HOLLYHOCKS: AN UNFORGETABLE PLANT WITH BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 

They have big flowers (the ones I photographed can be up to 5 inches in diameter). The ones illustrated herein belong to genus Alcea, but there are reportedly many other "genera" and, at least, 80 or so species in this genus. Hollyhocks are apparently native to Europe and Asia. The single species found in the Americas is invasive and belongs to a different genus. I could not find any papers dealing with the details of the fossil record of hollyhocks. It is likely that Alcea [in the broad sense] originated during the Pleistocene.

Hollyhocks can be tall plants. The tallest plant I photographed (Figure 1 and Figure 4) is 11.6 feet tall (I measured it with a tape measure when the plant finally stopped growing vertically and started to dry up during the first week of July). Then in late July and even into early August, it produced a few new blooms (near the middle of the plant and at its former top).

[note: In the published literature (both written and electronic), hollyhocks are reported as having a maximum height of only 8 feet.]

Kingdom Plantae

Order Malvales

Family Malvaceae

Genus Alcea [the main genus)

Type Species: rosea

This flower is biennial or perennial, meaning they can “come back” every year. They are also self-seeders. In their first year, they grow a rosette of flowers. In the second year, they regrow and flower. They are pollinated by bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Hollyhocks are easy to grow. They like the sun and well-drained soil. The upper part of some hollyhock plants can (but not always) lean or bend over. 

Like nearly every other species of flower, hollyhock flowers have wide range of colors, from white to red, pink, yellow, or orange.

Figure 1. Closeup of a red hollyhock flower.

Figure 2. Closeups of two other red flowers.

Figure 3. Closeup of a pink hollyhock.

Figure 4. Tallest individual plant of hollyhock (11.6 feet tall) that I have seen.

EXAMPLES OF FLOWER GENERA: (PART 1 of SEVERAL TO COME)

At the beginning of 2025, I started taking pictures of every interesting looking flower that I saw in my garden, as well as any that I saw in my neighborhood and in nearby parks. I also visited several local nurseries and took images of every flower that looked interesting. To say the least, it was a steep-learning curve for a person who studied fossils, rocks, and minerals for most of his life and who generally ignored flowers. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT FLOWERS. Now, however, I greatly appreciate the diversity, and I am constantly taking images of new ones. Thus, I can say that I honestly like learning new things.  

I relied heavily on my wife’s vast knowledge of plants and flowers. Also, the internet proved to be invaluable tool in identifying some the new plants that I encountered. I never went on private property, except, with permission, on a few rare exceptions. I thank those property owners who gave me permission to trespass. They were always friendly, even though some they probably thought I was slightly unhinged. 

In this post and several that follow, I have selected (it was not easy!) some of the new flowers I “discovered.” 

                                          HIBISCUS

Most hibiscus flowers were derived from eight ancestral varieties that were originally native to tropical eastern Asia. The Hibiscus flower has petals that overlap one another in a circular pattern. Today, there are numerous cultivated [i.e., cultivars] found in nurseries throughout the world. An image of Hibiscus is on the National emblem in South Korea. It is also the state flower of Hawaii.

This flower can be an annual (short-lived) or a perennial (long-lived). It can be found on small trees, up to about 15 feet tall. It likes full sunlight. Its large lowers attract bees, butterflies, and humans. Its flowers can be white, red, pink, blue, orange, peach, or yellow.

Like most flowers, it is speculated that Hibicus evolved from an ancestral form about 135 million years ago, when Gondwanaland broke up from Pangea.

Each hibiscus flower has both male and female parts. The ovary of the flower lies in the main structure in the center of the hibiscus flower. The pistil is long and tubular. The five “hairy” red structures at the top of the pistil make up the stigma, which is where the pollen is collected. Bracts are leaf-like structures positioned beneath a flower. Brachs are NOT petals of a flower. For those who want to know, its flowers exhibit the solitary cyme kind of inflorescence.

                               

Three color varieties of Hibiscus. Each of these flowers shown above is about human-hand size.

Classification

Order Malvales

Family Malvacease

Genus Hibiscus

Type Species H. rosa sinensis [which has a large and conspicuous trumpet-shaped flower]. Linnaeus, who named countless species of flowers and animals, also named this flower.

Note:  There is a single Hibiscus small tree (about 15 feet tall) in my neighborhood. Since early spring of this year (2025), it has had numerous blooms on it. And, now that it is August, it is still blooming (mostly at the top of the plant).

EARLIST FLOWERS

EARLIEST FLOWERS ARE GEOLOGICALLY OLDER THAN MANY DINOSAURS

                                  Earliest Known Fossil Flowers

Angiosperms are plants that have male and female reproductive parts and also bear their seeds in fruit. The earliest known angiosperm fossil is Montesechia vidalii, approximately 130 mya [i.e., million years ago] (= Early Cretaceous time) from Spain (Gomez et al, 2015). Today, angiosperms are the most diverse group within Kingdom Plantae and represent 80% of all living green plants.

Figure 1. Early Cretaceous fossil of Montesechia vidalii, 60 mm long. This weed-like plant had no roots and was probably an ancient aquatic angiosperm plant.

The next evolutionary “step” in flower evolution was Archaefructus liaonigensis, approximately 125-130 mya (Early Cretaceous) from northeastern China. This  angiosperm plant, which is one of three species of this genus, probably lived in a lacustrine environment (i.e., lake or pond).

Figure 2. Early Cretaceous fossil of Archaefructus, less than 50 cm (20 inches) tall) with simple roots. It was most probably an aquatic angiosperm species with two types of flowers: one bearing pollen (yellowish in the figure shown here) and one bearing reproductive structures (grayish in the figure shown here). This plant most likely lived in lacustrine (lake) or pond environments.

                                                  Water lilies

Water lilies (family Nymphaeceae) are perennials that live in fresh water at depths between 6 and 15 feet. Although these plants are rooted in soil in the bodies of water, their leaves and flowers float or rise above the surface. The leaves are oval to heart shaped and are fully circular or can have a slit (short radial notch). The edges of the leaves can be smooth or serrated. 

The leaves have hollow air-filled  channels (tubes) in their stems that provide buoyancy. The flowers, which can be any color—but commonly white) have unspecialized reproductive parts. Recent generic studies confirm that the evolutionary position of water lilies to be basal angiosperms. Only 2% of angiosperms are aquatic today.

The flowering season of water lilies is May through September. These plants propagate via rhizomes that allow the plant to spread into interconnected aquatic habitats. They live in temperate and tropical areas around the world. They are represented by five genera and approximately 70 species. 

Water lilies now provide the critical link in the evolution of flowers. This statement is based on modern genetic studies that have helped confirm that water lilies, with their unspecialized reproductive parts, have a basal position among flowering plants.

Several fossil species of water lilies are known—mainly of Cretaceous age from Brazil.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figures 3-4. Water lilies in the early part of their “blooming time.” Images kindly provided by Lindsey Groves, Collections Manager at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, southern California.

Note: Although water lilies resemble lotus flowers, they are not the same. Interestingly, botanists are now recognizing the floral and vegetative similarities between the lotus and sycamore trees (see one of my previous posts regarding the latter plant) (Alka, 2007).

                                         Magnolia Tree 

The oldest known flowering tree is Magnolia, which originated approximately 100 Ma to 95 Ma. This tree co-existed with some dinosaurs of that time. Magnolias evolved before bees evolved and, therefore, had to rely on beetles for pollination. The flowers of the magnolia tree are generally now regarded as being primitive, mainly based on the relative positions of the female (pistils) and male parts (anthers) within the flowers. Also, magnolia leaves are relatively unspecialized.

                                               Figure 5

Figures 5-9. The image directly above and the next four images are all from the same Magnolia tree, which is located in northern Los Angeles County, Southern California (note: most Magnolias are most common in the southeastern part of the United States). Although Magnolia trees can be up to 80 feet tall, the tree figured here is only about 45 feet tall. 

                                                                        Figure 6

Close-up view of the previously shown Magnolia grandiflora tree. This kind of tree has rather thick (kind of rubbery), large-sized leaves that can have an orange-tint coloration on their lower surface. Magnolia trees have large flowers that are typically white or pink (as shown here). 

Figure 7. Although flower buds of the tree shown here appeared in mid April, they did not “erupt” into open flowers for a several until late June before the flowers opened up and reveled the central core area (note: it was worth the many repeated trips to photograph these flowers, but it was worth it!).

Figure 8. Exterior view Magnolia grandiflora reproductive area of flower: total length 61 mm. Yellow part 16 mm wide and 30 mm long; lower part (consisting of reddish upper part and brownish lower areas), 31 mm length and 5 mm wide.

Figure 9. Cross-section of main (see yellow part of preceding figure) core area, with seeds in capsules. 

RERERENCES CITED: 

Alka. Floral designs by Alka. https://www.floraldesignsbyalka.com/blog/tag/Waterlilies.

Gomez, B. and four others. 2015. Montsechia, an ancient aquatic angiosperm. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (PNSA). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas. 150292411.

EVOLUTION OF PLANTS

In the coming posts, I shall present examples of certain specific groups of flowering plants. First, however, I need to "set the stage" and briefly discuss in this current post, the earliest history of the various kinds of flowering plants. In the following text, I mention geologic time periods. To see a quick visual summary of these intervals, please see one of my earliest posts; namely, "GEO TIME SCALE," which was posted in November, 2014. Or, you can look at any historical geology textbook (or go to the online source "Wikipedia") to view the succession of the various periods of geologic times.

Paleozoic Time: Based on fossil spores, the first plants occurred on land about 470-460 mya (million years ago) during middle Ordovician time. By Silurian time, the first vascular land plants occurred, and most of them lived in the Northern Hemisphere. During Devonian time, colonization of the land was well underway. Early Devonian plants, however, had no leaves. By the Late Devonian, forests of large primitive plants (including ferns) appeared.

Mesozoic Time: Lycophytes, cycads, ginkgos appeared; with conifers and many new ferns evolving during Jurassic time. 

FORMATION OF GONDWANALAND (TECTONIC PLATES                IN ACTION=ON THE MOVE!)

During mid early Jurassic time (about 190 m.y.a. [million years ago], most of the continents were in a land mass called Gondwanaland, which lasted until middle Cretaceous time (which was about 100 m.y.a.). During subsequent younger geologic time intervals, Gondwanaland broke apart and eventually Earth’s Southern Hemisphere looked similar to that of today.                 

Figure 1. Jurassic paleogeographic map of the world, when the supercontinent Gondwanaland formed.

During the 19^th century, late Paleozoic coal deposits of India, South Africa, Australia, South America, Antarctica, and New Zealand, as well as the Falkland Islands (in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Argentina), were found to contain fossil plants collectively designated as the “Glossopteris Flora,” a name of the most conspicuous genus, which was a variety of seed fern, called Glossopteris (about 265 million years old = late Permian age.) The presence of this fossil flora, which is found nowadays on widely separated land masses, was one of the major facts that lead to the concept that all of these land masses once were connected in what is now referred to as “Gondwanaland.”  This concept has now been well established as fact via the discovery of other land fossils (including mammal-like reptiles) and paleomagnetism (Stanley, 1999).

The oldest known lineages of flowering plants [= angiosperms] evolved about 140 to 125 m.y.a. [middle Early Cretaceous time]. Flowering plants “bloomed” with the appearance of pollinating insects about 100 m.y.a. [at the beginning of Late Cretaceous time]. In sum, plant evolution was driven by plate tectonics—firstly by continents colliding together and secondly by continents moving apart. When Gondwanaland separated into four continents---[South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica]---each of these areas became increasingly isolated, and each took on its own types of genetic diversification caused by these isolations. 

Figure 2. Outline of a Glossopteris late Permian seed-fern leaf (2 inches long = 5 cm].  These leaves were thick, fleshy fibrous, and had a minute-network of parallel lines and groves on their surface. Their presence in the southern continents confirm that these lands were once united into a single supercontinent.

REFERENCE

Stanley, S.M. 1999. Earth System History. W.H. Freeman and Company. New York. 615 pp.

WILDWOOD PARK-GUNSMOKE TV SERIES-GEOLOGY

A notable locale (one of many) that pertains to the popular TV show “Gunsmoke” is Wildwood Regional Park, located just west of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, southern California. This locale, hereafter referred to as “Mount Clef Ridge” is a recognizable landmark used in the filming of numerous western-themed movies and TV shows. In addition to Gunsmoke, some of these are “The Rifleman,” “Bonanza,” “Wagon Train,” “The Big Valley,” “Tales of Wells Fargo,” and many more. Also, many non-western themed movies have used this location (e.g., "Spartacus," "Wuthering Heights," and the list is long!). This park is in the “30-mile zone.” Than is to say, close enough to Hollywood so that studios do not have to pay extra for on-location shooting. 

Figure 1. The "Mount Clef" location, as it looked in June of 2025.

This location was used in the filming of some episodes of "Gunsmoke." This mountain, also known as, “Mount Clef Ridge,” is 1,076 feet (or 994 feet) in elevation, [the elevation depending on the map you use]. It is a ridge of volcanic deposits of middle Miocene age (16 to 13 million years old). It is a basalt-flow breccia, and Dibblee (1993) mapped the deposit as unit “Tccbb,” in the upper part of the Conjeo Volcanic rocks.

Figure 2. Another view of the “Mount Clef Ridge” location.

There is no longer any evidence on the ground that suggests this site was used by filming crews. Homes now occupy the areas immediately east, south, and west of the locale. For more details of how this movie site once looked, please see the informative website: https:www.youtube.com/watch

Reference:

Dibble Foundation [year 1993] Geologic Map #DF-49).

SOME MAMMALS SEEN RECENTLY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

I have been slowly adding the following few species to my blog because seeing them is rapidly become rare due to the constantly increasing populated/overbuilt areas occupying former "wild lands" in northern Los Angeles County, Southern California.

WESTERN BRUSH? RABBIT

I was unable to see the tail of this rabbit, thus I was unable to positively identify it. I think it is it the Western Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachman), a species of cottontail rabbit that is gray, black, or brown with small ears and a small dark tail (unable to see in my photo). Just as soon as I took this picture, this very shy specimen “took off running” into the dense foliage. I did not even think to look at the color of its tail! Next time, I shall be more observant.

This species is found from Oregon to the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. Its range is also the east side of the Sierra Nevada in California.

_________________________

WESTERN FOX SQUIRREL

This post concerns a genus of squirrel native to North America. Today, there is the “Eastern” Fox Squirrel and and “Western” Fox Squirrel. The latter, which was introduced to the western United States near the turn of the century, evolved from the Eastern Fox Squirrel. That particular squirrel lives today in the eastern and central United States and ranges from Canada to Mexico. That particular variant has gray color and is smaller than the new variant that now lives in California. The new variant is characterized by gold-colored fur on its belly and a bushy tail. It is also the largest species (up to 29 inches long and weighs up to 3 pounds) of tree squirrels native to the United States. 

Classification:

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Genus Sciurus

Species S. niger Linnaeus, 1758

This squirrel is most active in late morning and mid-day. It is aboreal (i.e., spends most of its time in trees). They do not live in groups.

The geologic range of “fox” squirrels sensu lato [= in the broad sense] is Middle Holocene (7,000 years ago) to present day.

Remains have been found at Rancho La Brea (tar pits) = Pleistocene age. 

_______________________

COYOTE

Coyotes can be found throughout the United States, including Alaska. They are omnivores and eat practically anything. They can weight up to about 40 pounds (collie-dog size). I have seen many of them in my years of hiking and field work in southern California. Unlike a few human land owners I have come across, they have never been aggressive toward me. They are most common around where humans dump their garbage in an irresponsible manner.

Classification:

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Genus Canis

Species C. latrans

___________________

BLACK BEAR

 Bear image taken by a security video camera in the evening, just north 

of Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County, southern California. 

This elusive species comes in many different colors: from solid black to shades of brown and tan. They eat grass, berries, flowers, nuts, grub, insects, honey, fish, and small mammals. They are usually not aggressive but their behavior, like all wild animals, can be unpredictable.

Classification:

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Genus Ursus

Species U. americanus

Black bears were introduced to Southern California in the 1930’s after over hunting by humans caused the extinction of the California grizzly bear.

In all my field work over many years in Southern California, I only saw one black bear (a mature one!), and it was about a quarter-of-a-mile away and never detected me.

RHINO FOSSILS IN CALIFORNIA

The scientific analysis of any fossil records is always a “process.” Initially, it is based on 1) previous observations; then it proceeds to 2) any new data. Then, as step 3), it is then usually possible to make new interpretations. That is certainly the history of rhino fossils in California.

Previous observations. Chester Stock wrote several papers about the “earliest rhino fossils” found in California. These were conveniently summarized, in the form of sketches, of supposedly the earliest California rhinos, by Savage and Downs (1954, fig. 2).

New data. In the past few years, there have been exciting discoveries (e.g.,  through out the world, namely China and Elsmere Island (in the Arctic region of Canada). 

New interpretations. Prothero and Schoch (2002) did a detailed analysis of the fossil record of rhinos and made some very useful observations. Rhinoceros likely originated from tapir-like animals during the middle Eocene, but this transition remains controversial.  Bai et al (2020) made a significant step in our understanding of fossil rhinos. From these two papers, it is now possible to state that the first true rhino is the horse-like Hydrachyus, known from Inner Mongolia (China), Europe, and Arctic Canada (Elsmere Island). 

On the west of North America, the hippo-like, short-legged rhinoceros (no horn) Teleoceras is known from middle to late Miocene [13.5 to 7.3 mya, in the Dove Spring Formation (part of the Ricardo Group) in the El Paso Mountains of Kern County, California. About 100 intact specimens belonging to this genus are famously known from a Miocene volcanic ash-fall event in Nebraska (see Wikipedia). 

Also living on the west coast of North America was the rhino (no horn) Aphelops from the middle upper Miocene Mint Canyon Formation in the Soledad Basin of southern California. This was the last native occurrence of fossil rhinos in California.

Note: Ancestral forms of Teleoceras and Aphelops “arrived” in California via a land bridge called “Beringia 2”, [see my earlier posts on Nov. 1, 2022]. Beringia 2 occurred between 25 and 5 mya, when northeast Asia and northern Alaska were “linked” together.

Figure 1. Teleoceras fossiger Cope, 1878, from a public domain sketch by Horsfall in (1912) 1913, a renowned American wildlife illustrator. This genus was endemic to North America and is found in rocks ranging in geologic age from Miocene to Pliocene. [Note: The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History has a skeleton of Teleoceras on display].  

Figure 2. Aphelops was also endemic to North America, and the representative fossil used here is from the upper Miocene Mint Canyon Formation in Soledad Canyon, northern Los Angeles County. Fossils of Aphelops are found in rocks ranging in geologic age from Miocene to Pliocene. My drawing is modified from an image by Jay Matternei (www.facebook.com/photo). 

Figure 3. Modern “Black Rhino” living (many years ago) at the Los Angeles County Zoo. Image via R. Squires. Today, of course, these rhinos are from Africa and elsewhere and have been imported to zoos throughout the world. 

References

Bai et al. 2020. The origin of Rhinocerotoidea and phylogeny of Ceratomorpha (Mammalia, Perissodactyla). Communications Biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01205-8 pdf available online for free.

Horsfall, R. B. 1913. A public domain document available online (e.g., Wikipedia). 

Prothero, D.R. and R.M. Schoch. 2002. Horns, tusks, and flippers: The evolution of hoofed mammals. The John Hoplins University Press. Baltimore.

Savage, D.E. and T. Downs. 1954. Cenozoic land life of southern California. Chapter 6, pp. 43-58. In Geology of Southern California, Bullein 170, Chpater 3, Historical Geology. Division of Mines, San Francisco.