Beautiful work, and nice explanations. Thanks for sharing.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Trask" <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Discussion Group" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 11:17 AM
Subject: [OM] IMGs: Showy Desert Flowers
> Yesterday I took a hike into a remore area to locate and document a
> mutated specimen of Chaparral Honeysuckle that I had encountered last
> year. The weather was exceptionally mild, having had a small low pressure
> system pass through early Thursday that cooled things down and dropped a
> good amount of rain in the chaparral country to the north and east of
> Phoenix.
>
> We have a number of showy wild flowers in the chaparral country, and
> despite the drought conditions we're still having a good show, though you
> have to be more determined than usual to find them. The first one I
> encountered was Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7121383009/in/photostream
>
> soon followed by the poisonous Barestem Larkspur (Delphinium scaposum):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7121382959/in/photostream
>
> When the vegetation became denser, I came across the only speciman I
> know of Southwestern Chokecherry (Prunus serotina var. virens):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7121383167/in/photostream
>
> A succulent generally known as Live Forever was found everywhere, all
> of which were in the early stage of blooming. This one was particularly
> photogenic:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7121383011/in/photostream
>
> though I had to use the built-in flash at 1/16 power to reduce the
> harshness of the shadows.
>
> Much to my surprise, I came across a large number of specimens of
> Diamond Clarkia (Clarkia rhombodiae). Most of them were past their prime,
> but this one was good enough to record:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7121382987/in/photostream
>
> While crossing the ridge that separated the watersheds, I came across
> a nice specimen of Doubting Mariposa (Calichrtus ambiguus):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7121382961/in/photostream
>
> There are five species of Calichortus in the area, and in a good year
> you can encounter all five in a single day.
>
> The destination for lunch was a desert oasis by the name of Upper
> Sheep Creek Spring. Along the way you are afforded a sweeping view of
> Lion Mountain:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/6975349672/in/photostream
>
> and a mile later you arrive at the spring itself:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/6975350748/in/photostream
>
> Not much time left before the daytime temperatures prohibit journeys
> such as this. Then I'll have to resort to looking for orchids at higher
> elevations.
>
> Chris
>
> Chris
> --
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>
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