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!
S’M*A*S*H
Elliot McGucken visited Malibu Creek State Park yesterday morning and found S’M*A*S*Hing color.
The park was the site of filming M*A*S*H from 1972 – 1983, which explains why Korean-War-era trucks have been placed there to mark its role in the hit television comedy.
Fall color remains beautiful there in late autumn, though is limited by foliage and terrain to backlit cattails, western sycamore and willows.
Nevertheless, we’re still declaring “GO NOW!” to Malibu Creek, which provides a fascinating, colorful hike to the location of a beloved episode in American cultural history.
Malibu Creek State Park (12/16/20) Elliot McGucken 
Malibu Creek State Park (12/16/20) Elliot McGucken 
Willow, Malibu Creek State Park (12/16/20) Elliot McGucken 
Western sycamore, Malibu Creek State Park (12/16/20) Elliot McGucken 
Western sycamore, Malibu Creek State Park (12/16/20) Elliot McGucken
- Malibu Creek State Park – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
Faithful To The End
As Southern California color spotter Kathy Jonokuchi returned from the Eastern Sierra following a recent getaway, storm clouds were gathering as a Frémont cottonwood stood guard among the jumble of rocks that form the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine.
She snapped a picture of it with her camera phone, worrying that it might not be good enough to make the big screen, but this is just the kind of scene that John Ford would have captured in one of his westerns.
A lone tree stands resolutely against the elements, not ready to give up its autumn gold to the dark forces of winter. A last holdout, faithful to the end.
- Alabama Hills, Inyo County – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
