chaparralprincess

[chaparralprincess]

went out looking for anything i could find yesterday because of the inat city nature challenge, and saw 4 different species of annual lupines :,)

1. Lupinus succulentus, arroyo lupine

2. Lupinus truncatus, annual collared lupine

3. Lupinus sparsiflorus, Coulter’s lupine

4. Lupinus bicolor, mini lupine (there was so much of it yesterday in the Verdugos - in some areas it made a ground cover!)

[chaparralprincess]

little lizard having their moment on a rock

i think it’s a western fence lizard ??? i don’t see any armpit blotches, so i’m ruling out side-blotched.

EDIT: inat says it’s a common side-blotched!! i literally know nothing!!!!

[chaparralprincess]

sacred datura beauty from last fall!!!!!!!

[chaparralprincess]

a little doodle of a spotted towhee and juglans californica from last week ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼

[chaparralprincess]

left the chaparral and explored the tropics! here’s an assortment of butterflies from guatemala. i don’t have everything uploaded to iNat yet, but here are the ID’s i know

1. ?

2. ?

3. ?

4. Anna’s 88, Diaethria anna

5 & 6. Smicropus laeta

7. Pithy Sister, Adelpha pithys

8. White-crested Swallowtail, Mimoides thymbraeus

[chaparralprincess]

one year ago today i was wandering around a bog in the redwoods looking to meet the beautiful and charismatic aroid native to the western US (and the only one native to california… besides duckweed i think) - the western skunk cabbage 🦨🥬🦨🥬 there were so many and they were so beautiful! 💐💐💐💐

the black and white photos were shot on my medium format mamiya rb67 on 120mm film :o)

also happy twin peaks day 🌲🍒🏔️🏔️🦉☕️

[chaparralprincess]

i went hiking the other day and found a hillside covered in the biggest dudleyas i’ve ever seen (!!!) in the wild. i had to climbs through the dead branches of some Prunus to get to it and got sticks in my shoes but it was so worth it 😌

[chaparralprincess]

it finally rained in LA 🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫 which means i found so many earthstars (Astraeus pteridis) on my walk into work yesterday morning 😌

[chaparralprincess]

drawing inspired by the california chaparral ✨✨✨

[chaparralprincess]

toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) at night taken on my little digital camera

[chaparralprincess]

Erigonum parishii (Parish’s wild buckwheat), also known as mountainmist, looking absolutely like a dreamy little mist in the San Gabriel Mountains. the flowers are typically under a millimeter wide. so tiny!!!

[chaparralprincess]

on this hike i learned of what has become my favorite Ceanothus… Ceanothus cordulatus (mountain white thorn) a nitrogen-fixer and important plant for areas disturbed by forest fire.

the ones in this area were all glaucus, with the leaves, stems, and giant thorns the same beautiful minty blue-color. they looked kind of spooky, especially seeing them in big patches while hiking through patches of dead burnt trees.

[chaparralprincess]

tall silky lupine (Lupinus elatus). i saw this beautiful perennial lupine species for the first time at Islip Saddle in the Angeles National Forest.

It was growing around 7,000 feet elevation, intermingling with the annual Erigonum parishii (Parish’s buckwheat), which you’ll see in the 5th photo (that photo was taken by my bf, the rest are by me!)

[chaparralprincess]

current favorite plant, mostly due to the glowing gold lower epidermis of the leaves. Chrysolepis sempervirens, bush chinquapin. it’s a relative to the oaks & grows spiky, acorn-like fruit. these pics are from the Angeles National Forest in LA and the General Sherman Grove in Sequoia.

[chaparralprincess]

small beauty! the alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata)

[chaparralprincess]

chocolate tube slime (Stemonitis splendens).

i love a slime!

[chaparralprincess]

love these. the woolly darkling beetle! (Eleodes nigropilosa)