DIABLO WATCH Save Mount Diablo
Protecting the Mountain Since 1971
Spring 1991
Spring Wildflowers on Mount Diablo byGenevfeveSattlcr Anyone who likes flowers will enjoy Mount Diablo's beautiful wildflowers. Although there are flowers in our park year round, Spring is the time of the most spectacular display. It is a matter of being in the right place at the right time to see the greatest variety of flowers which begin blooming in February and March. Drought conditions may have a significant affect on the floral display this year. Some of the earliest blooming wildflowers are in the Mustard Family - Milkmaids, Western Wallflowers and Brewer Rock Cress. They begin to peek out in February and March. These flowers are Crucifers, as their four petals are stretched out like the four arms of a cross. The dainty little
Milkmaid flowers can be seen at the Blue Oak picnic area and at other sites sheltered by oak trees. The stiffstemmed, bright orange Western Wallflower is readily seen from the Summit Road. To see these flowers at close range, hike the North Peak Trail from Devil's Elbow to Prospector's Gap. Look for the Brewer Rock Cress, a compact plant with rose-purple petals, in the crevices of rock outcrops. This North Peak Trail, which is on the east side of the mountain, is just the place for wildflower enthusiasts to go. Flowers you'll see in this area include the delicate, cup-shaped Baby Blue Eyes, Lupines, Poppies, Red Larkspur, Wind Poppies, Phacelias and Thistles. - continued on page 2
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Dr. Mary Leo Bowerman Honored In October, the California Native Plant Society celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary at the Tilden Botanic
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Mary Bowerman
Garden in Berkeley. Save Mount Diablo Founder and Director Mary Bowerman was recognized. for her many years of botanical study which has centered on Mount Diablo. She was presented with a plaque naming her a "Fellow of the Society" at the Founders' Brunch held October 21, 1990 at the Brazilian Room. Mary Bowerman was born in Canada and had her early schooling in England. She attended the University of California, Berkeley after two years at Pasadena Junior College. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1936 in the field of Botany under the distinguished botanist Willis Linn Jepson. Her field work for her dissertation was done on Mount Diablo. She then condensed this information into her book The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo, 1
California, Their Distribution and Association into Plant Communities, (The Gillick Press, 1944). This book-now out of print-is available in public libraries. Dr. Bowerman is a respected and recognized authority on Mount Diablo, for her knowledge of its land areas and plant communities in particular. It was her love of the mountain and concern for its preservation that helped stimulate the formation of "Save Mount Diablo" in 1971. Besides the California Native Plant Society, Dr. Bowerman is a member of the California Botanical Society, The Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, Sierra Club and other botanical and environmental organizations. We congratulate Dr. Bowerman on this new honor and wish her continued personal enjoyment of our "island mountain".