#SEAwednesday

If you see a butterfly, you might want to look again. It might be a Mariposa Lily! Mariposa Lilies get their name from the Spanish word for butterfly, “mariposa”. The flowers look like butterflies when they wave in the wind. The scientific genus name “Calochortus” means “beautiful grass”. Since 17 types of Mariposa Lilies can […]

The Oak Tree (Quercus) is an iconic tree of the LA County landscape. The Oak tree is a keystone species in a complex ecosystem, providing habitat for 5,000 insects, 80 species of reptiles and amphibians, 100 species of birds, and over 60 mammals! Oak woodlands are protected state-wide and LA County developed one of the first Oak

Have you spotted the ocellated Humboldt lily lately? Ocellated Humboldt lily is a rare plant that is native to Southern California, ranging from Santa Barbara County to the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County. It loves to grow in shady areas along intermittent streams, canyons, and riparian oak woodlands. It is a tall and stout

Let’s hear it for the tiny flowers! The San Fernando Valley spineflower (Chorizanthe parryi var. fernandina) is native to Southern California and is found only on Newhall Ranch (Los Angeles County) and Laskey Mesa (Ventura County). One of about 60 named species and subspecies of Chorizanthe in California, this spineflower is a small, sprawling herb with hairy

This one is for all the Birders! Our biologist, Joe D., captured a photo of a female Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) in mid-flight near the San Andreas SEA. We wonder what she has in her beak…lunch (loves eating insects and grains!) or nesting material? The Tricolored Blackbird is one of the many birds species that

Native to LA, loves swimming in calm waters, short but sweet, a lifetime protector. This could be the unicorn of all dating profiles but it’s actually the description of the Unarmored Three Spine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni). The 3spine stickleback is a scaleless freshwater fish that grows up to 2 inches long. It is found