All Things Super
On the morning following the Super Pink Moon (so named after the herb Floss pink, also called Creeping phlox, which native people identified as blooming during the May super moon), Steve Arita rose early and sent these dawn images of a superbloom of native Lupine near Rattlesnake Bar at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area.
Lupine superbloom, Rattlesnake Bar, Folsom Lake SRA (4/27/21) Steve Arita 
Lupine superbloom, Rattlesnake Bar, Folsom Lake SRA (4/27/21) Steve Arita 
Lupine superbloom, Rattlesnake Bar, Folsom Lake SRA (4/27/21) Steve Arita
Another bloom is found at Beek’s Bight (below), also within Folsom Lake SRA in Granite Bay, and it’s getting a lot of traffic. Many of those visiting the area took portraits, as I did of Joan when we visited the following morning. But follow these words of advice: please stay on established trails and paths. There’s plenty of trampled space on which to take a photograph without creating more.
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Joan Poimiroo (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Scotch broom and winter vetch, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo 
Lupine superbloom, Beek’s Bight, Folsom Lake SRA (4/28/21) John Poimiroo
Steve’s and my submissions followed a communication from Southern California color spotter Julie Kirby who bemoaned the lack of poppies along the Central Coast (Cayucos, Atascadero and Morro Bay). She had inquired at the Cambria Nursery as to where she might find the area’s legendary, knee-high displays of spring color and was told not much color has appeared, so far.
She then opined whether fire abatement, flood damage and highway maintenance efforts were the culprit and sent this live cam link to the Antelope Valley State Poppy Reserve near Lancaster which shows barren hills. So, Julie was left to appreciate the splashes of exotic yellow mustard that Spanish friars sowed as they trod the El Camino Real in the 1700s. Somehow, the exotics seem to show each year, despite fire, flood or human excavation.
CaliforniaFallColor.com is about autumn color, so we don’t post spring, summer or winter color too regularly, but to satisfy those with a need to see such beauty, file your photos and we’ll post them. There’s also a California Wildflower group on Facebook, where you can see and post California wildflowers during their nine-month bloom.
In the meantime, enjoy the superbloom at Folsom Lake.
2020 in a Second
Fascinating Frozen Facts
In winter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports, when other trees are dormant, quaking aspen are energy producers. That’s because they “continue to photosynthesize in their greenish-tinged bark, even after their leaves have dropped.”
It is this living bark layer, which contains chlorophyll and can carry out photosynthesis, that makes the aspen so remarkable a winter survivor.
The USFWS continues in its Kenai NWR “Refuge Notebook,” that quaking aspen are well-adapted to the cold. They survive at higher altitudes by staying small. It’s a response to their tolerance for cold and a lack of moisture at higher elevations. Because of this, aspen are often stunted near tree line, but fully grown several hundred feet lower.
Even their root structure is designed for survival, as the aspen’s fibrous sprouts and suckers are “a handy adaptation in marginal climates,” the USFWS explains. The propagation of aspen clones from one massive root network is why aspen tend to all change color at the same time in fall or leaf out together in spring.
Additionally, in summer, it is the shape and thinness of the aspen leaf that allows it to quake (flutter) in the slightest breeze. Its flexible stem prevents wind damage or stripping and may also “improve the photosynthetic rate,” USFWS vegetation ecologist Elizabeth Bella writes.
Who knew that the quaking aspen would be as fascinating when frozen, as it is lovely during autumn?
Azusa Splash
Steve Shinn was exploring the San Gabriel River this past week when to his surprise a splash of remnant peak color brightened the stream above Azusa. He returned to Long Beach finding Anna’s hummingbirds also brightening his yard.
- San Gabriel River – Past Peak, You Missed It.
A Dry Spell For Mycophiles
While most Californians are enjoying this winter’s warm, sunny days, mycophile Gabriel Leete is out wandering the woods in disappointment as he dejectedly walks past the ink caps of Coprinopsis picacea, commonly called the Magpie Mushroom in Anderson. Normally, a wet winter causes all sorts of mushrooms to push up. So far, it’s been “fairly slow.”
Few mushrooms at lower elevations have appeared, and at higher elevations, freezing temperatures have retarded their development.
In his wanderings, Gabriel found a large colony of Leratiomyces ceres commonly known as the Redlead Roundhead pushing up from shredded bark.
Gabriel sent images of Parasola conopilus (formerly called Psathyrella conopilus) and made the point that they soon will be known as Parasola conopilea.
It seems the mushroom was misidentified as a Psathyrella species, when under the microscope mycologists found it to be a Parasola. Then, an error in Latin agreement got the second half of its name corrected from conopilus to conopilea.
That seems too great an amount of attention and revelation for so common a brown mushroom. Parasola conopilea number from the hundreds to the thousands when they are flourishing. Unfortunately, such scenes are infrequent in this dry winter.
Happy New Year!
Sometimes, the best Christmas presents arrive late. Mark Hanning-Lee waited until the new year to send these shots, taken at Joshua Tree National Park on the Christmas weekend.
The Deserts is the last of California’s regions to peak and then, you have to know where the few winter deciduous trees can be seen. Hanning-Lee found peak Frémont cottonwood at Cottonwood Springs a short distance from the parking lot, scoring a first report for Joshua Tree NP. Before leaving for Joshua Tree, Mark watched the moon rise over an ornamental pear in Irvine.
Frémont cottonwood, Cottonwood Springs, Joshua Tree NP (12/26/20) Mark Hanning-Lee 
Flowering pear, Irvine (12/25/20) Mark Hanning-Lee
- The Deserts – Past Peak, You Missed It.
Holiday Nuts
I received more than my share of gift nuts this holiday season, including this snap of a California black walnut at peak in the Santa Monica Mountains sent by Peter Asco. He writes, “Despite wind, low temperatures and winter’s arrival,” … this full color tree is “a lesson on hope, faith, and the resilience of nature.”
- Santa Monica Mountains – Past Peak You Missed It.
See You Next Autumn, Dude
It was unseasonably warm on the final day of autumn. Temperatures rose to the high 50s in Sacramento and were predicted to rise to 65° in Downieville where Philip and Jane Reedy were headed to take fly fishing photographs.
However, when they arrived at Phil’s favorite “secret spot” along the North Yuba River, he was surprised to find winter’s icy finger frosting the last fallen leaves of autumn.
Phil got his shot, and I got to share a frozen finish to fall color.
North Yuba River, Downieville (12/20/20) Philip Reedy 
Bigleaf maple, North Yuba River, Downieville (12/20/20) Philip Reedy
Today is the first day of winter. That means CaliforniaFallColor.com has stopped reporting fall color regularly, until next September. So, I’ll see you next autumn, dude.
- California – Past Peak, You Missed It.
Honey and Jelly
Honey fungus, Anderson River Park (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete 
Jelly fungus, Anderson River Park (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete
Honey and Jelly are being found in the Shasta Cascade.
You might consider that statement to be odd for a site that specializes in fall color, but the honey and jelly being described here are fungi. Late rain has caused the late appearances of honey and jelly fungi, and Redding color spotter Gabriel Leete found them at Anderson River Park on a Sunday mushroom hunt.
As December rains arrive, more fungi will appear. Gabriel estimates that “Blewits, Coprinopsis and other ink caps, late fall oyster, Bolbitius, and more will be popping very soon.”
Honey and jelly mushrooms are edible, though because many types of mushrooms look alike, CaliforniaFallColor.com cautions not to eat foraged mushrooms unless a mushroom expert certifies they are absolutely safe to eat, as several types of poisonous mushrooms exist in California.
Clinical toxicologist, Rose Ann Gould Soloway, RN, BSN, MSEd, DABAT emerita advises, “If you think that someone has eaten a wild mushroom, call Poison Control right away at 1-800-222-1222. Poison specialists will tell you exactly what to do.”
Foraged mushrooms, Anderson (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete 
Foraged mushrooms, Anderson (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete 
Honey fungus, Anderson River Park (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete 
Honey fungus, Anderson River Park (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete 
Honey fungus, Anderson River Park (12/20/20) Gabriel Leete
In 2018, I wrote, “Gabriel has been hunting mushrooms for nearly two decades and knows his fungi. He’s the first to say that one person’s edible chanterelle might, upon closer inspection, be a poisonous variety of Cortinarius. So, expertise and caution are required when adding wild mushrooms to your diet.
“However, he also believes mushrooms have gotten a bad rap. They’re full of B vitamins, gmushrooms.com writes, “especially niacin and riboflavin, and rank the highest among vegetables for protein content. But because they are low in fat and calories, Western nutritionists mistakenly considered them of no food value (a fresh pound has only about 125 calories). Yet in dried form, mushrooms have almost as much protein as veal and a significant amount of complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides. Shiitake mushrooms are among the most delicious & very nutritious.”
“Because they grow from decaying matter, they’re all somewhat disgusting, but also things of beauty. And, of course, they can be deadly.
“In 2012, The London Telegraph reported that 18 Italian mushroom hunters, “died in just a 10-day period. Many of them had forgone proper footwear, clothing and equipment and died after steep falls down Alpine slopes” while hunting for mushrooms. One of them was a 65-year-old woman who fell 40 feet to her death near the Swiss border.
“My sordid attempt at humor aside, while there is the hazard of hunting them on wet, slippery slopes, there is also the possibility of eating a poisonous variety. Of one thing is certain, there’s no sitting on a fence when judging a mushroom, even though mushrooms often do.”
- Mushrooms, Northern California – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
OC Orange
It’s orange in Orange County along the southern end of Peters Canyon Regional Park where Near Peak color hangs on.
OC color spotter Mark Hanning-Lee walked ten minutes from the park’s south entrance along the Mountains to the Sea Trail to enter a boulevard of tall peaking red willows, while others filled the basin that comprises the normally dry Peters Canyon Reservoir.
White alder, Mountains to Sea Trail, Peters Canyon Regional Park (12/20/20) Mark Hanning-Lee 
Willow, Lower Peters Canyon Reservoir, Peters Canyon Regional Park (12/20/20) Mark Hanning-Lee 
Willow, Peters Canyon Regional Park (12/20/20) Mark Hanning-Lee
- Peters Canyon Regional Park (683′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!