Geophyte Club 2

Here we go again, BREAKING THE RULES!

Welcome to Geophyte Club
The first rule of Geophyte Club is: You DO NOT talk about Geophyte Club
The second rule of Geophyte Club is: You DO NOT talk about Geophyte Club…

First, what is a Geophyte?
Geophytes are perennial plants that store resources in underground organs: usually bulbs in a broad sense, but also tubers, corms or rhizomes. They can wait out drought or poor growing conditions underground and emerge when the time is right.

Second, what makes some geophytes fire followers?
Geophytes survive burning because the storage organs are below ground protected from burning, but they also emerge en masse after fire from chemical or light cues, particularly in chaparral. It’s been an amazing year for mariposa lilies(Calochortus), and we’ve seen amazing displays of geophytes of all types through this whole year. 4 of the top observations are actually geophytes! It is also good to note that the top species observation is Blue Dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus)! With 750 observations since August of 2020, that is an 86% increase in observations in the last 5 years prior to the 2020 wildfires.

The search links above will direct you to a list of those specific plants. Here are is the links on the identification page as well:
1) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Plantae&project_id=98056&taxon_ids=47218%2C53145&taxon_id=47218
2) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Plantae&project_id=98056&taxon_ids=47218%2C53145&taxon_id=53145
3) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?iconic_taxa=Plantae&project_id=98056&taxon_ids=47218%2C53145&taxon_id=47328

The top identifier of the listed plants above will be rewarded with a Fire Followers Shirt!
Additionally, 2nd and 3rd place will also receive Fire Followers Sticker and Pins!

2)You can help by confirming IDs that have already been made, refining IDs from general to more specific and correcting mis-identifications. The Suggestions tab will offer similar plants seen in the area--make sure you check it’s a good match.

3) To find likely mis-identifications, look at the Species tab of one of the fire areas you know pretty well. Scroll down to the bottom and look at the plants that only have one or two observations. Check on any out of range observations or plants you know are ornamental.

4) Check out this amazing video from our Spring Training by Ruper Clayton and learn about the "tips and tricks" as well as what to look for that's not included in the key for the Brodiaea subfamily.

You’re tagged in this post because you are among some of the top identifiers for Asparagales and liliaceae. We hope you take part in helping identify some of the observations made so far!
@rupertclayton @jrebman @graysquirrel @catchang @cwbarrows @grnleaf @rynxs @arethusa @catullus @chestnut_pod @matt_g @arboretum_amy @afid @kueda @oxalismtp @alexiz @lallen @yuriydanilevsky @yuri_pirogov @sganley @velodrome @jlmartin @finatic @danieldas @ronvanderhoff @smfang @susanbar @snakeinmypocket @glmory @cedric_lee @efmer @sahodges @heatherstevens @lenaz @hikingsandiego @morganstickrod @alanhorstmann @laurence @charlescrussell @helianthelsa @lilyboy @passiflora4 @garcia-martinez_m_a @eralverson @birdgal5 @serpophaga

Posted on June 28, 2022 08:57 PM by jaesparza11