A LANDSLIDE: THERE ONE DAY AND GONE SOON AFTERWARD

HERE ONE DAY, GONE SOON AFTERWARD

Southern California has its share of mountains and hills with sedimentary beds that have been tilted to considerable steepness by ancient and on-going tectonic uplifts and earthquakes. Under the right conditions, namely, already strongly tilted layers and soft sedimentary layers (e.g., muddy siltstone), slopes will fail and landslides are inevitable.  

In late November, 2015, one of the local county roads (Vasquez Canyon Road) was suddenly and strongly warped by a landslide (about 150 feet across) that was relatively small, but,  nevertheless, very destructive. Tons of tilted sedimentary beds of poorly cemented mudstone abruptly shifted downhill. Numerous crevasses formed on the hillside. Some of these cracks were up to 20 feet deep and 10 feet wide. The adjacent was highway was tilted every which way!

The pictures below show various views, in temporal sequence, of the landslide block. The road had to be closed for many months while construction crews removed tons of highly damaged road and, in so doing, eventually stabilized the slope next to it. Notice on the left side of the first image below, the steep, over-turned (concave/bending) fold. The sedimentary layers were already at a steep angle, and were eventually primed to fail. The first images show how the slope and the adjacent highway "took a beating." The last two images show what the area looked like, many months later.

Before the area was cordoned off to the public, people came to skate- board down the irregular slope that was once a relatively smooth, non-undulating highway.

Several months later, after the slide area was deemed to be stabilized.

This last image was taken after the road crews were finally done with the removal of a large portion of the remaining slide. It took many months!

HOME-GROWN GARDEN PLANTS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

I include these type of plants in my blog because they are commonly overlooked by many people, yet each one of these plants has “it own story.” Also, they are edible and their home-grown taste "can't be beat."

                                                                                      BLUE BERRY

                          

                                                                                                        Fruit

Classification:

Order Ericale

Family Ericaceae

Genus Vaccinium

  Species V. sect. cyanococcus

Mode of Life:

Ground plant /shrub up to 4 m high.

Comments: Today, they have circum-polar distribution.

                                                                                    BOYSENBERRY

                                                                                        flower and fruit 

                               

                                                                                                      blossom

                                                                                                              fruit

Classification:

   Order Rosales

   Family Rosaceae

   Genus Rubus

     Species R. ursinus x R. idaeus

Mode of Life:

Ground plant that does best when on a trellis.

Comments:

Cultived in California in the 1920s, not wild! = a hybrid between a loganberry, red raspberries, American dewberry, and European backberry.

                                            PEACHES

                                                 

                                              peach shrub

 

peach blossoms

                                                                           peach fruit

Classification:

Order Rosales

Family Rosaceae

Genus Prunus 

  Species P. persica [note: Persia = modern-day Iran].

Mode of Life:

On shrubs or trees (up to 10 m, 33 feet height).

Comments:

Originated in China about 6,000 BC. Today, there are about 700 varieties of peaches. Note: nectarines are peaches with smooth skin (caused by a single gene mutation). Today, 65% of the world’s peaches are grown in China.

Peaches were introduced to America by Spanish explorers.

Prefer temperate climates.

Their oblong (lanceolate shape) leaves are droopy around the peaches, thus protecting vunerable the fruit from direct sunlight.

                                         STRAWBERRIES

                                      Pixs of blooms and fruit

Classification:

Order Rosales

Familly Rosaceae

Genus Fragaria [x annassa]

   Species

Mode of Life:

Ground plant

Comments:

Originated in Western Europe [France] in the 1750s.

                                              TOMATOS

                  

                                             ZUCCHINI

Classification

Order

Family

Genus

 Species

                                  NO LONGER BEING GROWN IN OUR GARDEN FOR LACK OF SPACE

                                                             (even though they readily grew there)

           BRUSSEL SPROUTS

           CUCUMBERS

           CARROTS 

           POTATOES

           PUMPKINS

           RADISHES

          TURNUPS

          WATER MELON

A SENSATIONAL FLOWER

The red and orange flowers of Casalpinia pulcherrima are spectacular. They also have oval fernlike leaves with a light-and-dark green coloration, and they have clusters of moderately large, red-colored, berry-like fruit on rather long stems. Additionally, they have long, red tendrils. When I saw this vibrant, showy flower for the first time in a neighbor’s yard, I was really impressed, and I still am. It is an unforgettable flower, known in general conversation as the “peacock” flower. There are 10 native species native to the tropics and subtropics in southeastern Mexico, through Central America to Ecuador, Cuba, Hispaniola, and the Bahamas. Of course, it is now planted in throughout the world in mild climates.

Shown below are four images, from the same "peacock" plant. It is  about 6 feet tall and about 15 feet wide.

The "pea cock plant" is generally speaking not an invasive one, although in Australia, locally in the South Pacific, Cuba, Florida, and Ecuador it is a borderline invasive species known to compete with and replace native plants.

They are fast-growing shrubs and small trees. This plant does well in northern Los Angeles County, southern California, yet one seldom sees it around homes. Perhaps the reason is that their seeds and pods are poisonous. These distinctive flowers thrive in hot, sunny climates. It is a summer blooming perennial (returns year after year) plant.

Additional common names for this plant are the “red bird of paradise,” the “Mexican bird of paradise,” the dwarf Poinciana, “pride of Barbados,” and  the “flamboyant-de-jardin.” 

These are not easy plants to care for because they can require specific conditions in order to grow properly (ask your plant- nursery experts). 

Classification:

Kingdom Plantae

4 clades

Order Fabales

Family Fabaceae

Subfamily Casealpinioideae

Genus Caesalpina

Type Species: C. brasiliensis Linneaus

 ZINNIA FLOWERS

[Pronounced Zen-nee-a], with the accent on the first part. There are approximately 22 species. No known geologic history.              

                           Some Interesting Facts:

Solitary long-stemmed flowers with numerous petals. Colors range from white, yellow, orange, red, purple, to pink.

Annuals (= last only one growing season), easy to grow, prefer full sunlight and adequate water, can withstand hot summer temperatures.

Dislike being transplanted and dislike frost.

They bloom all summer long and are a "flower for all gardens." They are closely related to daisies.

Hummingbirds and butterflies like these flowers.

These flowers were native to scrub and dry grasslands in SW USA, Mexico, and South America. They were discovered in Mexico and brought to Europe in the 1700s. 

Also, the type of inflorescence in the center of the flower is noticeably variable (ranging from flattish to conical shape) in morphology among the examples shown below. Their flowers consist of ray florets that surround disk florets, which may be different color than the ray florets (as very evident in the images shown here). 

                                               IMAGES  

Tallest flower (first image shown below) was grown in our garden and is 55 inches high above ground level:

The following images show the variation in the color of the petals and also the considerable range in inflorescence at the centers of the flowers.

Useful Reference:

The Zinnia-a flower for all gardens. https://www.harvesting.com

Addendum: Zinnia should be in every flower garden.

FRENCH LAVENDER FLOWER

This was the first flower that I became interested in its details. Of course, this plant would have a complicated floral anatomy, thus it was wise for me to have waited awhile before attempting to fully understand its morphologic development. As a side note: I eventually discovered that there are many species of lavender plants.

The French Lavender flower thrives in full sun and needs six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. It does not like shade; it fact, it is shade intolerant. It likes dry locations and is a hardy plant. It also repels mosquitoes and has a pleasant scent (the honey bees certainly like it!).

It is toxic to dogs and another animals if ingested in large quantities. 

French Lavender, known scientifically as Lavandula stoechas, is a fragrant (belongs to the mint family), bushy, evergreen perennial native to the Mediterranean region. This plant can be as tall as up to 78 inches (6.6 feet) tall. There are no known fossils of this plant; apparently L. sotechas evolved about 2500 years ago. Egyptians made perfumes with this plant. Today, there are about 30 to 50 species of this genus (Wikipedia, 2025).

The flowers of the French lavender show inflorescence in the form of minute blue- or white-colored flowers arranged on a spike.

Figure 1. A French Lavender Plant in full bloom: the bush was 46 inches tall, 42 inches wide.

Figure 2. Purple flowers at top of vertical stems.

Figure 3. View of minute flowers (and a large purple bract at the top of the stem, so as , as to attract pollinating insects).

Figure 4. Additional view of minute flowers with an ant (peeking up over the right side of this image) for scale. It was just lucky to have the ant crawl into the picture just as I snapped the shutter. I could not have planned it better.

 

Basilosaurus: A Whale of a Fossil

Originally, this whale's was incorrectly thought to be a reptile because of its long and narrow skull [note: the suffix saurus has traditionally been used for reptile names]. It was referred to genus Zeuglodon by very early paleontologists; most of whom (all?) believed Basiolosaurus to have been a mosasaur (a reptile). The name Basilosaurus means “king lizard, but this animal was not a lizard! It has been wrongly said, in generalized context, that Basilosaurus was the whale that replaced mosasaurs.

Basilosaurus was a giant predatory whale (i.e., an apex predator) that lived during the latest middle Eocene (41.3 million years ago) to early Oligocene time (33.9 million years ago). It had a long, eel-like body, a long, narrow skull, large jaws, and a variety of different-shaped teeth. Its back flippers were very small. It was an unusual-looking whale that was up to 65 feet long and weighed 15 tons. It had a comparatively small brain. Its front flippers retained their elbow hinges. In sum, this genus represented “a very low branch on the whale evolutionary tree.” It is generally believed that modern whales did not evolve directly from Basilosaurus.

                                       Figure 1. Basilosaurus

The vertebrate of Basilosaurus were filled with fluid rather than solid bone as is the case with all modern whales. Thus, Basilosaurus lived mostly near the water’s surface, otherwise its hollow backbone would have crumpled under intense water pressure in deep water. 

Basilosaurus had a fearsome set of teeth: canine-shaped incisors in front and flattened, but strongly serrated teeth “molar” teeth in back. Thus, Basilosaurus  had heterodont teeth (meaning different types of teeth for different purposes). It was a whale, therefore, not a reptile! It teeth makes Basiolsaurus unique in the world of whales! 

Figure 2. Basilosaurus skull and teeth. Canine-shaped incisers in front and flattened, serrated triangular “molars” in back. Some workers have referred to the latter as “yoke teeth.”

                                                                       Figure 3. A single Basilosaurus "yoke" molar tooth

 (several inches in height).

The genus name Basilosaurus was once a “wastebasket taxon” and could still be! It has been used for all sorts of poorly known and poorly understood collection of middle to late Eocene whale fossils. It could still well be a “wastebasket” taxon. There are only two confirmed species of this early whale: a species from the southeastern United States (e.g., Mississippi and Alabama) and a different? species from Egypt and Jordon. In recent years, other “species” have been reported from every continent, including Antarctica (see Wikipedia, 2025). In my humble opinion, a detailed morphologic comparative study is needed for all of these whale fossils in order to positively ascertain their generic identification(s?) and to determine their relationship to one another.

To date, Basilosaurus is restricted to middle to upper Eocene deposits. There was a climate change at the end of the Eocene epoch. This change this was caused by global cooling and shifting of important current patterns (Squires, 2003).

 

References Cited:

Fenton, C.L. and M.A. Fenton. The Fossil book. Doubleday, New York. 740 pp.

Squires, R.L. 2003. Turnovers in marine gastropod faunas during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, west coast of the United States. In: From Greenhouse to Icehouse, the marine Eocene-Oligocene transition. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 14-35.

Wikipedia. 2025. 

A BEAUTIFUL COMPLEX FLOWER

This flower can really “pull you into its orbit.” I spotted it in a neighbor’s yard and was immediately overwhelmed by the beautiful but confusing array of colors in the central-flower area. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It took some time and effort to determine its genus/species, and it was a quite a journey into the very confusing world of flower-inflorescence jargon.

                                  LANTANA CAMERA Linnaeus 

Classification:

Kingdom Plantae

4 clades

Order Lamiales

Family Verbenaceae

Genus Lantana

Type Species L. camara

  -about 150 known species

Brief Description:

-a spreading, thorny perennial shrub 3 to 6 feet tall

-leaves heart-shaped, ovate, round, can be wrinkled; margins scalloped

-flowers clustered in compact heads

-flowers can be orange, pink, deep red, purple, or yellow [all on a single flower!]

-grows as dense stands, crowding out forage plants: therefore, can be an invasive plant 

- likes full-sun conditions

- repels mosquitos

Four images of different Lanatana-flower complexes on the same plant (total height about five feet tall). Each image is about 4 inches in width:

The type of inflorescence found in these flowers is axially corymb: the flowers are small, tubular, and each has four petals arranged in cluster at the terminal ends of the stems. The  sequencial progression of color changes (e.g., from yellow to orange to pink or red) is largely triggered by the pollinators. In sum, Lantana has inflorescences that are two- or three-colored!

Note: It was not easy, but I finally discovered a website that really helped a beginner (like me) in trying to understand the overwhelming and very jargon-filled, confusing world of inflorescence: please check it out.

https://aurovilleherbarium.org/contents/descripton-flower.php?id=115

The associated glossary found at this above-mentioned website will provide you with all the images and details you need in order to see and better understand the details of Lantana, as well as many other genera. It won’t be a waste of your time! The Auroville Botanical Gardens in India deserves an award in excellence for their website that is truly a virtual herbarium! This site also has a glossary and an extensive bibliography. It is a truly outstanding website!