Asilomar Dune Restoration 2: The plants signified

Of dune blooms there were few last weekend at Asilomar. After the past week of glorious ersatz summer weather though, I bet there are a lot more now. I am for sure going to to back in April to see the full show.

Menzies' wallflower (Erysimum menziesii ssp. menziesii) - an endangered species:


California thrift (Armeria maritima):


Yellow sand verbena (Abronia latifolia):


Last year's yarrow, making a nice study in texture, with that brownish grass (which might be a sedge - I'd really need a guided tour to ID the grass type plants):


I think this grass is Leymus mollis, based only on other similar pictures on the net:


We saw lupines but not flowers, so I don't know if they were the rare Tidestrom's lupine (Lupinus tidestromii), or the tree lupine (Lupinus arboreus), which I gather can itself be a bit invasive - not quite sure of the story on that one.

When I go back in April, I hope to see these and others:
seaside painted cup (Castilleja latifolia)
beach poppy (Eschscholzia californica var. maritima)
bishop's lotus (Lotus strigosus) and
dune aster (Lessingia filaginafolia var. californica).

But what was fun to see were the propagation projects in action. At first we thought some creature had been digging holes around the place.


Then we looked closer -


Seedlings, very small - planted in holes rather than on berms. To stay out of the winds, of course! It's an iceplant eradication and restoration area. Here's a different baby, not sure what these are really.


In this slightly more inland area, some shrubs probably, in the white tubes. I'd love to take a guided tour next time and find out more about what's being planted:


They are in a swale, and here's a nice tidbit about the sand and soil from the California Native Grassland Association page I recommended in my first Asilomar post:

While most dune systems are created by fine sediment deposits from river systems, the sand at Asilomar is derived solely from the underlying granitic bedrock. This gives the dunes their pure white color and makes them relatively nutrient-poor and inhospitable to most plants. In contrast, swales (the areas between dunes) have more developed soils.

So in the swales you can see different types of plants - very interesting. I didn't think about the different zones in a dune area.

At one point on the walk, up near the Pebble Beach golf course I think, the dunes were on the move:

I know the restoration efforts aim to stabilize the dunes, and I suppose they used to be more vegetated and stable. Here the plants seem to be fighting a losing battle!

We headed back to our room and passed some acorn woodpeckers enjoying the moon (or a bug) high in a snag:


Next morning was misty when we headed out.


I enjoyed a peek into the Asilomar State Parks shade house - would love to know more about those yellow ridged tubes that encourage root growth...



In closing here is a photo taken from from the balcony of our room at Asilomar - a black tail deer, with a respectable rack!