scsurflady's Favorites

Dudleya caespitosa https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23643
Blooms earlier: April–June.
Ecology: common on coastal rock with sandy soil.
Plant Height: 10–60 cm (up to 24 inches) tall. Stem of older plants often exposed between dried leaves.
Leaves: 5--20 cm long by 1--2 cm wide, 3--8 mm thick, lance-oblong (extremely variable), adaxially (upper side) generally convex.
Flowers: terminal clusters of bright yellow (orange-yellow) flowers on curving red peduncles. Sepals 2--5 mm, deltate-ovate, acute. Petals 8--16 mm, 3--5 mm wide, fused 1.5--2.5 mm.
Examples of confirmed observations:

VRS

Dudleya lanceolata https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23661
Blooms later: July–August.
Ecology: grows on slopes and soil with broken rocks.
Plant Height: Stem 15–95 cm (up to 37 inches) tall. Lower internode space is greater than 5 mm (portion of stem between 2 nodes).
Leaves: Leaves 5–30 cm long by 1–4 cm wide.
Flowers: vary in color from bright yellow to reddish-orange. Sepals 3--6 mm, deltate-ovate; petals 10--16 mm long, 3.5--5 mm wide, fused 1--2 mm.
Examples of confirmed observations:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

California has 49 recorded native species of Dudleya, many of which are endemic to the state, and some of which are endemic to a only a single county.
I-Naturalist California Dudleya Mapping Project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-dudleya-mapping-project

Jepson eFlora
Genus Dudleya Taxon Page: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10874
Jepson eFlora
Key to Dudleya https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=10874

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 140-143.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 341-342.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/crassulaceae-dudleya/

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Coast Dudleya (Dudleya caespitosa) Native, perennial, common Dudleya in the Stonecrop (Crassulaceae) family that grows on coastal rock and sandy soil. A.k.a. Sea Lettuce. There are usually several basal rosettes of leaves, up to 20 cm long. They are succulent, oblong to lanceolate or roundish, generally with acute tips. D. caespitosa has lots of leaf variablilty. Stems are long with greater distance between internodes (compared to Bluff Lettuce, Dudleya farinosa). Flowers are a clusters of bright yellow flowers, the petals united for < 1/3 of their length, on curving red peduncles. Peak bloom time: June-August.

Jepson eFlora: "Leaf: evergreen, 15--30, 5--20 cm, 1--2 cm wide, 3--8 mm thick, lance-oblong (extremely variable), adaxially generally convex (transversely), glaucous or not, base wounding purple-red or not, tip generally acute, margins generally not angled between ad-, abaxial surfaces."https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23643

D.Styer lists 2 Dudleya species in Fort Ord: D. caespitosa and D. lanceolata.
Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 99.

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 140, 143.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 341.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/crassulaceae-dudleya/

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

California has 49 recorded native species of Dudleya, many of which are endemic to the state, and some of which are endemic to a only a single county. (I-Nat. California Dudleya Mapping Project)

Genus: Dudleya is in the Stonecrop (Crassulaceae) family. It is characterized by fleshy and glabrous leaves which occur in basal rosettes, and in colors generally ranging from green to gray. The inflorescence are on vertical or inclined stems up to a meter high, but usually much shorter, topped by a cyme with alternate leaf-like bracts. Both the petals and sepals of the small flowers are 5 in number and are fused below. 5 pistils, also fused below, have 10 stamens.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/crassulaceae-dudleya/

Jepson eFlora Genus Dudleya taxon page: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10874
Jepson eFlora Key to Dudleya: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=10874

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 140-143.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 341-342.

Strophiona tigrina is a species of Flower Longhorn beetle, in the Beetle (Cerambycidae) family.

BugGuide https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Strophiona%20tigrina

"https://www.oregon.gov/oda/shared/Documents/Publications/IPPM/KeyToGeneraOfCerambycidaeOfWesternNAmerica.pdf has a key between the two known western species of Strophiona. Although iNaturalist has a few local observations of S. nitens, it's not supposed to be present in CA."
See https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27238213

Cucujiform Beetles (Infraorder Cucujiformia)
Taxonomic chart of Cucujiform Beetles. Cucujiformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles that represent most plant-eating beetles. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/372852-Cucujiformia

The infraorder contains the seven superfamilies:

Chrysomeloidea (~7 families including longhorn beetles and leaf beetles)
Cleroidea (checkered beetles, bark-gnawing beetles and soft-winged flower beetles)
Coccinelloidea (15 families, includes ladybirds and fungus beetles)
Cucujoidea (~27 families)
Curculionoidea (~8 families primarily consisting of weevils and also including snout beetles and bark beetles)
Lymexyloidea (ship-timber beetles)
Tenebrionoidea (formerly "Heteromera") (30 families including blister beetles and ant-like beetles)

Garter Snake eating a Chorus Frog who’s body was much wider than the snake's head. There were many frogs around White Rock Lake (elev. 2000ft). Link to Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla) observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/166002880

Range Map for Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus ssp. zaxanthus) https://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.a.zaxanthus.html

Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus ssp. zaxanthus) Endemic in California.
"Size: Adults are 18 - 40 inches long (46 - 102 cm). Most snakes encountered are generally 18 - 28 inches long (46 - 71 cm).
Neonates are 7 - 10 inches ( 18 - 25 cm).
Appearance: A medium-sized slender snake with a head barely wider than the neck and keeled dorsal scales.
Some average scale counts: Average of 8 upper labial scales, 6 and 7 not enlarged. 11 lower labial scales. Rear pair of chin shields is longer than the front. The internasals are longer than they are wide and pointed in front. Average of 19 or 21 scales at mid-body.
Color and Pattern: Ground color is gray, brown or black.
There is distinct yellow or orange stripe on the back and a light stripe along the lower part of each side on the 2nd and 3rd scale rows.
There may be small alternating dark spots on the sides, most noticable on juveniles.
The throat is white or yellow, sometimes bright yellow.
The underside is bluish or greenish sometimes with pink or yellow marks."
Activity: Highly-aquatic snake, able to remain underwater, but also found away from water.
Active during the day, and after dark during very hot weather.
Can be active most of the year when conditions allow, but primarily found spring through fall.
Defense: When threatened, this snake will often escape into water, hiding on the bottom. If it is frightened when picked up, it will often strike repeatedly and release feces from the cloaca and expel musk from anal glands.
Diet and Feeding: Probably eats mainly amphibians and their larvae, including frogs, tadpoles, and aquatic salamander larvae (newts) but small fish are also eaten, and possibly small rodents. Leeches are also consumed.
Adults tend to forage actively. Neonates are sit-and-wait foragers. Juveniles practice both types of foraging."
Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: https://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.a.zaxanthus.html and https://californiaherps.com

Per INat corbytender:
T. atratus: "Eyes are very googly (this is exaggerated by eating) with almost no supraocular overhang; the supralabials are lightly marked, the posterior ones are not very enlarged, and the 7th is wider than the 6th; internasals appear pointed at the front (not 100% sure) and definitely a little longer than the prefrontals. This is less diagnostic but I also find this iris color more characteristic of T. atratus and other couchii-complex garters and this constricted pupil is more typical for them than the other local species (though this can vary a lot depending on activity cycles)."

The following description is from "Systematics of the Garter Snake Thamnophis atratus at the Southern End of Its Range" by Jeff Boundy. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Volume 51, No. 6, p. 328. 1999. "...midbody scale rows 19 (85%) or 17 (15%)... vertebral stripe relatively broad, averaging 3.2 (range 1.5 - 5.0) scale rows on the nape... vertebral stripe yellow to orange-yellow; lateral stripe conspicuous, pale green; dorsum dark gray to black; iris gray or brown; top of head dark, olive black, with a prominent parietal spot; supralabial suture marks narrow when present; demarcation between dorsal head color and pale supralabials distinct; chin cream, becoming bright yellow on the throat, grading to pale green in the thoracic region; ventral color darkening slightly posteriorly; midventral suffusion yellow to orange; dark markings absent from transverse ventral sutures; eye moderate in size..."

Identifying Gartersnakes
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/gartersnakes.id.html
"all species of garter snake are often found in and around the water, and sometimes aquatics are found a long distance from any water, so the location is not a reliable way to ID them. To properly ID a garter in this area you would need a clear shot of the head scales" per INat acastelein.

Link to my confirmed Garter Snake observations, for comparison:
Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus ssp. zaxanthus) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/166000829
Coast Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans ssp. terrestris) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/110554649
California Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. infernalis) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99493314

Key to California Gartersnakes— A side-by-side comparison chart:
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/gartersnakeskey.html

Garter Snakes are in Colubrid Snakes (Colubridae) family. Most colubrids are not venomous, or have venom that is not known to be harmful to humans, and are mostly harmless. Some colubrids are described as opisthoglyphous "rear-fanged," meaning they have elongated, grooved teeth located in the back of their upper jaws.
Snakes: https://californiaherps.com/snakes/snakesmaps.html

Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: https://californiaherps.com

Reptile Database (41 species of Garter Snakes worldwide as of 2/12/24)
https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search?search=garter+snakes&submit=Search