huhtikuu 28, 2023

maaliskuu 14, 2023

You're Invited

Botany Blitz
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park
Sunday April 16

Join us for a day of botanizing with renowned botanists! All skill levels are invited to participate and make a difference.

Volunteers will join the chapter’s Whiting Ranch Park Vascular Plant Checklist team in a one-day Botanical Blitz of the entire 2,500 acre park.

Participants will be divided into teams, each lead by an expert field botanist, including Bob Allen, Rebecca Crowe, Emile Fiesler, Sandy Leatherman, Fred Roberts, Michael Simpson, and Ron Vanderhoff. Using the iNaturalist application, each team will survey a different area of the park, documenting as many plant species as possible during the day. Results from the day will contribute to the official checklist, The Vascular Plants of Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, a multi-year project of the UC Irvine Herbarium, with support from OCCNPS. This is the second county park in an ongoing project. All skill levels are invited to participate.

Sign up at https://occnps.org/events/current-field-trips/2023-april-16-whiting-ranch-botany-blitz.html

Julkaistu maaliskuu 14, 2023 02:07 IP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 4 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

joulukuu 9, 2022

That's Not My Name: Episode 1, Gambelia

Sometimes the computer vision is great. Sometimes it's... not. This is my first attempt at writing a "computer vision clean up" guide. Here I will try to teach you to ID genus Gambelia and the many things (mostly Salvia) that are Not Gambelia. Hopefully there will be more more episodes in the series as I have time. Just a little heads up, a lot of these episodes are going to involve cultivated plant observations, simply because in general they have lower rates of correct identification. If you're the type who thinks identifying cultivated plants is a waste of time, maybe this isn't for you.

Genus Gambelia (the plant genus, not the lizard genus of the same name) has two species.* One species, Gambelia speciosa, is endemic to the California Channel Islands of Catalina, San Clemente, and Guadalupe--it does not occur naturally on the mainland. The other species, Gambelia juncea, occurs down the length of the Baja California peninsula and some adjacent islands. (The common name on iNat, Cedros Island Bush Snapdragon, is rather dumb, implying a much smaller range than it actually has. Wikipedia calls it Baja Bush Snapdragon.) Both species are available in horticulture trade in California. G. speciosa is the more popular in gardens. Neither species seems to be much available outside California, although I did find one legitimate observation of a G. speciosa plant in Spain.

*iNaturalist recognizes four species in genus Gambelia, but the rest of the botanical world considers G. rupicola and G. glabrata to be synonyms of G. juncea. That's probably why there are no observations recorded for either one.

Identifying Gambelia

Gambelia speciosa flowers have a closed "mouth" and wide "lips." The plant has bigger, more rounded leaves.
Gambelia speciosaGambelia speciosa
More images of Gambelia speciosa here

Gambelia juncea flowers have narrow "lips", and an open "mouth" that is pale in color on the inside. The plant has small pointed leaves, or sometimes no leaves at all if stressed.
Gambelia junceaGambelia juncea
More images of Gambelia juncea here

Both species have leaves with entire margins (the leaf edges are smooth with no teeth or crenations of any kind) and fine hairs on both stems and leaves.

That's Not Gambelia speciosa

Plants most commonly mistaken for G. speciosa include the red-flowered, small-leaved sages Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla, plus hort hybrids involving the two. You are justified if you prefer to ID to genus Salvia and call it a day. If you're a perfectionist, keep reading.

S. greggii has leaves with smooth margins. Th center vein is visible but side veins are not prominent. Leaf shape varies, but tends more toward elliptical.

More images of Salvia greggii here

S. microphylla leaves have crenate margins and prominent veins. Again leaf shape varies, but is often more ovoid.

More images of Salvia microphylla here

You will see A LOT of pictures of a sage with flowers that are both red and white, either both colors on a single flower or both colors on a single plant. This is Salvia cultivar 'Hot Lips'. Depending on who you ask it might be considered S. microphylla, or it might be the hybrid of S. microphylla and S. greggii, which is apparently named Salvia × jamensis.

More images of Salvia 'Hot Lips' here

Horticulture is brimming with hybrids involving S. greggii and S. microphylla crossed with each other or with other species of sage. You will see a lot of leaves that do not fall neatly in either camp. I'll let you come up with your own philosophy here, but I tend to put species names on plants that look nearly like the real species, and use ID of just genus Salvia on plants that are ambiguous. You may prefer to use the genus ID more liberally than I do, and that's fine.

And now, through the magic of horticulture, side-by-side images!


S. microphylla LEFT and S. greggii RIGHT

Of course, you're going to see all sorts of other red-flowered plants thrown in--roses, garden geraniums, snapdragons, anything with vaguely the right color. You may ID these or not as your skill permits.

That's Not Gambelia juncea

Luckily, the computer vision works better on Gambelia juncea. The usual confusion here is with another garden plant, Russelia equisetiformis. It has minimal leaves, several stems coming out in a whorl at each node, and a very pendant habit. Note that Russelia flowers have 4 equal lobes, and are usually hanging downwards.

Here is Russelia equisetiformis:

One more image available here

Here they are both together:

Time to Fix Some Observations

Julkaistu joulukuu 9, 2022 01:10 AP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 9 havaintoa | 4 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

maaliskuu 22, 2022

Casper's Botany Blitz 3-20-22

Hi everyone!

I am not the organizer of the event, but nevertheless I thought it would be fun to do a little recap of our blitz yesterday. As of right now, 44 participants have uploaded 1,510 observations of 363 species. (1,407 observations and 316 species are vascular plants.)

People may continue to upload as they get their photos in order. For updated numbers, as well as a map, and stats about top observers, most observed species, etc, click here.

Please help identify observations by clicking here!

Thank you @ronvanderhoff, @miguelgrande, @bugbob, @fmroberts2, and other team leaders.

Feel free to leave comments below.

@cheonggaegori, @kristalwatrous, @ekoberle, @kylegunther, @travis408, @vreinkymov, @mletterman, @face88888, @scenic_stiles, @elorathewitch, @sapienshane, @silversea_starsong, @nossikta, @rachel141, @evalyd, @alison497, @flavoipierre, @alpcan, @onesteward, @tylerder, @sunnyphyta, @docder, @acc123, @ddonovan17, @shelleyshatsnider, @jennifer2994, @mrmaple, @yingjing_xia, @cemcizem, @recrowe, @lauracamp, @keirmorse, @may_flowers13, @explorerdj, @josiebennett, @dansong19, @emylerogers, @etw, @alesoto, @jfrank97, @olivia863

Julkaistu maaliskuu 22, 2022 02:15 AP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 3 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

joulukuu 7, 2021

You're invited ID-Blitz December 10-11

Are you interesting in doing some identifications this weekend? I am running a short event, the "IDblitz," on December 10 and 11 (UTC). The basic idea is for a group of us to ID as many observations as possible during the 48 hours. At the end I'll announce the total number of IDs made by the group and individually message you with your personal total.

This is a great opportunity to work on IDs in a collaborative environment, with a chance to work with and support other iNat IDers. We will be focusing on IDing unknowns and observations at the Kingdom level, but all efforts at IDing are welcome and will be tracked in the project results. We will also have a collaborative ID link, where you can see the IDs made by other members of the Blitz, and work on improving IDs in areas where you have knowledge and experience.

Sign up is simple, just join the project at least 24 hours before the start of the event (by December 8, midnight UTC.) You can find the project here.

Julkaistu joulukuu 7, 2021 02:15 AP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 0 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

marraskuu 18, 2021

Learn to ID plants

I would be happy to help you learn to ID observations of plants as part of this Thanksgiving weekend match-up: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/sign-up-for-newbie-experienced-identifier-team-ups/27942

We can do high levels (What is a monocot? How do I know this is a legume?) or lower levels (is this Encelia californica or farinosa?) for California plants (wild or cultivated). I'm open to suggestions.

Julkaistu marraskuu 18, 2021 09:10 IP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 0 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

marraskuu 6, 2021

New Card Available for Identifier's Bingo

Julkaistu marraskuu 6, 2021 04:45 AP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 1 kommentti | Jätä kommentti

marraskuu 5, 2021

Crete Weed

How do you pronounce Hedypnois rhagadioloides anyway?

Julkaistu marraskuu 5, 2021 03:34 AP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 10 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

lokakuu 30, 2021

Identifier's Bingo

Hi friends, you're invited to try out my game: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/identifiers-bingo/27528

Julkaistu lokakuu 30, 2021 04:56 AP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 0 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti

toukokuu 22, 2021

Help Silverado win the fire followers challenge

Hi everyone. The Silverado Fire Followers project is competing in the Fire Poppy Cup bracket challenge. In order for us to win this week, we are trying for a maximum number of observers, identifiers, and faves. I know it's hard to make observations because a lot of the burn area is not for public access, but if you have a minute, you can help out by adding identifications or faves. Just look through these observations, add at least one ID (even if the observation is RG already) and then hit "favorite" (or press F) on the ones you like especially.

Thanks!

Julkaistu toukokuu 22, 2021 08:02 IP. käyttäjältä arboretum_amy arboretum_amy | 0 kommenttia | Jätä kommentti