ecomujeres - 5-16-2011 at 10:39 PM
A miraculous feat to get this done so quickly.
By popular demand (for more photos), I have just posted new plant pages, this time of our April 28 (2011) field trip to Estero de Punta Banda, a small
preserve just south of Ensenada, on the way to La Bufadora. Check it out here:
http://www.lasecomujeres.org/plants/punta_banda01.html
Mexitron - 5-17-2011 at 06:30 AM
Wow, beautiful! Were you able to key out the Dudleyas? It looks like an interesting one---part of the La Mision to Ensenada D. brittonii (green
form) complex perhaps? Never knew those were out in the dunes there.
bacquito - 5-17-2011 at 08:44 AM
Thanks alot, very interesting. I live at the south end of Ensenada and frequent Punta Banda, Kennedy and Arbolitos and Estero Beach.
ecomujeres - 5-17-2011 at 11:35 AM
Mexitron:
I didn't take a specimen to key, get very good closeups, or have Wiggins out in the field (the aching back, you know?). But from the list of the
preserve, and seeing sample photos of Dudleya's on http://bajaflora.org site, I think it does seem to fit Dudleya brittonii.
I was surprised to see them in the sand dunes too. Several large colonies of them.
Mexitron - 5-18-2011 at 10:25 AM
I'll have to go check those Duds out---specifically to see if their stem (caudex) has adapted to shifting sand by elongating more than usual...this
happened to Dudleya caespitosa up in the Los Osos Dunes by Morro Bay...
Natalie Ann - 5-18-2011 at 10:51 AM
A most interesting project you've undertaken, ecomujeres - I always enjoy your pix.
I was surprised to see a desert juncus. I have a couple of juncus here in Berkeley, but they seem to like their feet in water all the time.
Hmmmm.... different strokes.
nena
ecomujeres - 5-18-2011 at 05:05 PM
Natalie Ann:
All of the Juncus I've seen in Baja have been close to water sources or in seasonally wet soil. The ones in the desert in Catavina are in the bottom
of the arroyo and it's amazing how damp that sand can be, even when it looks totally dry. Kneel down and your knees can come up damp.
Roberts' book lists at least 4 species, at least one of them found on desert slopes! That's amazing.
It's interesting that Juncus acutus can deal with fresh water (Catavina), as well as brackish to saltwater (San Quintin dunes/mudflats, Mulege
mudflats and Punta Banda, to name just a few places).
Glad you like the site.
ecomujeres - 5-18-2011 at 05:07 PM
Mexitron:
An interesting thing about the location of the Dudleyas: growing right up out of the dense iceplant ground cover. The iceplant was so dense in places
that it's amazing the sand can shift (but no doubt does). I'll be interested to see what you find out.
BajaRat - 5-18-2011 at 06:50 PM
Considering the habitat diff from rock walls to sand dunes maybe a var. of Dudleya brittonii. Thanks for the photos.