Identificaciones de rjadams55

Orange Bush Monkeyflower (Diplacus aurantiacus) A.k.a. Sticky Monkeyflower. Leaves feel sticky when you press them between your fingers. Leaf edges are generally rolled under. Abaxial (underside) of leaf surface is pale, puberulent to densely hairy. Leaves are usually cauline and relatively even-sized. Blade is narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic-lanceolate proximally, and lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic distally. Petiole is absent or indistinct. Orange flowers are often in pairs. Peak bloom time: April-August. Indigenous people used this plant medicinally. 5 traditional uses are described here: http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Diplacus+aurantiacus

Orange Bush Monkeyflower (Diplacus aurantiacus) is usually found in "non wetlands, occasionally in wetlands. Habitat: coastal, disturbed soils. Plant Communities: Northern Coastal Scrub, Coastal Sage Scrub, Closed-cone Pine Forest, Redwood Forest, Yellow Pine Forest, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Northern Oak Woodland, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, and Joshua Tree Woodland."

Calflora with species distribultion map https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=13456

Jepson eFlora (with Video) https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23077

Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Diplacus_aurantiacus

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, p. 370.

Monterey County Wildflowers, Trees & Ferns https://montereywildflowers.com/phrymaceae/

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 232-233.

Native American Ethnobotany: Native plants used as food, medicine, dyes, tools, fibers and more by indigenous people of North America: (search by scientific name) http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Diplacus+aurantiacus

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 161.

Coastal California's Living Legacy: The Monterey Pine Forest, 2nd. ed, Nikki Nedeff, et. al. The Monterey Pine Forest Watch, 2018

Fort Ord A Love Story, Dorothy E. Denning, 2024 (includes 1,000+ color photos, available on Amazon)

Calscape https://calscape.org/Diplacus-aurantiacus-(Bush-Monkey-Flower)

Plants For A Future: Edible and otherwise useful plants: Medicinal Plants: https://pfaf.org/user/MedicinalUses.aspx Home page https://pfaf.org/User/cmspage.aspx?pageid=305

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Leaf Terminology: Simple Diagrams/Definitions: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, 2nd ed., by James Harris and M. Harris, 2022.

Native American Ethnobotany: Traditional Native Plant Uses (U.S. plants for medicines, fibers, tools): http://naeb.brit.org/

Jepson eFlora Key to Diplacus: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=11356
Taxon Page for Diplacus: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11356

Monterey County Wildflowers: https://montereywildflowers.com/phrymaceae/
"Monkeyflowers used to be treated as Mimulus, but recent scientific literature has divided them between two genera, Diplacus and Erythranthe. Diplacus (which include the shrubby monkeyflowers) are characterized by flowers which are either sessile, or have pedicels shorter than the calyx, and which are persistent (remain attached) after flowering. Erythranthe have flowers with a pedicel longer than the calyx, and which are deciduous (fall) after flowering. Both Diplacus and Erythranthe include plants with comparatively large yellow or orange flowers, and plants with comparatively small magenta to purple flowers."

Link to underside of a FEMALE Blue Belly Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/190139862 compared to:
MALE Sceloporus occidentalis: (photo credit INat @ joesjoes20) https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/333472236/original.jpg

Female lacks two enlarged scales on the cloaca and has little to no blue on the neck. Both males and females have blue bellies. Male has black line along inner margins of the blue belly. Both sexes can have yellow thighs though the males usually have more. Males get darker with each shed growing up to the point where the belly can be mostly black. Females keep the white bellies with speckles of black.
For visual reference, here's a shot of the underside of a Male Sceloporus occidentalis: (photo credit INat joesjoes20) https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/333472236/original.jpg

Coast Range Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis ssp. bocourtii) A.k.a. Blue-belly lizard. California Endemic species. They are in the Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus) genus and measure 2.25 - 3.5 inches long from snout to vent (5.7 - 8.9 cm). Color is brown, gray, or black with blotches. Sometimes light markings on the sides of the back form stripes or irregular lines, and sometimes dark blotching may form irregular bands. The rear of the limbs is yellow or orange. The base color of the throat and underside are typically pale to dark gray and sometimes black. Males have blue markings on the sides of the belly edged in black, a blue patch on the throat, enlarged postanals, enlarged femoral pores, and a swollen tail base. On some males the throat and dorsal coloring around the bright blue can be very dark. Some scales on a male's back and tail become blue or greenish when he is in the light phase. Females have faint or absent blue markings on the belly, no blue or green color on the upper surfaces, and dark bars or crescents on the back. Juveniles have little or no blue on the throat and faint blue belly markings or none at all.
Western Fence Lizard is diurnal (active during the day). It is often seen basking in the sun on rocks, downed logs, trees, fences, and walls. It prefers open sunny areas. It is active when temperatures are warm, becomes inactive during periods of extreme heat or cold, when they shelter in crevices and burrows, or under rocks, boards, tree bark, etc. It is common and easily encountered in the right habitat. This is probably the species of lizard most often seen in the state due to its abundance in and near populated areas and its conspicuous behavior. Males establish and defend a territory containing elevated perches where they can observe mates and potential rival males. Males defend their territory and try to attract females with head-bobbing and a push-up display that exposes the blue throat and ventral colors. Territories are ultimately defended by physical combat with other males. Tail can break off easily, but it will grow back. The detached tail wriggles on the ground which can distract a predator from the body of the lizard allowing it time to escape. It eats small, mostly terrestrial invertebrates such as crickets, spiders, ticks, and scorpions, and occasionally eats small lizards including its own species." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_fence_lizard

A Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of California (with subspecies range map): http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/s.o.bocourtii.html

HerpMapper https://www.herpmapper.org/taxon/Sceloporus_occidentalis

Fun fact about Sceloporus occidentalis ssp. bocourtii:
"In California, western black-legged ticks (deer ticks) are the primary carriers of Lyme disease. Very tiny nymphal deer ticks are more likely to carry the disease than adults. A protein in the blood of Western Fence Lizards kills the bacterium in these nymphal ticks when they attach themselves to a lizard and ingest the lizard's blood. This could explain why Lyme disease is less common in California than it is in some areas such as the Northeastern states, where it is epidemic."
http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/s.o.bocourtii.html

And for more technical information:
"Diagnosis (bocourtii): This subspecies can be distinguished from members of the biseriatus exerge by its smaller size, and from all other subspecies by the virtual absence of blue gular semeions. Gular scales which are at least 50% blue averaged 1.4 (0-16, N = 84) in adult females and 7.4 (0-45, N = 101) in adult males. Of the females examined, 66 (78.5%) had no blue gular scales. Adult males examined generally had fewer than 20 such scales, and in 43 (42.5%) blue gular scales were absent (Bell, 1954b). The chest, chin, and IASA are light-colored, often white (Bell & Price 1996)."
The Reptile Database https: https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Sceloporus&species=occidentalis