March 11

The early afternoon skies are sunny with temperatures in the mid 60’s as Caroline, Riley and I begin our hike in Harter Park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. This property, located in a residential area, is a steep canyon that has been preserved for both storm drainage and a wildlife sanctuary. Soon, I come upon blossoms of Bermuda Buttercup. Also known as sour grass, this plant originated in the Cape region of South Africa and is now found all over California. Considered a weed, the edible flowers and leaves of this plant add a lemony flavor to salad greens. Further down the trail, I pass an outcrop of a rock called Altamira Shale, a thin-bedded sedimentary bedrock formed by successive layers of clay and volcanic tuff. Nearby, up on the grassy bank, I spot a blossom of Sulfur Cosmos and one of Wild Lupine. Lupines are legumes and like most of that family, their roots have nodules (stock photo) that contain a very special bacterium, Rhizobium. These bacteria are able to convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrate, a form that can be absorbed and used by the plant.  For that reason, legumes are commonly planted as a “green manure” crop in order to renew the nitrogen content of the soil. Glancing toward the other side of the trail, I notice white blossoms of a native Wild Cucumber vine along with a single hanging fruit. Unlike the domesticated cucumber, this green, spiky, golf-ball size fruit is inedible by humans and wildlife. Following the trail as it loops back to the other side of the canyon, I pause to listen to the song of a seldom-seen, but often heard, Orange-crown Warbler. The namesake orange crown patch is rarely seen but may become visible when the bird raises its head feathers in excitement or agitation (stock photo). Looking down slope into the canyon, I spot the branches of a Blue Coast Redwood tree with its flat needles. As one of the most iconic plants and a keystone native species of the coastal ranges of Oregon and California, some of these trees are known to be the tallest and oldest on earth. Approaching the car, the red fruit of a Toyon tree catches my eye. These berries were eaten by native Americans who would usually roast or boil them to remove the bitter taste; sometimes drying them for future cooking. Early settlers cooked these berries into pies and custards and fermented them into a cider. Members of the Kumeyaay tribe made a pulp of the leaves and used this as a wash for sores. Because the wood of Toyon is very hard, the Chumash Indians used it extensively for tools and weapons. 

Let me reach as a willow

To touch the sky

Let me flutter and float

As a butterfly

Let me sing as a wren

From the branch above

Harmonize

With a Mourning Dove

Let me soar as a hawk

O’er the sunny lea

If only an hour

I wish I could be

 

D. DeGraaf