Buckbrush Ceanothus (Ceanothus cuneatus) has started blooming with bright white flowers at lower elevations in the San Rafael Mountains, and should probably peak in the next couple weeks. Insects, especially buzzing honeybees, are harvesting the nectar and pollen from the snowy blossoms.

Another very popular nectar source are the whitish urn-shaped flowers of manzanita. Some of the insects do not obtain the nectar using the front entrance, but rather they create a tiny circular back door. I photographed California Tortoiseshell nectaring in that way.

(Buckbrush – Ceanothus cuneatus)

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In some of my photos of the male catkins of the Alder tree (last post and slideshow) , there are a few smaller appendages above the long pendant male catkins. I wondered if they were new male catkins or new female catkins. (Note – clicking on bold text in post opens a referenced link.)

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On a whim, and only after the sky seemed to be clearing, I set out on Saturday (January 16th), the last day before a two-week rain stretch. The exploration was along Happy Canyon Road and then Sunset Valley Road. While looking for plants, I eyed the many bare roadcuts and thought of the projected rain of 20 inches, rock/mud slides and lengthy road closures.

(Alder – male catkins on leafless trees)

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Silktassel, a dioecious shrub has two  kinds  of plant – male and female, each with its own kind of catkin – i.e this species has two “homes”, where di=two and oeci=home, creating the term dioecious.

The catkins start growing in late summer and consist of tightly packed fluffy bracts. During winter, the male staminate catkins elongate with “flowers” emerging from the sequence of fluffy bracts, before producing pollen. If one brushes against the catkins, powdery pollen spills out. Some of this pollen is seen in photos of the catkins. Bees and predatory ladybugs harvest the pollen.

(Silktassel – male staminate catkins)

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I had hoped to make a few more photo excursions over the holiday season, but that never happened because my internal overload protection device automatically tripped. Instead, I spent time chilling out, or more accurately, toasting up with a few good books.

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