Hillside walk, 24 December 2018
The California sagebrush (Artemisia californica) is now truly at its peak. It's not that literally every plant is flowering profusely. Rather, plants with fresh, full-flowered stems are spread all over the hillside. There are plenty that have buds either looking like they are spent, or perhaps have withered and will not bloom, but the amount of plants in full bloom is simply impressive. Some have fresh, light cream colored flowers. Some have darker flowers with light-colored stamens that form a circle of creamy dots around the periphery of the flower.
The chaparral currant (Ribes malvaceum) in Canyon 5 is gradually producing more flowers. It's a real jewel of the hillsides at this time of year. As usual, the flowers appear before the leaves.
The black cottonwood trees (Populus trichocarpa) in Canyon 6 at last have leaves turning yellow. They may not lose all of their leaves before spring demands flowers for the new season.
Everywhere there are green leaves and green shoots appearing. Some examples include: wild cucumber (Marah macrocarpa), four o'clock (Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia), golden currant (Rubes Maure var. milligram), and deerweed (Acmispon glaber var. glaber). Some notable species are covered in bud, such as hoary-leaf acanthus (Acanthus crassifolia var. plans). Unlike last year when no rain fell until February, this year's generous December rainfall promises a spring season with plenty of blossom.
