Both are primitive plants that don’t reproduce with flowers.
They reproduce both sexually (with sperm and eggs) and asexually (with spores).
They both tend to grow in mosit locations. because their perms need water to ”swim” to the eggs
Spore capsules on moss
Sori on underside of fern
Mosses and Ferns in the same habitat
The text and images were provided by biologist Al Torretto. The video is of Al talking about mosses and ferns
For fungi lovers and the mushroom curious, now is the time to visit Blue Sky! Fungi play an important role in Blue Sky’s ecosystem by decomposing dead plant material and thereby returning nutrients to the soil. And the underground filaments of fungi connect to plant roots, helping plants take up more nutrients. In exchange, the fungi get carbohydrates from the plants, which they need as they cannot, like most plants, produce these themselves.
Watch Al Torretto talk about the importance of fungi in the video below.
Please, DO NOT pick or kick Blue Sky’s mushrooms!
Below are some photos of Blue Sky fungi taken by Al Torretto.
From left to right and top to bottom: Bird Nest Fungi, Common Fieldcap, Golden Ear, Golden Milkcap, Hairy Curtain Crust, Jack-O-Lantern, Oak-loving Gymnopus, Oak-loving Bolete, Orange Bonnet, Shaggy Mane, Splitgill Mushroom, Tall Psathyrella
Nothing symbolizes the City of Poway more than an oak tree. At one time there were vast groves of them throughout this area.Blue Sky with its north facing slopes, canyon and available ground water, is ideal habitat and has one of the last great stands in Poway.
Acorns! The tree’s fruit containing the seeds.
Since oaks are pollinated by the wind, they do not need to have big, colorful, showy flowers to attract animal pollinators.
Male flowers which produce pollen are dull yellow and hang down from catkins.
The very small, brown, female flowers which, when pollinated, become the acorns with seeds inside.
Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia)
This broad spreading species is the largest in size, the longest living, and the most abundant of our oaks. Some have reached 75 ft. in height and 130 ft. in spread, and have lived as long as 375 to 400 years. The name “Live Oak” refers to the fact that they don’t drop their leaves in the Fall like most northern and mountain oaks; they stay “evergreen” all year.
Engelmann Oak (Quercus engelmannii)
This species is rare in Blue Sky. Since it can handle slightly drier habitats, they are often found farther out from the streambed than the Coast Live Oaks. When conditions are very dry, they will drop some of their leaves to conserve water.
California Scrub Oak (Quercus berberidifolia)
This plant is a “true oak” even though it is not a tree. Its body form is that of a shrub, with many small trunks coming out of the ground. It is one of the dominant chaparral shrubs in San Diego county. Forming impenetrable thickets, scrub oaks requires less water so they can survive in a drier habitat. There are many specimens along the main trail in Blue Sky. It sometimes hybridizes with Engelmann oaks. A few of these hybrid oaks can be found in Blue Sky.
Many other organisms depend on oaks at Blue Sky.
Acorn Woodpecker: Best known for its habit of hoarding acorns woodpeckers drill small holes in dead sycamores or pines, then store harvested acorns in the holes to be eaten during winter.
Gray Squirrel: Squirrels needs to eat the equivalent of their own weight weekly. They will work relentlessly to make sure they have nuts in lean times and can collect and bury up to 50 nuts an hour during high nut season.
Mule Deer: Acorns from oaks are an important food source for deer in late summer, fall and early winter, and comprise about 35% of their diet from September to December.
Oak Gall Wasps: Oak galls are abnormal plant growths found on foliage and twigs that are produced by this small insect. Inside the galls are the eggs and larvae of the insect. The larvae feed, pupate, and emerge from the gall as adult wasps.
Oak-Loving Bolete: These mushrooms shares nutrients with the roots of oaks, forming a mutually beneficial relationship with the tree.
Text and most pictures courtesy of Al Torretto.
Approximately 99% of plants on earth make their own food (sugars) by the process of photosynthesis. They also acquire their water and minerals through their roots and, in rare cases, their leaves, but about 1% of plants derive some or all their nutritional requirements from another living plant. These are the parasitic plants.
All parasitic plants develop a specialized root-like organ called the haustorium, which penetrates the host plant, connecting them to the host’s vascular tissue (veins/pipelines) that carry water and minerals up, and sugar down.
The following are some parasitic plants found in Blue Sky:
This orange vine is Blue Sky’s most abundant parasitic plant. Dodder seeds germinate in soil and must find a host plant within a few days. If they don’t find a suitable host the seedlings will die. Seedlings that find a suitable host twine around the plant and insert haustoria into the tender stem. The haustoria penetrate and tap the plant's vascular system for water, minerals, and sugars. They rely upon their host plant for survival. Once the vine taps the host plant its connection to the soil is severed. Small, white, bell-shaped flowers form in late summer and early fall and can produce copious amounts of seeds. In Blue Sky, sumac and buckwheat are favorite host plants of dodder.
Dodder on buckwheat Dodder vine wrapped on host plant Dodder flowers
Photo by A Torretto
This common pink/purple spring wildflower is a species of hemiparasite, deriving some of its nutrients directly from the roots of other plants by infiltrating them with haustoria. As a result, its own leaves are small and reduced. Some of its host plants are California poppies, lupines, and California goldfields. Owl’s Clover is an annual plant and must sprout from seeds each year.
This plant parasite spends most of its life underground growing attached to the roots of shrubs, usually chamise. It is a true parasite because it lacks leaves and chlorophyll and must take all of its nutrients (sugar, water, and minerals) from a host plant.
The only time you will see chaparral broomrape is when it grows its flowers above ground to reproduce. The dark purple inflorescence of several flowers form a small “Christmas tree” shaped grouping that sticks out of the ground.
Detail of Chaparral Broomrape flowers Grouping of Chaparral Broomrape flowers
This species of mistletoe is a partial parasitic plant on a variety of trees and woody shrubs in BlueSky. It is usually found on sycamore trees. As a hemiparasite the mistletoe taps its host tree for water and nutrients but contains chlorophyll and can photosynthesize sugars for itself.
The plant produces clusters of flowers with white to light pink berries. These juicy berries are eaten and spread by the phainopepla, or silky-flycatcher. When eaten, the seeds pass unharmed through the bird’s digestive system. If the birds’ droppings happen to land on a suitable branch the seeds stick and grow into another mistletoe plant.
On Sycamore in Blue Sky Berries Leaves Phainopepla
The text and most of the images were provided by biologist Al Torretto.
The larva (caterpillars) of each species of butterflies eat the leaves of only specific species of plants. Example: monarch caterpillars eat only milk weed leaves.
Adult butterflies have a liquid diet. Using their proboscis, which functions in the same way you or I might use a straw, butterflies drink nectar from flowers.
By traveling from flower to flower to feed, butterflies carry pollen and enable plants to reproduce.
Many butterflies can taste with their feet to find out whether the leaf they sit on is good to lay eggs on and be their caterpillars’ future food.
There are about 24,000 species of butterflies.
Different species of butterflies range in size from a tiny 1/8 inch to a huge almost 12 inches
California sister, is common in Blue Sky. The upper surfaces of their wings are dark brown to black with wide cream white bands dissecting both wings and two orange patches near the tips.
The eggs of California sister are green. They are laid singly on tips of oak leaves on the upper surface.
Their larvae (caterpillars) feed on the leaves of Oak Trees. This diet makes them unpalatable to predators.
The mourning cloak butterfly is large, With a wingspan up to four inches. The dorsal side of its wings are a dark maroon with ragged pale-yellow edges. Bright, iridescent blue spots line the area between the maroon and the yellow.
Mourning cloak eggs are amber-yellow when first laid, eventually becoming almost black. They are laid encircling the stem, on plants whose leaves that will become the larvae’s food.
Upon hatching, the caterpillars will begin to eat the leaves of the plants, which in Blue Sky are willows and wild roses. They also eat elm leaves, which are not found in Blue Sky.
At 4 inches, these are Blue Sky’s largest butterflies. Their wings are yellow with black stripes and blue and orange spots near their tails. They have the "tails" on the hindwings that are often found in swallowtails.
Females will lay green, shiny eggs on the underside of leaves on host plants where the larvae (caterpillars) will emerge to feed on the leaves. The common host plants for their caterpillars are sycamores, willows, alders, and cottonwoods.
Young caterpillars resemble bird droppings and as they molt, they eventually turn bright green, with a pair of large yellow eyespots with black and blue pupils.
This small species (1 in.) is Blue Sky’s most common butterfly. Its upper side is red-brown to black, checkered with black and white spots. It has a brick-red patch on its forewing. Their name refers to the small, golden or silvery, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings.
The caterpillar of Behr’s Metalmark eats leaves of its host, California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), which is very common in Blue Sky.
The upper side of the male forewing has a large, orange-red spot with a dark, narrow border. The female spot is smaller with a dark border with white wedges. The underside of the hindwing exhibits scattered dark-green marbling.
Their eggs are orange in color. The eggs are laid on the stems, pedicels, and the bases of petioles of their host plants.
When the larvae emerge, the caterpillars eat the buds, flowers, and fruits of plants in the mustard family.
The upper side of the butterfly is orange-brown with an orange bar at the leading edge of the forewing. The hindwing has 3 or 4 blue submarginal spots. Its wingspan: is1 1/2 - 2 1/4 inches.
Their eggs are green in color, are laid on leaves of their host plants.
Their larvae (caterpillars) feed on the leaves of mallows and nettles in Blue Sky.
Text and most pictures courtesy of Al Torretto.
