On the Stake Lake Trails
On a September morning I hiked on the Stake Lake Trails. After weeks of drought conditions, there were few wildflowers in bloom, except for one lupine and the arrival of eyebright, abundant on the grassy trails.
Spotted on this hike was a lupine (Lupinus sericeus) in bloom 6 weeks after the main bloom period, eyebright (Euphrasia sp.) on the grassy trails, pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) going to seed at trail’s edge, weedy Dalmatian toadflax (Linaria genistifolia sp.) and mullein (Verbascum thapsus) on gravelly disturbed areas, and a few cinquefoils (Potentialla sp.) near the parking area.
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I hiked into the hills a few days later and there were no blooms to be seen and many of the herbaceous perennials and shrubs were in seed or getting ready for dormancy.