Calochortus monophyllus x albus. A natural hybrid that is seen in California’s Sierra Nevada. I observed the beetle Eschatocrepis constrictus in both parental plants (images 2 & 3) and thanks to different pollen colors could see C. albus pollen on the beetle in C. monophyllus. #flower #calochortus

Check out the map half way down this blog. It shows and end if the line near the jumble of tracks in your photo creosotejournal.com/2012/02/unco...

Had the pleasure of meeting Nemacladus richardsiae today in Riverside County,CA. Incredibly good reminder of how much good stuff is not at our scale. #nemacladus #flower #rare

I think that was the Key System’s eastern terminal station at East 16th St.

Self directed sisyphean task of removing star thistle pays off yearly when the native #Streptanthus glandulosus gets to put on huge floral displays in the seasonally cleared serpentine slope. 250+ plants in bloom this year. There is always a smile behind the boulders in life #plants #oakland

Another beauty from the weekend: Santa Clara Thorn Mint (Acanthomintha lanceolata). California Rare Plant Rank of 4.2 due to its limited distribution in serpentine scree of the central coast range from east of SF Bay to SE corner of Monterey County #wildflowers #rareplants #california

Nemacladus montanus, it’s tiny but well worth the lean in to see. Spotted yesterday in the Hamilton Range, California #wildflowers #nemacladus

Finally spotted the San Francisco lacewing (Nothochrysa californica)!in the yard. What wonderful eyes and colors. #lacewing #insects

Chaenotheca furfuracea- Sulphur StubbleLichen

Spotted this beauty yesterday in the Oakland Hills on some exposed roots overhanging a trail. It's distributed all over the northern hemisphere and usually like humid pockets

#lichens #macro #oakland

Occasionally liverworts can fool me into thinking they are slime molds. Targionia hypophylla from the magical hills of Oakalnd, California.
#liverworts #macro

Having a hard time counting your earthworm setae? You know the little bristles on each segment. Put a UV light on them and they are super easy to see. Setae arrangement can be helpful for IDing worms. Seen last night in Oakland. #UVF #worms #glow

Seeds of Calandrinia menziesii (red maids) a wonderful California native are surprisingly textured if you can just get close enough #seeds #plants #califoriaNativePlant

Ran into a Leucistic opossum in the yard tonight, full of many surprises! Lots of blue fluorescence on the belly and rump + the most growling I’ve ever heard from a opossum #UVfluorescence #opossum #UVF

From seed?

Dermacentor similis / western dog ticks fluoresce strongly under 365 nm light. Unfortunately found on my back but before it bit in. Got it drunk on Matsutake Vodka for the photo shoot bc it kept crawling off the stage. #ticks #UVF #fluorescent

The hot weather in Northern California tricked a Pisolithus to fruit. I rarely see these up in Spring as they usually like the dry heat of August/September to get going in the SF Bay. Also saw Caloboletus marshii yesterday which is also for this time of year #mushrooms #heatwave

combat aphids on garden plant by crushing them and wipe the mush back onto the plant. Aphids release a scent trail that parasitic wasps can pick up on and they’ll come make mummies of the rest of the aphids. Worked well on my penstemon. Wasp with mummy photo from a few years ago #aphids #gardentip

Whoa I didn’t know that about their feathers!

Sadly encountered a dead Great Horned Owl today that likely died from a vehicle collision as it was not to far from a busy road. Under 365 nm UV light the fluorescence on the underside of the bird was incredible #birds #UVfluorescence #UVF #owl

That uncomfortable moment where I hope the common name “Bloodworm”
Has nothing to do with it extracting my blood. Seen yesterday on a zero tide. #polychaete #bloodworm #tidepooling

Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda opalescens). Spotted at the busy Pillar Point Tidepools yesterday on a 0 tide. Chomping on hydroids and small sea anemones they manage to take the stinging cells from the prey and move them to their fleshy cerata on their back. #nudibranchs #underwater #seaslug

Mosses are great up close. This sporophyte would open and close as I breathed on it. Sadly I could not get a good video of it. #oakland #moss #bryophytes

Slime molds still going strong in the Oakland hills. Really happy to see this Cribraria yesterday #slimemolds #oakland #macro #nature

That spring zone was amazing.

couple wonderful native plants from an after work investigation of a chaparral pocket visible from satellite images that tucked into the #Oakland hills between a neighborhood and a strip mall. 1) beaked hazelnut 2) California mustard 3) Crassula connata 4) Fritillaria affinis under UV #nativeplants

Bay Area - its prime Slime Mold season with the combination of warming weather and water saturated logs just starting to dry out. Find yourself a good deep ravine and look closely at those well rotten logs and you’ll find magic in the margins #slimemolds #sfBay

The next few days in the SF Bay are going to be incredibly good for finding Entomophthoromycota (insect attacking fungi). Check mushroom gills, logs, and outer canopy leaves for infected arthropods. Here are a few from this week. #fungi #Entomophthoromycota #flydeathfungus

Found a friend in the forest yesterday. Springtails are some of the most notorious mushroom eaters around and damn most of them are super cute #mushrooms #springtails #macrophotography #fungi

The Yellow Eyed Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica) of the San Francisco Bay Area has a very moody blue fluorescence under 365 nm light. Saw a lot of the out this morning #salamander #Ensatina #UVF

Recent rain in Oakland was enough to conjure up the Hygrocybes. All bright and shinny + one goth (H. singerii) #goth #mushrooms #mycology #fungusfriends