High and Low

Photo by Ned Harris 9/5/2014

Right before we saw the tourist taking a photo of the tortoise, Ned noticed flowers climbing high in a mesquite tree. This aptly-named Climbing Milkweed (Funastrum cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii) plant seems to be taking over! We saw flowers at least 15 feet up the tree. Look for this on the left as you take the road into Bear Canyon, just before the Bear Canyon Trail intersects with the road and the Lake Trail begins (if I'm remembering correctly). (No guarantees!) 

Photo by Matt Ball 9/4/2014

I was excited to see the developing fruits of this Crownpod Purslane (Portulaca umbraticola) on the Esperero Trail (well into Esperero Canyon). I hadn't encountered (or more likely, noticed) this plant before and I put my Honey-Matt to work on a photo.