Botanical Drawing at Sonoma State

2/15/25
Sonoma State University
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Cool and sunny

Today was the first session of the Botanical Drawing workshop that Eileen Parent and I are co-teaching. During our first field excursion, I took some photos of the vegatation near the Environmental Technology Center. Lots of interesting plants, even though we only went a very short distance away from the ETC. I also saw and/or heard a few birds, but that wasn’t really the focus today. 

There was a lot of Field Marigold in bloom in the “lawn” beside the ETC, along with some small Poison Hemlock plants (either new plants, or resprouts after been having mowed down in the past). There was also Bristly Oxtongue, Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill, Common Groundsel, and Bird’s-eye Speedwell. There are also a few plants I’m not able to ID yet, that include what I think is Black Nightshade and Bur Clover.

Along the creek, we were able to find both California Blackberry and Himalayan Blackberry (surprisingly, more California than Himalayan, due to recent restoration efforts to remove the invasive brambles). One of my favorite things was finding a very small California Buckeye that had sprouted beneath a tree along the path, and then to notice that one of the mature Buckeye trees nearby had begun to sprout its new foliage. Nearby, there was a nice patch of Miner’s Lettuce. The Pacific Madrone behind the Art parking lot was starting to flower. I also found some Greater Periwinkle, which gave my students the opportunity to dig up one of the plants to view (and sketch) the entire plant, including the root system.

We did make one very interesting bird-related find: an owl pellet, under one of the Redwoods next to the ETC parking lot, presumably left there by a Great Horned Owl. I also heard a couple of Anna’s Hummingbirds, and had a nice view of a couple of Turkey Vultures who were flying low near the creek. There was also a pair of California Towhee foraging on the ground near the creek.

It was a great start to the workshop, and I am excited about our future excursions!

Species List

(Species names that are not bolded have not had their ID verified). 

Plants: Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum), Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), Cut-leaved Crane’s-Bill (Geranium dissectum), California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus), California Fescue (Festuca californica), California Bay (Umbellularia californica), Common Vetch (Vicia sativa), Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii). Bird’s-eye Speedwell (Veronica persica), California Buckeye (Aesculus californica), Bristly Oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides), Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum), Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), Catchweed Bedstraw (Galium aparine), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major), Field Marigold (Calendula arvensis), Bur Clover (Medicago polymorpha)

Birds: Anna’s Hummingbird* (), American Crow (), Dark-eyed Junco (), Turkey Vulture (), Great Horned Owl pellet (Bubo virginianus), UID rodent (Family Cricetidae), Oak Titmouse* (), California Towhee (Melozone crissalis)

*Heard only