Hillside walk, 31 August 2015
Saw toothed goldenbush (Hazardia squarrosa), scattered across the hillsides, is a highlight of the hot summer period, which is now. It's never a grand spectacle of massed blooms. Although the plants have buds massed along the stems, only a few flowers appear at a time. They begin low down and gradually progress to the tip of the stems. The overall appearance is of spent flowers with an occasional bloom on some stems. The current year has progressed to the degree where, on the mid north hillside, the flowering is now near the ends of the stems, and multiple flowers are present on most plants. It's less than a grand spectacle, but it's as good as it gets. Hence the photos below include a selection of these, to give an indication of what it looks like.
Elsewhere, summer progresses inevitably. The number of flowering plants gradually decreases. Despite that, it was gratifying today to see a few fresh flowers of bush monkeyflower (Diplacus longiflorus) in the upper part of Canyon 8, where it has been absent for some weeks.
