CA buckeye ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

California buckeye
Aesculus californica
more information
Sapindaceae (formerly Hippocastanaceae)

I wanted to show how big our CA buckeye seeds get, much larger than the native buckeyes (A. glabra and A. flava) and introduced horse chestnut (A. hippocastanum) seeds I found when I lived in Ohio. During our hike, we had a fun time rolling the prolific seeds down the ravines to see how far they would go; it was like rolling bocce jacks over a rough terrain.

I'm surprised I don't have additional seasonal posts of the CA buckeye, considering it's noticeably one of the first trees to sprout leaves in late winter and one of the first trees to drop leaves in late summer, which I read somewhere was due to lack of water. I'll have to rectify this posting deficiency. For much better information than I could ever provide, check out Clare's buckeye post at Curbstone Valley Farm.

CA bay ~ 11/19/11 ~ Garland Ranch

California bay / Oregon myrtle
Umbellularia californica
Lauraceae

After a full year of thinking about it and posting about it back in July, I finally had my first taste of a California bay nut. Well, actually, being the piglet I am and wanting to compare, I tried 3 bay nuts. I was so excited I didn't get a picture of the first one, but it was reddish and squishy like the first photo above. The flesh had the texture and taste that reminded me of a cross between a firm avocado and an unripe mango, mild, slightly sweet, and with only a hint of bay. The second one I tried was a bit greener yet also soft. I barely nibbled it before I spat it out. It had a very, very strong bay flavor. It left a burning tingle in the back of my throat, similar to the effect I get when I eat fresh mangoes - I've already looked it up, CA bays are related to avocados but not mangoes. Hoping to try another ripe bay nut, I ate a third that was somewhere in between. Had I been prudent, I would have simply saved them and waited until I got home to taste them; for the rest of my hike, my throat tingled and every exhale tasted like bay. My stomach was not a happy camper by the time I finished my hike.

Interesting to note the seed of the first ripe one was very dark, whereas the seed of the second green one was a much lighter color. In the third photo I also want to show there are buds on the evergreen CA bay already. And the last picture shows a very large and mature CA bay tree.

ps 02/06/12 - I initially posted the last picture believing the large tree was an oak (Quercus sp.) next to a smaller CA bay. The significance of this is that the CA bay serves as a host to a pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death, which also affects tanbark oaks (Notholithocarpus densiflorus). For a very informative blog post about SOD, check out Randy at Way Points. I'm always amazed at the things I learn from fellow bloggers. During another hike at Garzas Creek on 01/16/12, I took a second look at the large tree and realized I had been mistaken about its ID. I've still got a lot to learn about trees.

naked lady ~ 07/25/10 ~ Manzanita Park

naked lady
Amaryllis belladonna
Amaryllidaceae (formerly Liliaceae) 
 

Is it August yet? I saw the striking pink of a couple belladonna lilies already blooming here in town. And, yes, I prefer to call them naked ladies, because it's so much more fun to make people look. Hopefully, this next month, I'll take a better picture of them in full bloom compared to last year. Interesting to note, those pretty red and white striped flowers grown for the winter holidays are not actually in the Amaryllis genus; they belong in Hippeastrum.

magnolia ~ 01/24/10 ~ Memory Garden

magnolia tree in Memory Garden
Magnoliaceae

This is the first magnolia flower of the year from my favorite tree in the Memory Garden.

ps 11/26/13 - This past month I noticed a couple blooms on this tree.  I thought it might be confused with the different weather we're having.  When I visited Pete in Berkeley, this same type of magnolia was in full bloom and leafing out.  He claims it always blooms twice a year.  I'll have to pay attention to that in the future.  This tree definitely goes in my dream garden.