wordless Wednesday

Monterey pine and coast live oak ~ 12/25/11 ~ Jacks Peak

Monterey pine
Pinus radiata
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Pinaceae

coast live oak
Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia
Fagaceae

This post is for Cindy of Dipper Ranch based on her recent comment. I wish I had better pictures of how the ends look chewed. I noticed before at Jacks Peak that tips of Monterey Pine litter the trail. This is the first time I noticed tips of coast live oak also on the trail. To me they look like they've been chewed off, but I don't really know. We haven't had any wind storms lately, so I don't think that's the reason. It just seems a bit unusual to find tips of trees on the forest floor. Maybe a pruning-happy tree squirrel did this? Anyone have any ideas as to why this happens?

Monterey pine ~ 02/11/11 ~ Jacks Peak

male cones with pollen

old female cones

pine resin

pine trunks in native habitat

Monterey pine
Pinus radiata
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
for more information click here and here
Pinaceae

posted 02/19/11 - If you click on the first photo to enlarge it, you may be able to see the yellow pollen borne on the air to the right of the pic (no, that speckly stuff isn't due to my poor photography skills). During the last week of January, we noticed the thick annual pollen dusting on many parked cars - I wonder if there's some kind of electrostatic charge that particularly attracts pollen to the metal and glass of cars. There are many species of trees in the area, so I don't know if I can blame the Monterey pines for our non-stop runny noses. The recent rains do seem to help alleviate the allergies.

While the Monterey pine tree has been introduced around the world for lumber, apparently, the Monterey Peninsula is one of the few remaining places of native forests; it's actually considered a rare and endangered plant in California. I do find it interesting how the shape of the tree changes as it ages, from a traditional triangular Christmas tree shape when it's younger to a tall, rounded top shape once they mature.

dwarf mistletoe on Monterey pine ~ 02/11/11 ~ Jacks Peak

western dwarf mistletoe on Monterey pine
Arceuthobium campylopodum on Pinus radiata
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Santalaceae (formerly Viscaceae) and Pinaceae

When I saw this I thought it was some kind of insect gall based on the swollen twig area. I figured once I got home, I'd easily be able to search Monterey pine galls and get my answer. However before I even got around to doing that and while I was looking up other plants for Jacks Peak, I noticed a picture that looked very similar to what I saw here. It's a mistletoe! Who knew mistletoes also created gall structures? See and learn something new every day, if I just bother to look.