#otaymountain

#HosackiaCrassifoliaVarOtayensis, #OtayMountainLotus, a variety found in very few places along the absurd human construct that is the US/Mexico border and ranked 1b.1 by the California Native Plant Society (rare/threatened/endangered in CA & elsewhere, seriously threatened in CA). The other variety of #HosackiaCrassifolia is a much more ordinary looking type of small herbaceous legume, but this one is covered in a thick layer of fine white hairs that give it a beautiful shine and that type of blue-green-gray foliage color that I love. The plant has recently been introduced to cultivation and I was able to start some from seed this winter. It’s a lovely plant and it’s nice to see it in cultivation but I really hope it makes it in its natural range! #californianativeplants #otaymountain #rareplants #bigdeervetch #bucklotus #legumes #fabaceae #otaymountainwilderness #sandiegocounty #narrowendemic #californiawildflowers #subbloom2022 #citynaturechallenge2022 #inaturalist (at Otay Mountain Wilderness Area) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdTsRyWuy5A/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#PickeringiaMontana tomentosa, Woolly #ChaparralPea. A spiny legume shrub. This variety has fuzzy leaves that give it a beautiful silvery color. It usually blooms from May-August but this one was blooming in December for some reason. Even more exciting because it was the first time I’ve ever seen it in bloom. It’s stunning! Just the foliage itself is lovely but then the flower is about the same color as most of the Lathyrus vestitius (chaparral sweet pea) but significantly larger in size, like Lathyrus splendens (Campo pea/pride of California). And then of course it’s not a sweet pea vine like those two but a gnarly looking spiky bush! It grows all over the beautiful #OtayMountain, which has a lot of rare and fragile plant and animal species. #OtayMountainWilderness #OtayMountainTruckTrail #CaliforniaNativePlants Unfortunately, this mountain happens to be located right along an imaginary line on the ground that human beings are fighting about, so we’ve been bulldozing up steep grades erecting a fence that will fragment those populations in the interest of separating us from our neighbors and making racists happy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #humanpriorities #unbuildthewall #noborderwall #usmexicoborder #nohumanisillegal (at Otay Mountain Wilderness Area) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXeYAW-FSa4/?utm_medium=tumblr

Yesterday’s morning snow on some peaks visible from parts of Jamul: #LyonsPeak, #SycuanPeak, #CuyamacaPeak, #LawsonPeak, and even a little on #OtayMountain. . #SanDiegoSnow #EastCountySanDiego #PeninsularRange #SoCalSnow (at Jamul, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6lkWmon4h2/?igshid=1qdaxjr8ttf30