 Delphinium recurvatum Recurved Larkspur |
 Claytonia sp. Miner's Lettuce |
 Lasthenia sp. Goldfields |
 Thistle Sage Salvia carduacea |
 Plagiobothrys canescens Valley Popcorn Flower |
 Triphysaria eriantha Butter-and-Eggs |
 Eremalche parryi Parry's Mallow |
 Foxtail |
 Psilocarpus brevissimus Woolly Marbles |
 Eschscholzia californica California Poppy |