Wildflowers Guesses

[maverick]

A question to members who may be botanists or just big wildflower enthusiasts, which species of wildflowers in the Sierra will be benefiting or hindered by all the precipitation that we are receiving? For example, last year they had a super bloom in DV, but the colors were a majority of all yellow. Will we experience carpets of Lupine (purple) or Indian Paintbrush (red) mixed? What is your educated guess on what this years wildflower season will be like?

[SSSdave]

Well I will tersely summarize and note am not a botanist, just a reasonably well read plant enthusiast.

The Sierra Nevada above the mean snow elevations where we backpackers tend to go receives considerable precipitation versus lower elevations areas of the state thus generally the extent of blooms for various species does not tend to vary much from year to year versus our lower elevation spring species. Species that tend to grow about sunnier, drier, warmer more level, southern and western aspects do tend to vary more than steeper northern and eastern aspects especially if snow melt occurs rapidly leaving areas dry during early summer. Also areas that receive monsoon storms about the Eastern Sierra and Sierra Crest tend to be wetter during summer versus those well west of the crest thus the latter tend to be more affected by the amount of precipitation each winter. Above the snow line species clocks for growing and blooming tend to start when snows above the ground have melted allowing sun to warm ground soil areas.

A higher percentage of flowering species in those higher areas are perennials that unlike annuals, don't die after seeding or with biennials after 2 seasons but rather each summer grow up from dormant roots and or bulbs. Some bushy woody perennials like ceanothus maintain above ground form all year, just losing leaves while with perennial herbs the above ground parts dry wither after seeding. For the rough area of Maverick's group backpack, these 192 herbs show as perennials:

http://www.calflora.org/entry/wgh.html# ... 7+36.90049

By changing the life form from herb to shrub an additional list of 43 species show.

These 27 show as annuals that are only herbs:

http://www.calflora.org/entry/wgh.html# ... 7+36.90049

By expanding the plus sign one can see the different annual species that are more likely affected by winter weather. Likewise note the long list of perennials. Some perennials that bloom well after melt out like lupines that grow on dry well drained soil plains like Humphreys Basin are more abundant during summers when after the melt out, monsoon weather occurs keeping areas moist. With the lupines in dry summers, they may only put out a few leaves and maybe some buds above roots while during wet summers large robust plants with lots of flowers.

Thus what does affect both perennials and annuals is the amount of water they receive after melt out during the period of summer they tend to grow and flower. For those living in seeps as long as seeps are about the same between relatively dry and wet winters blooms will be more affected by factors like summer temperatures. For those species that just need a token amount of water just after melt out, monsoon storms won't be a factor. During some of the recent drought years, melt out occurred so early while plants were still dormant including ability of roots to absorb water due to still cold daytime temperatures that when the ground did warm up, melt waters had already run off or evaporated thus no flowers.

David

[Wandering Daisy]

Thanks! That makes total sense. I just wish wildflowers and mosquitoes did not go together so much! But I guess they both are a result of those moisture and temperature conditions.

[Jimr]

Sort of like roses with roaming thorns ;-)

[freestone]

Flowers always get all the attention, and with good reason of course, but I also look forward to all the native high sierra grasses that shoot up beautiful displays of fountain-like seedheads in the early autumn season. Even the dried flowers gone to seed have a certain structural beauty that should not go completely unnoticed.

[longri]

In 2014 there was a really impressive wildflower bloom in early July. The sheer number and variety blew my mind. As you recall that was the third year in a row of really poor snowfall in the Sierra. I was told at the time by folks on the east side that the key ingredient that year was the timing of a number early summer rainstorms with the melting of the snow. Whatever the reason it turned me into a flower junkie. Wish I'd brought my camera!

[SSSdave]

In 2014 there was a really impressive wildflower bloom in early July. The sheer number and variety blew my mind. As you recall that was the third year in a row of really poor snowfall in the Sierra. I was told at the time by folks on the east side that the key ingredient that year was the timing of a number early summer rainstorms with the melting of the snow. Whatever the reason it turned me into a flower junkie. Wish I'd brought my camera!

Peak was several weeks later above 10k. Upper Rock Creek was especially good.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_C/M ... 4753sl.jpg

One other bit of natural history wisdom. The key factor for dense wildflowers in any environment whether the mountains, deserts, coastal bluffs, redwood forests, blue oak savanna foothill grasslands, volcanic soils, wherever, is for annuals a large seed bed, and for perennials, a large number of already living plants in the ground. In other words it does not matter how much it rains or snows during a winter, there are going to be zero, zilch, nada flowers in places without at least soil as at talus fields, atop snowfields, on bedrock, etc. And for those places with soil, if there are no living herbs or shrubs or seeds to possibly germinate, there will not be any wildlflowers regardless of how much rain. Wildflowers can only be dense in locations they have been dense at in the past whether that was the previous season, 4 years ago, or two decades ago.

Thus one key to knowing where wildflowers might be plentiful is having seen them at specific locations in the past or at least having information like images from other photographers showing such. Another is understanding the kind of places specific showy species tend grow densely. This latter knowledge outside of public known wildflower hot spots is not something one can get from reading any books or taking some class but rather requires years of experience visiting and rambling about environments while making an effort to understand what one is looking at. The kind of curious wondering attitude about natural history John Muir had all during his lifetime in the Sierra.

When I went down to Death Valley last winter for the Superbloom, a prime reason I nailed the best areas is I had been down there twice before after rainy winters and learned where flowers grew most impressively in the vast park by driving around and looking. Thus last winter went straight to those locations, not wasting time in others. This spring California most mind boggling displays are going to be in Carrizo Plain because yes they have received exceptional precipitation and in the past that is where flowers are sometime so thick over vast areas that in some of its locations with every step one is walking atop a knee high jungle of color.

David