Borrego Palm Canyon Dec. 2011
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Borrego Palm Canyon December 2011
San Diego County, California   © W.P. Armstrong 10 December 2011

Rock Ferns Along Trail

Woolly lipfern (Cheilanthes parryi).

California cloak fern (Notholaena californica).

Lichens & Liverworts (Cryptobiotic Crust) Along Trail

The slender, black threads with dichotomous branching are the rolled-up, desiccated thalli of a liverwort (species unknown). The brown, scale-like soil lichen is brown earthscale lichen (Placidium lacinulatum).

The rolled-up, desiccated thalli of a liverwort (species unknown).

Liverwort & Placidium lacinulatum In Borrego Palm Canyon (2008)

Close-up view of the desiccated and unrolled (hydrated) thalli of a liverwort.

  Wayne's Word Article About Cryptobiotic Crust  

Acanthaceae: Carlowrightia arizonica (Arizona Carlowrightia)

Distinctive fruit of Carlowrightia arizonica in Borrego Palm Canyon.

Carlowrightia From Borrego Palm Canyon in 2008

The inconspicuous corolla of Carlowrightia arizonica is only 10 mm long.

Carlowrightia arizonica flower and fruit.

A Prostrate Spurge Along The Trail

Yuma spurge (Chamaesyce setiloba).

  Chamaesyce setiloba in Alma Canyon  

A Small Lotus Along The Trail

Grab lotus (Lotus hamatus = Acmispon micranthus). The derivation of the common name is apparent from the above image. Each indehiscent fruit (legume) has a hooked terminal beak. The double fruit greatly resembles a miniature devil's claw capsule (Proboscidea), a classic hitchhiker of the southwest desert region.

Wayne's Word Article About Devil's Claws (Proboscidea)
  See Penny Size Relationship Used In Wayne's Word Articles  

Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) With Flower Buds

Female Plant On Cat's Claw Acacia (Borrego Palm Canyon)

Female desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) with flower buds (white arrow) on cat's claw acacia (Acacia greggii). Inset: P. californicum with ripe fruit from a February 2008 image taken in Smoke Tree Wash.

Female Phoradendron californicum with flower buds. Two flower buds are open to show epigynous ovary.

Female Phoradendron californicum with flowers and developing epigynous ovaries.

Male Plant On Cat's Claw Acacia (Fish Creek)

One of many spikes on male Phoradendron californicum parasitic on cat's-claw acacia (Acacia greggii).

Female (left) and male (right) spikes of desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) showing flower buds and opened flowers. Perianth segments are valvate in the bud (i.e. margins meet edge-to-edge without overlapping). The flowers are typically 3-merous; however, one of the female flowers (left) has 4 perianth segments. Male flowers contain 3 sessile anthers (right). The entire flower is surrounded by an inflated receptacle that fits neatly into the spike axis. The flower unit slips out of a concave depression in the axis. Female flowers are epigynous with the perianth attached (adnate) to the top of inferior ovary. The perianth segments are interpreted as petals by Hennig S. Heide-Jørgensen in Parasitic Flowering Plants (2008).

The spike stems are canescent, covered with dense, grayish-white hairs. Another desert mistletoe with scale-like leaves (P. juniperinum syn. P. libocedri) has glabrous stems. The latter species is parasitic on Juniperus and Calocedrus.

Close-Up View Of Female & Male Flowers Slipped Out Of Cavities In Stem

Distant View Of Honey Bee Hive With Vertical Honeycombs

Distant view of vertical honeycombs of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) under the overhanging boulders.

  Wayne's Word Article About Honey Bees  
Honey Bee Excrement On Your Vehicle

Borrego moon in the horizon.

  See Moon Images Taken With Mamiya 500mm Telephoto  

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