Late Summer Wildflower Adaptations

 I was riding my bike up the big hill rather slowly, so I had time to notice little flashes of color. What? Not trash, but little flowers blooming in the disturbed area on the road shoulder. What could they be? I'm not so good at unclipping my bike shoes (which can make for some spectacular falls), so I came back a little while later and revisited the area to take a closer look.

Here's what I found: little pink flowers, less than an inch across called small wirelettuce (Stephanomeria exigua), and they grow primarily in the western U.S., but for some reason they are also present in New York state. They are part of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae).

 Seeing these flowers made me think hard about the later-blooming flowers. They are providing food for insects after many other flowers have finished blooming. In order to flower, they have to save enough energy and withstand the harsh summer conditions of extreme heat and sometimes extreme dryness. These late bloomers are the endurance flowers of the wild.

 Small wirelettuce can take different forms, and I sure found that the case where I searched. The specimen above was dense in the middle with longer shoots out to the sides.

 Then I found a little ball clump only about four inches high. What a cool name for a plant!

Then I noticed a more subtle flower, a white one on a plant that stood a foot or two high. It looked vaguely familiar, but it took me two days to finally figure it out: coyote tobacco (Nicotina attenuata). It's part of the Solanaceae Family, the same family that tomatoes belong to.

This plant has lots of interesting characteristics. It likes to grow in disturbed areas, but since invasive plants also like disturbed areas, it may be declining.

Coyote tobacco has white flowers about 1/2 inch wide, extending over an inch from the sepals. But you might not see it like this if you look in the middle of the day, because it blooms from dusk to dawn. That happens to be when its main pollinator, hawkmoths, are active.

Christopher Columbus took tobacco back to the Old World from his trips to the New World, and it soon grew in popularity as an ornamental. But tobacco took on a whole new significance when in 1560 Jean Nicot from Portugal took some powdered tobacco to France for the Queen's son to help relieve his migraine headaches. It worked, and soon became known as a cure-all. Its popularity spread, until studies hundreds of years later showed that it's not quite the cure-all it was once thought. (Hmm, that might be the understatement of the month.) The scientific name, Nicotina is based on Nicot's name and attenuata refers to the thin, or narrow, leaves. (From Southwest Wildflowers)

Native Americans have long used the plant.

And one more late summer plant today, one that is hard not to miss:

 Curlycup gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa). This bright yellow flower grows along roadsides and other disturbed places. It's a biennial, flowering in its second year and then dying (but I've also read it can be an annual or perennial--what an adaptive plant!). It's called gumweed because it's a rather sticky plant. I've never really liked it, but after reading up on it a little more, I have some grudging respect for it now. Something cool about it is that the leaves turn at right angles to the sun, making it a compass plant.

That icky gummy part? Some people have used it as chewing gum!

Curlycup gumweed also has a long list of medicinal properties used by Native Americans: it's been used to help with asthma and bronchitis (and is still an ingredient in homeopathic cough remedies) and can be used to treat poison oak and ivy rashes. It's also been used as both a sedative and stimulant. 

So this is what happens when I slow down (even if it takes a steep hill to make me do it!)--I see and appreciate some beautiful sights. I just read about the Slow Down Challenge, which is about taking your time in life and enjoying the journey, not rushing from one thing to the next. For the next week, I'm going to try to slow down for at least fifteen minutes a day notice more of the amazing world around us, and how so many life strategies are in place. Will you join me?

Hanging out with Clementine

 

Ready for a tale of woe? (Some of it may actually be true.)

Once upon a time a little calf was born on a dark and stormy night. (A dark and stormy night makes for much better reading than a calm and boring night, even though the latter is more likely to be the case.) 

Although she did her best, the poor mama cow just couldn't make it, and her little orphan calf was on her own. She was now known as a bummer calf. (That part is true, calves that don't have a mama taking care of them are bummer calves.)

Fortunately for her, she was taken in by two friendly people, who fed her daily bottles of milk replacement and hay to help make her into a big, strong cow. They named her Clementine.

Clementine was doing well until one dark night, a big and ferocious mountain lion jumped into her pen and tried to eat her. The calf fought back, and managed to live, but the lion's big teeth had left deep gashes in her neck and shoulders. She couldn't get over her memories of that mountain lion, and with no mama to console her, she just didn't want to go on.

She was moved to a new home, where she wouldn't see reminders of the mountain lion attack. She also got to hang out with two great lambs, who helped protect her. Slowly, with the aid of antibiotics and pain killers and lots of love, Clementine improved.

And that's where we get to be part of the story. Clementine's new family was out of town for the weekend, so we were asked to help take care of her. The kids were so excited!

 They quickly learned how to bottle feed her.

 Clementine drinks very fast!

She also likes to slobber all over the front of my clothes. Above, Desert Girl is pointing at some pus from a would above Clementine's ear. Poor thing!

It was fun taking care of Clementine, and we hope she keeps improving.

The kids would love to help with Clementine again. Of course, the nearby merry-go-round is also a very good incentive!

A Quick Visit to the County Fair

 This year we just had a quick visit to the county fair. With busy schedules and school, we didn't manage to enter anything, but we did want to go and check out a few things, like the animals.

We also wanted to support the cousins and friends who were showing animals. They have worked very hard over many months getting their animals ready for the fair. I'm glad my nephew found a bit of humor in showing his steer!


Of course it was fun to do some people-watching!

This steer was behaving quite well here. I love my niece's expression!

Cool matching boots and 4-H tie!

Desert Boy and Desert Girl weren't too patient with watching animals, so we wandered around the fairgrounds. This is a small fair (after all, we are in the desert, so the amount of arable land is quite limited). We found a fun activity at the Farm Bureau booth, playing games and then decorating a bag and hat:

Then it was time for Desert Boy to take on the climbing wall challenge. When he saw that, he decided that was the one thing at the fair he really, really wanted to do. (Although it took some consideration, as he wanted to volunteer to get dunked in the dunk tank.)

Desert Girl's big wishes for the fair were to see her friend Kate (which she did!) and to give Smokey Bear a hug. Well, when she saw Smokey Bear she got a little shy, but she did manage a high five.

Unfortunately I didn't manage a photo of Desert Girl's entire outfit for the day: her butterfly shirt, jeans, cowgirl boots, and a rhinestone-studded tutu, just because. That girl likes to accessorize!

It seemed like a lot of people were wandering around at the fair. We enjoyed looking at the exhibits and got some ideas for next year. Hopefully we'll be able to be a little more involved.

A Trip up Wheeler Peak, Great Basin National Park

Last week I had the opportunity to climb several mountains as part of the GLORIA project, a world-wide project that is looking at climate change by studying how plant species are changing on mountain tops over the long term. The basic idea is that as the climate warms, plants will have to move upward in elevation to survive. Eventually they will reach the top of the mountain, have no where else to go, and will disappear. Yikes!

One of the four peaks we studied was Wheeler Peak, at 13, 063 feet the second highest peak in the state of Nevada. The hike is 4.1 miles long starting from the Wheeler Peak summit trailhead at about 10,000 feet. To get to the trailhead, you simply enter Great Basin National Park via Nevada Highway 488, then take the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive about 12 miles to the sign.

After a briefing about possible dangers (lightning, altitude sickness, hypothermia, tripping and falling, dehydration, etc.), we set off through the aspen groves on a rather flat section of trail.

After a mile, we reached the second trail junction, with Stella Lake nearby and the summit of Wheeler Peak only 3.1 miles away. Only. Ha.

The trail gets progressively steeper, and the peak still looks far away! Wheeler Peak is the high peak on the right, while Jeff Davis is on the left and stands about 400 feet lower. Wheeler Peak is named for Lieutenant George Wheeler, who summited and surveyed the peak in 1869 as part of an Army mapping expedition. For more on the history and climbing the peak, see the highly recommended  Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area. (Disclosure: I wrote it, so of course I highly recommend it!)

Before long we were above treeline and following switchbacks up the talus. Although we were gaining 3,000 feet, before the Scenic Drive existed, people would either ride horses up part way or start hiking about where the Upper Lehman Campground is, just short of 8,000 feet. And Wheeler started in Spring Valley at 6,000 feet, for a 7,000 foot elevation gain. (albeit with a horse for part of the way!).

More than half way up is a giant shoulder that is sort of flat. Some big wind breaks have been created. The wind sure can blow up here, and it's usually cold! Be sure to bring some extra layers.

During our rest break, I found one lonely little snow cinquefoil flower (Potentilla nivea). The rest of the flowers are wrinkled up and barely noticeable.

As we continued up, I commented on the flat areas with no vegetation. usually vegetation seems to like the flatter areas. I learned that these may be periglacial features. The movement of the ground due to freezing and thawing keeps it unsteady (or something like that, I'm not entirely clear about periglacial features).

A lot of planes fly over Wheeler Peak, and that particular day the contrails were staying put, giving an idea of just how many fly over in a short amount of time. Across the valley I saw my first ever contrail shadow.


A skunky-smell started permeating the air, and I looked around closely to find skunkweed or sky pilot (Polemonium viscosum). Beautiful purple flowers are suspended on some stinky upreaching leaves.

Then came a surprising sight: Parry's primrose (Primula parry). This species usually grows next to streams (the inlet to nearby Teresa Lake is a beautiful spot). Somehow, these flowers have been able to adapt to live in the alpine environment.

Although the oxygen became more limited the higher we went, the views kept improving. Soon we reached the summit and could look over the mountain top.

From the top we had the glorious view of the south Snake Range, beginning with the North Fork of Baker Creek, and continuing down to Pyramid Peak (it really does look like a pyramid!), Mt. Washington (the light gray peak), and Granite Mountain in the far distance.

Up on the summit are several round shelters. These just aren't for sheltering day hikers, they were used as part of a heliograph station to map the 39th parallel. They have a really interesting history (see Chapter 5 in the Great Basin book).

We began our vegetation resurveys on the west shoulder of Wheeler Peak, which has less disturbance. We used a variety of different survey types to document what vegetation is present. We also retrieved data loggers to find out what the temperature has been like for the past five years. Over the next months, that data will be studied to make some preliminary conclusions. Five years really isn't much time to see huge changes in plant communities, although we did see a couple of ferns that weren't spotted last time.

This rockslide yellow fleabane (Erigeron leiomerus) was outside of our survey area, but was one of the few plants still flowering. Due to our very dry conditions this year, most flowers were past their prime.

During a break, I walked to the far east edge of Wheeler Peak's summit to get a view of the rock glacier in the cirque below. Check out this post for a close-up view of the rock glacier.

I really wanted to see the glacier at the headwall, so I moved closer, and was stunned when I realized that the ice ascended nearly all the way up the steep face. It looks so much different than from down n the glacier. The slope is covered in dust, gravel, and rock, but it's smooth surface left no doubt that it's ice. I felt a moment of realization that this really could be a glacier. (I will admit that I've been a doubter, even though Osborn and Bevis have declared it a glacier in scientific literature.)

One of the definitions of a glacier is that it must be moving, and crevasses (cracks in the ice) show that the ice is moving. I zoomed in for a closer look at the crevasses. It would be kind of cool to get really close with an ice axe, rope, and crampons, and check them out more. The only problem is that there is so much rock fall off the Prospect Mountain Quartzite--hence the very dirty glacial ice.

Then it was time to get back to work looking at plants. The Ross' avens (Geum rossii) with its yellow flowers is one of the most common plants on all the peaks we looked at.

I only found a few cushion phlox (Phlox pulvinata) in bloom during the trip; most of the flowers had already disappeared.


We finished our work in the mid afternoon. Before heading down, I took a photo looking east, over Garrison in Snake Valley and the Burbank Hills to the Confusion/Wah Wah Range and beyond. If you know the area, can you spot Crystal Peak?

The afternoon heat allowed for a wildfire to the northeast of Spring Valley to produce an impressive smoke column. We also saw a lot of dust kicked up on Yelland Dry Lake bed. During the spring, the playa will be covered with water, but for most of the year it is dry and dusty. Many people fear that more of Spring Valley will become like Yelland Dry Lake bed due to a massive groundwater pumping project by Southern Nevada Water Authority that is expected to significantly drop the groundwater level in the valley and change the plant composition.

It took me about three hours to hike up Wheeler Peak (with people in our group both ahead and behind), and about two hours to hike down. It was a beautiful day to go up to the highest point in this part of the world.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the views! What's your favorite peak to hike?

Back to School, Rural Style

 We start school early, in mid-August. Desert Boy wanted it to start even earlier, as he really missed his friends. So when we went to back-to-school night, he could barely contain his enthusiasm. He picked out his desk, got his school supplies, and played on the playground. The parents learned about the daily schedule and dress policy. Then we went home and made sure Desert Boy was in bed by 8.

 The next morning, Desert Boy was up at 5:30, wondering why he had to wait so long to go to school and start his first day as a first grader. Good thing his dad was up that early!

Living in such a rural area, we don't have to choose between private and public, charter and magnet, one-language or bilingual schools. We have an old-fashioned one-room schoolhouse system. Grades kindergarten through second grade are taught in one town by a teacher and a teacher's aide. Grades 3-6 are in a different town in another one-room school (actually it has two classrooms and a library/computer room, but the main subjects are taught in one classroom and the other one is used as the music room/science room/cafeteria). Grades 7-12 go to a third town where several teachers teach in their specialties and the other subjects are taught via TV/Internet connections. We have a bus system that takes the kids where they need to go.

Class size is small. Last year's graduating class was about five. That's quite large. We don't have any kindergarteners this year. The first grade class has six students. The second grade class has three students, so my son is in a classroom with nine students total. The combined grades in the classrooms seems to work, mainly because we have very talented teachers. The older students help the younger students, and the younger ones see what the older ones are doing and want to do it too. (This especially applied to Desert Boy with math last year, he wanted the harder math sheets. Talk about getting his mom to smile!) Most students go on to college.

We've already told our kids that they are going to college. One morning Desert Girl surprised me by saying, "I can't wait to go to college, it's going to be so fun!" Way to go, pre-schooler, you keep thinking that way!

 Back to the first day of first grade. Desert Boy was ready to be the star of my camera. I love this photo!

 We went over to the bus stop for more photos.

 And a little comparing of who had grown more over the summer!

 But the camera got old, and the kids got tired of the photo shoot. They wanted to get to school!

 Soon it was time for the bus, and eager kids remembered the rules and stayed put until the bus doors opened and then marched in a nice line onto the bus. Good job! Desert Boy lost his backpack over the summer, so he's using a temporary one in a nice bright color that hopefully he won't lose. He has homework four days a week, so he has to learn to bring it home, do it, and take it back.

My husband wasn't such a good student, he wanted to stay out under the desert sun and go running around, so we're thrilled Desert Boy is liking school so much. We're trying to encourage him and also give him good food to fuel his body and mind. My goal this school year is to send as little processed food as possible, especially after learning how artificial food dyes have been linked to hyperactivity and how the American diet includes several times the amount of sugar we need.

Here was our day 2 lunch: left-over whole wheat spaghetti with sauce (Desert Boy picked out the zucchini from the sauce the night before, but he doesn't even know it's whole wheat spaghetti), a whole-wheat banana-chocolate chip muffin (yes, a couple ingredients in the muffin aren't the healthiest, but hopefully the banana helps balance those out!), baby carrots (he still calls long ones adult carrots), and strawberries. Yum.

Maybe part of going back to school fun are the lunches. Oh, who am I kidding? His favorite part of the day is recess!

What's your favorite back-to-school memory?