Lily Times at Edgewood County Park

Dates: May 2,3,16,and 17, 2014
Place: Edgewood County Park, 6 Old Stage Coach Road, Redwood City, California
Coordinates:
Length: 2.7 miles
Difficulty: moderate

The main entrance to Edgewood County Park has a proper parking lot, bathrooms, picnic area and a nice education center that's open on the weekends. Some of the nicest trails begin there too, and all of them start with a good workout ascend.
The hiked the Sylvan-Serpentine-Edgewood trail loop (in yellow) several times this spring, altering once for the Franciscan trail connection (in purple).

Map section scanned from park's brochure. My trail is labeled yellow (and purple) 

I started my hikes at the Sylvan Trail that begins just below the picnic area and immediately plunges into the shady Live Oak forest. While poison Oak is prevalent throughout the park it is particularly abundant in the forested areas. The forest bloom is of a patchy nature. Here and there.

Sticky Cinquefoil (Drymocallis glandulosa)

The Hound's Tongue and the Indian Warrior that were blooming there in April had already gone to seeds by May. The wild roses replaced them.

Wild California Rose (Rosa californica)

All too briefly, though. I saw them early in May and by mid-May they too, were done.
Plenty of other flowers have taken there place, though. No lack of color in May!

Woodland Star (Lithophragma heterophyllum)

Every weekend during spring the docents of Edgewood Park lead free wildflower tours. On one of my hikes I came near two of them who pointed out a fern to me. This particular fern can grow in drier conditions than most of its relatives. Its leaves are coated with waxy cuticle that helps it conserve its water.

Coffee Cliffbrake (Pallaea andromedifolia)

Half way up Sylvan Trail the path emerges from the wood shade into the open sun and the forest is replaced by chaparral. There the Clematis silvery-white fruits shine brightly in the blazing sun.

Chaparral Clematis (Clematis lasiantha)

At one of the switch-back corners I saw another chaparral member in bloom:

Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum)

Higher yet, just before the trail leaves the woodland completely, I saw the magnificent bloom of the yellow mariposa lily.

Yellow Mariposa Lily (Calochortus luteus)

These lilies are at the very top of my favorite flowers list. Wherever I see them they make me happy.
Of the same genus, the white globe lily, which was at peak bloom in April and on my May hikes I saw only a few late bloomers.

White Globe Lily (Calochortus albus)

There were many other lilies blooming in Edgewood Park. While not as impressive as the Calochortus, the Ithuriel's Spear makes up for it in great numbers and a long bloom season.

Ithuriel's Spear (Triteleria laxa)

Same goes for the Blue Dicks:

Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum)

Not so much for the Dwarf Brodiaea. I saw them earlier in May and on my later hikes they were done.

Dwarf Brodiaea (Brodiaea terrestris) 

I was making my way slowly Up Sylvan. It was spring blues all over.

Bluewitch (Solanum umbelliferum)

The blues continued along Serpentine Trail too:

Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)

I smelled the fragrance of the  Coyote Mint earlier in April, but now it was finally blooming:

Coyote Mint (Monardella villosa)

The open grassland atop the hill is very beautiful, all dressed in spring flowers. But it was in the darkness of the forest floor, right by the Serpentine trail side, that I found this royal surprise: a Spotted Coralroot orchid!

Spotted Coralroot (Coralorhiza maculata)

It was there too, that I surprised this lovely couple at whatever they were doing ... courting? fighting? I didn't see how it started, only how it ended. They split and went into separate ways when they saw me, even though I tried very hard to be quiet and inconspicuous.

Western fence lizards in action. 

Emerging from the forest, Serpentine Trail goes in between high bushes of poison oak and blackberry.

On the trail

This trail segment I hiked also in April and at that time the blackberries had just begun their bloom. In May I was treated to the sight of bright-red berries.

California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus)

Nothing to eat, though. If any of the berries had ripened it was already picked before I came by.
I searched a little and then walked on.
There is a somewhat confusing 4-way trail intersection there. On one of my May hikes I turned onto Franciscan Trail (purple on the map) that tok me through open grassland patched with multitudes of brilliant little stars.

A patch of Small-flowred Leptosiphon (Leptosiphon parviflorus)

There I also met the familiar, yet always enjoyable, fruiting head of the Blow-wives (who gives these names anyway?)

Blow Wives (Achgyrachaena mollis)

By that trail there is a conspicuous rock formation with a beautiful view to the east. To bad the visibility was so poor. I could barely make the outline of Mission Peak across the bay.

Bay view from the Franciscan Trail (purple trail on the map)

Much more visible was the blooming California Buckeye tree below, like a festive chandelier:

California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)

Bearing a similar name, a butterfly that landed on the trail:

Common Buckeye

That beautiful segment of Franciscan Trail eventually connects with Edgewood Trail. On the rest of my May Edgewood hikes, however, I continued straight onto Serpentine Trail that goes on northward and remains out in the open grassland.

And it was there, in the open, that I saw other pretty flowers that weren't blooming yet in April. Some of them invasive, but pretty nonetheless:

Pale Flax (Linum bienne) 

One of the most common flowers there, and really anywhere in the Bay Area, is the small, pink, and incredibly prevalent Stork's Bill. There are four species of Stork's Bill in Edgewood, all of them exotic. I hardly ever bother giving them a second look.

The fruit that gave Stork's Bill its name

Things are slightly different when I hike with children. They find the dry Stork's Bill seeds immensely entertaining. Once detached from the mother plant the dry seed begins to curl. It is fun to stick the sharp seed point in the shirt and watch it go around and around as it curls around itself until it looks like a tight little screw. The happens because of perpendicular layers of cells that shrink in opposing directions.

Western Stork's Bill (Erodium cicutarium)

When it absorbs water those cells expand again and the seed straightens, and doing so, it drills itself into the rain-softened ground. Pretty nifty mechanism :-) No wonder this plant is so successful. To bad it comes on the expense of native California species.

Another immigrant plant, small and delicate, that caught my eye:

Garden Burnet (Poterium sanguisorba) non-native

Here's another exotic beauty I saw alongside Serpentine Trail:

Mediterranean Lineseed (Bellardia trixago) non-native, invasive

The native California beauties stand their ground marvelously, dotting the green grass with purple:

Denseflower Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja densiflora) 

Yellow:

Sun Cup (Taraxia ovata)

and blue:

Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius)

But the best surprise there came in white: the Clay Mariposa Lily. Not as prevalent as the yellow one, just a flower here and there. I was very excited to see them.

Clay Mariposa Lily (Calochortus argillosus)

Serpentine Trail meets Edgewood trail higher up. I turned right (eastward) on Edgewood. For a few yards the trail continues through open grassland, and that's where I saw this white Lupine that I couldn't identify:

Lupinus sp. (an albino broadleaf?)

Although sticky monkey flower is pretty common throughout the park I was impressed by the bright orange flames of monkey flower shrubs that stood out against all that greenery around.

Sticky Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus)

before long the Edgewood Trail plunges back into the oak forest and remains under the trees all the way back to the Education Center. Along that trail I finally took the time to photograph the pretty common and very beautiful Rough Hedgenettle:

Rough Hedgenettle (Stachys rigida) 

And also another common one, the small and unassuming Chilean Trefoil:

Chilean Trefoil (Acmispon wrangelianus)

You can imagine how long it took me to get through the trail, stopping at nearly every flower along the way. They were well worth it, though.

Broadleaf Woodland Star (Trientalis latifolia) 

And not just flowers caught my eye: also the evidence for bird's spring activity, dropped at my feet :-)

American Robin egg shell

I like to mull and sniff mugwort plants as I walk by them. This one made me stop and take a closer look. It was bearing an interesting-looking bug.

Carpocoris purpureipennis

It was there, on my way down on Edgewood Trail, that I saw two lily species that I haven't seen before. The delicate Mexicali Onion:

Mexicali Onion (Allium peninsulare)

and the brilliant Golden Brodiaea. So many lilies in such a small park!

Golden Brodiaea (Triteleia ixioides)

The loop isn't long, only about 2.8 miles, and it isn't difficult. Yet, it took me about three hours to hike it. With so many spring flowers to enjoy, why rush it?


Many thanks to the park's educators who put the flower photos on display, thus making it easy for me to match the photo with the plant name!

Also thanks to members of the California Wildlife Appreciators group for their help in identifying the bug on the mugwort :-)   

A Precious Peninsula Jem: Edgewood County Park

Dates: April 2 and 12
Place: Edgewood County Park, Redwood City, California
Coordinates of Sunset trailhead: 37.461815, -122.275538
Length: 2.8 miles
Difficulty: easy

At some point last year I realized that while the majority of my blog's posts are on Bay Area hikes, the Peninsula is shamefully misrepresented here.
Determined to put some peninsula hikes in my blog I went to hike Edgewood County Park. I had a lovely hike, which I didn't post about here because in my hurry to get there I forgot my camera by the door.

Didn't make that mistake this year :-)

Trail view from Sunset Trailhead

Edgewood County Park is one of the best places to see the spring bloom spectacle. It was great even in this drought year.
This spring I had the great pleasure of introducing this wonderful park to quite a few people on several occasions, and that gave me the opportunity to observe the change of colors throughout the bloom season. Some of the photographs posted here were taken by Papa Quail who joined me with the chikas on a couple of these hikes.
I also had the opportunity to explore most of the park's trails. The hike I describe here is a loop combining sections of several trails, going through the main plant communities and animal habitats in this park. It begins at the Sunset entrance, which is a side entrance to the park, with no designated parking (one has to park in the neighborhood, with attention to the posted signs) and no bathrooms.

Map downloaded from park's brochure. The trail I hiked is labeled yellow.

It starts in a chaparral area where I found the California Thrasher atop one of the bushes, singing out loud.

California Thrasher

I took the first right turn onto Serpentine Loop. There are rails along part of the trail and signs warning people from stepping off the trail. This is to protect the wildflowers in this park, some of them are endangered and all of them beautiful.
The rail, though, is the perfect perch for the Western Bluebird. 

Western Bluebird, male. Photo taken by Papa Quail

I passed the turn to Live oak trail and turned left onto Sylvan/Serpentine. This segment starts in the open but soon plunges into the woods.

That hillside is particularly rich in magnificent wildflowers. One of the most conspicuous species there is the intensely blue Coastal Larkspur:

Coastal Larkspur (Delphinium decorum)

 and the bright yellow patches of the very fittingly named California Goldfields.

California Goldfields (Lasthenia californica)

There's a lot of poison oak in this park. While the trails are well maintained and there;s no problems walking them without coming in contact with the poison oak, it is always a good idea to recognize it wherever it grows.

Poison Oak (Toxidendron diversilobum) fresh spring growth

Spiders are very common there too. I love their intricate webs, whether hanged on plants or spread on the ground.

The wood at Edgewood is mostly oak, peppered with laurel and madrone trees. The undergrowth is mainly poison oak and a variety of ferns.

Under many of the trees there are these stick piles. No one is preparing a bone fire :-) these are the nests of wood rats. They can be decades old, maintained by generations of rats.

The partly shaded forest floor is also a home for the Indian Warrior that blooms there during early spring.

Indian Warrior (Pedicularis densiflora)

Another early spring bloomer of the undergrowth is the Western Houndstongue.

Western Houndstongue (Cynoglossum grande)

The trail opens up into a tall poison oak/blackberry boulevard. People may be bothered by poison oak but not the birds. Certainly not this spotted towhee that was jumping between the twigs, not caring about being photographed.

Spotted Towhee

There is a somewhat confusing 4-way trail intersection there. Turning sharply left onto Franciscan will take you up hill to the Ridgeview Trail.

Eastward view from upper Franciscan Trail

The northeast part of the Ridgeview loop is in the woods.

Scrub Jay. Photo taken by Papa Quail

But going back north on the southwest part is in the open, offering a great view of the shrub-covered hillside and the grassland below (and of the ever-noisy I-280).

Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus albifrons)

In bloom, the lupine bushes on the grass looked like  pretty, puffy purple pillows :-)

Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus albifrons)

Lomatium plants are common in Edgewood's open areas. They make perfect roost for the iridescent Green Hairstreak butterfly.

Green Hairstreak Butterfly on Bigseed biscuitroot (Lomatium macrocarpum) Photo taken by Papa Quail

And for other butterflies too.

Brown Elfin butterfly on Bigseed Biscuitroot (Lomatium macrocarpum) Photo taken by Papa Quail

The Ridgeview trail connects back to the large Serpentine loop where is turned left and headed back in the direction of the Sunset Entrance. In season, the open grassland there is patched with the intense orange of our State flower: the California Poppy.

And another bright-yellow one can be seen there, sporting smooth and tidy white tips :-)

Smooth Tidytips (Layia chysanthemoides)

The Serpentine trail leads directly to the Sunset entrance. I chose, however, to take a detour through the parallel Clarkia Trail that took me through the chaparral.

Where the Yerba Santa bush was blooming:

California Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum)

A most common animal in the park is the western fence lizard. They warm themselves on the exposed rocks and bare trail ground, wait patiently until I switch on my camera and aim it, and quickly scoot away into the vegetation.
But sometimes I am quicker.

Western Fence Lizard, Photo taken by Papa Quail

Edgewood County Park is small, but Nature-rich. The locals are very passionate about it: I could hear their pride when I talked with fellow hikers there. I could see it in their eyes. It is a well-loved park, and it shows. I love it too. What better reason is there to cross the bridge?

Later into spring I explored the eastern slopes of Edgewood Park. But this would come on a separate post. Now go out there and catch the tail of this gorgeous spring bloom before summer dries it up!


Many thanks to members of the California Wildlife Appreciators page for their help in identifying the brown elfin butterfly!