silver bush lupine
Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons
Fabaceae

I don't have much to say about this, other than I'm glad to finally have a positive ID on this bush lupine. With 142 species and subspecies of Lupinus in CA and 8 recorded within Pinnacles, it's been challenging to make IDs. I like the challenge, but I suppose it's a bit boring to read about.

Sara orangetip ~ 03/04/11 ~ Pinnacles

Sara orangetip
Anthocharis sara

I happily and readily admit these are not the best photos. I have to laugh at how difficult it is to get a decent picture of a butterfly that rarely seems to rest or nectar on blooming plants. Shown in the first picture are milkmaids. I have a couple pics of just the tip of my shoe and initially wondered why before I remembered I was trying to capture the Sara orangetip on "film." I'm posting this as an ID, because during last year's visit to Pinnacles on May 6, 2010 I very much wanted to get a picture of an orangetip and failed spectacularly. One thing to note, I find a March through May flight period to be rather lengthy and wonder if there are two distinct broods in this area.

woolly yerba santa ~ 03/04/11 ~ Pinnacles

woolly yerba santa
Eriodictyon tomentosum
Boraginaceae (formerly Hydrophyllaceae)

When I first saw these along the road into Pinnacles, I thought they had succumb to disease with its chalky white and slightly wilted look. They are very soft to the touch and indeed are alive and healthy.

ps 03/30/11 - I've corrected the family name above from the waterleaf family to the borage family.

lichen and moss ~ 03/04/11 ~ Pinnacles

lichen and moss (or spike-moss)

Oooh, look at the pretty rocks! That's the best ID you're going to get out of me. I thought I'd try my hand at lichen ID this morning (posted 03/12/11). Ha! No way, José! If anyone can tell me the visual difference between Caloplaca ignea and Xanthoria elegans, please, please comment. There are an estimated 300+ species of lichens at Pinnacles. In the second photo above, I count at least 6 different kinds of lichen in about one square meter of rock. Seriously, who took the time to inventory all the lichen? If you're interested in lichen, I recommend these two great lichen sites: Lichens of North America (thanks to Ted at Beetles in the Bush from a comment made on Squirrel's View) and The California Lichen Society.

ps 09/08/11 - Thanks to help on my Flickr photo, the moss shown above may not actually be moss, but spike-moss, a totally different kind of plant. Who knew?