06 de junio de 2020

Week 7: Natural Area #5

For this week's observations, I went back to a natural area that I've been to before. Trying to identify it's plant community, it was mainly urban as well as chaparral shrubland. That being said, after I submitted my observations, I noticed that 4/6 of the plants that I observed were introduced to the region I live in, arriving by anthropogenic means. I found it shocking because some of the plants that I observed were ones that I've seen around town, like Firethorn, Natal Plum, and Creeping Lantana, so I assumed that they were native when I saw them in the natural area. It was very interesting to look closer and discover more plants in the area even though I had already been there before and thought I saw everything already. Overall it was great learning and observing about plants this quarter and I'll definitely add more observations in the future!

Publicado el junio 6, 2020 03:20 MAÑANA por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 6 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

28 de mayo de 2020

Week 7 Keyed Trees

Identification Key
Tree: Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus)
Key to Group: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a confier or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)(
3' (Leaf blades broad and flattened -mostly angiosperm)
5' (Leaves simple (with undivided blades, deeply lobed leaves are still simple)
8' (Leaves attached alternately (1 per node))
9' (Leaf tip pointed or rounded, not notched or truncate)
13 (leaves margin smooth (without teeth or lobes), wavy or not) - Group 8
Group 8 - Trees with alternate, simple, smooth leaves
1' (Flower clusters not resembling bottlebrushes)
3' (Leaves not phyllodes)
4' (Most leaves 3/4 in. wide or greater)
16' (Tree without milky white sap)
18' (Leaves unscented)
19' (Leaves without translucent dots)
23' (Leaves not heart-shaped)
24' (Leaf underside green, light0green, or rust-colored)
27' (Leaf underside surface smooth to the touch)
29' (Leaf upper surface smooth to touch)
30' (Leaf stalks, young leaves, and branchlets hairless)
31 (Leaf stalk swollen at tip where attached to leaf blade)
Species - Brachychiton populneus

Tree 2: Blue Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)
Key to group: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in. long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound)
2' (Tree is a conifer or brad-leaved tree, not a palm)
3' (Leaf blades broad and flattened - mostly angiosperms)
5 (Leaves compound (divided into leaflets))
6' (Leaves pinnately or bipinnately compound)
7 (Leaves attached oppositely (2 per node) - Group 5
Group 5 - Trees with pinnately and bipinnately compound, opposite leaves
1 ( Leaves bipinnately compound (twice divided))
2 (Leaves with > 10 pairs of primarily leaflets) - Jacaranda
Species - Jacaranda mimosifolia

Publicado el mayo 28, 2020 05:07 MAÑANA por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 2 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

15 de mayo de 2020

Week 6 Keyed Trees

Identification Key
Tree one: Brush Box (Brisbane Box)
Key to Groups: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a confier or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)
3' (Leaf blades broad and flattened -mostly angiosperm)
5' (Leaves simple (with undivided blades, deeply lobed leaves are still simple)
8' (Leaves attached alternately (1 per node))
9' (Leaf tip pointed or rounded, not notched or truncate)
13 (Leaf margin smooth (without teeth or lobes), wavy or not) - Group 8
Group: 8 - Trees with alternate, simple, smooth leaves
1' (Flower clusters not resembling bottle brushes; tree without clusters of sessile, woody fruits persisting along the stems)
3' (Leaves not phyllodes; trees without the combo of characters described above)
4' (Most leaves 3/4 in. wider or greater)
16' (Tree without milky white sap)
18' (Leaves unscented or smelling medicinal or spicy when crushed (but not lemon-scented); bark varying)
19' (Leaves without translucent dots)
23' (Leaves not heart-shaped)
24' (Leaf underside gree, light green, or rust-colored, occasionally sparsely hairy (not white, yellow-ish white, wooly, or scaly)
27' (Leaf underside green, light green, or gray, upper surface dull or shiny)
29' (Leaf upper surface smooth to the touch, shiny, hairless; flower <1.5 in wide)
30' (Leaf stalks, young leaves, and branchlets hairless; flowers varying in color)
31' (Leaf stalk without swelling at the tip, leaf margins always smooth or wavy; fruit varying)
32' (Leaves with 1 main central vein, not smelling of camphor when crushed)
33' Leaves without swollen glands)
34' (Leaf margin flat or slightly and irregularly wavy; fruit fleshy or a brown woody capsule)
35' (Leaf stalk >1/8 in. , young stems square or round in cross-section)

  1. (Fruit a brown, woody capsule; tree Eucalyptus-like)
    37' (Fruit <1/2 in. wide; flower variously colored)
    38' (Petals not fused)
    39 (Petals white; bark cinnamon-brown) - Brisbane Box
    Species: Lophostemon confertus

Tree two: Mediterranean Cypress (Italian Cypress)
Key to Groups: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a conifer or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)
3 ( Leaves needle-like, scale-like, or awl-like (very short, tightly pressed to the stem)
4 (Leaves scale-like or awl-like, almost completely covering branchlets, mostly <1/2 in long, or apparently absent) - Group 2
Group: 2 - Trees with scale-like, awl-like, or apparently absent leaves
1' (Leaves obvious, scale-like, awl-like, or occasionally needle-like
4 (Tree distinctly columnaris)
5' (Branchlets not rope-like/ leaves <1/4 in. long, tightly pressed stem; tree not leaning) - Italian Cypress
Species: Cupressus sempervirens

Publicado el mayo 15, 2020 06:40 MAÑANA por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 2 observaciones | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

07 de mayo de 2020

Week 5 Keyed Trees

Identification Key
Tree one: American Sweetgum
Key to Groups: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a confier or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)(
3' (Leaf blades broad and flattened -mostly angiosperm)
5' (Leaves simple (with undivided blades, deeply lobed leaves are still simple)
8' (Leaves attached alternately (1 per node))
9' (Leaf tip pointed or rounded, not notched or truncate)
14 (Leaves palmately veined and/or palmately lobed (with veins and lobes radiating outward from a central point) - Group 9
Group: 9 - 1' (Tree not bleeding milky sap; stipular ring scar present or not)
3' (Leaves Palmately lobed and lobes toothed or lobes smooth)
7' (Mature leaves 3.5 in. wide or greater, trees never thorny)
8' (Base of leaf stalk not swollen, stipule free, no ring scar around nodes)
9 (Leaves spicy when crushed, lobe margins regularly sawtoothed)
10 (Leaves mostly 5-pointed) - Sweetgum
Species: Liquidambar styraciflua

Tree two: Eucalypts (general)
Key to Groups: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a conifer or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)
3' (Leaf blade broad and flattened - mostly angiosperm)
5' (Leaves simple (with undivided blades, deeply lobed leaves are still simple)
8' (Leaves attacked alternately (1 per node))
9' (Leaf tip pointed or rounded, not notched or truncate)
13 (Leaf margin smooth (without teeth or lobes) - Group 8
Group: 8 - Trees with alternate, simple, smooth leaves
1' (Flower clusters not resembling bottlebrushes)
3' (Leaves not phyllodes)
4' (Most leaves 3/4 in. wide or greater)
16' (Tree without milky sap)
18' (leaves unscented)
19 (Leaves with translucent dots when held to the light)
20 (Petals fused into a bad cap; fruit in a woody capsule) - Eucalypts (Gum Trees)
Species: Eucalyptus spp. (Gum Trees)

Publicado el mayo 7, 2020 09:42 TARDE por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 2 observaciones | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

Week 5: Natural Area #3 (wild plants)

I decided to go on an early hike this morning to my new natural area in order to make some observations of mainly wild plants since last time I accidentally only observed wild trees. Like the last natural area that I went to, this one was also very dry and had some slopes. Since it was early morning, the air was a bit damp but the overall habitat was very dry. When making the observations, I made sure to have several wild plants since you never know if you end up with a duplicate or a similar genus of plant. The most interesting one I saw was the "genus Arundo" (I haven't been able to nail down the specific plant) since from afar, it looked like the cousin of bamboo, but drier since the bottom of the plant was turning yellow. I enjoy seeing the names of the plants when putting them into iNat, like "Lemonade Berry" (not sure if this was the specific plant, but it was the most similar to the one I saw that was in the same genus) since it is pretty funny and unique on how the plants are identified.

Publicado el mayo 7, 2020 08:41 TARDE por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 5 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

06 de mayo de 2020

Week 4 Keyed Trees

Identification Key
Tree one: Eucalyptus
Key to Groups: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a confier or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)(
3' (Leaf blades broad and flattened -mostly angiosperm)
5' (Leaves simple (with undivided blades, deeply lobed leaves are still simple)
8' (Leaves attached alternately (1 per node))
9' (Leaf tip pointed or rounded, not notched or truncate)
13 (leaves margin smooth (without teeth or lobes), wavy or not) - Group 8
Group: 8 - 1' (Flower clusters not resembling bottle brushes; trees w/o clusters of sessile, woody fruits along stems)
3' (Leaves not phyllodes; tree without the combo of characters described abo
4' (Most leaves 3/4 in. wide or greater)
16' (Tree without milky white sap)
18' (Leaves unscented or smelling medicinal or spicy when crushed; bark varying)
19 (Leaves with translucent dots when held into light)
20 (Petals fused into a bud cap; fruity a woody capsule - Eucalypts, also called Gum Trees)
Species: Eucalyptus ssp (Gum Trees)

Tree two: Silk Oak
Key to Groups: 1' (Leaves usually <8 in long, not sword-shaped; leaves simple or compound; leaf veins parallel/netted)
2' (Tree is a confier or broad-leaved tree, not a palm; leaves arise from branches)(
3' (Leaf blades broad and flattened -mostly angiosperm)
5 (Leaves compound (divided into leaflets)
6' (Leaves pinnately or bipinnately compound)
7' (Leaves attached alternately (1 per node)) - Group 6
Group: 6 - 1' (Leaflets 5 for more)
3 (Leaves bipinnately compound (twice divided))
4' (Tree lacking thorns or spins)
6' (Leaves without glands on upper surface; flowers varying)
7' (Leaflet margin conspicuously serrate, irregular toothed, or lobed)
9 (Leafelet undersides harry and silver)
Species: Grevillea robusta (Silk Oak)

Publicado el mayo 6, 2020 10:24 TARDE por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 2 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

02 de mayo de 2020

Week 4: Natural Area #2

I went back to the same natural area that I went to the first time, which was a hidden trail behind a park near my house. I went down different trail paths from last time in an effort to find different plant families. One thing that I ended up learning was there were a lot of eucalyptus trees in the area after I keyed my first tree. Identifying the Strawberry Tree and the Toyon in iNaturalist was exciting since I've seen these trees around me for years at school and would always wonder why there were red berries on it that weren't edible. The crimson bottlebrush was my favorite one, though I don't know if it was actually a tree, but more than a really large shrub. A majority of the trees that I observed weren't in the best condition, many had dried up leaves and holes due to the bugs and lack of precipitation. The landscape was overall very dry with slopes facing east and many shrubs on either side of the paths. Overall a great experience again and I hope I can explore another natural area once quarantine is over!

Publicado el mayo 2, 2020 04:30 MAÑANA por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 6 observaciones | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

Week 3: Natural Area #1

I went over to my nearby park that had a trail behind it with non-cultivated trees and shrubs. It was very interesting to look around to find different trees as I was walking around, but it was definitely difficult to distinguish what was a tree and what was a shrub because of the landscape that I was walking on, there were different levels of terrains. After coming home, I didn't realize until I was keying some of my trees that I took pictures of two different oak trees. It was very interesting since the leaf margins were very different yet they still belonged to the same family. Going out to look for the trees was a very calming experience and I enjoyed it a lot!

Publicado el mayo 2, 2020 04:03 MAÑANA por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 5 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

20 de abril de 2020

Week 2: Street Tree Project

If I were to pick one of the trees to use its leaves as toilet paper, it would be the "Rubber Plant" tree since the leaves have a larger elliptic shape and a glabrous texture. All but one of the trees that I documented are street trees and I do think they make the environment around me more pleasant since I get to witness various types of trees going through the seasons amongst the infinite palm trees that are in my area. One pro of having non-native trees in our cities is being able to have a variety of trees in the area, sometimes for the "aesthetic". However, the con of this is that these trees are being taken out of their original habitats to merely serve as an aesthetic and potentially becoming invasive to its new environment.

Publicado el abril 20, 2020 07:01 MAÑANA por jdoan04 jdoan04 | 5 observaciones | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

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