A Morning Around Oakland Camp

On Saturday morning I decided to check out the Southern End of the Keddie Cascade Trail that begins by the bridge over the Oakland Camp Road.  On the way, I made a brief stop in the woods about a half mile north of the Feather River College turnoff on Highway 70.  There were quite a few freshly blooming Hartweg's Iris, Iris hartwegii.  Hartweg was a German botanist who did a lot of collecting in Central and South America as well as in California.  A fitting tribute.

The Mule's Ears, Wyethia mollis, are blooming everywhere around Quincy, and caught my about this one was the shed skin of a Cicada.

When I got to the trailhead, I parked by the swimming hole and headed up the dirt road that is the first part of the trail.  Almost immediately I noticed that the American Dogwood, Cornus sericea, was abundant and was having lots of butterfly and beetle visitors.

This Convergent Ladybird Beetle stood out like a beacon on a cluster of Deerbrush buds.

The first grassy area I came to, around 1/4 mile from my parking spot, had lots of blooming Death Camus, a lily, Zigadenus venenosus. 

The Sulfur-flowered Pea, Lathyrus sulfureus, was abundant and attracting lots of bees.

An impressive fly paying a visit to the blossom of Sticky Cinquefoil, Potentilla glandulosa.

A small, brown beetle I haven't identified, was gathering in great numbers on the Arnica, and this is the first time I've seen beetles actually consuming the plant.  The area seemed exceedingly dry for so early in summer - actually, it's not quite summer yet - so I expect there's a war of survival going on among lots of species.

As I headed back to my car I met a couple of ladies from Quincy who were interested in what I was doing, so I offered to show them the spot where the Mountain Lady's Slippers were blooming, or so I hoped.  They began to bloom a couple of weeks ago, and I hope they'll last at least until Art Camp begins in mid-June.  They still looked fresh, as did the nearby Spotted Coralroot, Caralorhiza maculata.

Sometime this week, I'll head back this way again and hope to find the remaining species of Milkweeds blooming.  I've already posted photos of the Purple Milkweed flowering and the Narrow-leaf Milkweed with lots of buds.  On this particular day, the Indian Hemp, Spreading Dogbane, and Showy Milkweed were all in buds and should be blooming soon.