Characters and Traits

I got a bunch of great observations while exploring a riparian zone/oak woodland that is one branch of strawberry creek. over an afternoon i walked all the way to the top of that water shed, near Grizzely peak.

Some observations that I concentrated on traits/characters.

The lichen I observed was growing on the coast live oak tree that was the unique type that only grows on oaks, it is a beautiful natural history story in itself. Lichen is actually two species, a fungus, usually an ascomycete cup fungus, with a layer of algae within. The algae is photosynthetic, producing carbohydrates
that the fungus can absorb. As one scientist has put it, "Lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture."
Lichen are also in a unique partnership with the oaks themselves, helping stave off fungal infections and invasive insects. They encourage the presence of animals by offering food, or material they can use for camouflage or nest building.

Anyway, i also observed a mushroom sprouting out of the ground. it had cracks along the outside of its shell, and had sponge like gills on the bottom on the mushroom. it was short (1-2 inches) and they were growing in patches in moist places in this oak ecosystem.

The sticky monkey has the cool trait of you guessed it, being sticky! the leaves are sticky on the bottom, giving the plant its unique name.

I also saw some newts of some sort. one had a white glob in its mouth, and was the smaller one. maybe its young? the female? some food in its mouth? the newts were small (1-2 inch) and thin (2 cm) and red with some subtle lines along its ribs.

The scotch broom i observed has a yellow flower, one that has bilateral symmetry, with a shield or cover that protects the pistol and stamen. The flowers are small and very recognizable. The scotch broom has small green leaves, round and oblong, entire margins.

I also found a nice big pine cone, from some sort of conifer. I included my hand as a scale reference, and have various photos, so hopefully I can get an good ID on that. The individual scales of the pinecone were bent down (or up, depending on perspective). It is oblong and roughly 8 inches long and 4-5 wide. see photo for more details/characteristics.

Posted on March 18, 2014 07:03 PM by guiltyascharged