Despite the low rainfall this year, there was (and is) still much to see on Figueroa Mountain besides poppies & lupines, whose magnificent displays are almost over.  And… there is much to discover about plants and especially butterflies.

Having skimped on walking (one of my favorite activities) for many months, I thought a walk along Catway road would be a good idea. Catway proved to be quite different;  in fact it could be called Ladybug Road because the bugs appeared to be on just about every plant. I walked to the turnout at the trail head and then returned while photographing a few new plants, such as  Bitter Cherry with very ornate flowers.

(Catway Road – Bitter Cherry)

Along Figueroa Mountain Road at the “Tidy Tips area” about a mile before Ranger Peak and opposite a very tall conifer, many plants continued to brighten up the area after the poppy/lupine bank lower down the mountain had turned brown – Tidy Tips, Goldfields, Poppies, Linanthus, Gilia, Buttercup, Wild Onion, etc. Some highlights — a Linathus with nine petals, very dark pink Linanthus, and a spray of flowers with one purple and three pink flowers.

(Common Linanthus, Leptosiphon parviflorus – nine petals instead of five, and dark pink variety)

Clarkia are beginning to appear in various places on the mountains and along canyon roads. Lower down on Figueroa Mountain, numbers of dark purple-red Chaparral Clarkia (Clarkia affinis) were growing among dry grasses.

A species new to my camera, Willow-herb Clarkia, was found on a shady bank on Happy Canyon Road. A pair of  Cylindrical/Speckled Clarkia (Clarkia cylindrica) showing different states of stamens and stigma were also photographed nearby. A couple days later, I learned the technical term for the sequence of these states (protandry/protogyny) on Marc Kummel’s Fotolog.

(Happy Canyon Road – Willow-herb Clarkia)

(Happy Canyon Road – Cylindrical Clarkia pair exhibiting protandry)

Also of interest along this road — Fremont’s Death Camas (Toxicoscordion fremontii, old name Zigadenus fremontii) taller than some seen earlier on Figueroa Mountain, Clustered Broomrape and butterflies.

An off-road muddy area served as an attraction for a number of butterflies, including Western and Pale Swallowtails, California Sister (a first) and an Azure Blue. Yellow butterflies, probably sulphurs, skipped over the vegetation at high speeds with few opportunities for photos.

Happy Canyon will soon be home to many Variable Checkerspots, because caterpillars of that species were seen feeding on many plants along the side of the road – just in time for the flowering of one of their favorite plants, Golden Yarrow.

(Happy Canyon Road – Western and Pale Swallowtails)

(Happy Canyon Road – California Sister )

(Happy Canyon Road – Variable Checkerspot caterpillars )

Along Sunset Valley Road, White Sage has yet to bloom, but Umbrella Larkspur were stately and purple in many places. Both the Larkspur and California Thistle were visited by Pale Swallowtails despite high wind.

(Sunset Valley Road – Pale Swallowtail on California Thistle )

Slideshow
Because of the number of photos, three slideshows have been created. Please note that by moving the mouse over the upper right corner of the slideshow display, “Show Info” can be clicked to display titles – although most of the time they detract from the photo. (While the post above is about one day, the slideshows include photos from all of April, and some from even earlier.)

• Please click here for flora slideshow
  
• Please click here for fauna slideshow
  
• Please click here for landscape slideshow
  

Links

• Treebeard – Marc Kummel’s Fotolog

Notes

• I have vacillated between capitalizing common species names and not. Apparently, not is the accepted grammar norm. However, to highlight species names (and because I have seen it on other sites), I am using first-letter-capitals for specific plants and lower-case for general. To me, capitalized names serve as mini grammar pauses (1/8 of a period), so that speed readers or scanners (like me) do not skim by without taking mental note. I have seen this on other groups where all letters in the names of species are capitalized. On edit: Thanks to some info on this topic, I think I will try something different next time — to highlight the species common names.
• I have added a couple more address to my notification e-mail. If there are additions or deletions, please let me know.